On Thursday, former Capital Wojtek Wolski suffered a serious injury in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.

Wolski, who has five goals in 19 games for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, had to be stretchered off the ice after diving for a loose puck. Wolski collided with Barys’ Vladimir Markelov and crashed headfirst into the boards. Wolski laid on the ice motionless.

Metallurg had an update on Wolski’s condition Friday and it’s not good.

Video

Via Puck Daddy:

“Wolski suffered a fracture of the seventh and fourth cervical vertebrae, injury of the cervical spinal cord, brain concussion, bruises and abrasions on the face.”

Wolski is still in intensive care and it’s very likely that he will miss the rest of the current KHL season.

Now I’m no doctor, but the on-ice medical staff did a poor job of supporting Wolski’s neck as they transferred him to the stretcher. This just raises more questions about the quality of the KHL’s medical staffs. Wolski’s injury on Thursday also occurred on the eight-year anniversary of the tragic death of 19-year-old Alexei Cherepanov during an Avangard Omsk game. Cherepanov died on the bench after having a heart attack. The ambulance that is required to be on duty at all KHL games had already left (there were five minutes left in the game) and the defibrillator in the arena was non-functional.

Regardless, Wolski called himself “lucky” and had this to say in a text to TSN’s Gino Reda.

Just spoke with @WojtekWolski86 following the horrific incident on the ice yesterday. Asked me to pass this message on. pic.twitter.com/C1WcNOVsAR

— Gino Reda (@GinoRedaTSN) October 14, 2016

During the Adam Oates era, the Polish-born forward was brought into Washington as a potential solution for the team’s unproductive top six. Wolski, a shootout specialist and former 20-goal scorer in Colorado, unfortunately was unable to revive his NHL career. Wolski played in only 27 games with the Capitals during the 2012-13 season before falling into Oates’ doghouse. In the summer of 2013, Wolski bounced out of the NHL, signing with the KHL’s Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. Before the 2015-16 season, Wolski signed with Metallurg Magnitogorsk and won the Gagarin Cup as league champions. Former Capital Alex Semin and current Capitals prospect Ilya Samsonov also play on the team.

We would like to wish Wolski the best and we hope he has a swift recovery.