The Canada-Switzerland game on Friday had a somber end after Kevin Fiala suffered a severe injury.
With 2:50 remaining in the third period, Fiala tried to throw a counter hit on Tom Wilson as the Team Canada forward approached him at the boards. An awkward collision followed, causing both players to tumble hard to the ice, with Wilson’s full weight landing on Fiala’s left leg.
Fiala was stretchered off the ice, belly down, and taken to the hospital with the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation announcing he would be out for the rest of the Olympic tournament.
Sunday, the Los Angeles Kings announced Fiala would also miss the rest of the NHL’s 2025-26 regular season, but left the door slightly open for a possible return in the playoffs.
“Kevin Fiala underwent successful surgery to repair fractures in his left lower leg,” the Kings said in a statement. “He is resting comfortably and will begin the recovery and rehabilitation program. Kevin will miss the remainder of the 2025-2026 NHL regular season and will be reevaluated at the conclusion of the regular season.”
Fiala also posted a photo on Instagram at the hospital.
“Not the ending I imagined for my first Olympics,” he wrote. “Thank you everyone for reaching out. I truly appreciate the support. Biggest good luck to my team Switzerland, go get them!”
“He’s still with us,” Nico Hischier said to the New York Post’s Mollie Walker. “We’ll play for him… He’s one of our best players, so it’s obviously a tough loss for us. He’s still engaged with us, and he’ll cheer us on.”
Not only is losing Fiala a tough pill to swallow for a Swiss team trying to medal — Switzerland, the eighth-seed, will play Denmark, the ninth-seed, in the qualification round on Tuesday — but it’s also a huge blow to a Kings team that is sitting three points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Fiala is the club’s third-leading point scorer with 40 points (18g, 22a) in 56 games. He was expected to play on an electric top line with trade acquisition Artemi Panarin and Anze Kopitar, whom the Kings traded for ahead of the Olympic break, during the stretch run.
