FRISCO, Texas -- It was the sort of moment no hockey player wants to see happen to anybody, especially to a teammate and a guy who was as well respected as Stephane Robidas is inside the Dallas Stars locker room.
But his fellow blue liners know that injuries, like the leg fracture "Robi" suffered in the second period of Friday’s 2-1 shootout loss to Chicago are all part of the game, but that didn’t make seeing their teammate writhe on the American Airlines Center any easier to take.
Here's what some of them had to say about Robidas' injury, one which will require between four and six months to recover from.
Kevin Connauton
"It just gives you chills, seeing a guy get carried off on a stretcher. It's definitely a tough one for the whole team, to see a guy like Robi especially. He’s such a huge presence in this locker room, to see him leave like that.
Trevor Daley
"When that guy goes down, you know something’s wrong because in the 10 years that I’ve known him, he’s never laid on the ice before. So you knew it was bad. As soon as I skated up to him, he said it was broke. Very disappointed, he’s one of the greatest guys I’ve had the privilege to play with. To see him go down like that and be in that much pain, really hurt to see that, but knowing Robi as well as I know him, he’ll rebound even better from it and come back and be stronger. I’m not worried about that. For us in this dressing room, obviously we lost a huge part of our dressing room. Not one person is going to be able to replace him. We’re going to have to collectively, not just the D, but the forwards and goaltenders, we’re all going to have to work to replace that because there’s not too many guys in this league that can replace Robidas.”
Brenden Dillon
"Last night, we did a pretty good job but it’s a four to six-month injury, so it's not like he’s back next week. So we're going to have to make some adjustments."
Alex Goligoski
"I didn't really see the play but when I saw him go down, to see him on the ice like that you know something’s wrong obviously. He's a guy who’s played through tons of injuries and he's just a warrior. Puts his body on the line a lot, everyone kind of stood up on the bench and was like oh no. Everyone knew it wasn't good. Obviously, he has a lot of respect in this locker room, a veteran guy and a big part of our team. So it’s tough to see that."
