Kevin Fiala’s surgery following his injury in the Olympics was successful, the Los Angeles Kings announced Sunday, and the star forward will sit out rest of the regular season.
Fiala’s operation repaired fractures in his left lower leg, and the team said, in a statement posted on its social media channels, that the veteran is resting comfortably and will soon begin the recovery and rehabilitation program.
Fiala suffered the injury in Switzerland’s loss to Canada last week in Italy. The 29-year-old winger was immediately ruled out of the rest of the Milan Cortina tournament after being stretchered off the ice.
With just under three minutes left in Canada’s 5-1 round-robin victory, Fiala backed into a hit by forward Tom Wilson near the side boards. Their legs became tangled, and they fell to the ice, with Wilson’s full weight on Fiala’s leg. Play was stopped, and Fiala was eventually wheeled off the ice face-down on a stretcher with an air cast on his left leg.
There was no penalty called on the play. Swiss coach Patrick Fischer called the incident “accidental” after the game. Wilson said the play was “just unlucky” in discussing Fiala’s injury.
“He’s a competitor, obviously. At this point, it’s the Olympic Games, and I feel terrible that he may not be able to keep playing and just sending his family and him my best,” said Wilson, who plays for the Washington Capitals. “You never want to see a guy go down in a tournament like this, especially. It sucks for the country, for their team, and just wishing him a quick recovery.”
Every NHL team has feared losing players to injury when sending them to the Olympic tournament, which is one of the reasons the league has debated participation in the Games through the years. Fiala’s loss is potentially devastating to the Kings, who are three points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference but added former New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin in a trade before the Olympic break. Fiala is second on the team with 40 points and 18 goals in 56 games.
“Very obviously sad, and it sucks for him and for us,” Kings teammate Adrian Kempe said after Sweden’s win over Slovakia on Saturday. “It’s really tough for him personally and for us as a team. You know how much he means to our team back home in L.A. It’s just very unfortunate for him that it comes in a tournament like this that we’ve been looking forward to playing in for so long. I feel for him.”
