Minnesotan wins praise for saving NHLer slashed by skate

The Minnesota-educated doctor who led the on-the-scene scramble to treat the player whose neck was gouged by a skate in an NHL game in Buffalo on Sunday is being universally hailed for quickly responding to what could have been a deadly incident.

But on Wednesday, Sabres team doctor and Edina native Les Bisson played down what he did, emphasizing the fortunate sequence of of rapid-fire events -- from the moment Richard Zednik's neck began gushing blood until surgeons repaired the nearly severed carotid artery -- that saved the Florida Panthers forward's life.

Bisson, a team doctor for the Buffalo Sabres for 11 years, graduated from Edina High School and the University of Minnesota in the 1980s before heading off to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland.

Bisson dashed from his seat five rows from ice level to the bench and squeezed off Zednik's artery, which had been cut by teammate Olli Jokinen's skate blade. That gave the 32-year-old winger enough time for life-saving surgery at Buffalo General Hospital.

Attention from news media and sports bloggers alike since Zednik's injury has been intense on Bisson.

Wrote Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News: "Bisson will always be a special man in [Zednik's] life. After all, he saved it."

And from a Florida hockey fan on his NHL Connect blog: "Right now I want Dr. Les Bisson's autograph more than anybody else's. Even though his picture may not be on anybody's wall ... he and others like him are the true heroes in this world."

"It's a team effort," said Bisson, who was involved in another major sports medical drama, when he was the first doctor to reach Kevin Everett's side when the Buffalo tight end suffered a serious spinal injury at the Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium. "There were a lot of team things that happened" to save crucial time for Zednik.

At first, Bisson said, it was fortunate that Zednik could skate off the ice on his own, rather than taking time to have others move the 200-pounder in full equipment. He pointed to the assistant trainer who first reached Zednik and put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. From there, Bisson took over and held Zednik's neck as security kept the arena tunnel clear to the waiting ambulance.

In the meantime, police were blocking off cross traffic on the route to the hospital. At Buffalo General, surgeons awaited their patient's arrival.

While it "seemed like the ambulance ride took absolutely forever," Bisson estimated Zednik was in surgery no more than 15 minutes from the moment he was cut. Bisson added that the ambulance driver said "he's never gotten to the hospital so fast."

As for NHL players being required to wear neck guards, Bisson said league executives are interested in how he and the others responded to Zednik's injury.

Bisson said that player's chances of survival would have been less, and he added that he thinks neck guards during practice "is a good idea."