Pat Dapuzzo’s Story

On February 9, 2008, veteran NHL linesman Pat Dapuzzo suffered career-ending and life-altering injuries when he was accidentally struck in the face by the skate blade of Flyers forward Steve Downie during a game in Philadelphia against the Rangers. The damage to Dapuzzo’s face and head was far more serious than simply cosmetic. In this exclusive for FanHouse, the 50-year-old Dapuzzo opens up for the first time about his memories of the incident, the countless surgeries, the deep depression, the support of the NHL community and his determination to live a normal life again. This is the story entirely in his own words, as told to Christopher Botta. ...When Steve Downie was checked by Fedor Tyutin and we became entangled along the boards, Downie’s leg whipped around and his skate blade cut my nose off. There was a hole in my face. I was on all fours and was bleeding badly. I thought I had lost my eye. Other than that, I don’t remember much about the immediate impact of the skate hitting my face. I was later diagnosed with a concussion from the collision, after they sent me to a trauma center in Camden, New Jersey. read on at NHL Fanhouse…