Mark Spector

Mark Spector is a columnist for sportsnet.ca

Former Calgary Flame Nick Fotiu unfortunately knows all too well what Sami Salo is going through.

VANCOUVER — "Pain?" Nick Fotiu asked in his New York accent. "Fuggedaboudit."

We’ll never know what the margin of error is between Sami Salo and Semi Salo, but it’s sounding like the Vancouver Canucks defenceman is going to get off luckier than the former Calgary Flames winger Fotiu, who went through what Salo is going through today — but worse — back in 1986.

Fotiu blocked a Charlie Huddy slapper, and it cost him one of his testicles.

"There is no way to describe it," Fotiu said when we reached him in New Jersey Monday. "Pain? Forget about it. You could … not … believe … the pain. @#*&, it was bad. Bad, bad pain.

"Then the doctor made a mistake. I had to go through three days of icing it. After that I couldn’t take the pain no more. They took me to a specialist, and he said I had to have surgery right away. Should have went to the specialist right away. For three days I was in agonizing pain."

A key component on Vancouver’s blue-line, Salo blocked Duncan Keith’s point shot in the dying seconds of the first period of Game 5. While the CBC broadcast crew wondered whether it had struck his wrist, most men knew otherwise when Salo eventually rolled into up on to all fours, like a man fearing he might soon throw up.

At that moment both Craig Simpson and Jim Hughson abandoned the wrist theory, recognizing the International Position of a Man Struck in the ‘Nads.

Not long after, a Facebook page emerged called, "Sami Salo’s Ruptured Testicle."

Fotiu, who slugged his way through a dozen NHL seasons — 646 games of bench-clearing brawls and violent rivalries like Islanders-Rangers and the Battle of Alberta — did not see the incident. He won’t be going to Youtube or Facebook anytime soon.

"I had my two tendons severed in my hand — 90 stitches I took," Fotiu began. "I separated my shoulder. I blew out my knee. I had plastic surgery, cracked bones all around my eye, The doctor didn’t want me to play in a playoff series with Philly? I said ‘I don’t give a *&%$. I’ll put on a shield and I’ll be fine.’

"But that? That was the most painful thing I ever went through," he said. "I went down to block the shot, it went right under my cup. Hit me right on the testicle. It was the most painful thing I ever went through."

Whether it was a puck, a frozen orange road hockey ball, a bad hop on the ball diamond or — like my childhood friend Glen — a nut-crunching practice session with a new pair of nunchukas, every male has had his brush with the ultimate injury.

The video of Salo writhing on the ice, then making his way back to the dressing room became even more difficult to watch when word leaked of the injury.

Let’s face it: two words that should never be included in the same sentence are "ruptured" and "testicle." But it could be worse. For instance, "degloving trauma" may occur when a testicle becomes trapped in heavy machinery…

OK — we’ll stop.

The official word on Salo was "day-to-day" on Monday, as the Canucks walked off their charter at the airport in Vancouver. If he can’t go in Game 6, it will swing the betting line.

"He’s a top defenceman, plays PK, powerplay, five-on-five," said Henrik Sedin. "He plays a lot of minutes for us."

Salo may have an injurious history, but he’s a hockey player, and hockey players are tough.

Back in the 2008 playoffs, Philadelphia’s Patrick Thoresen took a slapper in the groin from Washington’s Mike Green. He lay writhing on the ice while Alex Ovechkin tracked down the puck, and dished it back to Green for a one-timer that tied the game late.

How tough was Thoresen? The next day, he wouldn’t count himself out of playing the following day.

"It's whether I can stand the pain," he said. "I consider myself lucky. It could have hit me in the face."

Fotiu’s advice?

"If somebody says there is an easy way to play hockey, they are full of sh--," he said. "Kids should be aware. Make sure you have the right cup."