The Globe and Mail's James Mirtle reports that Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who will face the Boston Bruins without protection for his still-healing broken jaw, suffered an absolutely brutally vicious injury when he blocked Brooks Orpik's shot with his teeth, and he's going to face much more off-season dental work to restore his smile:

Roughly 10 of his teeth were affected, some irreparably, as the force from the puck would have pushed them through some of the supporting bone structure and severed the neurovascular pulp supply, which is a tooth’s connection to the nerves and blood supply in the mouth. Two teeth even went back so forcefully they damaged the inside of his mouth around his tongue.

The impact broke his jaw, which forced surgeons to cut an opening inside his mouth and use screws to fasten two small titanium plates to the bone to help it heal.

It’s an injury many NHL players consider the worst they have had.

“I can honestly say that was the most traumatic injury that I’ve gone through,” said Ottawa Senators defenceman Marc Methot, who suffered a more serious break late last season when a puck hit him next to his ear. “You can’t socialize with anybody. You can’t eat anything. You’re really segregated from the team, and you can’t go out in public. It’s not fun.”

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