David Hookstead
Videos by OutKick
New York Islanders player Brock Nelson showed some serious grit Monday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
During the 5-2 loss, the veteran forward took an inadvertent stick to the mouth, but he didn’t wait for a dentist to fix the problem.
He got on the bench and just ripped the tooth out himself. Yes, you read that correctly. The 31-year-old NHL player pulled his tooth out during a game.
Brock Nelson is one tough dude.
You can say a lot of things about hockey players. You can say they’re known for having a few screws loose, being a bit wild, enjoying a bit too much beer, perhaps always a bit too eager for a fight, but there’s one thing you’ll never be able to say about hockey players.
You’ll never be able to say they’re not the toughest dudes out there. Brock Nelson took a stick to the mouth and didn’t even hesitate to rip his own tooth out.
That’s a level of grit you simply don’t see in any of the other main sports in America.
LeBron James melts down if someone breathes on him too hard. The Lakers forward will literally talk about needing to learn to flop (lol) because he doesn’t like the officiating.
Meanwhile, Brock Nelson got his mouth jacked up and he didn’t spend one second melting down. He just opened his mouth and did a little tooth extraction.
For those of us who have teeth pulled, there’s generally a lot of pain killer that go into it. Not for Brock Nelson. He just did it himself, and that’s why NHL players are simply a different breed.
Props to Nelson for reminding the world hockey players aren’t to be messed with. The country could use a little more grit like his.
Another reason why hockey is the greatest game that too few people pay attention to. The players are- as a rule- tough men, and great people. They’ll give you the time of day. They love their sport and that’s what they live for. In the NBA you touch a guy, it’s a foul. Can you imaging elbowing a guy in the mouth? The scene that would take place? Let alone seeing an NBA guy (or MLB guy) go back to the bench and pull the loose tooth out, never looking away from the game? I could possibly see some NFL guy doing that. But hockey players are another breed entirely. Those who haven’t given that sport a chance, need to. It’s fast, tough, and highly skilled.