Brandon Saad's Blue Jackets career got off to a very painful start

Brandon Saad got to learn about the bad luck that plagued the Columbus Blue Jackets last year. A puck to the face in practice helped rearrange some of his teeth.

By Chris Peters

Sep 24, 2015 at 2:24 pm ET • 1 min read

Columbus Blue Jackets fans have been buzzing since the team acquired two-time Stanley Cup champion Brandon Saad from the Chicago Blackhawks this summer before signing him to a long-term extension. They surely can’t wait to see him in full Blue Jackets regalia in game action, but his debut has been delayed a bit.

The cause? Not even a week into training camp, Saad was participating in a morning skate when one of those pesky hockey pucks came and struck him right in the mouth. A rite of passage for any hockey player you say, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

The uneasy description from Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch:

#CBJ Brandon Saad had one tooth chipped and others bent back into his mouth. Work being done today. Yes, I'm wincing as I type this.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) September 22, 2015

Blue Jackets fans had to be thinking “not again” after the team lost a league-high 393 man games to injury last season according to mangameslost.com. They had one of the most bizarre runs of injury problems the league has ever seen.

But the initial pain was only just beginning for the talented winger from Pennsylvania. Days after taking the puck to the mouth, he had a nice long session with the team dentist:

#CBJ Brandon Saad said he had four root canals, spent four hours in dental chair on Tuesday.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) September 24, 2015

Four hours. Four root canals. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Saad, however, was back in practice two days after his date with the dentist wearing a jaw protector on his helmet. Here’s a look at the Blue Jackets’ new No. 20 with his new headgear.