After taking a hard hit to the head against Slovenia Saturday, Tomas Kopecky is expected to miss the rest of the Olympics with a head injury according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The hit that felled Kopecky, leaving him wobbly on his feet, brought a one-game suspension for Slovenia’s Sabahudan Kovacevic, who was ineligible for Sunday’s game against Team USA.
Kopecky is the second member of the Florida Panthers to have his Olympics cut short this week. Rookie Aleksander Barkov suffered a knee injury in Finland's game against Norway, ending his tournament and recovery could carry over to a few more weeks according to McKenzie.
It was a dreadful hit that put Kopecky out and with Slovakia already in a bind with no wins through the preliminary round, it’s going to be difficult to make up for the loss of depth. The Slovakians fared better than expected Sunday, even without Kopecky, in a 1-0 shootout loss to Russia.
Kopecky did not get on the score sheet in his two appearances at the Winter Games, but as an Olympic veteran and with a wealth of NHL experience, he was an important player.
As it stands, Slovakia will play rival Czech Republic in the qualification round Tuesday.
The 32-year-old forward has 12 points in 49 games with the Panthers this season.
