On Dec. 30, 2011, during a game in the high school Holiday Hockey Classic, sixteen-year-old Benilde-St. Margaret’s sophomore Jack Jablonski was hit from behind by two Wayzata hockey players.

Jablonski suffered a damaged vertebrae, and also severed his spinal cord in his neck. Due to the severity of his injury, doctors have said it is likely that Jablonski will be permanently paralyzed, but the overwhelming response from the community and those close to Jablonski is that they are not giving up hope.

Junior and teammate Chris Hickok was on the ice when the accident happened. “He was going in the corner to get the puck and while he was going into the corner one kid bumped him from the side, which left him leaning over looking at the ice. Then, another Wayzata kid came in and hit him from behind, which threw him into the boards and crashing down to the ice, leaving him motionless,” said Hickok.

Hitting from behind in hockey is an illegal hit, so the Wayzata player that hit him received a five minute major penalty for boarding after the hit and a ten minute game disqualification. This meant that he was removed from the game while another player on their team was required to sit out for the 10-minute penalty.

According to his Caring Bridge site, Jablonski under went surgery on Jan. 4 to fuse the damaged vertebrae. According to the Star Tribune, his doctors now believe that it is “very unlikely that he’ll have use of his hands and that he will be able to walk or use his legs.” They decided this after seeing how badly his spinal cord was severed during his vertebrae fusion surgery.

Despite Jablonski’s previous diagnosis, on Jan. 7 he had significant movement in both his arms and was even able to lift one arm completely. Doctors had first predicted that Jablonski would not be able to move any muscles lower than his triceps.

In order to help out Jablonski’s family, Benilde students and members of the community are hosting a pond hockey tournament and selling wristbands that say Jabs on them; all the proceeds of these two events are going towards Jablonski’s family. Along with these fund raisers, Benilde held a school-wide prayer service on Tuesday, Jan. 3 to honor Jablonski.

“I think this [prayer] brought everyone together and really shows how much we all support each other,” said Benilde senior Jessica Hickok. Hickok knows Jablonski through her younger brother Chris Hickok. Jablonski is a “very well loved teammate in the locker room,” said C. Hickok.
Regardless of whether they have ever met Jablonski, many have been quick and active in showing their support for him and his family. The phrase “you don’t have to know someone to pray for them” can be prominently seen throughout one’s Twitter and Facebook news feeds.

The topic #jabs is currently trending on Twitter around the state. Professional hockey players and, according to the Star Tribune, other famous tweeters such as “actor Steve Carell, Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder and Twins pitcher Carl Pavano” have been tweeting to show their support for Jablonski.

Many who have heard Jablonski’s story have also changed their Facebook profile pictures to photos of his hockey number (13) with “Jack Jablonski in our hearts” written around it. It is clear that Jablonski and his family have full support and best wishes from those who have heard about his injury.

Besides playing on the JV and varsity hockey team for Benilde, Jablonski has been on the Benilde-St. Margaret’s Varsity tennis team since his freshman year and also pitches on a traveling baseball team.

According to Tracy Nevells, a parent of one of Jablonski’s friends, Jablonski is a “polite, unassuming and well-liked young man.”

“Jack is seen as just an all-around great guy, I haven’t heard anybody speak ill of him ever,” said Benilde senior Joesph Gill. According to Gill, Jablonski’s incident has made people aware of what is really important in life.

This unfortunate accident has also raised awareness about how dangerous checking a player from behind is, and how important it is to enforce that this is not allowed. Youth hockey players are currently required to have a small orange stop sign attached to the back of their jersey to enforce this no checking from behind rule.

According to the Star Tribune, USA Hockey extended the no checking rule to players who are 11 and 12 years old this season.

There is now a new safe-guard set in place that Jablonski and his family hope will help decrease the chances of a devastating injury like Jablonski’s to happen to anyone else. Hockey players and coaches alike are encouraged to take “Jack’s Pledge,” which is a pledge for players to abide strictly by the rules of the game and for coaches to teach players the correct way to play.

“Let’s be respectful of the game. Let’s be respectful to each other and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played,” said the Minneapolis Novas head coach Shawn Reid. Minneapolis hockey is requiring all their players and coaches to take “Jack’s Pledge” and hopes other teams in the state will follow suit.

Steph Urness is a News Editor for The Spartan Speaks.