Justin Faulk leaves Hurricanes practice with unknown injury

Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk had to leave practice after colliding hard with the boards

The Carolina Hurricanes are clawing their way back into a playoff spot after being expected to be one of the worst teams in the NHL. A huge reason for their success has been the impressive play of defenseman Justin Faulk. Carolina might have to play without him for a game or two as Faulk had to leave practice on Thursday after colliding with teammate Brad Malone.

Faulk would hit the boards hard after colliding with Malone. He was examined and then removed from practice. What he injured is unknown.

From the Hurricanes official website:

"Faulk made his way to his feet and skated to the bench, where he was briefly looked at by Assistant Athletic Trainer Doug Bennett. He then skated slowly off the ice to be further evaluated by Head Athletic Trainer Pete Friesen. Head coach Bill Peters had no update on Faulk immediately after practice."

Any type of injury to Faulk is not a good thing for the Hurricanes. Justin Faulk is their most important player and is also their leading scorer with 34 points in 54 games this season. He has already matched his career high in goal scored with 15 goals. The Carolina defenseman also had 15 goals last season.

This is a very rare occurance in the NHL, with a player getting hurt in practice. In the National Football League, guys blow out knees and get concussions in practice frequently, but hockey players are almost always injury-0free in those sessions. This could be a terrible stroke of bad luck for Carolina, which is really authoring a nice story.