Toronto's Jake McCabe Suffers Scary Head Injury in Garnet Hathaway Fight

Stephen Douglas | Jan 6, 2025

Jake McCabe was shaken up after hitting his head on the ice. / YouTube / ChasingTheBiscuit

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime on Sunday, 3-2. While the Maple Leafs secured their Eastern Conference-best 26th win of the season, they also got some bad news as they lost one of their top defensemen to a scary-looking head injury.

Late in the first period Jake McCabe took exception to Philadelphia's Garnet Hathaway interfering with goalie Dennis Hildeby. Even though a penalty was called and Hildeby was fine, McCabe decided to get physical with one of the toughest players in the NHL. McCabe got away with shoving Hathaway's head into the ice and then the two players dropped their gloves.

While neither player landed any big shots in the tilt, McCabe went down on his back with Hathaway landing on top of him.McCabe appeared to take a knee to the body, but the real damage was done when the back of his head slammed against the ice. He was lucky to still be wearing his helmet, but was still visibly woozy.

McCabe struggled to stand up, but was eventually able to skate off the ice on his own. He immediately headed back to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion and did not return.

During a Monday morning appearance on TSN 1050 in Toronto, NHL insider Darren Dreger reported that the team was expecting McCabe to miss some time. McCabe is fourth on the team in average time on ice midway through the season, so he'll leave a big void in the lineup.

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