There was an obvious correlation when Petr Sykora returned Thursday to the playoffs that he last left on a stretcher. But he says it hurts his head to think about the hurting Derian Hatcher put on his head, so he sharply refused to draw the parallel about toasting brother Kevin Hatcher for a spectacular goal in Thursday’s playoff opener.
“It takes a lot of mental work to get away from it, so I don’t want to think about it,” Sykora said.
Sykora watched from the hospital as his teammates hoisted the Stanley Cup last June 10. Sykora had been dealt a brutal elbow by Derian Hatcher in that Game 6 finale, suffering a concussion that ended his playoff a few hours before the Devils ended everyone’s.
“I don’t like to think about it, and I don’t want to think about it. It’s not easy to think about it, so I don’t want to bring it up any more,” Sykora said.
Instead, he toasted Kevin Hatcher for the Devils’ fourth goal in the third period of Thursday’s 5-1 victory over Carolina.
Hatcher made a fatal pass from the right point straight to intercepting Patrik Elias at the top of the left circle, and Sykora immediately raced up the middle for Elias’ pass. Hatcher dug a deep hook into Sykora, who had to shake twice to free his arms enough for one more touch, using it to smack his 13th career playoff goal past Arturs Irbe.
“I knew it was Hatcher,” Sykora said. “I was just trying to keep my body in front of him. I was hoping he wasn’t going to hold my stick so I could get my shot off. I got away with it.”
He fought off Hatcher gamely, with no sign of any recoil.
Larry Robinson, who brought the Stanley Cup to Sykora in that Dallas hospital last year, sympathized with Sykora’s feelings.
“A shot to the head is different that getting hit on the arm or leg,” Robinson said. “You don’t tend to forget those things that easily.”
Sykora is trying to erase any memory he has of that night, but it remains part of the Devils’ Stanley Cup history.