Jets’ Redmond likely done for year after lacerating femoral artery

The Winnipeg Jets will likely be without the services of defenseman Zach Redmond for the remainder of the season after the defenseman suffered a serious skate cut prior to Thursday’s game in Carolina.

That said, Redmond’s situation could be much worse.

The 24-year-old suffered a lacerated femoral artery and lost nearly two pints of blood, according to Jets head athletic therapist Rob Milette.

“I’ve been doing this for 12 years and that’s easily the most grave incident I’ve been a part of, for sure,” Milette told the Winnipeg Sun. “Surgery went well. There were a lot of blood vessels that needed repair, along with all the surrounding tissue, the muscles.

“He’s doing well right now and we can only hope his recovery will be as good as the surgery went.”

Redmond was cut during the morning skate by teammate Antti Miettinen, who actually skated over the back of the fallen Redmond’s leg during a drill.

The scene on the ice was disturbing, to say the least.

Milette was quick to praise Jets assistant coach Perry Pearn for minimizing Redmond’s blood loss by using his jacket as a tourniquet, and said Redmond’s ability to stay conscious prevented the situation from being far worse.

Which, apparently, it could’ve been.

“[Redmond] did a great job,” said Milette. “If he had been unconscious, then you get into a scenario where you might need to get a defibrillator on him to get him going. He lost a lot of blood there, so his heart was definitely struggling. We were monitoring his vitals, checking his pulse and his pulse was really weak and really slow.

“He was pale and he was telling us he was getting thirsty.”