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Ballard released from hospital with facial fractures, concussion

Ballard

On Wednesday, the Minnesota Wild updated the status of injured defenseman Keith Ballard:

Ballard was released from Regions Hospital today.

He suffered multiple facial fractures, a concussion and is out indefinitely.

Ballard was hurt midway through the second period of Tuesday’s comeback win over the Islanders, on this hit from New York’s Matt Martin:

While he was able to skate off under his own power, Ballard was immediately transferred to hospital for evaluation. Martin wasn’t penalized on the play and, at the time of writing, wasn’t scheduled for a disciplinary hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.

Ballard, 32, has a long history of concussions and suffered a pair while playing in Vancouver. He said his post-concussion symptoms were so bad at one point he was sleeping up to 18 hours a day. The veteran rearguard has appeared in 14 games for the Wild this year, missing time earlier in the campaign with the mumps.

More on Ballard’s future, from TSN’s Darren Dreger:

Ballard may need surgery, but, docs need to wait a few days for the swelling to subside.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 10, 2014