The past few weeks of NHL and NBA action have been full of dental drama, with a pair of tooth-truncating incidents occurring in both leagues. In deference to dentists everywhere, we decided to pit hockey vs basketball in a perverse four-quarter game decided by lost teeth count.
The unwitting participants on the NHL side of the ledger are Vancouver Canucks left winger Daniel Sedin and Florida Panthers right winger Jaromir Jagr. The NBA team is comprised of Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic and Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder.
[fusion_title size=”4″]DANIEL SEDIN: 4 TEETH LOST[/fusion_title]
The most recent incident came on Monday night when Arizona Coyotes defenseman Mark Stone gloved the puck smack dab into Sedin’s maw. Sedin lost four teeth, but came back into the game to score a goal in a losing effort by the Canucks.
SCORE AFTER 1ST QUARTER: NHL 4 – NBA 0
[fusion_title size=”4″]DENNIS SCHRODER: 1 TOOTH LOST[/fusion_title]
Playing at home in Atlanta vs the Portland Trailblazers, Schroder stumbled in the lane and lost a tooth when he collided head first into Meyers Leonard’s knee. Rather than make a fuss, Schroder simply picked the tooth up off the floor, deposited it into his sock and kept on playing. Schroder’s 18 points led the Hawks to a 106-97 win.
SCORE AFTER 2ND QUARTER: NHL 4 – NBA 1
[fusion_title size=”4″]JAROMIR JAGR: 4 TEETH LOST[/fusion_title]
In December, Jagr added teeth to his Christmas wish list after losing four of them from a high stick to the face courtesy of Ottawa Senators forward Alex Chiasson. Jagr latter recorded an assist and Panthers won the game, 2-1, in a shootout.
Dear Santa, can I get a new teeth for Christmas 🙂 it's going to be tough to eat-good -at least I don't get fat :))) pic.twitter.com/mifGcolCdP
— Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) December 23, 2015
SCORE AFTER 3RD QUARTER: NHL 8 – NBA 1
[fusion_title size=”4″]GORAN DRAGIC: 1/4 TOOTH LOST[/fusion_title]
Dragic has an extensive history of getting roughed up in NBA games. He’s been tackled by Nate Robinson, shoved by Markieff Morris, undercut by J.R. Smith, and in December received an Al Horford elbow to his mouth. The media reported Dragic as having lost a tooth, but in reality he just lost the bottom quarter of one of his front teeth.
Goran Dragic's tooth pic.twitter.com/OhOPFnAjiO
— Mike Ryan (@MichaelRyanRuiz) December 15, 2015
FINAL SCORE: NHL 8 – NBA 1-1/4
[fusion_title size=”4″]DENTAL DUEL RECAP[/fusion_title]
While Sedin and Jagr dominated Schroder and Dragic in the tally of un-tethered teeth, we should note that back in October, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Austin Rivers had five teeth knocked out during practice. But even if you add his five lost teeth to the NBA’s total, the NHL would still prevail 8 to 6-1/4.
Meanwhile, Kentucky forward Alex Poythress, who will most likely be playing in the NBA next year, caught his teeth on the basketball net while descending from an alley-oop jam. How many hockey players have done that?
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