That's Hockey
 

Gotta like the Oilers' Ryan Smith. Takes a shot to the face and loses his teeth (after he leaves the ice, the referee goes about collecting the teeth off the ice). Comes back later in the game (which goes into 3 OTs no less) and makes the pivotal play with a wraparound pass for the game winning goal. Now, he probably has about 4-5 hours of dental work ahead of him just in time to play the next game.

Hockey players are tough as nails, some of them.

Agreed. Not to mention, they don't punch like girls ala the NBA.

I have always admired the toughness of the NHL playoffs. The Smith story would NOT be equaled in any other sport.

Okay, maybe Keith Closs, but did you see that Pistons/Pacers brawl from a few years ago? Jermaine O'Neal was one stable foot away from absolutely devastating some fan. He ended up slipping and catching him in the jaw with what was left of his momentum.

In soccer Trautmann played in a match as a goalkeeper with a broken neck if thats elligable ...

Did he know it though? Was he in pain? I know that is a strange question, but I'm wondering if it was like one of those fractures you don't know about but later it shows up on an x-ray. I mean I don't think the team would actually let him play with a broken neck, would they? If the answers are yes, then he is allowed into the pantheon reserved for tough hockey players.

Ronnie Lott had a pinkie removed rather than miss a game. I think things like that happen in almost any sport if the stakes are high enough.

Yes he was in a fair bit of pain and the doctor indicated he could have been paralysed easily.

Trautmann was an amazing chap - also the first German to play in England after the second world war, his autobigraphy makes for an intruiging read.

Yeah, if only O'Neal didn't have a nice solid hardwood floor instead of a slick icy surface to plant from. ;)

One of the most interesting things to hear about once your team is eliminated is all the injuries players were playing with. Hockey players just play with an incredible amount of pain and injury - broken bones, torn cartiliage, etc. Ken Dryden traced it back in his book to the early days of the sport when it was more like rugby on ice.
The 'code' has just lived on.

Jack Youngblood played Defensive End for the LA Rams in the 1979 Super Bowl VS Pittsburgh on a broken leg.

Very impressive. He's in.