A young Oilers fan who was hit in the head by a puck is getting to keep the item that cost him seven stitches.
Three-year-old AJ was with his family at the Oilers game in Rexall Place on Feb. 23 when the incident happened.
AJ’s father, Steven Yanciw, said he felt the puck hit his chair in the third period.
He then looked over to see his young son holding his head and bleeding.
“I just went into panic mode picked him up and ran up the stairs,” he explained.
AJ’s mom, Cindy, said she didn’t realize what happened until Steven was running up the stairs and a man sitting behind them handed her the puck.
“I looked at him and he looked at me and just offered the puck to me and I took it, of course,” she smiled.
Oilers player, Jeff Petry, was the one who shot the puck and said he didn’t realize what happened at first.
“It got tipped and just went over the glass. I didn’t see where it hit or where it landed.”
Staff at the arena helped clean AJ up and the family then headed to the Stollery hospital, much to the dismay of the young boy who wanted to see the rest of the game.
“He was asking, while he was on the table getting cleaned up, if the Oilers had won,” Steven explained.
“The crying stopped by the time he got to the table,” he added.
“I was pretty impressed. He’s tougher than I am.”
Petry got the chance to meet AJ when their paths crossed at the airport the next day.
The Yanciws were waiting for a flight to the U.S. when they saw the team.
“He was still holding the puck and he said he was really proud of it,” Petry smiled.
The Yanciws say the incident won’t ruin the sport for them but they might think twice when they pick their seats.
“We’ll probably sit up higher at the next game,” Steven laughed.
With files from Jeff Harrington
