He barreled his way down the tunnel and burst through the doors that led to the Oilers dressing room at Rexall Place, right hand clutched to his mouth and blood pouring from his face - though he didn't feel much. The adrenaline coursing through his body took care of much of the immediate pain.
"There was never any doubt in my mind that I was going back out there."
Former Oilers forward Ryan Smyth was always a believer in leaving it all on the ice and, that particular night, he did just that. He left it all on the ice - including three of his bottom teeth and a fair amount of blood.
The refs scooped up the teeth and worked on getting the blood scraped off the ice while Smyth went off to be attended to by the team physician.
Not 10 minutes later, to the surprise of many, Smyth reappeared on the bench, but not without several stitches in his upper lip. He was back out on the ice minutes later.
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In Depth: Remember the Run
Revisit the Oilers memorable 2006 playoff run in this week's In Depth
