Ex-Oiler Jordan Eberle Gets Into a Tilt After The Hit That Broke Ex-Oiler Andrew Cogliano's neck

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Joshua Deeds
October 18, 2023 (7:00 PM)

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In his third fight in the NHL, Jordan Eberle fought Colorado Avalanche's Logan O'Connor.

After breaking Cogliano's neck with a destructive hit in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, Eberle would have to answer the bell. In the 1st round, the hit had occurred during Game 6 of the series.

Cogliano's head was hit into the boards face first, causing him to fracture two vertebrae in the C6 area of his neck.

The first time they met since the playoffs was a minute into the game, as O'Connor asked Eberle if he wanted to throwdown.

Before the fight was broken up, Eberle landed a few uppercuts while O'Connor landed a few jabs.

«In the third, I noticed now I definitely felt a little something on the right side there in the back of the beck. Thinking back on it, my neck was definitely in spasm in a way. It didn't hurt too bad. I was already dealing with a shoulder injury. So, maybe I had a lot of adrenaline and things helping me out that way.»
It wasn't until the following morning when Cogliano «had to peel myself off the bed. I knew something wasn't right.»

Eberle's previous two fights in his NHL career were while he was a member of the New York Islanders, against Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2018. He would then face Travis Konecny 14 months later, another Flyers forward.

Following the hit, Cogliano wondered if he should retire because life was difficult for him.

«You've got to think about things when injuries like that happen,» he said before talking about the fact he returned in that game six. «My personality is probably not the best in terms of really evaluating what's going on. But I didn't feel that bad, to be honest. We did all their (medical) testing and all the testing worked. Everything looked good, and I felt pretty good.

It was even worse because the two were Edmonton Oilers teammates in 2010-2011. During Cogliano's rookie season, he scored 18 goals and scored 43 points, leading to his trade for a 2013 2nd-round pick.

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