All Positive Vibes Go Out To Mirco Mueller, Who Has Feeling In His Extremities After Being Left Lifeless By A Scary Crash Into The End Boards

#FEBRUARY27 #CGYvsNJD 3rd period
Here was the Mueller incident pic.twitter.com/6tAam9ebAx

— Kotkaniminti (@HabsCorner) February 28, 2019

#FEBRUARY27 #CGYvsNJD 3rd period
Mirco Mueller gave the crowd a thumbs up as he was being stretchered off pic.twitter.com/LUvyGMLcPV

— Kotkaniminti (@HabsCorner) February 28, 2019

#NJDevils Mirco Mueller went hard, head first into the boards.

Medical staff rushed to the ice, team doctor was out there, as were the Calgary Flames team trainers.

Mueller was stabilized and taken off on a stretcher where he gave a thumbs up to the crowd as it exited the ice

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) February 28, 2019

⚠️ INJURY UPDATE: #NJDevils Mirco Mueller had full feeling and movement in his extremities.

He was alert, oriented and conscious.

He has been taken to University Hospital for further evaluation.

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) February 28, 2019

#NJDevils defenseman Mirco Mueller has been released from University Hospital, Newark. Should learn more tomorrow ...

— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) February 28, 2019

It's probably a bit premature to say crisis entirely averted, as we should learn the full scope of the damage done to Mirco Mueller by the awkwardly incidental collision that sent him sprawling head first into the end boards before speaking so cavalierly of it. 

That being said, with how temporarily terrifying it was to see him laying face first on the ice without a sign of life in sight, the thought of him being able to move, speak, think, and respond even prior to being taken to the hospital of which he's since been released is endlessly encouraging. Any time the stretcher makes that quick of an appearance it's a very bad sign, so - especially relative to the alternative - all the news that's come out since he was wheeled off the ice with his thumb held high has been very good. The diagnoses following incidents that remind everyone of the undeniable and potentially life-altering dangers of sports as fast and physical as hockey typically aren't as forgiving, so I'll gladly accept that apologetic outcome from real life for interrupting the insignificance of sport with its damn ramifications.

Never mind Mirco Mueller the player, because Mirco Mueller the person is alive and apparently well enough to return to his own home, which is by far the most impactful win of the Devils' season. Hopefully they can rack up another one by returning him to ice in a much more flattering fashion, but that's a much less important battle to be fought another day. 

pic.twitter.com/yXCfwuh0NT

— Mirco Mueller (@muellermirco) February 28, 2019

Random tangent:  I'm aware that I am only speaking to the few, the loud, the morons that probably seemed to be attending in higher numbers than they actually were due to the silence of the rest of the building, but the time to berate officials is not when they are looking helplessly down at a potentially paralyzed player. I know it's a craaaaazy concept that accidents happen when professional athletes fly around on skates banging bodies with one another, but not every fall is the result of penalty. Hell, even if that were the case, being worried about the game (especially one as meaningless as...well...the rest of the Devils season) while one of your team's players looks like he's about to be lined in chalk is borderline sociopathic behavior. I know the thing that stupid fans in every city lack the most is self awareness, but if everyone around you is completely silent then do right by your poor parents by taking a hint and shutting the fuck up.