MIKE HOFFMAN:

Sitting on my computer with my right thumb and part of my hand covered in a big bandage. Got two pins put in to hold the bone in place yesterday afternoon. Still looking to be 6-8 weeks out. I have the utmost respect for anyone that has either lost there dominant hands thumb or broken it. You never realize the amount of stuff you do with your thumb until after the fact. Among the obvious there are things you don’t notice such as turning keys to get your car going, changing the channel, brushing your teeth, shaving, cooking and my biggest loss, not being able to play video games. I can still reach my finger tips out of the cast to type which is nice but no space bar.

So last week me Salcido and Carter thought we’d jump start our acting careers by staring in a Costa Vita commercial (best burritos I’ve ever had). I was all excited because I never thought I was one to be camera shy. Well I now think my acting career is in shambles because of three words: MANGO CHICKEN SALAD.

You’d think it be so easy to memorize and act, but first take I said chicken mango salad, second take I said mango chicken burrito. Then I completely just said chicken salad the third. I must say it was a lot of fun and Costa Vita was great to us, but my dreams of being the next Superman are quickly fading. So my next gig I’m going to see if there is any hope in radio, everyone keeps telling me I have a great face for radio.

Well, my thumb is starting to throb, but I will leave you with a few thoughts and my play-by-play of breaking my thumb. (Before I go I have a few questions to ponder for next time. Can major league baseball block all those Hall of Fame guys from getting inducted? Will the pats stay perfect this weekend? Will the Ducks make another big trade?)

THE BREAK
I hear the whistle blow and do slow glide back to the bench, then I see Fergie pushing and arguing with another guy on the River Rats. So I decide to skate over and give a good bump to the guy, he gets off balance a bit looks up at me and I see him shaking the gloves off. Another Tillie (name I use to say fight) here we go, I shake mine off and throw a few big rights a couple hit his helmet a couple hit his shield, as we wrestle around a bit I get his helmet off and throw an overhand bomb … as I throw he ducks and SNAP goes my right thumb on the top of his head. At that point I either thought I broke it or dislocated it, but the fight is still going on I throw about three or four more in a flurry. I get him strung out and look down at my thumb which is facing away from my hand. As I’m looking I see a fist go flying by. I couldn’t bail out of the fight strictly because of pride and he was my old teammate in Cleveland who I know is scared of me. So I throw four or five more and finally it’s broken up at this point I look down at my thumb again and notice it’s facing the other way at my index finger. I guess the only humor would be when I was skating to the bench holding my thumb in the air for Rick (our trainer) to see, everyone thought I was giving the thumbs up to the away crowd for winning the fight I still get heat from a few of the boys because of that. So back to the trainers room I go, and Rick grabs a towel grabs my thumb and pulls it as hard as he can backwards and moves it over a bit to put it back into place as I’m biting his shoulder as hard as I can. Five doctors visits later and two pins I’m sitting at home watching the scores to the AHL games.

– Hoff

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