William Eklund got his hand cut by an opponent's skate during the European Championship Hockey Tour match against the Czech Republic on Saturday.
It was an accident you don't really want to see in hockey, but it happened and it's sad, of course. I got many thoughts in my head directly and clearly I got scared, says William Eklund to the website Hockeysverige.
Away for three months?
National team captain Sam Hallam said in connection with the World Championship team presentation on Monday that he hoped Eklund would be able to participate in the World Championship.
But on Tuesday, Tre Kronor announced that the NHL forward is out of the team. The 22-year-old himself understood early on that it would not be possible to play in Stockholm.
Quite soon when I was at the hospital, he says.
According to journalist Sheng Peng, who follows San Jose Sharks, Eklund's agent has stated that the forward has been operated on and will be out for three months, but the player does not want to comment on how the injury has been handled.
I don't have on how many stitches it was, but it's an injury that has happened in the hand and that I don't want to go into too much.
"Could have been much worse"
Although he had high expectations for a home championship, Eklund believes he was lucky in his misfortune.
It was sad, but again it could have been much worse.
Sweden starts the World Championship against Slovakia at the Avicii arena on Friday.
