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 right away 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.
However, on Tuesday, Tre Kronor announced that the NHL forward is out of the team. The 22-year-old understood early on that he wouldn't be playing in Stockholm.
Quite soon after I was at the hospital, he says.
According to journalist Sheng Peng, who follows San Jose Sharks, Eklund's agent stated that the forward has undergone surgery and will be out for three months, but the player doesn't want to comment on how it was handled.
I don't have a direct number on how many stitches it was, but it's an injury that happened in my hand and I don't want to go into it 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.
