Penguins Divisional Rival's Prospect Stretchered Off the Ice After Collision With the Boards

Despite being right next door to hockey powerhouses Sweden and Finland, Norway has never produced many professional hockey players.

The country has fallen behind countries like Latvia and Germany in terms of how many NHL players they have given us in recent years.

That being said, interest in the sport in the Scandinavian country has started to grow in recent years and we are starting to see more prospects come from there.

One of those prospects is a young man by the name of Ole Julian Bjørgvik Holm who was drafted by the Blue jackets in the 5th round of the 2020 draft.

The 6'3" left-shot defenseman has 6 points in 40 games for the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL this year after he put up 33 points in 57 games at the ECHL level last season.

There is no guarantee he will ever play in the NHL with numbers like that, but he was drafted as a stay-at-home, defensive defenseman, so the path is still there for him.

However, that path just got a bit harder as he was hit from behind today by Belleville Senators forward Hayden Hodgson, and had to be stretchered off the ice as a result.

The undrafted 28-year-old was given a major penalty for the hit as well as a game misconduct and potentially faces further disciplinary action from the AHL.

Hodgson has seven games of NHL experience, recording three points with the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2021-22 season.

Over the past two seasons he has developed into an enforcer, crossing the 100 penalty minute mark in each of those seasons.

This year he is on pace for a new career high in PIMs. Be sure to stay tuned over the next day or so to see whether or not he will be suspended for the hit.