Taylor Hall ‘counting his lucky stars’

 the repairs to the nasty gash Taylor Hall's recevied in the warm up

 before the game against Columbus on Jan, 17, 2012.

Oilers star winger to miss second straight game after freak accident during warm-up

ST. LOUIS - If there’s any possible good to come of her son’s misfortune, it will be that Taylor Hall’s teammates and his NHL peers will wear their helmets before they skate out for their next pre-game warm-up.

Hall will definitely be wearing his when he suits up for the Edmonton Oilers.

“We’ve had that discussion. Yes, he will be wearing his helmet,” said Hall’s mother, Kim Strba, from the family home in Kingston, Ont.

Strba was at work on Tuesday when she got word that the Oilers star winger was sliced by a skate prior to the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Oilers contacted her immediately and kept her updated until Taylor was able to call.

Hall did not practice with the Oilers in St. Louis on Wednesday and he won’t play against the Blues on Thursday night.

But Strba said she talked to her son on Wednesday morning and not only were his spirits good, all things considered, he didn’t have any concussion-like symptoms from the blow.

What he did say was that when the freezing wore off, he was in considerable pain.

“I think he was thanking his lucky stars. He knows it could have been much worse,” Strba said. “I’ve seen the video a couple of times on TV. It wasn’t easy to watch.”

Hall had tumbled to the ice, colliding with defenceman Ladislav Smid in the warm-up at Nationwide Arena. The two slid to a halt in front of teammate Corey Potter, who clipped Hall with his skate as he tried to hurdle the pile.

The 20-year-old sophomore required 30 stitches to close a wound that stretched from his eyebrow to his scalp.

“I asked him if he was still good looking and he said, ‘Mom, I look like Frankenstein.’ Maybe it will send a message to everyone about how important it is to wear a helmet,” continued Strba. “Maybe it will be a wake-up call.

“Unfortunately, Taylor is going to be the one remembered for bringing about the change.”

Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini said his players were going to be advised to wear helmets but, like visors, it is not a league requirement.

Captain Shawn Horcoff acknowledged that had Hall had a helmet on, he wouldn’t have been cut the way he was. Still, he didn’t know how long it would take for players to embrace the kind of change — despite other incidents. He remembers veteran winger Ales Hemsky once took a puck in the face during a warm-up.

Forward Sam Gagner has always worn a lid and explains that he has just felt better with it on. Defenceman Theo Peckham hasn’t, although he said that will change.

“When you’re a kid and you go to games, you see the guys skating around without their helmets, then you get a chance to do it ... and you do because it’s a neat thing to do,” Peckham said.

“Having seen that with Taylor, it makes you reconsider, and we are putting in place that everybody has to wear helmets. It wasn’t easy to see that.”

Oilers head coach Tom Renney said players don’t always snap up chinstraps in practice either, let alone wear helmets in warm-up, which he would like to see change.

“This was a hell of a lesson for a lot of people to learn from,” Renney continued. “Hopefully everyone does.”