Two years after career-ending eye injury, Carl Hagelin is still healing on the inside

Gearing up for the playoffs in one moment – the end of a celebrated career in the next.

Sometimes life changes drastically in an instant.

For Carl Hagelin, it did just that in March of 2022. 

The two-time Stanley Cup champion suffered a devastating eye injury during a practice with the Washington Capitals, reminiscent of what happened to former first overall pick Bryan Berard when he got high-sticked by Marian Hossa in March of 2000.

”It was someone on the team who fell and swung the stick almost like a baseball swing,” Hagelin recalls. ”It hit me directly in the eye. Not on the bone above or below the eye, as one might sometimes be lucky enough to have happen.

Everything in the eye burst. The doctors had to sew the eye together with 30 stitches, including the pupil and lens. I was still fortunate that if the eye had been a bit worse than it was, it would have burst completely, and they would have had to replace it, which the doctors initially feared.”

Hagelin had played a key role in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Stanley Cup runs 2016 and 2017 as a valued member off the HBK line with Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel. But now, after 700+ games in the NHL, he had to come to terms with a new future. Without hockey.

”The doctor and I agreed that I wouldn’t be able to continue playing,” he says, trying to keep a positive attitude in the midst of it all. ”The most important thing, now that we’re sitting here talking, is that I can keep my real eye. I always try to see the positive side, and there’s a huge difference when something like this happens when you’re 33 or 34 years old compared to if you were 23.”

Hagelin needs sunglasses more often than not in order to handle the challenges the injury has resulted in.

”Today, I have a black spot in the middle of my eye, and then I see blurry around it”, he says. ”My right eye takes over and does the job. When it’s very bright, it bothers me a lot.

”Many times, I should probably wear sunglasses indoors. If I’m watching a game, it’s very bright inside the rinks, so I should at least have some darkened glasses.”

Saying goodbye to his hockey career was hard, but he feels he has some distance from everything now, more than two years removed from the incident.

”It was tough, but at the same time, I thought back on everything I had done, all the injuries I had had, so there wasn’t much more to say about that decision,” he states. ”However, the two days when everyone reached out (after the decision was made public) were tough. Nice, but emotional.”

Hockey still plays a huge role in Carl Hagelin’s life. Since last year, he’s been a part of the Minnesota Wild organization, working with player development and scouting.

”Other than that, I’m trying to take care of the family and be the best father I can be by driving the kids to different activities,” he laughs. ”I live a calm life and I’m happy with that.” 

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This story appeared on hockeysverige.se this week and has been translated from Swedish to English.