Flyers prospect Eric Wellwood injures leg with his skate

FLYERS PROSPECT Eric Wellwood was gravely injured Sunday when he was accidentally cut in the lower right leg by his own left skate blade in a minor league game with the Phantoms in Bridgeport, Conn.

Wellwood, 23, has played 31 games for the Flyers over the past three seasons. He was transported to a Connecticut hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery to stop the bleeding and close the wound.

Wellwood was bleeding so profusely that the Phantoms' trainer, Greg Lowden, escorted him across the ice and to the locker room while the puck was still in play. A Phantoms goal was actually disallowed because of the trainer on the ice. Teammate Danny Syvret (@DannySyvret) tweeted a gruesome photo of Wellwood's bloodied skate after the game.

Wellwood was being transferred Monday to a Philadelphia-area hospital, where a team doctor will make structural repairs to torn tendons and ligaments, which reportedly includes his Achilles'.

Phantoms coach Terry Murray credited Lowden and Bridgeport's team doctor for assisting Wellwood. There was a hushed tone in the Flyers' locker room on Monday discussing the injury, with some players saying Wellwood was within minutes of dying because of blood loss. His injury sparked a renewed interest in Kevlar-reinforced, cut-proof socks.

-Frank Seravalli