Capitals player loses piece of his ear after blocking shot with head

Washington Capitals forward Daniel Winnik left it all on the ice on Thursday night, and by "it all" I mean a small piece of his ear, of course.

During Thursday's Capitals-Panthers contest in Florida, Winnik dropped to the ice to block a shot from Reilly Smith during a late third period power play. The puck struck him on the side of the head in what was a pretty frightening sequence.

Winnik appeared to be a little shaken up and headed to the locker room. He came back a few minutes later and it appeared that he was none the worse for wear, although that assumption was incorrect. After the game, Capitals coach Barry Trotz revealed that Winnik had lost a small piece of his right ear on the play.

That is quite gross and unfortunate for Winnik, although it certainly could have been much worse. Plus, there's always this: