Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella left practice in an ambulance Friday afternoon after being low-bridged by one of his players during a fan-attended outdoor morning skate.
The fiery 57-year-old crumpled to the ice when Rene Bourque, a 6-foot-2, 217-pound winger, took the legs out from under his bench boss. Tortorella sustained two broken ribs.
The incident occurred during a 3-on-3 drill early in Friday's session at Winter Park in McFerson Commons, across the road from Nationwide Arena.
"I hit a rut. There's big rut in the ice, a hole, and I went down," Bourque told NHL.