Former Maple Leafs Forward Reportedly Involved in a Shocking Car Accident
In a striking bit of news today in the hockey world, former Maple Leafs forward and current Penguin Michael Bunting was involved in a car accident.
Often you hear stories of players missing games due to injuries, or illness, or perhaps they are just a healthy scratch for the night. It's not too often you hear stories of injuries outside of the rink, as NHL players try to live as safely as possible knowing they give it all every night they touch the ice.
So it was a shocking and unfortunate bit of news for the Pittsburgh Penguins and for all of hockey as forward Michael Bunting found himself on the wrong end of a pretty wild incident.
According to sources, the Penguins forward was involved in a car accident outside of PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Although he was not seriously injured in the aftermath, it's still a startling bit of news.
Per head coach Mike Sullivan, Bunting will be unavailable for the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and while he could just be shaken up from the whole ordeal, the team is not going to take any chances, nor should they.
Michael Bunting's Accident A Mystery But Luckily He Escaped Unharmed
According to a report from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who was on the scene, the accident occurred at the intersection of Washington Place and Center Avenue, which is across the street from the arena.
It was a multiple car collision and it is unknown what exactly led to the cause of the incident. Head coach Mike Sullivan expanded a bit on the situation as well:
President of Hockey Operations and former Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas also surveyed the area after the collision meanwhile authorities were on the scene but thankfully there were no ambulances indicating that no one was seriously injured.
Bunting was later seen in the arena and didn't look worse for wear, so his removal from the game is more than likely precautionary and to give him time to mentally recover.
This season for the Penguins, Bunting has 13 goals and 12 assists in what could be considered a down year for the forward.
He played for the Maple Leafs from 2021-2023 and scored 44 goals and 63 assists in 161 games for the team before signing as a free agent with Carolina. He was then traded as part of the Jake Guentzel blockbuster.
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