becoming only the second Canadiens player this season to notch

Two days before he would go on to win the lightweight gold in the boxing Nationals, Shiva Thapa lay face up in the boxers dressing room at Guwahatis Sarusajai Stadium. A crowd of worried faces peered down at the 22-year-old boxer. They were looking at the vicious gash that snaked from the inside corner of his right eye all the way to the middle of his forehead. They were all arguing about the best way to treat it and whether it was possible at all, says the two-time Olympian.Treatment would eventually be possible -- through a miracle ointment, Dermabond, generally used to stop hemorrhaging during surgeries.For Shivas team in Guwahati, the deep cut was a serious problem at hand. Ever since a ruling from the international boxing federation (AIBA) in 2013 that discontinued the usage of a protective headgear in amateur boxing, boxers have feared bleeding after catching a stray elbow or head-butt. Referees stop bouts if they feel a facial cut could hinder the boxer. Even if they permit the bout to continue, the boxer has to appear in front of a medical examination before the start of the next days competition.More often than not, a boxer with a cut as severe as Thapas would have been ruled unfit. Ive never seen a boxer with a cut as bad as his recover in time for his next bout, says Dr. Nirmolak Singh, former team doctor with the Indian boxing team.There are limited means to treat such an injury. A cold compress will usually stop the swelling and adrenaline will usually staunch the bleeding but the gaping cut would still remain. Normally, the most obvious treatment of is to stitch the frayed bits of skin together -- that would pave way for disqualification under immediate grounds during the medical examination.In many incidents, boxers have had their tournaments cut short owing to such injuries. In 2013, Devendro Singh took a gash to his brow during a selection trial ahead of the 2013 World Championships and subsequently failed to make the national team. Shiva himself took an elbow just above his right eyeline during the trials for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and was forced to skip the rest of the selection tournament. Only a week ago, Sumit Sangwan won his Haryana Championships, but was ruled out of the Nationals because of a cut sustained in the finals of the tournament.And so, the same was expected for Shiva here.He suffered the head-butt with about ten seconds to go to the bell in the second round of his quarterfinal contest. The immediate bleeding was stopped by the ringside doctor by pressing an adrenaline soaked piece of gauze by the ringside doctor. Perhaps considerate of the fact that Shiva was a local boxer and the star of the event, he let the bout continue - letting the medical commissioner take the call.After the final bell, Shiva was rushed out of the venue. Recalling the incident, physiotherapist Aalap Jawadekar, who works along with him for OGQ, says, ?Once a boxer gets a cut, its very demoralizing. Its almost certain that he wont be able to box again.The wound was deep - Jawadekar reckoned it would take at least five stitches to seal. It was then that he recalled how only the day before, Shivas coach KC Kutappa had mentioned an ointment he had heard of. A doctor in the USA had spoken to me about this ointment called Dermabond, says Kutappa. A former boxer-turned-coach, he was always on the lookout for medical ointments to cork blood flow and seal wounds. Boxers remember how he once glued together a heavyweights cut with medicine. Kutappa himself doesnt know what the product was. Given to him by a friendly doctor, the tube of the coagulant had Cyrillic script -- that went ?missing from Kutappas bag at the National camp soon after he first used it.With nothing left to lose, Jawadekar asked a member of the local medical staff whether he had heard of it. The staffer - a medical resident had, and directed them to a hospital. Dermabond, as it turns out, is an American branded tissue adhesive. So even while Shivas family and friends argued, the adhesive was applied.It wasnt cheap - two doses, each costing 3500 rupees - were used. The result though, was worth it. The two edges of torn skin stuck together convincingly enough for the medical examiner to give Shiva the all clear.While he did earn a reprieve from the doctor, Shiva had two opponents, neither of whom were going to give any favours, to deal with. His wound was held together only tenuously and both Shivas opponent did their best to open it up -- protected only by a thin film of barrier agent Cavilon -- once again with a punch.Despite boxing with almost no scope for error, Shiva ensured that any punch never connected his wound. Kutappa now believes the cut actually benefitted him. The cut was like a target for his opponents. Shiva knew that they were always going to target that spot. They forgot their strengths and just boxed negatively. They made things a lot more easier for Shiva, he says.If Shivas gold is credit to his boxing skills, its also validation of the techniques his team have used. While Cavilon has been used for a while in international boxing, Indians mostly prefer using Vaseline -- for its ease of application -- as an anti-friction agent. In Shivas case, though, Vaseline couldnt be applied owing to the use of the tissue adhesive. But if the spray worked well, the results given by the tissue adhesive were nothing short of revolutionary. It may have been a stop-gap measure.Indeed, Shiva will still have to get his wound sutured, but the Dermabond was workable enough to last through the competition.Its not something I would have ever predicted, says Jawadekar. He admits the fact that the use of the product in the sport was not planned. I would have expected the medical officials at boxing to be aware of this product considering that it is probably used fairly common abroad, but they werent. It was entirely an accident that we found out about it. But it is a good accident. Ive now found out that there are generic versions of Dermabond available as well. They probably cost a lot less. Next time our Indian team travels anywhere, Ill make sure to carry a few packs with me, he says. Wholesale Jerseys Authentic . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. 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MONTREAL -- While the Montreal Canadiens are dealing with a sudden rash of injuries, the Colorado Avalanche could be getting a key member of their lineup back when the two clubs square off on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog missed his teams past 10 games with a lower-body injury. On Friday, he was a full participant in Colorados practice at the Canadiens suburban practice facility and felt ready to return to game action.Everything is feeling good, he told the Avalanche website. Ive had some good practices and morning skates and some tests on where things have been going well, and Im feeling good.First-year head coach Jared Bednar said he should be able to play.Its been a disappointing early season for the Avalanche (10-14-1), whose 21 points not only rank last in the Central Division but also ties the Arizona Coyotes for fewest in the NHL overall.Colorado is hoping to build some momentum off their most recent outing, a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, which snapped a six-game slide. The road has been a bit kinder than the altitude of the Rockies this season. The Avalanche is 6-6-0 at the opposition compared to a 4-8-1 record on home ice.A big part of that has been Matt Duchenes apparent comfort in other teams buildings. Duchene scored his team-leading 10th goal in Thursdays win. Every one of his tallies has come on the road.I cant score at home, but were on the road, he told the Denver Post with a smirk. I dont know what it is.The Canadiens (18-6-3) are coming off a big win of their own, disposing of the New Jersey Deevils 5-2 despite losing three players to injury in less than a week.dddddddddddd.Without offensive centers Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais, and defenseman Greg Pateryn, the rest of the lineup picked up the slack to carry the team to victory. Torrey Mitchell scored twice, becoming only the second Canadiens player this season to notch a pair in a home game. He was one of four players to record a multi-point game, along with Phillip Danault, Andrew Shaw, and Brendan Gallagher.We want to show that were about more than two players, Mitchell said after the game. (Galchenyuk and Desharnais) are two important players for us that are injured but we have players that are capable of stepping up. We saw that (on Thursday night).While Montreals offense came together, its special teams could use some improvement. After allowing a power-play goal against the Devils, the Canadiens shorthanded unit has now yielded at least one power-play goal in six of their past nine games, and ranks in the bottom half of the NHL in penalty-killing percentage.While the power play is enjoying greater success than in years past and continues to rank among the top teams in the league, it hit a dry spell of late. The Canadiens connected just three times in 22 opportunities over their past seven games, and were held off entirely in five of those seven outings.Calvin Pickard will get the start for the Avalanche while Carey Price is expected to get the nod in net for Montreal. ' ' '