Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Voracek lucky to be alive following car accident in Czech Republic

Just what is it with the Flyers organization and the automobile?

For the second time in the last three offseasons, a member of the club has been involved in a serious car accident.

This time, it was Jakub Voracek, whose Ferrari was totaled this morning in a one-car crash in the Czech Republic. The picture above depicts the damage after Voracek's car struck the back of a truck.

“I spoke with Jake this morning. He was involved in a car accident in the Czech Republic. Although his car did suffer damage, there were no injuries. Jake is fine," said Flyers GM Paul Holmgren in a brief statement issued minutes ago.

The Courier Post later reported that the 23-year-old drew a fine for speeding.

Voracek's agent, Petr Svoboda told CSN Philly: "He got lucky. It's a learning experience ... Not a scratch on him." In the same story, the damage was estimated to be $150,000, or more than three million crowns.

Back in 2010, Danny Briere was involved in a late-night incident with a tractor trailer just outside of Binghamton, NY as he drove his children back to his home province of Quebec.

And of course, in November of 1985, Pelle Lindbergh suffered life-ending injuries when his Porsche struck a retaining wall outside a school in Somerdale, NJ.

Unlike Lindbergh's accident, there was no trace of alcohol involved in Voracek's incident.

In addition, back in the Spring of 1977, Rick MacLeish and Bob Dailey were involved in a single-vehicle accident when a van MacLeish was driving on a rain-slicked South Jersey road hydroplaned and flipped over onto its side.  MacLeish suffered a compression fracture in one of his vertebrae.

Voracek's brush with mortality with the pedal to the metal brings to mind something unrelated to Flyers lore, the unfortunate September, 2003 accident in a Northern section of Atlanta which saw Thrashers forward Dan Snyder killed in a one-car crash.

Snyder was a passenger in a sports car driven by teammate Dany Heatley, who was speeding on a section of road notorious for its curves. Heatley lost control of the vehicle -- also a Ferrari -- which skidded into a pillar and split in two with both men ejected. Snyder slipped into a coma and died six days later.

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