Nick Cousins was knocked unconscious by Jakob Chychrun late in the third period at the Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday, lay motionless on the ice, and had to be helped down the tunnel. Travis Green confirmed the following day that the Ottawa Senators forward will miss seven to ten days.
Before any of that was announced, Cousins found the strength to do one thing.
He unfollowed Chychrun on Instagram.
The move was picked up by the NHL Follow Tracker account on X, and supporters found it considerably funnier than anything else about the evening.
“Well, at least we know Nick is alive,” one wrote. “Funniest proof of life ever,” said another.
“This is friggin’ hilarious. I just picture him sitting in a hospital bed with his phone in his hand,” a third offered, while somebody else worried about the medical side: “Dude should not be looking at screens right now.”
Cousins and Chychrun:
| Seasons as teammates | Club | Cousins’ ice time Tuesday | Expected absence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Arizona | 12:12 | 7-10 days |
Were Nick Cousins and Jakob Chychrun teammates?
This wasn’t a stranger in a different uniform whose account he happened to follow. The two of them shared a dressing room in Arizona from 2017 to 2019, which is what gives the gesture its edge.
The hockey side has gone entirely Chychrun’s way. Officials initially gave him a five-minute major, believing he had hit Cousins in the head, then rescinded it after review and left him with no penalty at all. Emily Kaplan reported that the Department of Player Safety viewed the check as completely legal and will not impose supplementary discipline.
Green disagreed on Tuesday night, calling it a headshot on a player who wasn’t ready for it, and said he was surprised a major could become nothing at all.
By Wednesday his tone had settled.
Cousins was briefly knocked unconscious, Green said, and is doing as well as can be expected.
He is 33, played 12:12 across 19 shifts before the hit, and has spent most of a 12-year career as the sort of agitator who hands this kind of thing out rather than receives it.
Washington won 3-2 in overtime through Cole Hutson.
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