“His Whole Face Is Just Butchered”: Joe Rogan Couldn’t Get Over NHL Legend’s Disastrous Injury in 2020

Terry Sawchuk was an NHL goalie, who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs among other teams. He is most synonymous with a recreated image of his torn and cut-up visage—a ghastly reminder of the rough-and-tough nature of the sport of ice hockey. Popular podcaster Joe Rogan was once taken aback by the photograph of Sawchuk. Here’s how he reacted to his injury-filled face.

In April 2020, actor Donnell Rawlings joined Joe Rogan on his popular podcast, to discuss ice hockey among other things. Rogan’s fascination with the injuries of some of the Hockey players captivated Rawlings. This is when they bring up Sawchuk’s photo on-screen. Their discussion on the subject follows.

The ghastly visage of goalie Terry Sawchuk terrified Rogan and Rawlings

In his podcast called the Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said to Rawlings, “It looks like he’s just been in a f***ing box-cutter fight. His whole face is just butchered,” describing Sawchuk’s recreated photograph. Rawlings, clearly shocked by the photograph, said, “that looks like one of them cosmetic surgery facilities in LA”, cracking a wise jock. Rogan and Rawlings tripped over his image for a while before moving on to the next topic. Their shocking expressions were similar to that of a deer in headlights.

When Rogan revealed that Sawchuk was a goalie before they invented masks, Rawlings basically yelled in surprise. Rawlings said, “Damn! He was just straight face,” enquiring to Rogan. Rogan replied, “They would just take it in the mug son.” The knowledge about Sawchuk playing without any face protection during those days, in addition to the genuine shock of horror on Rogan and Rawling’s faces, does make the photograph an even more gnarly and horrific one.

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Terry Sawchuk’s image showing various cuts and tear-ups on his face is actually a recreation of all of his injuries in his career. It shows the farthest extent of harm ice hockey players (NHL) like Wayne Gretzky suffered back in the day. Sawchuk played the sport before Goalie masks were even a thing. He basically withstood the blows of a puck, bare-faced.

Ice hockey still remains an injury-prone sport

Joe Rogan initially started the discussion about injuries in general that are associated with NHL players. He said, “A lot of Hockey players have no f***ing teeth,” to which Rawlings responded, “But that’s a badge of honor for Hockey players. They got enough…” The two were discussing the fact that NHL players make a lot of money and even a slew of injuries to their temple won’t slow them down.

It wasn’t until 1959 that a goaltender wore a mask full-time during a game. Sawchuk was already playing for a decade before that without any protective gear on. Around 400 stitches were there on his face, which was bashed over and over again over the course of his career.

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Hockey players still sustain several terrible injuries today, but thankfully due to the advancement of safety equipment, such ghastly face-altering injuries can be avoided for life.