For non hockey fans, Travis was a college hockey player who broke his neck after going headfirst into the boards. (On his 1st shift as a Freshman!)
I’ve seen some really scary things at NHL games but never a broken neck sort of thing like Roy. Among the scary things I remember, Paul Ranheim breaking his ankle and seeing his foot pointing backwards. Todd Elik taking a slapshot to the forehead and the resulting pool of blood when he landed face first on the ice. Normand Leveille had a aneurysm during a game, many people thought it was due to a head injury. But the scariest thing that I know of in an NHL game was Clint Malarchuk getting his neck nicked by a skate blade.
FTR, a kid I went to high school with was injured in a similar accident to Travis Roy.
IIRC, Gordie Howe’s career nearly ended due to a head injury in his rookie year. Of course, that’s not the same as Travis Roy but it easily could have been.
Bill Masterson died when he fell and hit his head on the ice – after that, players started wearing helmets, although it wasn’t manditory yet.
It wasn’t just “nicked” – he had his jugular slashed wide open. He literally came within an 8th of an inch of dying.