Ref takes skate kick to face in Euro Trophy final (Video)

Let’s go ahead and call this one a Christmas miracle.

In the European Trophy final between Finland’s JYP Jyväskylä and Färjestad BK of Sweden on Dec. 22, Färjestad forward Marius Holtet crashed the crease looking for a rebound and lost his balance while attempting to hurdle the goaltender.

In the process, his right foot came off the ice and kicked into the air … and right into the jaw of the referee who was watching the play:

We think the announcers said it best when they said “OY OY OY OY!!!!!”

Like we said: Christmas miracle. The referee – it was either Gordon Schukies or Tobias Wherli – suffered only a minor cut to his jaw, which was dressed at the bench. He was back on the ice after a brief delay in the game, which JYP won, 2-1.

Sorry, Santa, but no matter what you bring this guy this year it’s going to pale in comparison to not getting his neck ginzu’d by a skate blade.

s/t to the great Robert Soderlind, now doing his thing on Daily Motion.