Former Minnesota Wild player Stephane Veilleux suffered serious injuries in a traffic crash in Edina and remained hospitalized Monday in the Twin Cities.
The two-vehicle collision occurred Wednesday, according to an online fundraising campaign started in an effort to help the 42-year-old with expenses related to the crash.
Veilleux continues to recover at HCMC and was in satisfactory condition as of late Monday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Police confirmed Monday afternoon that Veilleux was one of the drivers involved in the crash near Braemar Arena, but they offered no further details other than he was ticketed for allegedly driving while his license was revoked. He was ticketed elsewhere in Edina one day earlier on the same offense, according to court records.
The online fundraiser's organizer, Greg Hoffmann, posted that the collision at first "didn't seem like much more than a typical fender bender, but it quickly escalated when Steph began to have severe pain in his neck and was taken to HCMC."
Hoffmann said medical personnel found that Veilleux fractured a vertebra. Hoffmann said Veilleux was put in a halo vest to immobilize his spine. He is expected to wear the vest for the next three months.
The Wild drafted Veilleux in 2001, and the forward played most of his 506-game NHL career with Minnesota until his retirement after the 2014-15 season.
After his playing days ended, the Quebec native remained in the Twin Cities and is active in hockey as an off-season youth trainer and through the Little Wild program, which does community outreach for the NHL franchise.
