The Fleming Curse Is Real - New Jersey Devils Star Forward Jack Hughes Injured Himself At A Team Dinner... With Frank The Tank

Frank was right. He's always right. To be fair, his bar for his teams is typically winning a championship. So at all times he's got about a 96% chance of being right in the end. And I'm not sure he specifically predicted that New Jersey Devils leading scorer, Jack Hughes, would slice his hand open at team dinner... a team dinner with Frank in attendance... but I feel like this still falls in the "Frank Was Right" category. 

But it certainly falls in the Fleming Curse category. The Fleming curse is real. Ever since Seamus Fleming bought a potato farm the DAY before the potato famine (my favorite all-time Frank story... his great great great something moved to Ireland, bought a potato farm then BAM... famine), the Fleming Curse has been wreaking havoc across the world. 

The Devils are doing so damn well too. We're 17 games into the season, and they're on top of the Eastern Conference. On Wednesday night vs the Blackhawks, with Frank in the building, even Frank's arch nemesis (or at least one of many), New Jersey's 2nd overall pick from 2019, Simon Nemec, who's been a frustrating watch for Devils' fans, broke out for a hat trick and single-handedly brought the Devils' back from behind to beat the Blackhawks in OT. Right in Franks face. Everything had been coming up Devils. 

Everything had been coming up Frank too. It's his 50th birthday this week. He's the healthiest he's been in his life. He's walking with a brand new legendary sports figure every week. He got to meet the New Jersey Devils. And Jack Hughes chops his hand clean off with a steak knife. 

Now I must say, because it's my duty to report to facts, I do not believe Frank was in attendance at the time of the injury. According to my inside source at Fleming Enterprises, he was no longer at the dinner when it happened. So Jack Hughes injury was not the result of a game of knife toss with Frank The Tank

But as a firm believer in the power of the butterfly effect, I can't help but think that injury doesn't happen if Frank never shows up in the first place. Had Frank not been there at the beginning, the Devils never gather around for that picture, the conversation shifts, which causes people to move differently, and Jack Hughes hand probably never ends up on the wrong side of that blade. 

But for the record, Jack Hughes did not actually "chop his hand clean off". I should probably clarify what we actually know about the injury. 

Assuming Jack Hughes still has movement in all his fingers… and still has 5 fingers on each hand… a cut hand will heal. It's a bitch to deal with. But it shouldn't be a long-term nagging injury. It could have been worse. At least Frank didn't slice his hamstring. Or accidentally stab him in the eye. At least the restaurant didn't let Frank behind the grill for his birthday, and serve Jack Hughes one of his steaks. There might be no coming back from that. 

The Fleming Curse. There's something to it. Of all the silly bad gambling luck and accusations of jinxes that get thrown around at Barstool… The Fleming Curse might be the thing that's actually real.