Mike Robitaille is a picture of health on television commercials that air daily on local

stations.

He advises men where to get treated for prostate issues, explains where to get dental

implants and tells customers what cheese to buy. But those commercials were filmed some time

before the Buffalo Sabres studio analyst was seriously injured Feb. 3.

On his way to a Sabres game, he had stopped at a light on Oak Street when a a car behind

him rammed his BMW, which hit the car in front of him, Robitaille said. Almost instantly, he

knew he was in trouble.

&#8220I couldn&#8217t move my arms; I couldn&#8217t move my legs,&#8221 he said. &#8220My

nose was itchy, I couldn&#8217t scratch my nose. I couldn&#8217t get my cell phone. I

couldn&#8217t do anything. ... I knew it was spinal. My arms and legs &#8212 there was

nothing there.&#8221

Some feeling returned later that night, but so did pain and fears. Five weeks later, after

Dr. Kevin Gibbons &#8212 the same neurosurgeon who treated Bills tight end Kevin Everett

&#8212 attached his vertebrae to a metal rod, Robitaille walks slowly with a cane, wears a

neck brace and is on painkillers.

The Sabres&#8217 suggestion after the crash that he would return to analyze hockey games

after the Olympics seems extremely optimistic. They described it as a &#8220minor chain

reaction&#8221 accident.

&#8220It might be minor to them; it didn&#8217t seem minor to me,&#8221 Robitaille laughed

as he sat in a chair alongside Isabel, his wife of 40 years, in her Williamsville real estate

office.

He hasn&#8217t lost his sense of humor or his sense of optimism.

&#8220I think I&#8217m damn lucky,&#8221 Robitaille said. &#8220I feel like the luckiest

guy in the world. My cord was so tight to the spinal canal that [the doctor] couldn&#8217t

make his fingers small enough to show how much working room he had. If that bone would have

been shoved any harder against the cord ... &#8221

He didn&#8217t have to finish the sentence. He knows that he could have been paralyzed.

&#8220Oh, easily,&#8221 he said. &#8220I could be left with some [problems] as it is. I

don&#8217t know how much I am going to get back. I can&#8217t even take a shower.&#8221

For the Robitailles, the accident was deja vu all over again. His National Hockey League

career ended in 1977 when he broke his neck while playing injured for the Vancouver Canucks.

&#8220This brought back memories that we had pushed behind us,&#8221 Isabel Robitaille said.

&#8220They came back like a tsunami. It brought me back to when he left the [Vancouver]

dressing room 33 years ago.&#8221

After the car crash, Robitaille immediately thought of the surgeon who had operated on

former Bills tight end Kevin Everett after he suffered a spinal injury on the field.

&#8220I see [Dr. Kevin J.] Gibbons at the games every now and then,&#8221 Robitaille said.

&#8220I couldn&#8217t remember his name to save my life.&#8221

And in this case, his life needed saving. The night of the accident, Robitaille was sent

home after an X-ray and a CT scan revealed no fractures.

&#8220It was the worst night of my life,&#8221 he said. He was in excruciating pain and

spent most of the night on the couch or the floor to relieve the pain.

Concerned that her husband was experiencing neurological symptoms similar to the ones that

followed the neck fracture in the higher cervical area that had ended his hockey career,

Isabel called Gibbons&#8217 office.

By then, Robitaille, too, recalled the doctor&#8217s name. &#8220It was like a neon sign:

&#8216Kevin Gibbons, Kevin Gibbons, Kevin Gibbons,&#8217&#8221 he said.

A week later, Gibbons aligned several vertebrae with titanium rods and 10 screws.

&#8220They said because he is so muscular that really protected him from a more severe

injury,&#8221 Isabel Robitaille said.

The road back for Robitaille involved six days &#8212 including his 62nd birthday &#8212 in

intensive care at a local hospital. After a day home when the pain was too much, Robitaille

spent 10 days in DeGraff Memorial Hospital.

He was at DeGraff on the 43rd anniversary of his meeting Isabel in a cafeteria at a

Kitchener, Ont., hospital where she worked.

&#8220I came in with a broken ankle,&#8221 Robitaille cracked. &#8220Most guys usually use a

bar. In my case, I liked picking girls up in hospitals.&#8221

He&#8217s been home two weeks and has therapy three days a week. But he isn&#8217t himself

yet. Robitaille apologized because he has to pick up a cup of coffee with the sides of his two

hands because it&#8217s too painful to do it the normal way. His wife explained that the nerve

endings are so sensitive that Robitaille has trouble touching anything without hurting.

He misses his work on the Sabres broadcasts.

&#8220I watch the games; I see things; and there are things I want to say. I miss hanging

out with my guys. I love my work. It&#8217s a joke I even get paid. I&#8217ve done this for

almost 30 years. It&#8217s stealing money.&#8221

Before he can get back on MSG, the Madison Square Garden sports network, he has to learn

how to walk normally and to get off the painkillers, which may cause him to say things that

don&#8217t make sense.

He also can&#8217t return too soon because people would likely show their love by slapping

him or pushing him.

&#8220My hands are too sensitive to shake hands,&#8221 he added.

His wife said he is making daily progress, and Robitaille said he is where he should be at

this point. But he wants to be someplace else April 6.

&#8220If I&#8217m going to set [a goal], it would be good to do that final home game before

they go into the playoffs,&#8221 Robitaille said. &#8220Do one game and get my feet underneath

me for the playoffs.&#8221

But he will leave that call to the doctor. &#8220I&#8217ll guarantee you one thing: No one

is going to tell me when to go back other than Kevin Gibbons. The last time [in Vancouver] I

listened to some other people, it didn&#8217t work out very good.&#8221

He has felt the fans&#8217 love from as far away as Europe and California, receiving

prayers, get-well messages, Mass cards, flowers, gifts from fans and representatives of other

NHL teams. People he hasn&#8217t met have offered him their vacation homes to recuperate.

&#8220It is so humbling,&#8221 Robitaille said. &#8220I didn&#8217t know that many people

cared. I want to thank them for their generosity and thinking of me.&#8221