Colorado Avalanche defender Erik Johnson got absolutely leveled by a clean hit thrown by Arizona Coyotes habitual injurer of opponents center Martin Hanzal on Tuesday night.

As a result of that devastating contact Johnson reportedly has a head injury and possible concussion, which makes sense. Except he's also a game-time decision for Colorado's game on Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Admittedly it's tough to square those two facts...

You can watch the Hanzal hit for yourself here:

While Johnson reportedly may play on Wednesday, the Avalanche - who are only carrying six defenders at the moment - have hedged their bets by recalling 27-year-old farmhand Karl Stollery from the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League. Stollery has only two games of NHL experience.

It's interesting that the Avalanche didn't elect to recall Stefan Elliott instead, but perhaps the club figured that after Elliott's strong start to the season - the 23-year-old puck mover has 10 points in 16 games with Lake Erie - that he wouldn't clear waivers again on his way back to the farm.