A hockey star who lives in Los Angeles has been left with injuries so bad he can no longer have sex with his wife, a lawsuit has claimed.
Ivan Zenchencko, 32, was a defender in a USA Hockey-sanctioned game on September 27, 2025, at the LA Kings Valley Ice center when a puck pierced his helmet, the documents say.
The protective gear, a Bauer Re-Akt 55, cracked open sending the disc “penetrating to his head,” which left the Russian-born athlete spurting blood across the rink, the suit continues.
Video obtained by the California Post showed the crowd screaming in horror when the star stood up and the extent of his injuries became claim.
Zenchenko, who made the Russian 2026 Olympic team, was rushed to Valley Presbyterian hospital and treated for lacerations and hematoma, the suit says.
He suffered immediate memory loss and coordination of eyesight and has never been on the ice again, according to the lawsuit.
Zenchenko’s wife Sofia Zenchenko is also named as a plaintiff in the documents and says she’s suffered “loss of conjugal fellowship, sexual relations, and companionship” due to his injuries.
“To date he cannot regularly function”, the papers say. Zenchenko’s lawyer Paul Sigelman told The Post: “There are some intimacy problems. They don’t have the same sex life, Ivan is completely disabled.
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The lawyer, who once represented Hollywood icon Milton Berle, added: “That’s a recognized matter in California that if you lose a sexual partner, that’s her loss and she has a right to sue for that.”
The glamorous couple is asking for a “not yet fully ascertained” amount for their suffering, but Sigelman said “it’s a multi-million dollar loss.”
The lawsuit names defendants Bauer Hockey, along with the Pure Hockey store in Anaheim, Caifornia. where Zenchenko bought the helmet on July 3, 2025, the lawsuit says.
The suit reads: “It was selected and recommended by Pure Hockey for Zenchenko’s competition use on the ice. The manufacturing defect and/or the defective design was sold without warning.”
It continues: “It is believed, and theron alleged the helmet differs from manufacturing specifications and design from other typical units of the Bauer Hockey helmet product line.”
Zenchenko has been unable to work at the exotic car rebuild company where he was employed and has suffered fright, shock, physiological impairment and traumatic brain injury, according to the suit.
Sigelman said: “He’ll be working on a car and he’ll take this piece off for whatever, and a moment later go to put it back and he has no memory of where it came from.”
Sofia has picked up work as a house keeper and is solely supporting the couple, who only speak Russian, according to Sigelman.
They have lived modestly in the San Fernando Valley after arriving in Los Angeles less than two years ago, Sigelman said.
He added: “He’s a very sweet guy. He wants to play hockey again. It was his whole life. His whole life was hockey.”
The Post reached out to Bauer Hockey and Pure Hockey for comment.
