Playing On Through Injuries

Considering that one of the NHL’s issues with the Olympics is potential injury risks to players, they sure do an absolutely horrendous job at managing safety throughout the league. Back when the Mighty Pucks was just starting, there were a series of posts about toxic masculinity in particular I wrote about playing through injuries being seen as a sign of manliness. The more “manly” a player perceives himself to be, the less likely he is to seek psychological treatment following significant injury, and although there are many reasons for playing on – including to benefit the team – in my personal view, one of the biggest road blocks is peoples’ attitudes.

NHLers are expected to be tough, to suffer through broken bones, stitches, busted teeth etc. They’re tough guys. They battle every night. They’re warriors, etc, etc, etc. It’s boring. Hockey culture has normalised playing on through injury to the point that players in the NBA are laughed at for leaving the court with sprains. Consider this: These are professional athletes whose income depends on their body’s ability to perform. It would take a lot of courage for a hockey player to say “you know what, I’ve done something to my ankle, I’m taking a couple of games off to rest”. However, say there are around 82 games in the regular season, NHL players have little time to recover from their knocks and if they took the time to fully recover, there’d likely be nobody in the roster. It’s been said that they can only really get to grips and heal in the off season and just “put up” with all their injuries.

Thank goodness that the San Jose Sharks have been knocked out in round one of the playoffs because Joe Thornton has been playing with a torn ACL and MCL. What did head coach Peter DeBoer have to say?

“I’ve never seen a guy play with a torn MCL and ACL… It’s a courageous effort as I’ve ever seen.”

Courageous?! It’s utterly ridiculous! His knee was floating! The man has torn two major ligaments in his knee. How the hell is he still moving around? Thornton, who is 37, had a 50 point season for the Sharks, and even in his four playoff appearances notched up two assists, however this was his lowest season since 98/99. The veteran player is a free agent this summer, so perhaps he was keen to show that he was still a valuable player. He has since undergone surgery for the tears with no timeline of return announced which leaves his future up in the air. A fellow veteran and teammate, 37 year old Patrick Marleau, is also an unrestricted free agent this summer. Like Thornton, he was also nursing a broken thumb during the post-season which will have affected his ability to shoot the damn puck.

There must be something in the water over in San Jose because a THIRD player has also been playing in the playoffs with an injury. Tomas Hertl had around 19 minutes of time on the ice during the playoffs despite having a broken foot. Not to mention that Logan Couture took a puck to the face towards the end of the regular season and said that it hurt to breathe. His bottom teeth were being held together by wires and the top had a plastic coating to stop them falling out. A member of the Sharks’ dental team explained that due to the freak deflection to Couture’s face, it was akin to him being hit with a large hammer. Nonetheless, Couture was back for the playoffs wearing a cage – risking taking another knock to the face. It is likely that he’ll need a good number of those teeth removed this summer now he has the opportunity to recover.

“In my mind, I wish I could have played right after it happened”

Is any of this making you ask “what the hell is going on in the NHL?” because I certainly ask that on a daily basis.

Zach Werenski attempted to block a shot and deflected a tumblr_oomvpzixRe1w1rbzho1_500puck into his face but returned to the game in the third period… however due to extreme facial swelling he did not play in overtime and was ruled out of the remainder of the Blue Jackets postseason. He was allowed to play until his face swelled so much! That’s not right! Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators revealed that he’s been receiving injections in his heel because he’s skating on two hairline fractures. What’s scarier is that Karlsson leads in total time on ice during the playoffs with 182.23 minutes.

These aren’t just rare superhuman feats found in this year’s playoffs… Back in 2014, the Penguins favourite Finn, Olli Maatta took two weeks out of the season to have surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his thyroid. TWO WEEKS. Also in 2014, teammate Kris Letang, who was 26 at the time, suffered a stroke and took a lengthy six weeks out. Yeah, six whole weeks after suffering a stroke…

I understand that the majority of players in the playoffs are dealing with injuries and we only really find out the extent of them once the team is eliminated, but it is worrying how normal this is to them. Athletes have a very short “lifespan” as a pro and there’s a toss-up between sucking it up and continuing whilst hurt, risking further injury, or taking time away to actually heal and worry about coming back. To the owners of the league, the players are disposable. One of the biggest issues I have is that boys in general are taught from a very young age to be tough and not to cry when they’re hurt, and this seems to be a thousand times worse with hockey players. Granted, it’s a rough game, but there comes a point where toughness becomes a ridiculous rigid resilience where health is neglected and the players are congratulated for continuing to play with their limbs hanging off. Secondly, the NHL is terrible at enforcing safety throughout the league yet have the audacity to proclaim a big reason to not attend the Olympics is due to injury risk. For one thing, players rarely fight in the Olympics because they’re ejected from the game – and fighting increases your risk of injury without a doubt, yet still exists in the league. Then there is the lack of concussion prevention/support which is a huge issue in hockey, but the NHL is too busy lining their pockets than actually focussing on the player’s health.

The short version: Hockey players are applauded for suffering through injuries and continuing to play as a result of a toxic, normalised attitude, and the league is unlikely to do anything about this because players are replaceable cogs in the money making machine that is the National Hockey League.

RISE AND SHINE… IT’S PLAYOFF TIME!

The Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing which means hockey season is almost over. However, the race to sixteen wins is underway and the first round has already conjured up some expected and unexpected surprises.

For those unfamiliar with the NHL playoff format, after an arduous 82 game season (that’s per team – bit ridiculous, but if you’re a season ticket holder then at least you get your money’s worth) the top four teams in each division make it through to the play offs. The teams in the Western conference face off against each other, and same for the east then in the final, the champion of the West plays the champion of the East to be crowned the Stanley Cup Champion. Now, you need sixteen wins to lift that cup, four wins in each round – seems simple enough, but each round can go to a maximum of seven games which in theory means a team could have an additional 28 games in the post-season. When you consider pre-season starts up in September, these players give up almost their entire year to hockey.

Here’s how the first round is looking:

stanley.jpg  Toronto managed to sneak into the playoffs, so that city has already gone insane at the prospect of lifting a cup. However, Toronto is leading 2-1 against the Washington Capitals. The Caps are a juggernaut in the regular season, but seem to have a meltdown each year in the playoffs. Maybe one day Ovi will get his cup. What’s great about Toronto is that there are so many rookies on that team (Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Hyman, Kapanen, Brown, Zaitsev, Soshnikov, and Gauthier) who have a combined 112 goals, 283 points in the regular season. Even better is that if they got swept then a Chris Brown concert would have been played at the Verizon Center, however an over time win in game 2 forced a game five which will be played there and Chris Brown will be rescheduled, nice.

Last year no Canadian teams made the playoffs, this year Toronto and Edmonton make a long anticipated come back together with the Calgary Flames, the Ottawa Senators, and the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs are leading 2-1 against the New York Rangers, another of the Original Six teams, so these two heavyweights have had many match ups in their illustrious history. Another Original Six team, the Boston Bruins are currently losing 2-1 to the Sens. All’s well in Canada so far…

Head west to Alberta and Edmonton are leading 2-1 against the San Jose Sharks, last year’s runners up. The Flames are truly going up in flames. They’re facing the Anaheim Ducks who are currently leading 3-0 in the series; the Flames have not won in Anaheim in THIRTEEN YEARS. Yikes!

Another FANTASTIC result is that Nashville are leading 3-0 against the Blackhawks. In the first two games, elite goaltender Pekke Rinne recorded two shut outs and two assists. A goal tender had more points than the entire Blackhawks roster, amazing. Of course, the motto of the Chicago Blackhawks is “one goal” so many memes ensued. Not only are Nashville on the verge of sweeping Chicago, their captain’s wife, Carrie Underwood, sang the national anthem last night and was incredible.

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Elsewhere, reigning champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins are leading Columbus 3-0, and St Louis are leading 3-0 against the Minnesota Wild.

No matter what happens for the remainder of the post-season, we’re gonna see some really great hockey!

Bryan Bickell is Retiring at the End of the Season

The winger was drafted by the Blackhawks in 2004 and made his team debut  in 2007. During his tenure with the team, Bickell won Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013, and 2015. In the 2015 playoffs, Bickell experienced vertigo like symptoms that affected his performance then in the following season he played for the Blackhawks AHL affiliate, the Rockford Ice Hogs.

As part of a multiplayer trade, Bickell joined the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2016/2017 season, however he continued to experience health issues, including unexplained pain in shoulder and leg. In November, the player was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and placed on injured reserved. He has continued to receive treatment and began to train again with the Hurricanes AHL team, the Charlotte Checkers. On the 5th of April, Bickell made his first NHL appearance since November, but today (8th) has announced he will retire at the end of the season.

“I’ve made the decision with my family that I’m going to call it quits, so it’s just these last two games.

Away from the ice, Bryan has a wife and tumblr_oo3jlqX8011uc6ypfo1_500.jpgtwo daughters, and is the founder of the Bryan & Amanda Bickell Foundation, which rescues abused pitbulls, and uses them to help abused children. Today, Bickell and his family participated in a WalkMS event, and was surprised by his team-mates who also turned up.

We wish Bryan and his family all the best for the future and wish him well in his fight against MS.

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BREAKING NEWS: Bettman is an idiot

The NHL has announced that they will not be participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics. They’ve released this statement on the matter:

We have previously made clear that while the overwhelming majority of our clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting the 2017-18 NHL season for purposes of accommodating Olympic participation by some NHL players, we were open to hearing from any of the other parties who might have an interest in the issue (e.g., the IOC, the IIHF, the NHLPA, etc.) as to reasons the Board of Governors might be interested in re-evaluating their strongly held views on the subject. A number of months have now passed and no meaningful dialogue has materialized. Instead, the IOC has now expressed the position that the NHL’s participation in Beijing in 2022 is conditioned on our participation in South Korea in 2018. And the NHLPA has now publicly confirmed that it has no interest or intention of engaging in any discussion that might make Olympic participation more attractive to the clubs. As a result, and in an effort to create clarity among conflicting reports and erroneous speculation, this will confirm our intention to proceed with finalizing our 2017-18 regular season schedule without any break to accommodate the Olympic Winter Games. We now consider the matter officially closed.

It’s been met with staunch public outcry, and many players expressed their intention to participate in the games prior to this announcement. Jonathan Toews admitted that not allowing NHL players in the games  is “misrepresenting our sport on a pretty huge scale”. So far, Henrik Lundqvist is the most high profile player to release a statement since the announcement:

hank

For once, I agree with  ex-NHLer Brandon Prust

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Update on the USA Hockey saga… Nevertheless she persisted

As previously discussed, the women’s team took a stand against unfair, sexist treatment and announced they would boycott the upcoming World Championship in Michigan if the situation did not change. The ladies received overwhelming support from their male counterparts, other athletes, and sixteen US senators.

On Tuesday (28th March) the team agreed to a four year deal with USA hockey whereby players can earn more than $70,000 in a non-Olympic year and $100,000 in the Olympic year. This is a huge boost as previously the players were earning $6000 in the six months leading up to the Winter Olympics. More focus will also go towards the girl’s programs to increase participation, development, and support. This is also an important step as many senior players have been forced to play in leagues with boys growing up because opportunities for girls were – and still are – scarce.

It took a lot of strength. As USA hockey began to explore their options and tried to call up other players, these women showed solidarity with each other. Imagine being on the B team and the A team says they’re not playing then the coach calls and offers you the opportunity to play – although it may be the only chance you have, you refuse because taking a stand for the majority is more important. Powerful.

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#BeBoldForChange

Whilst Bettman keeps the NHL firmly grasped in one hand and his gold in the other, team USA is having the opposite problem with its women team. The women are boycotting the upcoming World Championship. Their decision arises as a result of unfair wages, lack of support from USA Hockey, and lack of funding into girls development.

With the tournament commencing on the 31st of March, C7txMc0VAAAMvC4.jpgUSA Hockey only has a few days left to rectify their mistakes and settle a deal with the team’s lawyers. The women have received support from the National Hockey League Players Association as well as the Major League Baseball Players Association in their efforts to secure improved conditions for their team and for the future of their sport. Many members of the US women’s national soccer team, who have also fought for a base salary from their respective federation, offered support too.

The athletes only receive wages from USA Hockey in the six months leading up to the Winter Olympics… These women receive $1000 dollars per month for only six months, yet are expected to train and play competitively for another three and a half years for free to meet an Olympic standard. It is absolutely ridiculous. The women are asking for a livable wage, and for more funding because $3.5million is invested into the boy’s development program, but there are no comparable programs for girls. Is the funding worth it? In terms of recent results, the women’s team has won the gold medal in six of the last eight World Championships; for the two years they did not win gold, the team took the silver medal instead. If you cannot understand what a fantastic achievement that is, the USA men’s team have won two bronze medals in the last ten years at the World Championships and THAT IS IT! Although it might be argued that the women are exceeding all expectations without that financial or developmental support, the point is both teams should be treated equally. (Or in my opinion, evaluate why the men’s team is so awful even WITH all that funding…).

Last year, the National Women’s Hockey League was launched – A PAID WOMEN’S LEAGUE WAS ONLY ESTABLISHED LAST YEAR!! – and in its second season, it is already floundering. The maximum salary for a player is $25,000 a year therefore many of these athletes have to work a second job. Although some receive money from sponsorship deals, these are the most popular/skilled players who are already earning the maximum salary. To add a little more perspective, due to the salary cap in the NHL, no player is allowed to earn more than $14.6million (excluding sponsorship, appearances, etc) and the minimum salary for a player is $550,000 a year. The lowest paid NHL player earns 22 times more than the highest paid NWHL player.

[USWNT hockey] is a full-time job and to not get paid is a financial burden and stress on the players, obviously,” Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson said. “That is the conversation my husband and I are having right now. Is playing going to be more stress than we can handle? Sadly it becomes a decision between chasing your dream or giving in to the reality of the financial burden.

The fact is these women have financial burdens placed upon because they must balance being a full time athlete with a very small salary, yet are still able to produce extraordinary results, whereas the men’s team receive far more funding and higher salaries in addition to their NHL salaries – and it is not fair.

Not only do they want a better wage, the women want to be able to fly business class, bring guests to competitions, receive disability insurance, and maternity leave – none of which are particularly outrageous demands, yet USA hockey have said it would cost far too much. The men’s team are allowed to bring a guest for World Championship games, the guest is allowed to stay in the player’s hotel room and their transport is paid for; they may stay for the duration of the championship, receive breakfast, game tickets, and merchandise. In contrast, the women have not been permitted guests in the past and have had to share a room with a teammate. The women fly in coach, and the men in business – but have the option to fly in economy with their guest on the return trip. And disability insurance is paid for by USA hockey for the men.

Why should these athletes dedicate their lives to an association that treats them like crap in comparison to their male counterparts? (Who – let’s be honest – under perform in every competition!)

An exhibition game against Finland has been cancelled and training camp has been postponed because there was no team to participate. Reports have emerged that USA Hockey has attempted to call up ex-collegiate players – who now play only at a recreational level – in the hopes of sending a team. However, many have declined to participate, preferring to side with their fellow women in the fight against inequality.

It’s a bit desperate by USA hockey. They’re going so far as to email every hockey player they can think of, or every player that was in the USA pool that they previously cut and told they were never going to reach out to again. And everyone I know is telling them “I support the national team”.

The tournament is being held on home ice, in Michigan, and if the USA has no team to represent them, it will – quite frankly – be an embarrassment.

Bettman vs the Olympics

What’s greater than representing your country in the Olympics? Skipping it and competing in the same league as per usual, according to NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman. Negotiations between the NHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) are fraught with tension. On the 21st March, the commissioner had this to say, in regards to the 2018 Winter Olympics:

Assume we are not going

We, being the NHL players who would be representing their countries in PyeongChang. The main issue is that because it falls in January/February, the NHL season must shut down for almost three weeks in the final push for the playoffs. The added weeks cause the season to lengthen… the final game of the Stanley Cup in 2014 was played on June 13th and the pre-season then began three months later on the 21st September. But it’s less than three weeks, once every four years… IT’S THE OLYMPICS. If they want to shorten the season then cut down on the number of games, collapse teams, remove the all-star game or the recently introduced bye week.

There is also a thinly veiled concern for “player injuries” – this is coming from a league that sparsely enforces its player safety, shows little consistency, displays favouritism, and has lawsuits against it from former players due to the effects of repeated concussions. I say their concern is not genuine because they do not show much concern for fourth liners, but because their star players are at the Olympics – the ones who draw in viewers and the cash – they worry about the size of their wallet.

This is terribly disruptive to our business

For big bosses like Bettman, hockey is just that, a business.

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Candid photo of Bettman guarding his gold

However, to players who have given their entire lives to this sport, the opportunity to represent their country on the biggest stage and win a gold medal means everything. IT IS THE DAMN OLYMPICS. Bettman is complaining about the costs involved in sending the players (around $15-20  million due to accommodation, charter costs, and insurance),but as the majority of these players are on contracts worth millions of dollars per year, I’m sure they’re capable of producing the money as individuals to have the chance to play for their country.

Take the Russian Machine, Alexander Ovechkin, for an example. He’s said that if the NHL refuses to send players then he doesn’t care and is going anyway. Ovi is the face of the Washington Capitals franchise and if he says “nope, I’m out” then others might follow suit. Caps owner, Ted Leonsis, has even given Ovi his blessing to go to the Olympics.

He knows I have his back on this one. If this is what’s so important to him and he wants to go to the Olympics, he should be able to do that. Alex has meant so much to us. He doesn’t ask for much back. I’m not shy about saying it, I would support the player in this instance.

And if Ovi goes, what if his team mate Backström decides he wants to play for Sweden? And if Crosby says he wants to win his third gold and leave the Penguins for three weeks? And if McDavid and Matthews want the opportunity to represent their country for the first time? Who will stand in their way?
Another of Bettman’s issues is that participating in the previous Olympics has had no benefits to the NHL. Olympic games would be broadcast in the morning in North America due to the time difference and in February, only hockey and basketball are the major sports on. It’s absolutely ridiculous. People will still tune into the Olympics no matter what time of day it is hosted.

We don’t get content for the NHL Network, we don’t get content for our social media platforms and NHL.com

GET OVER IT

Bettman pushed the World Cup of Hockey enough – a poor man’s replica of the Olympics – but hockey exists outside the NHL of course. Canada and the USA would most likely send teams made of AHLers, college athletes, or ex-NHLers. Russia could come with a very strong KHL team (and Ovi leading the way as an abdicator). But here is the real kicker… Bettman is keen to line his pockets with as much money as possible, or so it seems: With the arrival of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the NHL has ANOTHER team in the desert. He also would like to penetrate the Chinese sports market because there is lots of cash to be had there. Guess who is hosting the Olympics in 2022… Cha-ching, China! The NHL planned to hold games every year there in the lead up to generate interest* in ice hockey, but Rene Fasel, head of the IIHF has declared:

If the NHL doesn’t come to Korea, they can’t just go to China.

Yikes! The greedy heads of the NHL could potentially shoot themselves in the foot and lose this lucrative Chinese market if they do not participate in the Korean Olympics.

That being said, the NHL didn’t agree to the Sochi Olympics until June 2013, so it is still up in the air… at least until Bettman stops throwing his dummy out of the pram.

*cash, you know it’s for cash. These new “fans” would have to watch games first thing in the morning… oh wait wasn’t that an argument against going to Korea?