It’s a bit early, I know. But given the state of the NHL right now, it seems like this is the holiday song we all ought to be singing this Holiday Season:
On the first page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 1 undisclosed injury
On the second page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 2 nasty flu bugs
On the third page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 3 back spasms
On the fourth page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 4 seasons ending
On the fifth page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 5 broken legs
On the sixth page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 6 strained abdominals
On the seventh page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 7 Groins pulled leaping
On the eight page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 8 ankles sprained
On the ninth page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 9 upper body injuries
On the tenth page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 10 concussions nursing
On the eleventh page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 11 shoulder surgeries
On the twelfth page of the Injury Report the NHL gave to me 12 ACLs blown
As of November 29, 2009, these numbers are freakishly accurate (there are more “upper body injuries” but we are almost 99 44/100% accurate with the rest.)
Here are the top 5 most banged up teams as of 11/29 according to CBS sports:
1.Tie for first:
The Washington Capitals (8 men out): Semin, Fedorov, Green, Clark, Erskine, Poti, Pothier, Schultz.
St. Louis Blues (8 players out): Legacy, Berglund, Hinote, Kariya, McDonald, Oshie, King, Johnson
2.Three way tie:
Islanders (6 men out): DiPietro, Comrie, Gervais, Okposo, Nielsen, Sillinger
Devils (6 men out): Brodeur, Rolston, Green, Holik, Madden, Mottau
Flyers (6 men out): Briere, Cote, Powe, Hatcher, Parent, Jones
3. Panthers (5 guys out): Zednik, Allen, Horton, Murphy, Stillman
4. Avalanche (5 guys out): Sakic, Liles, Tucker, Foote, Guite
5. Canadiens (3-4 men out): Tanguay/Laraque/ Komisarik
As of November 29th, there is only 1 team in the league without a single injury: The New York Rangers.
There are 8-9 teams who are without their starting goalies:
Devils- Brodeur
Canucks-Luongo
Islanders-DiPietro
Pens-Fleury
Ducks-Gigiere(personal reasons might not be a true injury)
Hawks-Khabibulin
Thrashers- Lehtonen
Blues-Legacy
And technically, Nabby (Sharks) isn’t quite 100% yet.
Our league is badly banged up, a quarter season in. Begging the question- IS THERE ANYONE IN THE NHL COMMUNITY WHO SINCERELY BELIEVES the phantom penalties, the even up calls and the over zealous interference, hooking and tripping trips to the sin bin are doing a darn bit of good, creating a “safer” NHL, a better game?
Because if you do, I know a fat guy in a red suit who is making a list, and will check you twice…
Seriously. The injuries this season are just out of control. I listened to Larry Murphy and Mickey Redmond talk yesterday about how fights are up in the league and it got me wondering just how many more injuries we have this year. And you know me and my infernal statistics.
As of November 29th, there are 107 players out for injuries (excluding guys out on suspensions). Last year at this time there were only 68 injuries and there were only 63 injuries by Nov. 28, 2006.
So yes Virginia, injuries are up to the tune of 36-40% over the last two years.
Thumpity Thump Thump
So if fights are up, and injuries are up, and so are penalty minutes, well then, maybe (”just maybe” she sarcastically whispered) its time to change the way the officiating has been impacting the game?
The NHL doesn’t track fighting, but I’m taking Larry and Mic’s word for it.
And as shown above, injuries are up.
Penalty minutes league wide this year? This year so far league wide there are 9,834 penalty minutes, with Anaheim leading the charge, having 475. Last year there were 9,719 penalty minutes league wide at this point in the season.
So. No great disparity in number of penalty minutes, and yet injuries are up 36%? Does that mean the officiating is working?
I think not. If fighting is up and injuries are up, but number of penalty minutes are essentially the same, then the begged question becomes, are the types of penalties being assessed working, or are they causing more injury and frustration? Is it possible that all the time spent searching out the phantom interference calls are causing the officials to miss the real action, causing/allowing players to take cheaper, dirtier shots behind the action?
Let me know what you think, I’ll be around- dare I say, I’ll home for Christmas? Yea well, so will a lot of guys in the league, and not because they want to be.
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