Career-Changing Injuries of Notable Players

[c9777666]

Does anyone have an idea as to when Mario Lemieux’s back issues first became a thing?

I know it started to flare up in 1990

 

[The Panther]

Michel Goulet is a well-known star player who had a career-ending on-ice injury. After his long (1978-1990) star seasons in Quebec, he was perhaps nearing the end in 1993-94, but had enjoyed 3.5 solid, if unspectacular, seasons in Chicago under Keenan (who always liked him). On the Blackhawks (who were near the top of the League at the time), he'd finished 3rd, 3rd, and 7th in team scoring, and was the top LW on the club those three years. Anyway, late in his fourth season in Chicago, the Blackhawks were at the Montreal Forum (March 16th, 1994) and Goulet went crashing into the end-boards, head first. He had a severe concussion, causing post-trauma syndrome, and he never played again.

I liked Goulet. You know, he was top-6 in goals for five seasons in a row. Not too many players have done that.

 

[Staniowski]

Does anyone have an idea as to when Mario Lemieux’s back issues first became a thing?

I know it started to flare up in 1990

The major problems started during the '89-'90 season. He had a 46-game scoring streak that season, which ended because of his back injury, he was no longer able to play.

I'm not sure exactly when it started, but I think he was injured for most of the games he played in the '89-'90 season. That season, they called it a chronic back problem.

His first back surgery was in July, 1990. There were disc problems and a serious infection, I think.

So, the last time he was fully healthy was probably the '88-'89 season (his 23-year-old season) or possibly the start of the following season.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Mikael Renberg. After missing only 2 games in his first two NHL seasons, Renberg sustained a sports hernia injury that required surgery during training camp of 1995. The surgery was deemed a success as the Legion of Doom picked up right where they left off the season before with Renberg scoring 40 points in his first 40 games. In mid-December of 1995, the pain returned and Renberg was forced out of the lineup a month later. Renberg returned for 6 games in March and April, recording 0 points.

Before the injury, Renberg had a seemingly bright future ahead of him. While Lindros and LeClair received most of the accolades, Renberg was the underrated memeber of the LOD who did the dirty work. Renberg was a quick skating, good two way player who scored 38 and 26 (lockout year) goals his first two seasons. Deceptively strong, Renberg proved to be difficult for most opponents to knock off the puck, which enabled the LOD to play their physical cycle game. LeClair stated that Renberg was the best forechecker that he every played with. After the injury, Renberg lost his speed, sustained more injuries and never came close to matching his production output of his first two and a half seasons.

 

[scott clam]

Sure, but that goes for most NHL goal-scorers of most eras (Bossy above most, of course). However, I'm wondering specifically what exactly happened on the first day of training camp, September 1986. (I would know this if Amazon hadn't lost my ordered-copy of Boss: The Mike Bossy story about four years ago!)

Doesn't seem like anyone knows the answer to what happened to Mike Bossy at training camp, but didn't Wayne Gretzky's back seize up on a flight during the 92/93 preseason? Seem to recall reading that he had to lay in the aisle for the rest of the trip before getting X-rayed.

 

[The Panther]

Doesn't seem like anyone knows the answer to what happened to Mike Bossy at training camp, but didn't Wayne Gretzky's back seize up on a flight during the 92/93 preseason? Seem to recall reading that he had to lay in the aisle for the rest of the trip before getting X-rayed.

I think that's right, yes. I believe Gretzky's back issues were mainly due to two specific hits:
- Steve Smith cross-checked/hit him -- hard -- into the boards behind the Edmonton net in game 3, 1990 playoffs. Gretzky left the ice, didn't return and then didn't play game 4 (Kings were swept).
- Gary Suter, game 1 of 1991 Canada Cup final series.

Everyone knows about the Suter hit, but I think few remember the Smith one (if you were in the East, it probably happened at about 12:30 on a weeknight).

 

[ShelbyZ]

Sergei Fedorov was never the same after his 1997-98 contract holdout in the middle of his peak/prime where he missed training camp, preseason, and the first 60 regular season games.

In the 4 seasons prior to the holdout, Fedorov:
-had won 4 major individual NHL awards
-had 2 one-hundred point seasons
-was over +25 three times
-had 4 point-per-game or higher playoff runs

After the holdout, Fedorov won zero major NHL awards (only a Kharlamov trophy in 2003), scored zero 100 point seasons, had zero +25 or better seasons, and had only one point-per-game or better playoff run (first round exit vs LA).

I think if we're more precise, the drop off has little to do with missed time, and a lot more to do with making a huge majority of his offer sheet from the Canes by May of 1998...

The contract had two distinct bonuses. One was your standard up front signing bonus (I think $14M). The second was a $12M bonus that he would get spread over the first 4 seasons. However, if his team made the conference finals within that first 4 years, the entire remaining balance of the bonus was due immediately.

He was lights out against the Coyotes, excellent against the Blues and then kind of disappeared (at least offensively) for the rest of the 1998 playoffs.

Fedorov's 1998 Playoffs:

First 2 rounds: 12 games, 8G, 7A, 15P, +4, 53 shots
[Gets $12M richer]
WCF and SCF: 10 games, 2G, 3A, 5P, -4, 33 shots

He was only due $2M a season for the next 5 years and really didn't have much to play for when the reputation in regards to him mailing it in on some nights permeated for the middle of it. His last great >PPG season was the last year of that contract, when he was getting ready to cash in for the rest of his career from either the Wings or the UFA market. Once that new deal was in place, his game dropped off pretty precipitously for the rest of his career (although it did start well into his 30's...).

TLDR, it wasn't him missing time, it was him getting $28M of a $38M 6 year contract in only 4 months time.

 

[Voight]

Kariya after the Suter hit.

Gretz after the Suter hit while were on the topic.

Lindros after Stevens sent him to Mars.

 

[Theokritos]

Kharlamov:

Suffered a fractured tibia, two broken ribs and a concussion in a car accident in May 1976. He was out for 5 months. When he came back he was still good, but not quite as good as before.

Kharlamov's rank in annual Soviet Best Player voting...

...pre-accident (1969-1976): 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 5.
...post-accident (1977-1980): 3*, 6, 7, 8.

*1979: Izvestia Golden Stick voting for all of Europe instead of Soviet Union, but the top 6 were Soviet players.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

TLDR, it wasn't him missing time, it was him getting $28M of a $38M 6 year contract in only 4 months time.

That is your opinion, and while I respect it I have to conclude that you have absolutely zero evidence to back up your claim. It is all speculation.

Money may have played a role, so would his deteriorating marriage to Kournikova and a potential drinking problem in ‘99 where he got a DUI.

But missed time definitely played a big role as well.

Missing time definitely decreased Fedorov’s level of play in the 1997-98 season and playoffs (as we saw with Nylander this year), robbing Fedorov of his 27/28 year old season where he would have competed for the Selke, Smythe, Olympic MVP etc but he was always a step behind the play (relative to his previous self) that year.

The question is, did missing time negatively affect his future seasons as well? I can think of many players that miss ~80% of a season or more during their peak and are never quite as effective again. Fedorov comes to mind as a classic example.

 

[ShelbyZ]

Missing time definitely decreased Fedorov’s level of play in the 1997-98 season and playoffs (as we saw with Nylander this year), robbing Fedorov of his 27/28 year old season where he would have competed for the Selke, Smythe, Olympic MVP etc but he was always a step behind the play (relative to his previous self) that year.

You're right, it is speculation/opinion, but it isn't completely baseless given where his play went up and down during the duration of the contract after he cashed in. We've seen other examples of it like Alexander Semin.

As for what I bolded in your post, Fedorov in 97-98 is nowhere even close to Nylander's drop off. He was definitely slow to get going, but seemed to return to form down the stretch and in the early going of the playoffs. Of course he robbed himself of Selke consideration missing 75% of the regular season season, but he had already dropped a bit offensively from his peak during the season prior to the hold out. He was going to have a hard time competing for the any sort of recognition at the Olympics playing with a Pavel Bure scoring at 1.5GPG pace (for which Fedorov contributed to).

The Smythe was completely on the table. Fedorov was far and away the front runner after the first two rounds of the '98 playoffs before he either (depending on who you ask) got shut down by two defensive minded teams in the last two rounds, or slowed his roll a bit after getting a big bonus.

Obviously there won't be any direct evidence of his drop in play being attributed to money without him outright admitting it. But it is curious that his two best performances post-holdout came when big money was a factor.

The guy was my hero during my adolescent years and I hated hearing/reading all the stuff about his effort level and "not showing up" in Detroit in the papers and radio.

I will concede that it could've only been a small factor among many if at all or even merely coincidence. Along with the Anna K marriage and DUI that you mentioned, I seem to remember him having off ice issues with investors swindling from him, some issues with unpaid loans and I think some weird money related stuff with his Dad?

Here's some evidence from a Detroit Free Press article during the 1998 WCF:

All they see is one assist since Fedorov secured a $12-million bonus when the Wings reached the conference finals. The whispers are more audible with each offensive disappearing act. Fedorov, clearly the best player on the ice in the first two rounds, has assumed a highly paid supporting role against Dallas. Considered the early leader in the Conn Smythe Trophy race, Fedorov has been surpassed by Steve Yzerman and Chris Osgood. But don't confuse his offensive struggles with a lack of effort Anybody who suggests Fedorov stopped working once he pocketed the $12 million hasn't been watching this series closely. He has been instrumental on a penalty-killing unit that has failed only once. And Dallas forwards still will attest to Fedorov"s reputation as one of the game's premier defensive forwards. Fedorov is not doing the big things that garner headlines, but he's doing the little things that help win. Whereas he would force the action a little more against Phoenix and St. Louis, he has opted for a more cautious approach against the Stars.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

from elite prospects: Saving Verbeek's Thumb: A bizarre farming accident nearly cost Verbeek half of his left thumb during the 1985 off-season. On May 15, 1985, while working on a corn-planting machine (auger) on his 200-acre farm near Forest, Ontario, Verbeek had his thumb cut off between the knuckles. In addition, three fingers on his left hand were severely lacerated. The accident happened while Verbeek was reaching into a fertilizer bin to prevent a stray piece of paper from finding its way into the system and damaging equipment. In doing this, he slipped into the machinery. His left hand went directly into the moving auger, which sliced off his thumb and cut into his fingers. The injury was a clear threat to his hockey career, but swift reaction by Verbeek's brother Brian saved the day. Brian immediately loaded Pat into his truck and rushed him 20 miles to St. Joseph's Hospital in Sarnia, Ontario. Unfortunately, they did not bring the severed portion of Verbeek's thumb with them. Once they reached the hospital, Brian Verbeek phoned home and told his father, Gerry Verbeek, to go out to Pat's farm and look for the thumb in one of four fertilizer bins where it would have landed. Gerry Verbeek promptly found the thumb and transported it to the hospital, where doctors managed to surgically re-attach it. The microsurgery operation took six hours, and literally saved Verbeek's career. After the operation, Verbeek went to University Hospital in London, Ontario, where he underwent physical therapy to regain the use of his hand. By August, he was able to lift weights, and he later made it through New Jersey's 1985 training camp with no problems.

i remember reading an article in the '90s where verbeek joked "all the cement came out" when he lacerated his hand.

the story i'd always heard was that that catastrophic hand injury, which everybody expected to end his career, actually made him break out as a goal scorer for whatever reason. but looking at his numbers, it seems like mythmaking to me. yes he jumps to 25 goals right after the injury, then 35, then 45. but it looks like he was on his way anyway. i don't think the devils expected him not to be a goal scorer. he'd scored 20 goals as a teenage rookie, then sophomore slumped to 15 before jumping back up to 25. and he'd scored big at every lower level too.


another hand injury guy is sheldon souray. he missed the entire 2003 season with a wrist injury, and up to that point had only scored 13 career goals in almost 300 games over five seasons. then he comes back in 2004 and immediately scores 15 goals. then 12. then that monster 26 goal year. iirc he needed four surgeries to repair his wrist before he broke out as an all-star and it still ended up ending his career a decade later. this one might be different than verbeek. i'm sure he's had a big slapshot his whole life, but before that year off he seemed to have been typecast as a physical, bottom pair defenseman. when he came back, he was one of the focal points of the PP. i think almost losing his career made him come back a more dedicated competitor. young souray had the reputation of being a partyboy. he was married to one of the actresses on baywatch.


not hand-related, but similar story with gary roberts. young gary roberts was lazy and out of shape, but an incredible talent and natural physical specimen. after almost losing his career to back issues, he became just about the fittest guy in the league, which he had to do just to make it back, and then was a fitness guru to his teammates and especially young guys, which i think is what he does for a living now.

 

[decma]

Sure, but that goes for most NHL goal-scorers of most eras (Bossy above most, of course). However, I'm wondering specifically what exactly happened on the first day of training camp, September 1986. (I would know this if Amazon hadn't lost my ordered-copy of Boss: The Mike Bossy story about four years ago!)

Here is how Bossy describes it in the book:

"Ny ran the first official practice while Terry, who had never seen most of us play, watched from the stands. Ny's second-to-last drill was basic figure-eights around the rink, a drill I had done a thousand times before. We started behind one net and skated figure-eights to the other end, slowing down at the blue line. After the drill ended, I bent at the waist and rested my stick on the tops of my knee pads. After a few gulps of air, I straightened up ... and felt a sharp, burning pain in the lower side of my back.

That scared me. I had felt sharper and more intense pain, like I broke my knee cap, but I had never felt anything like that. The burning sensation started in the middle and radiated to the left."

He speculates that maybe his right knee pain had caused him to compensate with left part of back, but he never finds out what, if anything, specifically caused the back pain.

He mentions that he re-aggravate the injury when accidentally colliding with Potvin later in camp, and then several times during the season when cross-checked.

 

[tony d]

Cam Neely taking the knee on knee from Ulf Samuelsson in 1991 really had his career derailed by that hit, wasn't the same after.

 

[Jets4Life]

May 14, 1993-Game 7 of the Wales Conference Final. Kevin Stevens smashes into Islander Rich Pilon's visor and, unconscious, lands face first on the ice. Stevens comes back the next season and his PPG average dips to 1.06, a far cry from the 1.54 from the previous two seasons and is never the same player again.

I will never forget that one. Not only did it alter the career of Stevens, but it prevented the Penguins from going for a dynasty. I am convinced they would have won Game 7, and went on to the Stanley Cup with a healthy power forward, like Stevens.

How about when Bryan Berard was playing for the Leafs, and lost vision in one eye after being cut with a stick blade, and was technically blind for a period of time.

 

[The Macho King]

Vinny Lecavalier after the Matt Cooke hit. Went from one of the best players in the league to an albatross overnight.

 

[crobro]

Cam Neely taking the knee on knee from Ulf Samuelsson in 1991 really had his career derailed by that hit, wasn't the same after.

He did score 50 goals in 44 games after the injury

 

[ICM1970]

What about Al Secord? In 1982-83, he scores 54 goals but then is off most of the 1983-84 season due to an abdominal injury. Still a decent player afterwards and scored 40 goals in 1985-86, but then his production really dropped afterwards until the end of his NHL career in 1989-90.

 

[crobro]

Mickey Redmond