OT: How's Michael Sauer doing?

[ZiGOODejad]

Leafs announcers had no class. They saw the slow-mo of his bare head hitting the glass and continued to laugh it up and make jokes. Maybe they regretted it afterwards. Who knows.

Leafs video:



Rangers Video:

Wouldn't of expected anything less from Leafs announcers... Serves them well now that their teams in the basement...yeah let's laugh cause Dion ruins some guys career POS I remember watching that game saying wtf Cally do something

 

[Made Dan]

Still breaks my heart what happened to Mike. When I was younger I would wait outside the Garden often, trying to meet the players. Mike was probably the nicest guy I interacted with, he and Blair Betts. He'd spend more time with the fans than any other I could remember. Would stop with everyone and sign everything. Would even ask everyone if anyone wanted anything else signed before leaving.

I remember awhile back on here, someone tried to send him a card or something from the fans here? Did that ever go though?

 

[Vickers8]

Still breaks my heart what happened to Mike. When I was younger I would wait outside the Garden often, trying to meet the players. Mike was probably the nicest guy I interacted with, he and Blair Betts. He'd spend more time with the fans than any other I could remember. Would stop with everyone and sign everything. Would even ask everyone if anyone wanted anything else signed before leaving.
X
I remember awhile back on here, someone tried to send him a card or something from the fans here? Did that ever go though?

What a shame....clean unnecessary hit, was a charge

 

[BleedinBLUEsince92]

I just remember the two buffoon announcers, especially the old idiot, laughing it up and showing his father in a suite, with other player’s fathers and saying “HAHA That’s the way he taut cha. Ha ha that’s the way he taut cha. ****ing imbecile. If your father is proud of you, it’s probably why your who you are. I think you can still see it on Youtube.
Just an unnecessary hit. His head was down. You hear it all the time from old timers, how you have to respect the game.
I wonder if Phaneuf ever contacted Sauer? Karma should take care of you.
MSG should do an update about Sauer in a Pregame show. I’m going contact them and suggest it.

The homer in you is shining. Karma? For what? His head was down and it was a clean hit. This is the NHL. Phaneuf did no wrong

 

[Hire Sather]

The homer in you is shining. Karma? For what? His head was down and it was a clean hit. This is the NHL. Phaneuf did no wrong

Dion Phaneuf, a guy who prides himself in THE BIG HIT. I don't care if he hits clean, anyone who takes pride in BIG HITS, in always trying for the devestating BIG HIT gets no respect from me.

You don't HAVE TO take out everyone as hard as you could just because you have a chance to.

 

[BleedinBLUEsince92]

Dion Phaneuf, a guy who prides himself in THE BIG HIT. I don't care if he hits clean, anyone who takes pride in BIG HITS, in always trying for the devestating BIG HIT gets no respect from me.

You don't HAVE TO take out everyone as hard as you could just because you have a chance to.

To me it seems like people just have a problem with it because he ended a players' career that played for our favorite team plus was looking promising. There's nothing wrong with going for the big hits if they're legal. Sauer had his head down and Phaneif executed a great hit. Being angry at Phaneuf for this would be almost like the equivalent as saying Chris Kreider was playing reckless and at fault for when Carey Price was injured.

 

[nyrpassion]

Oh man, I never realized he hit his head on the boards after his helmet fell off.

 

[eco's bones]

Rangers fans love it when our guys really level an opponent too. Practically everyone here who is looking forward to McIlrath making his mark as a Rangers is looking forward to it too.

That wasn't Michael Sauer's first concussion and Sauer also had the bad habit of leaving his chin strap loose--it's not right to blame Sauer's career being finished by just this hit. It was a series of events that culminated with the hit by Phaneuf. I tend to think that what happened to Michael Sauer was going to happen to him eventually anyway. He was at risk and wearing his helmut loose---he wasn't taking enough precaution. Players with multiple concussions are more prone and especially players who have had multiple concussions in relatively small time frames--which only multiplies the risk exponentially.

On Phaneuf's hit---it's not a charge--he's going at speed but he glides into Sauer who is pinching down from the point and trying to keep the puck alive against another Leafs player. It's not a blindside hit but Sauer's head is down at least somewhat and he seems blind to Phaneuf who is coming at him from the front but at a different angle to the other Leafs player. Sauer's helmet flies off which leads me to believe he was wearing it loose again.

Eric Lindros concussed a lot of players during his short career and Eric Lindros got concussed out of his own career. Ditto Chris Pronger and Scott Stevens. The pressure was on all these HOF'ers and future HOF'ers to play as physically as they could--it was in the DNA of the game. The NHL is trying to tone down that now but it's a process. Where the fine line is between hockey as a physical and as a not physical sport is a question I have. Knowing the risks to your own health and taking the necessary precautions along with your own awareness on the ice when you're playing is something that every aspiring professional hockey player should be clued into at this point.

 

[Overcast]

Dion Phaneuf, a guy who prides himself in THE BIG HIT. I don't care if he hits clean, anyone who takes pride in BIG HITS, in always trying for the devestating BIG HIT gets no respect from me.

You don't HAVE TO take out everyone as hard as you could just because you have a chance to.

For reference, Phaneuf is about 6'3, 215. Kreider is about 6'3, 225. People literally bounce off of Kreider when they try to hit him, and it can be even worse when he's the aggressor in a hit. If guys that size don't USE their size, I feel like you end up with a player like Brian Boyle (at least during a chunk of his tenure here). Would you rather someone like a prime Boyle or a prime Lucic on this team? I doubt you'd opt for the "nice" player.

 

[Hire Sather]

There are ways to use your size that don't involve leveling a guy just because hes in a vulnerable spot.

 

[eco's bones]

There are ways to use your size that don't involve leveling a guy just because hes in a vulnerable spot.

.....and what happens when he gets his chance and he levels you when you're in a vulnerable spot?

 

[Hire Sather]

.....and what happens when he gets his chance and he levels you when you're in a vulnerable spot?

The idea/hope is that nobody does that.

 

[eco's bones]

The idea/hope is that nobody does that.

Doesn't work like that. Players holding up on hits are not going to make their coaches happy. It's not just the Rangers coaches--it's everybody else as well. Beyond that there are teams (Columbus, Winnipeg and Anaheim, Los Angeles for example) that are all about wearing their opponents down with physical play--pretty much like the Rangers try to wear teams down with speed and quick puck movement.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Leafs announcers had no class. They saw the slow-mo of his bare head hitting the glass and continued to laugh it up and make jokes. Maybe they regretted it afterwards. Who knows.

Leafs video:



Rangers Video:

It was sickening even without the benefit of hindsight. A guy hits his bare head and is dazed afterwards and instead of taking a second to worry about him they laugh and make jokes about his name. This is the problem about the old school mentality of hockey. They probably thought they were being good old school fans or something to that extent. I wonder what the guy would think if that happened to his son or daughter. ****ing low life POS.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Rangers fans love it when our guys really level an opponent too. Practically everyone here who is looking forward to McIlrath making his mark as a Rangers is looking forward to it too.

That wasn't Michael Sauer's first concussion and Sauer also had the bad habit of leaving his chin strap loose--it's not right to blame Sauer's career being finished by just this hit. It was a series of events that culminated with the hit by Phaneuf. I tend to think that what happened to Michael Sauer was going to happen to him eventually anyway. He was at risk and wearing his helmut loose---he wasn't taking enough precaution. Players with multiple concussions are more prone and especially players who have had multiple concussions in relatively small time frames--which only multiplies the risk exponentially.

On Phaneuf's hit---it's not a charge--he's going at speed but he glides into Sauer who is pinching down from the point and trying to keep the puck alive against another Leafs player. It's not a blindside hit but Sauer's head is down at least somewhat and he seems blind to Phaneuf who is coming at him from the front but at a different angle to the other Leafs player. Sauer's helmet flies off which leads me to believe he was wearing it loose again.

Eric Lindros concussed a lot of players during his short career and Eric Lindros got concussed out of his own career. Ditto Chris Pronger and Scott Stevens. The pressure was on all these HOF'ers and future HOF'ers to play as physically as they could--it was in the DNA of the game. The NHL is trying to tone down that now but it's a process. Where the fine line is between hockey as a physical and as a not physical sport is a question I have. Knowing the risks to your own health and taking the necessary precautions along with your own awareness on the ice when you're playing is something that every aspiring professional hockey player should be clued into at this point.

I can't blame Phaneuf, but the lack of not only professionalism but humanity shown by that Leafs announcer makes my stomach churn.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Good God their reaction would be unprofessional even if Sauer got right back on his feet and skated to the bench. These idiots sounded like WWE announcers. ****ing idiots.

 

[Kaapo Cabana]

You can't blame Phaneuf for Sauers injury. Players used to try to light up other players all the time, and Sauer was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just very unfortunate.

Was it necessary?
no

Was it dirty?
Sort of

Would we have cheered in the moment if it was the other way around?
Absolutely

Remember when Orr knocked out Fedoruk? You cheered didn't you? Fedoruk could have easily had the same fate as Sauer.

 

[eco's bones]

You can't blame Phaneuf for Sauers injury. Players used to try to light up other players all the time, and Sauer was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just very unfortunate.

Was it necessary?
no

Was it dirty?
Sort of

Would we have cheered in the moment if it was the other way around?
Absolutely

Remember when Orr knocked out F
Fedoruk? You cheered didn't you? Fedoruk could have easily had the same fate as Sauer.

FWIW Todd Fedoruk was always going after Jagr. Orr would have wanted to fight him anyway but Todd wasn't exactly doing what Todd was supposed to.

 

[eco's bones]

I can't blame Phaneuf, but the lack of not only professionalism but humanity shown by that Leafs announcer makes my stomach churn.

Hockey is a tough way to make a living. The remuneration and all the perks---the fame, glory, women, connections etc. etc. at least for most who make it for any length of time into the spotlight make it more than worthwhile.

Sports is a dog eat dog world---well a lot of business is that way too. It's not very human either for the CEO of some multinational to dump 5000 of his/her workers and then take a big raise but it happens all the time. These days that same CEO might wind up running for POTUS and have a half ass shot of winning.

We can feel sorry for Michael Sauer but he got a good taste and whether it was all worth it or not for him life is not fair---it never has been. I suspect we all have some examples of that from our personal lives--people dying young--being crippled for life---being shafted by this or that. Some people are just luckier than others.

 

[Zucc36]

Clean hit or not, the announcers are embarrassing. Even after the replay is shown and you clearly see Sauer´s head hitting the boards, with no helmet, they keep laughing and joking. It´s just sick.

 

[Holocene]

Clean hit or not Phaneuf is a caveman and I dislike him.

Hope Sauer is at least able to live a normal life at this point.

 

[Zynbanejad]

Always loved Sauer as a player and I'd love to hear an update on him sooner rather than later.

 

[clmetsfan]

Latest article I could find on Sauer is from about 6 months ago in USA Today. Focus of the article is about his older sister, a PT doctor who ironically works in concussion prevention. Michael is mentioned as still dealing with both the physical and psychological effects of his head injuries, as are his two other brothers who had to retire because of head injuries of their own. It's a pretty sad read,but at least it sounds like Mike and Kurt learned from the lesson that their older brother had to learn the hard way:

"With Kurt and Michael, especially with Michael, they became more conservative and more comfortable with saying, 'I can't practice yet, because I'm not seeing right yet. I get a headache every time my heart rate goes up,' " Collins said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/05/sauer-family-concussion-battle/25328453/

 

[Revel]

Would we have cheered in the moment if it was the other way around?
Absolutely

You should change this to "Would I have cheered....Absolutely"... as you only speak for yourself. You don't speak for me. I would not have cheered.

 

[Baby Punisher]

Latest article I could find on Sauer is from about 6 months ago in USA Today. Focus of the article is about his older sister, a PT doctor who ironically works in concussion prevention. Michael is mentioned as still dealing with both the physical and psychological effects of his head injuries, as are his two other brothers who had to retire because of head injuries of their own. It's a pretty sad read,but at least it sounds like Mike and Kurt learned from the lesson that their older brother had to learn the hard way:

Really is heart breaking.