Injury Thread '24-‘25 (Post 1 has current injury status)

[North]

How dense are you??

Why? Is he not allowed to be critical of the province he’s from?

 

[timekeep]

Why? Is he not allowed to be critical of the province he’s from?

I don't give shist what province he is from, or you, it's a stupid comment that should be removed.

 

[North]

I don't give shist what province he is from, or you, it's a stupid comment that should be removed.

It really isn’t that big a deal compared to other comments.

This is an overreaction.

 

[McFlyingV]

How dense are you??

This place is full of tin foil hat conspiracies about this team and its management/medical staff/employees.

 

[McFlyingV]

“Seeking a second option” means Ekholm doesn’t trust this teams medical staff anymore and will go out and find his own independent doctors. Atta boy Ekky! f*** this team and management

I don't know that this is the indictment of the medical staff that people think it is. Second opinions are extremely common and often players are referred out to surgeons or doctors who specialize in specific areas of the body or specific injuries.

For reference, the Oilers head team doctor is Dr. Dhiren Naidu, a physiatrist who specializes in sport medicine. If he's not sure about something or if the team or player wants to see what other options are out there they will seek it. McDavid did the exact same thing seeing multiple knee specialists/surgeons when he injured his knee.

The world of medicine and rehab is constantly evolving and its far too broad for one person or one staff to be an expert on everything.

 

[McFlyingV]

I'll be honest some of these criticisms are actually kind of comical given that the Oilers have actually been a very healthy team for the majority of their current playoff streak. They were honestly kind of due for an injury riddled season on chance alone.

 

[KlefDown]

I don't know that this is the indictment of the medical staff that people think it is. Second opinions are extremely common and often players are referred out to surgeons or doctors who specialize in specific areas of the body or specific injuries.

For reference, the Oilers head team doctor is Dr. Dhiren Naidu, a physiatrist who specializes in sport medicine. If he's not sure about something or if the team or player wants to see what other options are out there they will seek it. McDavid did the exact same thing seeing multiple knee specialists/surgeons when he injured his knee.

The world of medicine and rehab is constantly evolving and its far too broad for one person or one staff to be an expert on everything.

I agree with you but for our organization and their recent form with dealing with injuries, it should be a slight. It’s embarrassing from the top down

 

[KlefDown]

I'll be honest some of these criticisms are actually kind of comical given that the Oilers have actually been a very healthy team for the majority of their current playoff streak. They were honestly kind of due for an injury riddled season on chance alone.

There is a difference between guys getting injured and how their injuries are dealt with. My issue (as with many other fans) is with the latter. It’s bush league stuff

The most recent KK comment of “one of Hyman and Ekholm are in jeopardy of missing game 1/2” couple days ago is a f***ing joke. One has nothing to do with the other. It makes no f***ing sense

 

[McFlyingV]

I agree with you but for our organization and their recent form with dealing with injuries, it should be a slight. It’s embarrassing from the top down

I mean here's the thing we only get a very small picture of whats actually going on with any of these injuries. We don't get any insight into the practices, the testing, the diagnostic imaging, or the players symptoms. People are just making assumptions that they did something wrong and rushed players back when in reality they probably hit all the check points you would want when having a player return to the line up.

It sucks that a couple guys have re-aggravated things, and in Ekholm's case maybe injured it worse. But that's the nature of injuries. People are looking at this way too black and white. Injuries can be extremely unpredictable, and I sincerely doubt that a franchise with this much money and state of the art facilities just decided not to utilize them. The things with injuries is sometimes theres no one to blame. I don't know why we always need to find someone to blame on these boards.

 

[KlefDown]

I mean here's the thing we only get a very small picture of whats actually going on with any of these injuries. We don't get any insight into the practices, the testing, the diagnostic imaging, or the players symptoms. People are just making assumptions that they did something wrong and rushed players back when in reality they probably hit all the check points you would want when having a player return to the line up.

It sucks that a couple guys have re-aggravated things, and in Ekholm's case maybe injured it worse. But that's the nature of injuries. People are looking at this way too black and white. Injuries can be extremely unpredictable, and I sincerely doubt that a franchise with this much money and state of the art facilities just decided not to utilize them. The things with injuries is sometimes theres no one to blame. I don't know why we always need to find someone to blame on these boards.

And I again agree with you but when they go 4 for 4 with McDavid, Frederic, Drai and Ekholm it stops becoming a coincidence. 5 for 5 if you count Klingberg

 

[timekeep]

This place is full of tin foil hat conspiracies about this team and its management/medical staff/employees.

That part has truth, what does that have to do with your 'living in AB' reference?

 

[McFlyingV]

And I again agree with you but when they go 4 for 4 with McDavid, Frederic, Drai and Ekholm it stops becoming a coincidence. 5 for 5 if you count Klingberg

Ok so then what exactly is the theory? That they forced these players to play and knew their chance of re-injury was high? Draisaitl re-injuring himself in a game where he wiped out like 4 or 5 times is hardly something you can predict for. Same kind of goes with McDavid's injury on the cross check.

At the end of the day returning from injury is a balancing act especially if you want to have guys for playoffs. They don't have the luxury of time like you would in an offseason. You can do everything right and still re-injure something (see Fabbri tearing his ACL for a 2nd time in offseason rehab a few years back).

I mean I guess you can believe what you'd like, but I feel pretty confident that the issue you have is not with Edmonton's medical staff, but rather medical staff in professional sports as a whole. There's obviously pressures, tight timelines, and weighing pros and cons, and risks in this high pressure market. I've seen some absolutely crazy return to play timelines in the NFL after ACLs/Achilles tears that generally would not be advised by most medical professionals.

 

[McFlyingV]

That part has truth, what does that have to do with your 'living in AB' reference?

Lets just say this province has its fair share of conspiracy theorists. In fact the premier is one herself.

And for then record I love this province and the majority of its people.

 

[timekeep]

Lets just say this province has its fair share of conspiracy theorists. In fact the premier is one herself.

And for then record I love this province and the majority of its people.

Go somewhere else for your political views please.

 

[KlefDown]

Ok so then what exactly is the theory? That they forced these players to play and knew their chance of re-injury was high? Draisaitl re-injuring himself in a game where he wiped out like 4 or 5 times is hardly something you can predict for. Same kind of goes with McDavid's injury on the cross check.

At the end of the day returning from injury is a balancing act especially if you want to have guys for playoffs. They don't have the luxury of time like you would in an offseason. You can do everything right and still re-injure something (see Fabbri tearing his ACL for a 2nd time in offseason rehab a few years back).

I mean I guess you can believe what you'd like, but I feel pretty confident that the issue you have is not with Edmonton's medical staff, but rather medical staff in professional sports as a whole. There's obviously pressures, tight timelines, and weighing pros and cons, and risks in this high pressure market. I've seen some absolutely crazy return to play timelines in the NFL after ACLs/Achilles tears that generally would not be advised by most medical professionals.

No theory, it’s saying what I see at face value.

Their biggest issue is transparency, both with nature of injury and timelines because apparently in hockey teams take advantage of that and opposing teams target injured players? This is both an Oilers thing and NHL thing I guess. Atleast in NBA/NFL timelines and nature of injuries are more transparent. NBA has made a point of specifically cracking down on this.

For the second part, clearly the Oilers formula is wrong for the balancing act when you are batting a .00% and that needs to change. Saying oh well sh*t happens is not a good way to handle things long term.

Like you’re ok with the team saying Walman and Nuge are out with “illness”? Who are they trying to fool here, even if they are just a little banged up and day-to-day. No opposing team in the playoffs or even the fans are believing that

 

[McFlyingV]

Go somewhere else for your political views please.

Didn't come here for political views, you asked for clarification and I gave it.

 

[North]

Go somewhere else for your political views please.

Why did you ask for clarification?

 

[McFlyingV]

No theory, it’s saying what I see at face value.

Their biggest issue is transparency, both with nature of injury and timelines because apparently in hockey teams take advantage of that and opposing teams target injured players? This is both an Oilers thing and NHL thing I guess. Atleast in NBA/NFL timelines and nature of injuries are more transparent. NBA has made a point of specifically cracking down on this.

For the second part, clearly the Oilers formula is wrong for the balancing act when you are batting a .00% and that needs to change. Saying oh well sh*t happens is not a good way to handle things long term.

Like you’re ok with the team saying Walman and Nuge are out with “illness”? Who are they trying to fool here, even if they are just a little banged up and day-to-day. No opposing team in the playoffs or even the fans are believing that

I mean I understand that aspect of it, as you mentioned teams target it and that was clearly obvious in the Oilers vs Flames series a few years back where they slashed Draisaitl's ankle any chance they got.

I don't know that a few isolated incidents means their formula is wrong. Have they had this issue in recent years? The Oilers have been extremely healthy as a team for a while now that pure chance would dictate they were probably due for a season like this.

I don't necessarily agree that transparency is the answer. For one, someones medical history isn't really anyone's business except their own and the practitioners they're working with. Obviously fans want to know, and sports betting complicates things which is what has really driven the injury reporting in the NBA, NFL and MLB as they are much more lucrative markets than the NHL.

I think this is reaching personally, but everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I'm just giving mine as someone who works with athletes and injuries at the non-professional level. Sometimes you can do everything right and prepare an athlete the best you can and they might still re-injure or re-aggravate something when you're rehabbing it in-season. There's no true way to fully simulate game speed and game situations.

 

[bucks_oil]

No theory, it’s saying what I see at face value.

Their biggest issue is transparency, both with nature of injury and timelines because apparently in hockey teams take advantage of that and opposing teams target injured players? This is both an Oilers thing and NHL thing I guess. Atleast in NBA/NFL timelines and nature of injuries are more transparent. NBA has made a point of specifically cracking down on this.

For the second part, clearly the Oilers formula is wrong for the balancing act when you are batting a .00% and that needs to change. Saying oh well sh*t happens is not a good way to handle things long term.

Like you’re ok with the team saying Walman and Nuge are out with “illness”? Who are they trying to fool here, even if they are just a little banged up and day-to-day. No opposing team in the playoffs or even the fans are believing that

Why would you want or expect a professional sports team, which is entirely based on COMPETITION with other teams to alert you, its most important fan (clearly ), with every detail of a players injury and rehab? Wouldn't THAT be bad management?

Have you seen how fresh McD has looked since coming back? Why is he not part of your 00% batting average?

The lone exception here is perhaps Ekholm... but we don't really know the specifics of his lower body injury. If it is an unstable joint (like a knee), you can often see players brace it and play through... then get off season surgery. In this case his comeback may have been the prescribed course to see if that is possible (and looks like it wasn't)... but you never know until you give a period of rest/conditioning and then give it a go.

PS: has it occurred to you that the Oilers are actually being extra cautious to ensure accurate rest for its top players prior to (hopefully) a long playoff run and/or building in cap-flexibility in case Kane takes himself off LTIR? Did you notice that (for example) the McDrai injuries had them each miss overlapping periods that could have allowed them to be LTIR'd if necessary.... McD then came back only when Drai was out and shortly thereafter Klingberg goes on LTIR. It certainly looks like load and cap management to me.

 

[fuswald]

Lets just say this province has its fair share of conspiracy theorists. In fact the premier is one herself.

And for then record I love this province and the majority of its people.

Awe thanks.
Can I borrow some money

 

[popo]

Lets just say this province has its fair share of conspiracy theorists. In fact the premier is one herself.

Assuming this is clever satire, doing your best Stephen Colbert? Accusing the province of being full of conspiracy theorists, then transitioning into your own conspiracy theory...

 

[bucks_oil]

Let me preface this next comment, by saying that I agree with a lot of things that have been said here. I am not expecting a good playoffs if Ekholm is out, and others are really banged-up.

My comment is that perhaps we are being a little coy with our ‘Kane is out for the first 2 rounds, or we’re not sure of X will play at all this year’, to keep the Kings guessing? Gamesmanship - hopefully? This is my positive spin on this crap situation…

The fact that every single one of our $5M+ players has been rotating onto and off (see McDavid) the injured list, each with sufficient duration to allow a potential LTIR stint... and the fact that Kane is $5.1M of LTIR with unknown (but rapidly approaching) return... is just a little too much coincidence for me to dismiss.

Judging only by how amazing McD has looked since coming back from his injury, I'm optimistic that we are seeing some load/cap management in advance of the playoffs.

This team has had very little to play for positioning-wise down this stretch and, for a change, we have the depth to allow guys to get some rest.

Ekholm sucks though, if he ends up out for anything longer than a couple of weeks.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

This place is full of tin foil hat conspiracies about this team and its management/medical staff/employees.

There are no conspiracies. Jackson and Bowman have shown - very clearly - that they are less than impressive in their jobs thus far. "Goaltending isnt an issue" comes to mind along with "we need Kane's cap space" which was never utilized. There are plenty of other examples of unforced errors with these 2 that are well documented.

My extensive experience with incompetent managerial staff is such that they either hire other incompetent staff or hire very good ones who do not stick around long when they see how incompetent their superiors and peers actually are. Thus I give no quarter on anyone in this organization, including the medical staff. You can disagree but throwing the "tin foil hat Alberta" comment is a classic left wing trope that has no business in a hockey discussion.

Either way I have said that I am absolutely jaded in my viewpoint of Oiler management, and seeing player after player impacted by recurring injury in what looks like on the surface as players being rushed back or players unfit to play after being acquired speaks of something. Coincidence? Maybe. Medical malpractice? Probably not. But it's just venting at the frustration of the entire Jackson Bowman incompetency. Nothing more. Taking to tin foil hat conspiracy territory is an ignorant comment that has no business here.

 

[McFlyingV]

There are no conspiracies. Jackson and Bowman have shown - very clearly - that they are less than impressive in their jobs thus far. "Goaltending isnt an issue" comes to mind along with "we need Kane's cap space" which was never utilized. There are plenty of other examples of unforced errors with these 2 that are well documented.

My extensive experience with incompetent managerial staff is such that they either hire other incompetent staff or hire very good ones who do not stick around long when they see how incompetent their superiors and peers actually are. Thus I give no quarter on anyone in this organization, including the medical staff. You can disagree but throwing the "tin foil hat Alberta" comment is a classic left wing trope that has no business in a hockey discussion.

Either way I have said that I am absolutely jaded in my viewpoint of Oiler management, and seeing player after player impacted by recurring injury in what looks like on the surface as players being rushed back or players unfit to play after being acquired speaks of something. Coincidence? Maybe. Medical malpractice? Probably not. But it's just venting at the frustration of the entire Jackson Bowman incompetency. Nothing more. Taking to tin foil hat conspiracy territory is an ignorant comment that has no business here.

No argument from me on the management and some of the head scratching choices they've made. But when you go after the medical staff for no apparent reason, with no actual evidence of such other than you being unhappy and frustrated that the team has injuries to key players, then yes that comment seems appropriate. You call it whatever you like, but this place is a cesspool sometimes of negativity and people always needing someone to blame.

It couldn't possibly just be that hockey is a physical sport filled with injuries. The Oilers are an older club with a lot of games played in the last 5 years. And they've been relatively healthy until this season. But sure, lets blame the medical staff. Lets blame the team's strength and conditioning coach. Lets make up stories about Dustin Schwartz and him being married to Daryl Katz' niece (lol?). Definitely all rationale thought around here.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

No argument from me on the management and some of the head scratching choices they've made. But when you go after the medical staff for no apparent reason, with no actual evidence of such other than you being unhappy and frustrated that the team has injuries to key players, then yes that comment seems appropriate. You call it whatever you like, but this place is a cesspool sometimes of negativity and people always needing someone to blame.

It couldn't possibly just be that hockey is a physical sport filled with injuries. The Oilers are an older club with a lot of games played in the last 5 years. And they've been relatively healthy until this season. But sure, lets blame the medical staff. Lets blame the team's strength and conditioning coach. Lets make up stories about Dustin Schwartz and him being married to Daryl Katz' niece (lol?). Definitely all rationale thought around here.

It just seems that when you have a half dozen players who seem to have been rushed back throughout the season it’s more than coincidence. A pattern is emerging. Perhaps it’s nothing I don’t know. You could be right but again, the Oilers mgmnt team have lost my trust in every facet. Thats just my current reality.

Anyway the tin foil hat crap is just that. I’ll show you a bunch of loons in every province and on every forum.