Kaprizov's latest setback should be an alarm bell for how the NHL is failing its players

[bambamcam4ever]

Kaprizov is probably out for the season. He has had a few set backs this years culminating in a lower body surgery that was at best 4-6 weeks recovery time. Most Wild fans knew he probably wouldn't be back for longer, but no one knew how much longer he'd be out for. More than likely he won't be back to his playing form until next season at best.

If you look at what is going on with Kaprizov, you can trace this back to when Logan Stanley folded him on the ice. He struggled at the beginning of last year before getting back to form. But he has had a nagging lower body injury since Stanley took him out almost two years ago.

It's frustrating as a Wild fan because that's two years without our best player and at the peak of his playing career due to some really dumb play by Stanley, who didn't even get fined for the play. And then you had Dillon take him out again with some cross checks to the back.

This comes back to the NHL really doesn't care about mid-market teams like the Wild. We've seen this before with the Wild, where the NHL simply looks the other way and then buries the story until Minnesota takes matters in their own hands and then the NHL scolds them for trying to protect their players. I hate Hartman, but I honestly don't fault Minnesota for having guys like Hartman when the NHL can't even muster up any sort of response.

I also think it goes to show some of the injuries that happen aren't just a day to day, week to week deal but can take years to recover from.

The NHL doesn't have it out for Minnesota. The issue is that the NHL doesn't protect star players from scrubs. They think it's a bigger priority to protect the scrubs from star players instead, because they wouldn't have a chance otherwise if they weren't allowed to hold and cheat.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

If Friedman is right, I would be very interested in learning if the infection from the injection was just a freak happening or if they simply didn't follow procedure to avoid such a thing. Obviously, if it's the former there isn't anything they could do about it, but if it's the latter that's a problem. Method matters, I think you and I probably agree about that.

As far as an AC injury, I don't know enough about those or how they are detected to have an opinion on that, so I'll leave that topic to others who are more informed about them.

I hurt my shoulder about 20 years ago, lifting something at work. I went to the doctor in excruciating pain, and had xrays, MRIs, CT scans, and none of the tests showed anything wrong. It took finally getting referred to a sports orthopedist after 6 months to finally get diagnosed with a grade 1 strain of my AC joint, which means I damaged the ligaments that hold the collar bone and shoulder blade together, just not enough to tear anything so it shows up on scans. So, I absolutely believe otherwise competent doctors could miss an AC injury, in some situations.

 

[Midnight Judges]

IMO the NHL does show favoritism to certain star players and certain markets at times.

We've all seen favored star players escape fines - relatively small stuff in the big scheme of things.

The hockey media, OTOH, achieves silly levels of bias that a grade school child could see through.

 

[NHL1674]

Is he really done for the season? I have him in a pool and was waiting on more info before dropping him.

No. They have not said he's done for the season. They just said his recovery time is going to be a little longer than expected.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

The only thing failing him seems to be the Wild medical staff which over the course of the last few months have continued to show their incompetence.

 

[NHL1674]

I haven't trusted the Wild's medical team in years.

 

[Mattb124]

It doesn't matter, but the point that Friedman seemed to be hinting at was that the docs gave him a shot (pain killer, cortisone?) of some kind after the initial injury in the Finland game. If you watch his video, he clearly lays the bread crumbs out so that anyone watching would conclude that the shot itself was what caused the infection.

McAvoy was not diagnosed with and treated for the infection (surgery) until after the Canada game.

Friedman appears to be at least suggesting that the doctors working for team USA missed both an AC joint injury and then also created the infection through the administration of a shot that showed up days later.

Now that's Friedman. I don't know. But if what he suggests is true, given that McAvoy has had two ablative procedures for a heart issue in the past ( I believe it is two - certainly one) then that could be some pretty sloppy doctoring.

Why do you think that McAvoy would have received a shot in his shoulder to relieve the pain if the medical team was unaware of his AC joint injury? Not sure why you would post something that is so non-sensical.

The shot causing the infection is at least plausible, although it isn’t something one would expect. And if someone is experiencing pain in their AC joint, it is pretty easy to understand how there could be a delay in identifying an infection at the injection site to address the AC joint injury.

Is there some speculation that corners were cut when giving the NSIAD injection?

 

[Toby91ca]

Kaprizov is probably out for the season. He has had a few set backs this years culminating in a lower body surgery that was at best 4-6 weeks recovery time. Most Wild fans knew he probably wouldn't be back for longer, but no one knew how much longer he'd be out for. More than likely he won't be back to his playing form until next season at best.

If you look at what is going on with Kaprizov, you can trace this back to when Logan Stanley folded him on the ice. He struggled at the beginning of last year before getting back to form. But he has had a nagging lower body injury since Stanley took him out almost two years ago.

It's frustrating as a Wild fan because that's two years without our best player and at the peak of his playing career due to some really dumb play by Stanley, who didn't even get fined for the play. And then you had Dillon take him out again with some cross checks to the back.

This comes back to the NHL really doesn't care about mid-market teams like the Wild. We've seen this before with the Wild, where the NHL simply looks the other way and then buries the story until Minnesota takes matters in their own hands and then the NHL scolds them for trying to protect their players. I hate Hartman, but I honestly don't fault Minnesota for having guys like Hartman when the NHL can't even muster up any sort of response.

I also think it goes to show some of the injuries that happen aren't just a day to day, week to week deal but can take years to recover from.

What do you want the league to do? Both of the incidents you cite are borderline penalties, certainly not plays where you expect supplemental discipline....certainly nothing to complain about the team getting unfair treatment by the league.....I don't get your point here other than being frustrated with your team's best player being hurt.

 

[Devilsfan118]

They’ve been very quiet about what exactly is wrong, but Brady missed the 1st game back and yesterday the Sens had their skills competition and he couldn’t even suit up and had to stand on the bench. My guess is he’s out a couple weeks at this point.

His injury clearly happened earlier in the tournament and it looks like he was shot up by the Team USA medical staff so he could power through it.

All for a meaningless exhibition tournament. Insanity.

 

[Regal]

Ordinarily I think the league would be against adding extra players to the roster because so many teams are up against the cap, some teams would not be able to ice a 26 man roster. But I think if we could get this idea to pass, with the cap rising as sharply as it is, it would be a perfect time to be able to add 96 more players across the league that could play in a given game if necessary. I understand and to a point respect the warrior mentality that NHL players have but at some point you have to protect them from themselves.

I think the only issue and admittedly it would be a rare one is goaltender. I don't think a lot of teams would move their AHL starter to ride the bench as an EBUG. Usually those are guys you want playing as much as possible to develop, which leads me to ask, are there enough AAAA goalies to serve as 3rds across the league?

They could allow teams to dress the full 23 man roster as well, and have the extra 3 available if there’s injury. Though teams also don’t always replace slightly injured played on the roster so there isn’t always 3 healthy players that can step in.

 

[Static]

Minnesota's medical staff doesn't seem like it has a great reputation league-wide.

 

[Al Lagoon]

Minnesota's medical staff doesn't seem like it has a great reputation league-wide.

Lots of injuries, wonky recover schedules. Regardless of league opinion, I agree.
4 Nations kind of highlighted it.
Ironic considering Minnesota is the home of the Mayo Clinic, Hazleden, University of Minnesota Medical, etc.

 

[Hobble]

The wild doctor is the team USA doctor right? and Boston doesn’t seem thrilled with what happened to mcavoy

M Tkachuk was also allowed to suit up and dress for the final despite having a potentially season ending injury.

Seems like the wild doctor is involved in a lot of bad incidents lately

Pretty sure the Wild doctor was also seen jumping out of the cockpit of that Delta plane that flipped in Toronto.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Hockey is a violent sport.

Pretty sure the Wild doctor was also seen jumping out of the cockpit of that Delta plane that flipped in Toronto.

Now that you mention it...

 

[shello]

Nah, I think the Wild’s medical staff is just out to lunch

 

[57special]

This whole thread smacks of knee jerk mob mentality, with a dash of conspiracy promotion, and a dab of rushing to judgement.

Internet at it's worst.

 

[PaulD]

Wild medical staff seems questionable at this point. Do you really think even a lengthy suspension to Stanley would do anything to help the situation at all?

No. It's a tough physical sport

This whole thread smacks of knee jerk mob mentality, with a dash of conspiracy promotion, and a dab of rushing to judgement.

Internet at it's worst.

Agree with first three points ...the fourth? 2 minutes for embellishment

 

[Number8]

Why do you think that McAvoy would have received a shot in his shoulder to relieve the pain if the medical team was unaware of his AC joint injury? Not sure why you would post something that is so non-sensical.

The shot causing the infection is at least plausible, although it isn’t something one would expect. And if someone is experiencing pain in their AC joint, it is pretty easy to understand how there could be a delay in identifying an infection at the injection site to address the AC joint injury.

Is there some speculation that corners were cut when giving the NSIAD injection?

I don't know if he did or did not receive a shot. Elliott Friedman is the one that strongly hinted that he did. And also hinted that that was the cause of the infection.

Regardless, you then go on to say "not sure why you would post something that is so non-sensical".

If you watched the game (which based on your comments, I suspect not) you would have seen him cross checked hard into the goal post in the Finland game. He was clearly in pain after the play. Regardless of whether they diagnosed any structural damage, it's not at all unlikely he would have been diagnosed with a bruise, soreness, and possibly inflammation.

And if you think hockey players (football players, etc) don't get pain killers or anti inflammatory shots regularly in order to be able to play then you are the one being non-sensical.

 

[qc14]

What rule in the rulebook did Stanley break when he went over the top of Kaprizov? What, specifically, should he have been penalized, fined, and/or suspended for?

For the record, per Michael Russo, before he decided to ignore his own reporting, reported that Kaprizov described the play as an unfortunate accident caused by Kaprizov's incorrect positioning, and that he held no ill will toward Stanley. This was a month or so after the play, when he had been out injured.

Michael Russo ignoring his own reporting? I'm shocked!

 

[Joe Hallenback]

No players are going to hold up against the Wild as long as they employ a dirtbag like Hartman. You can't expect respect when you got a player who has no respect for his opponents regardless of who it is. So why should other teams have to have that same level of respect for your top players.

 

[DuklaNation]

The OP is going off VERY little info.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Classic NHL. Everyone knows under Gary Bettman that the league has a conspiracy in favor of Canadian teams. Especially the big markets like Winnipeg at the expense of the middle market American teams.

 

[Mattb124]

I don't know if he did or did not receive a shot. Elliott Friedman is the one that strongly hinted that he did. And also hinted that that was the cause of the infection.

Regardless, you then go on to say "not sure why you would post something that is so non-sensical".

If you watched the game (which based on your comments, I suspect not) you would have seen him cross checked hard into the goal post in the Finland game. He was clearly in pain after the play. Regardless of whether they diagnosed any structural damage, it's not at all unlikely he would have been diagnosed with a bruise, soreness, and possibly inflammation.

And if you think hockey players (football players, etc) don't get pain killers or anti inflammatory shots regularly in order to be able to play then you are the one being non-sensical.

Way to not comprehend a single thing I wrote. It is all over the internet that McAvoy separated his shoulder and received an injection as treatment (read it was Toradol) - hence why I specifically mentioned that he got a shot and that the shot was the likely cause of the infection.

But what did you take from all that? That I clearly don’t believe NHLers get shots for injury/pain treatment. Jesus man…

 

[LaCarriere]

The biggest issue is that most players keep playing injured and keep accumulating these injuries instead of waiting to heal properly. The teams should be forced to properly let their players heal and recover, not like right now where a player with a broken leg is just given some painkillers and they're ready to go.

How does the league force teams to rest guys though? Is a team of neutral doctors going to evaluate every minor-moderate injury? Guys go thru the concussion protocol for head injuries. Guys all have reasons for playing hurt thru non-head injuries (help their team, playing for a contract, etc), it would be very hard for the league to dictate who's allowed to play thru what injuries.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Kaprizov is probably out for the season. He has had a few set backs this years culminating in a lower body surgery that was at best 4-6 weeks recovery time. Most Wild fans knew he probably wouldn't be back for longer, but no one knew how much longer he'd be out for. More than likely he won't be back to his playing form until next season at best.

If you look at what is going on with Kaprizov, you can trace this back to when Logan Stanley folded him on the ice. He struggled at the beginning of last year before getting back to form. But he has had a nagging lower body injury since Stanley took him out almost two years ago.

It's frustrating as a Wild fan because that's two years without our best player and at the peak of his playing career due to some really dumb play by Stanley, who didn't even get fined for the play. And then you had Dillon take him out again with some cross checks to the back.

This comes back to the NHL really doesn't care about mid-market teams like the Wild. We've seen this before with the Wild, where the NHL simply looks the other way and then buries the story until Minnesota takes matters in their own hands and then the NHL scolds them for trying to protect their players. I hate Hartman, but I honestly don't fault Minnesota for having guys like Hartman when the NHL can't even muster up any sort of response.

I also think it goes to show some of the injuries that happen aren't just a day to day, week to week deal but can take years to recover from.

What exactly do you want the NHL to do? Why aren't the Wild resting him and letting him heal?