Player Discussion Patrik Laine

[BB88]

The Habs press release on nhl.com says Laine has a “left knee sprain”. Just to clear some of the confusion about what that means, here is what the Merck Medical Manual says about sprains:





Overview of Sprains and Other Soft-Tissue Injuries

Btw, the press release didn’t say which knee ligament(s) were torn.

In any case, being out for only 2-3 months is great news. It looked far worse than that.

It has to be mcl, the way the knee bent

 

[BenchBrawl]

Fantastic news!!!

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

Honestly, I have no idea how Laine got off so lightly. I'm assuming that the diagnosis was made and confirmed by radiologists with vast experience with knee MRIs. Some of the physicians here like Michou can weigh in.

I was prescient in my comments this summer about the need of the Habs to do more for injury prevention, with a full-time biomechanics expert. Who might look at plays of extreme vulnerability (splitting the defense with AHLers or known thugs), such as ironmen like Suzuki wouldn't do, and wean Habs from these. Who might tweak the boards for a less stiff response. Who would implement training for injury prevention. Who might develop a light, tough prosthetic to better tolerate knee on knees, and so on. Molson certainly can afford one or two.

One more thing that stands out. Develop a human pose estimation based on smart garments and helmets with embedded cameras, designed to withstand shocks, which alert a player of an impending blind side check, such as Greig on Dach. If the player is warned early enough, he rotates away or brings his stick up. If the league tries to outlaw it, then depict it as pro-concussion.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Great news. Sucks about RB though.

If you’d told me the other day that he’d be the one missing the season with Laine only missing three months I would not have believed you.