Injury Report: Blues 2020-21 Injury Report

[Stealth JD]

Cup team defense: Eddy, Dunn, Colt, J-Bouw, Pietrangelo, Bortuzzo, Gunnarsson
Next game, less than 2-years later: Faulk, Krug, Scandella, Dunn, Bortuzzo, Mikkola

Losing Colt for any extended period would be a huge blow; they'll be hoping to split games with the California clubs and not get caved in too heavily against the better teams in the division. Losing players and games to the bottom-tier of the division puts this team firmly in 'stay afloat' mode until some of their top-of-the-lineup players can return. As long as they can keep in the race for the 4th-seed in the division while they battle injuries they should be ok long-term...but they're going to lose a lot of games in the short-term if they keep running out lineups like last night's.

 

[Novacain]

News on Gunnar hit me harder than I thought. This could likely be end of line for him here and maybe end of his NHL career, as he was barely holding on. His game slipped over past year or so as his body got worn down, but he was valuable depth player on our Cup team.

He scored the game winning goal in our first Stanley cup finals game win ever. He will always have a place in Blues lore.

 

[Mike Liut]

He was a very steady dman who could be relied on and as mentioned above, score one of the biggest goals in Blues history. I was a fan.

 

[Mike Liut]

Cup team defense: Eddy, Dunn, Colt, J-Bouw, Pietrangelo, Bortuzzo, Gunnarsson
Next game, less than 2-years later: Faulk, Krug, Scandella, Dunn, Bortuzzo, Mikkola

Losing Colt for any extended period would be a huge blow; they'll be hoping to split games with the California clubs and not get caved in too heavily against the better teams in the division. Losing players and games to the bottom-tier of the division puts this team firmly in 'stay afloat' mode until some of their top-of-the-lineup players can return. As long as they can keep in the race for the 4th-seed in the division while they battle injuries they should be ok long-term...but they're going to lose a lot of games in the short-term if they keep running out lineups like last night's.

That’s still a very good D. If we had Tarasenko, Thomas and Schwartz back and they were scoring, this team would be still be very good and even better with a healthy Parayko.

 

[mk80]

Gunnar is out for the year (And that might mean we've seen his last NHL game. If so, he's going to be one of those guys we look back on with more affection then we probably had for him then we had while he was actually here. Definition of a good soldier).

Barbie had surgery and will be re-evaluated in 6 weeks.

News on Gunnar hit me harder than I thought. This could likely be end of line for him here and maybe end of his NHL career, as he was barely holding on. His game slipped over past year or so as his body got worn down, but he was valuable depth player on our Cup team.

Agreed I think Gunnarsson will be missed more than we think we will. He also will forever be in Blues history having the GWG in the Blues first ever Stanley Cup Final series win. 5/29/19 vs. Boston Game 2

 

[Zamadoo]

Unless he says he's retiring or playing in another league, I expect him back in the preseason.

He is master of healing. I've always wondered who his training and conditioning staff are. We traded for him when he underwent hip surgery, he fully recovered from postseason ACL surgery in about 4 months, and I believe he had another injured hip (not sure if related), to count the major injuries off of the top of my head. He may be frequently injured, but he recovers quickly and in top shape. It's been a long and hard road for the warrior Carl Gunnarsson.

 

[WATTAGE4451]

Unless he says he's retiring or playing in another league, I expect him back in the preseason.

He is master of healing. I've always wondered who his training and conditioning staff are. We traded for him when he underwent hip surgery, he fully recovered from postseason ACL surgery in about 4 months, and I believe he had another injured hip (not sure if related), to count the major injuries off of the top of my head. He may be frequently injured, but he recovers quickly and in top shape. It's been a long and hard road for the warrior Carl Gunnarsson.

Yes but they have taken a toll, the quality of his play started suffering last season. Maybe another team gives him an offer but it will be fore near league minimum. I dont know if he will want to go through another season of injuries for that.

 

[parliamentlite]

How does Gunnar to IR impact our cap situation? Does a Tarasenko return become manageable now without any other moves?

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

How does Gunnar to IR impact our cap situation? Does a Tarasenko return become manageable now without any other moves?

Yes. Since Gunnar went on LTIR, we don’t have to move any cap out. We were 1.2 mil above the cap before this injury.

 

[BlueOil]

goodbye boom boom, it's been nice, hope you find your paradise

 

[Ted Hoffman]

JR just put out an article on the Athletic that Parayko has been playing through a back injury Blues defenseman Colton Parayko was playing through back injury: sources

This is not helping my confidence about Parayko's long-term prospects, especially if his prior remarks that this isn't something they could fix via surgery are indeed correct.

 

[ChuckLefley]

This is not helping my confidence about Parayko's long-term prospects, especially if his prior remarks that this isn't something they could fix via surgery are indeed correct.

Even if it can be fixed by surgery, it doesn’t mean he could take the pounding of being an NHL defensemen. Back injuries are scary. I hurt my back in 2018 and it was terrible, one of my feet went numb. Got better and then hurt it again the night the Blues won the Cup. I watched the parade from home because I couldn’t stand for more than a couple of minutes. I have to religiously stretch my hips and I can tell it will never be the same.

 

[Celtic Note]

Even if it can be fixed by surgery, it doesn’t mean he could take the pounding of being an NHL defensemen. Back injuries are scary. I hurt my back in 2018 and it was terrible, one of my feet went numb. Got better and then hurt it again the night the Blues won the Cup. I watched the parade from home because I couldn’t stand for more than a couple of minutes. I have to religiously stretch my hips and I can tell it will never be the same.

I have something similar. Went to a fantastic surgeon and he said “look I can cut on you and do a good, clean job, but there is a good chance you won’t be any different”. Then he said rehab followed by a religious regimen of stretching and strengthening exercises are likely your best bet and even then it’s just going to keep you from getting worse since it’s a degenerative problem.

Who knows if that is Parayko’s case, but it certainly seems so for Steen based on a best guess.

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

Tarasenko is practicing on a line with Schenn and Perron

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

Update: CONTACT

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

YESSSSSSS

I cannot WAIT for my favorite player to be back.

 

[Ranksu]

When Schwartz, Bozak and Thomas back. I don't want Sanford any near at Blues jersey. Sit that sucker in press box.

 

[ezcreepin]

If Vova is actually ready, then sure throw him in, but I'm worried the coaching staff is trying to get him in quickly because we've lost so many people.

 

[Xerloris]

When Schwartz, Bozak and Thomas back. I don't want Sanford any near at Blues jersey. Sit that sucker in press box.

Press Box is to good for him.

 

[Brian39]

If Vova is actually ready, then sure throw him in, but I'm worried the coaching staff is trying to get him in quickly because we've lost so many people.

There isn't a franchise in the NHL that would allow their coaching staff to override any concerns the medical staff has in this situation. We have another $15M invested in him after this season and he has a full NTC. If there are any medically-supported concerns that he isn't as healed as he is going to get, the coaching staff is not going to be allowed to ignore those. That is an ownership decision, not a coaching or management decision. There is zero chance that ownership would allow a mid-season slump to increase the risk of injury to one of their most valuable assets when there are 35+ games left in the season and any slump won't even impact gate revenue. We are squarely in the expected time frame for this surgery and his slow progression from skating alone to where we are today is 100% in line with a cautious approach. He started skating during optionals 3 weeks ago, the intensity of his participation has been gradually increasing and now they just started easing him in with contact. He did light contact with a coach yesterday and did one contact drill today.

In a couple days we will hit the 6 month mark since his surgery. He started skating right around the initially-reported 5 month "reevaluation" point and has been easing towards being a full practice participant. Everything is right in line with the medical prognosis. Nothing about his progression indicates that the coaches are rushing him back due to team performance.

 

[joe galiba]

There isn't a franchise in the NHL that would allow their coaching staff to override any concerns the medical staff has in this situation. We have another $15M invested in him after this season and he has a full NTC. If there are any medically-supported concerns that he isn't as healed as he is going to get, the coaching staff is not going to be allowed to ignore those. That is an ownership decision, not a coaching or management decision. There is zero chance that ownership would allow a mid-season slump to increase the risk of injury to one of their most valuable assets when there are 35+ games left in the season and any slump won't even impact gate revenue. We are squarely in the expected time frame for this surgery and his slow progression from skating alone to where we are today is 100% in line with a cautious approach. He started skating during optionals 3 weeks ago, the intensity of his participation has been gradually increasing and now they just started easing him in with contact. He did light contact with a coach yesterday and did one contact drill today.

In a couple days we will hit the 6 month mark since his surgery. He started skating right around the initially-reported 5 month "reevaluation" point and has been easing towards being a full practice participant. Everything is right in line with the medical prognosis. Nothing about his progression indicates that the coaches are rushing him back due to team performance.

I have heard that he was actually ahead on his recovery and rehab
they appear to have been cautious anyway and kept him on the original schedule

 

[Meatball]

Tarasenko is practicing on a line with Schenn and Perron

The funny thing is that on its own, this isn't a half-bad lineup all things considered.

 

[joe galiba]

The funny thing is that on its own, this isn't a half-bad lineup all things considered.

And we still have Schwartz, Thomas, Bozak, and Barbs to add back in as we go along

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

I started dating my girlfriend in the middle of last season and she has become a big Blues’ fan despite growing up in Iowa without hockey. She’s gone from not knowing anything about hockey to knowing the start times for every Blues’ game for the week and reminding me to turn on the game for the two of us. She’s so excited to finally see this “Terry Cinco” she’s heard so much about.

For as good of a hockey player that Tarasenko is, he’s, reportedly, an even better person. For both their sakes, I really hope he’s able to return to prime Vlad, and maybe even be better playing with a system better built to utilize his offense. Cannot wait.

 

[ezcreepin]

There isn't a franchise in the NHL that would allow their coaching staff to override any concerns the medical staff has in this situation. We have another $15M invested in him after this season and he has a full NTC. If there are any medically-supported concerns that he isn't as healed as he is going to get, the coaching staff is not going to be allowed to ignore those. That is an ownership decision, not a coaching or management decision. There is zero chance that ownership would allow a mid-season slump to increase the risk of injury to one of their most valuable assets when there are 35+ games left in the season and any slump won't even impact gate revenue. We are squarely in the expected time frame for this surgery and his slow progression from skating alone to where we are today is 100% in line with a cautious approach. He started skating during optionals 3 weeks ago, the intensity of his participation has been gradually increasing and now they just started easing him in with contact. He did light contact with a coach yesterday and did one contact drill today.

In a couple days we will hit the 6 month mark since his surgery. He started skating right around the initially-reported 5 month "reevaluation" point and has been easing towards being a full practice participant. Everything is right in line with the medical prognosis. Nothing about his progression indicates that the coaches are rushing him back due to team performance.

I had this long thing typed up but I don't need it. My comment was an emotional comment as opposed to one of logic. It's true that coaches would be the last people to decide if a player gets back in, but my irrational fear of someone like Tarasenko getting hurt AGAIN is why I made it in the first place. I'm not infallible plz don't tell my boss