Career-Changing Injuries of Notable Players

[Staniowski]

I'd like to hear as much as possible about specific career-changing injuries of notable players. Or anything else - mental illness, alcoholism, disease, etc. - that caused players to experience a premature decline in their quality of play.

In particular, the date of the occurrence, the magnitude of the decline, etc.

Some players may have experienced multiple such declines.

Where possible, please provide a reference of the occurrence.

Some of the occurrences are well-known, and others less so.

Click to read more...

 

[Staniowski]

Mike Bossy experienced his career-ending lower back problem on the first day of training camp in 1986.

Played in pain throughout the '86-'87 season (his final season), at much less than 100%.

So, I think he played close to 100% for 9 seasons.

 

[crobro]

Rick Martin

Real Cloutier

Reggie Leach

Craig Hartburg

 

[Staniowski]

Rick Martin

Real Cloutier

Reggie Leach

Craig Hartburg

Do you know some of the details of each...when the injuries happened, how much the injuries affected their quality of play, etc.?

 

[Normand Lacombe]

March 7, 1998-Eric Lindros gets flattened by Kasparaitus and experiences his first documented concussion. Lindros comes back strong the next season with 93 points in his first 71 games before a collapsed lung in a game at Nashville on April 1 ends his season and nearly his life. In 1999-00, Lindros experiences three more concussions, first from Hal Gill at Boston on March 4, the one during a practice before his return to the playoffs in May and the famed (or infamous) Stevens knockout blow on May 25.

May 14, 1993-Game 7 of the Wales Conference Final. Kevin Stevens smashes into Islander Rich Pilon's visor and, unconscious, lands face first on the ice. Stevens comes back the next season and his PPG average dips to 1.06, a far cry from the 1.54 from the previous two seasons and is never the same player again.

December 4, 1966-Bobby Orr sustains his first knee injury after a check into the boards from Toronto's Marcel Pronovost. Orr would go on to miss nine games, but that Pronovost check set in motion Orr's chronic knee problems that would prematurely end his career.

 

[Staniowski]

Serge Savard crashed into the net and broke his leg in March 1970, and broke his leg again in February 1971, the result of a hip-check from Bob Baun.

He rushed the puck less and became more of a defensive defenseman as a result of his injuries.

 

[MadLuke]

Saku Koivu was leading the nhl in the scoring race at the start of is second season before an injury early December in 1996, 38 points in 30 games, he scored 18 points in the 20 games he played that season.

Was arguably never the same after again and never got close to an elite level of play after loosing is explosive speed and agility (or exaggerated by the wingers he had to play with for most of is career, during short burst with Reechi/Corson played well or Olympics tournament he did achieve to look good)

 

[frisco]

Rick Martin

Martin was racing for a loose puck when he was tripped by Ryan Walter while Mike Palmateer slid out to challenge as Martin tried to get up Palmateer kicked him in the knee. Martin's knee was then was misdiagnosed and had a rift with team medical staff and Scott Bowman. He was dealt to the Kings and played less than 15 games after the injury total.

My Best-Carey

 

[crobro]

Bob Dailey was chasing the puck in his own zone when he was brutally checked from behind into the boards and was pretty much finished as a hockey player after that.

 

[VanIslander]

Michael Peca, a.k.a. Captain Crunch for his big, clean open-ice hits (keep your head up guys), had just finished a 25-goal, 60-point season as captain of the Islanders, his 4th Selke finalist (2nd win) season, leading the unexpected Isles to a playoff berth where... A CHEAPSHOT low hit by dirty Darcy Tucker to Peca's knees along the side boards tore the ligaments in both of Peca's knees in the 2002 playoff series between Long Island and Toronto.

The hit was so egregious that the NHL changed the rules a few months later to introduce the CLIPPING penalty to stop such nonsense.

Peca would never score 15 goals or 35 points in a season after that. No more big checks, no more Selkes, though he was as valuable as Roloson, Pronger and Pisani in the Oilers 2006 Stanley Cup final run.

 

[The Panther]

Mike Bossy experienced his career-ending lower back problem on the first day of training camp in 1986.

Yeah, what's the story there? Did he forget to do yoga during the off-season? How did he suddenly wreck his back on the first day back at work?

 

[Nick Hansen]

It's insane how unlucky Kevin Stevens was on that hit. I mean, sure it is a big hit but nothing insane. But he hit the damn visor so hard he knocked himself out. Awful to watch, can't imagine smashing your face into the ice like that. No wonder he needed those damn painkillers...

 

[Staniowski]

Yeah, what's the story there? Did he forget to do yoga during the off-season? How did he suddenly wreck his back on the first day back at work?

I don't know. I haven't yet been able to find an explanation of what happened. I will post if I do.

 

[ICM1970]

Wasn't there some time in about 1984 that Barry Beck took a heavy check and that's what started his chronic problems with shoulder and also back injuries? You wonder if had he not had those problems, there would not have been the time taken off due to those problems and that he might have played those few more seasons as well.

 

[Staniowski]

Martin was racing for a loose puck when he was tripped by Ryan Walter while Mike Palmateer slid out to challenge as Martin tried to get up Palmateer kicked him in the knee. Martin's knee was then was misdiagnosed and had a rift with team medical staff and Scott Bowman. He was dealt to the Kings and played less than 15 games after the injury total.

My Best-Carey

The fall of 1980?

So, he was just 29 years old.

 

[GMR]

Obviously Cam Neely after the Samuelsson hit.

Bryan Berard was never the same, even after he came back.


Or is the original poster looking for ones less obvious and more subtle?

 

[Staniowski]

Obviously Cam Neely after the Samuelsson hit.

Bryan Berard was never the same, even after he came back.


Or is the original poster looking for ones less obvious and more subtle?

I'm looking for everything....obvious ones, little-known, both career-ending and career-changing (even if only a 10% decline, etc), single events or multiple events...

Would like to create as comprehensive a list as possible.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Babe Dye was an utterly dominant goal-scorer for most of his career. From 1919-20 to 1926-27, he led all players in goals, and only Cy Denneny was remotely close (they both scored almost twice as much as anyone else).

1923-24 - 19 games, 17 goals
1924-25 - 29 games, 38 goals (led league)
1925-26 - 31 games, 18 goals
1926-27 - 41 games, 25 goals

Fall 1927, Dye breaks his ankle in training camp.

1927-28 - 11 games, 0 goals
1928-29 - 42 games, 1 goal
1929-30 - 6 games, 0 goals

In his last season, he was traded to the minors to start the year. Toronto signed him and gave him those 6 games before releasing him from his contract and into retirement.

 

[Eisen]

Obviously Cam Neely after the Samuelsson hit.

Bryan Berard was never the same, even after he came back.


Or is the original poster looking for ones less obvious and more subtle?

Neely attributes his decline to a different hit in game six of the same series.

 

[Staniowski]

Neely attributes his decline to a different hit in game six of the same series.

So, it sounds like Neely was hit it Game 3 against Pittsburgh in '91 by Samuelsson, he didn't miss any games due to that hit (i.e. he played all 6 games of the series), was hit on the same knee in Game 6, and, combined, these 2 hits basically derailed his career....although he scored lots in the limited games he played for the remainder of his career. He was 26 at the time of his injuries.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Sergei Fedorov was never the same after his 1997-98 contract holdout in the middle of his peak/prime where he missed training camp, preseason, and the first 60 regular season games.

In the 4 seasons prior to the holdout, Fedorov:
-had won 4 major individual NHL awards
-had 2 one-hundred point seasons
-was over +25 three times
-had 4 point-per-game or higher playoff runs

After the holdout, Fedorov won zero major NHL awards (only a Kharlamov trophy in 2003), scored zero 100 point seasons, had zero +25 or better seasons, and had only one point-per-game or better playoff run (first round exit vs LA).

 

[frisco]

The fall of 1980?

So, he was just 29 years old.

Yes. He was easily on a HOF trajectory. Quite sad.

My Best-Carey

 

[67 others]

Yeah, what's the story there? Did he forget to do yoga during the off-season? How did he suddenly wreck his back on the first day back at work?

Bossy got back alley mugged with crosschecks on a regular basis and played through the pain. Eventually it compounded.

Much like Mick Foley of the wwe eventually had to go for back surgery and he infamously looked at the xray showing one white spot on his spine and said "that little white part? That doesn't look so bad!" And the doc said "Mick that's the healthy part. The dark ones are wrecked " and he went "oh"

 

[LeBlondeDemon10]

Guy Lafleur was never the same after he injured his knee in the 1980 playoffs. However, it is hard to pinpoint exactly what led to Lafleur's downward spiral because he smoked so much and liked to party.

 

[The Panther]

Bossy got back alley mugged with crosschecks on a regular basis and played through the pain. Eventually it compounded.

Sure, but that goes for most NHL goal-scorers of most eras (Bossy above most, of course). However, I'm wondering specifically what exactly happened on the first day of training camp, September 1986. (I would know this if Amazon hadn't lost my ordered-copy of Boss: The Mike Bossy story about four years ago!)