Confirmed with Link: Matt Hunwick out this season

[Chainshot]

I might be reading too much into the wording but it says "due to a neck condition." If it is the same was last season's injury before camp even started, then it could be something chronic. After first hearing about it back then, I was expecting him to be on LTIR last season too.

Yeah, I hope for his sake he can get treatment and live a normal life. They've made some remarkable improvements in disc replacement technology that doesn't require fusion. It seems like something like this would be a structural issue.

 

[Fearnot]

Some of the comments in here make me sad. People happy that one of our players is injured. Probably the same people clamoring for KO to “look out for his health and retire” when in actuality they don’t care about KO and just want his contract gone.

I legit cried and haven't stopped shaking since I posted that, sorry.

 

[Fearnot]

Imagine saying this in any other workplace. "My colleague has a condition that prevents him from doing his job! YES!"

Even worse imagine it happening to someone not making millions a year playing hockey. I've had a similar condition and wouldn't have cared if anyone said it.

 

[jc17]

Imagine saying this in any other workplace. "My colleague has a condition that prevents him from doing his job! YES!"

I mean it is significantly different.

I dont love that people celebrate the injury but its pretty clear that people who are happy aren't happy he's hurt, they're happy the team could be better. Of course, health is more important than hockey, but 99% of the average fan's exposure is to the on-ice product.

 

[NEcoli]

Great news.

He's not that bad. I'd rather have started the season with him in the lineup than Scandella.

Also, he's a human being.

 

[Moskau]

I’m a bad person.

I read this and then this popped into my head:

 

[Buffaloed]

Can the Leafs use him on LTIR so they can offer Marner another $2.25 million? They currently have $13.7 million tied up on LTIR. That's barely enough to feed Mitch's cat.

 

[brian_griffin]

One can be happy an otherwise relatively young and healthy below replacement level player will reduce the risk of an injury/ chronic condition becoming a permanent debilitation or similar future life / health impediment, and by consequence enhance the options for his team to become more competitive.

Life has win-win situations.

 

[BuffaloGooner]

Hey! We’re suddenly cap compliant. I seem to remember PHam raging that Botts made a mess by re-signing Girgs/Larsson putting us over the cap. Lol.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Someone’s neck injuries are preventing them from playing hockey.

It is great news. I care about the team and therefore its cap situation by default, and I honestly couldnt give a flying f*** about someone with grand total of 14 games for the Sabres that will get paid millions to sit on his couch next season. Sorry for not being PC enough for your tastes.

 

[Dirty Dog]

It is great news. I care about the team and therefore its cap situation by default, and I honestly couldnt give a flying **** about someone with grand total of 14 games for the Sabres that will get paid millions to sit on his couch next season. Sorry for not being PC enough for your tastes.

What in the world does actively celebrating a person’s injury have to do with political correctness? You being a goof has nothing to do with how much I care about political correctness. They are two different concepts, but keep rationalizing people not liking your posts as them not being able to handle your edgy-non-PC-sports takes lol.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

What in the world does actively celebrating a person’s injury have to do with political correctness? You being a goof has nothing to do with how much I care about political correctness. They are two different concepts, but keep rationalizing people not liking your posts as them not being able to handle your edgy-non-PC-sports takes lol.

And good lord, don’t try to explain that lack in logic—I don’t care.

And I dont care if Hunwick has an injury or not. We are cap compliant and thats that matters for me. Dont expect everyone to be like you, Hunwick is literally a nobody in Buffalo. I dont care about his injury the same way I dont care about Hossa's skin condition, or some other LTIR guy's condition. Let them enjoy their millions into retirement and dont worry too much about them. They will be just fine without your pity.

 

[Jim Bob]

I love the people that felt that TB doing this with Callahan was a bogus way to circumvent the cap and yet when the Sabres do it with Hunwick it's all good.

It sucks for any player to break down to the point that they can't play. Kaleta talked about his neck injury that ended his career at a USA Hockey CEP Q&A I was at and it was tough.

 

[NEcoli]

What in the world does actively celebrating a person’s injury have to do with political correctness? You being a goof has nothing to do with how much I care about political correctness. They are two different concepts, but keep rationalizing people not liking your posts as them not being able to handle your edgy-non-PC-sports takes lol.

Showing the slightest bit of human empathy and compassion = political correctness, to a certain segment of the population.

And I dont care if Hunwick has an injury or not. We are cap compliant and thats that matters for me. Dont expect everyone to be like you, Hunwick is literally a nobody in Buffalo. I dont care about his injury the same way I dont care about Hossa's skin condition, or some other LTIR guy's condition. Let them enjoy their millions into retirement and dont worry too much about them. They will be just fine without your pity.

There you have it it, laid bare. The players do not matter beyond whatever fleeting entertainment they provide us. Who cares about their health if they are not important to your favorite team? The millions they made will fix all the damage to their bodies. Just ignore the fact that many, many athletes live shorter lives, and have diminished quality of life after they retire. They'll all be fine! They're rich.

A lot of sports fans think like this, which is how you get thousands of people booing Andrew Luck off the field for retiring.

 

[Duddy]

Showing the slightest bit of human empathy and compassion = political correctness, to a certain segment of the population.



There you have it it, laid bare. The players do not matter beyond whatever fleeting entertainment they provide us. Who cares about their health if they are not important to your favorite team? The millions they made will fix all the damage to their bodies. Just ignore the fact that many, many athletes live shorter lives, and have diminished quality of life after they retire. They'll all be fine!

A lot of sports fans think like this, which is how you get thousands of people booing Andrew Luck off the field for retiring.

Tell that to people that build xour roads, houses and other hard manual labor jobs that destroy their bodies and keep them from making a living. Or the vets that fight for their countries just to be treated like shit and not be able to live the rest of their lifes with millions of dollars.
Poor guys making a millions of dollars breaking their body for it are not people we should feel that sorry for. Feel sorry for the people that worked their bodies to the ground while earning peanuts.

 

[Jim Bob]

Tell that to people that build xour roads, houses and other hard manual labor jobs that destroy their bodies and keep them from making a living. Or the vets that fight for their countries just to be treated like **** and not be able to live the rest of their lifes with millions of dollars.
Poor guys making a millions of dollars breaking their body for it are not people we should feel that sorry for. Feel sorry for the people that worked their bodies to the ground while earning peanuts.

Perhaps you can have empathy for anyone with a significant injury that stops them from earning a living or being able to do their dream job?

I don't believe that you need to pick and choose who you have empathy for.

 

[MrMaster]

They knew the risk involved playing contact sport at a professional level.
We know the risk involved.

You as a spectator can and should blame yourself as much as the guy doing it.

I know it sounds clichee, but it's the system..

 

[vcv]

They knew the risk involved playing contact sport at a professional level.
We know the risk involved.

You as a spectator can and should blame yourself as much as the guy doing it.

I know it sounds clichee, but it's the system..

What?

You know the risk when you drive a car, so if you get in a crash and injured, you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

[dasaybz]

Great news.

People are f***ed up.

 

[Bones Malone]

 

[MrMaster]

What?

You know the risk when you drive a car, so if you get in a crash and injured, you have no one to blame but yourself.

That's not true. What if the other driver messed up that much that you can't react in time? What about ghost drivers? Sometimes it's not you, it's the other participant.
Same goes for the seatbelt. Sometimes you die because the guy in the backseat is not buckled in and kills you crashing forward.

 

[Dreakon13]

I don't think (or at least I hope) no one actively wants the man to have any kind of life effecting injury. Given our lack of real, personal connection to these players... especially one who barely played for the team and most Sabres fans likely didn't know the name of prior to last offseason... that's probably "good enough" in regard to empathy for the situation.

 

[Dirty Dog]

You know what’s funny. Every single person acting like a goof and rambling about not having empathy has one common theme in their post: “millions.” Each of them instantly went to how much money Hunwick has unprompted. It’s as if they can’t separate someone having a lot of money and still being able to have empathy for their injury.

Their jealousy or hatred for the “millions” is oozing out of their posts. There’s no discussion to be had with them. Moving on.

Even worse imagine it happening to someone not making millions a year playing hockey. I've had a similar condition and wouldn't have cared if anyone said it.

It is great news. I care about the team and therefore its cap situation by default, and I honestly couldnt give a flying **** about someone with grand total of 14 games for the Sabres that will get paid millions to sit on his couch next season. Sorry for not being PC enough for your tastes.

And I dont care if Hunwick has an injury or not. We are cap compliant and thats that matters for me. Dont expect everyone to be like you, Hunwick is literally a nobody in Buffalo. I dont care about his injury the same way I dont care about Hossa's skin condition, or some other LTIR guy's condition. Let them enjoy their millions into retirement and dont worry too much about them. They will be just fine without your pity.

Tell that to people that build xour roads, houses and other hard manual labor jobs that destroy their bodies and keep them from making a living. Or the vets that fight for their countries just to be treated like **** and not be able to live the rest of their lifes with millions of dollars.
Poor guys making a millions of dollars breaking their body for it are not people we should feel that sorry for. Feel sorry for the people that worked their bodies to the ground while earning peanuts.

 

[NEcoli]

Tell that to people that build xour roads, houses and other hard manual labor jobs that destroy their bodies and keep them from making a living. Or the vets that fight for their countries just to be treated like **** and not be able to live the rest of their lifes with millions of dollars.
Poor guys making a millions of dollars breaking their body for it are not people we should feel that sorry for. Feel sorry for the people that worked their bodies to the ground while earning peanuts.

Why would it have to be one or the other? Personally, I don't celebrate when someone's health problems end their career, be they a blue collar worker or an athlete.

 

[old kummelweck]

The fake outrage is a little much. I think most people are sophisticated enough to be satisfied with the cap relief while being empathetic for the player. My satisfaction with the move has more to do with the certainty with which they said he would be out for the year rather than draw the rehab process out and impacting the roster and limiting their ability to put a competitive product on the ice.