Mike Johnston: Staying healthy is a skill

[thewave]

If he'd only been able to brace himself before the bacteria got into his blood, or gone limp just before Dion's shot hit him, or relaxed a bit with Lucy on his leg would we even be having this conversation?

The spine, shoulder and knee are all things that heavy hitting guys put way more strain on. They take the abuse a little injury on this hit and one on that and it never heals as well. Then you get a good hit and you have titanium and screws in you. Why do almost all power forwards wear out so fast? It's not rocket science.

I'll give you the blood poisoning bit and the shot etc but it's really easy to re injur an existing injury. Laugh if you like

 

[Yosho]

I think Lupul is serious about his conditioning. And also okay "never played a full season" -
but he's hit the 81 barrier twice. (Anaheim, and Oilers). Played 75 games. (the average NHLer misses about 7 games a year due to reasons), so that's about on par. 79 (still good).

the seasons where it was less than 75 games were

1: spinal contusion which required back surgery
2: blood infection because of the back surgery
3: due to severe shoulder separation, and needed surgery
4: Broken Arm (thanks, Dion)
5: Concussion (thanks, Flyers)
6: groin injury, and knee
7: broken finger
8: Lucic sitting on his knee.

those don't really scream "conditioning" issues to me.

That's a good breakdown, but I'm not sure it warrants keeping a guy with that history on the roster. Especially signed to the contract he has.

It's simply not worth it. It's guaranteed that he won't last a full season. Maybe my "never played a full season" remark was too harsh, but Lupul hasn't hit the 70 game mark since 2008 (a mark he's only hit 4 times in 12 seasons). The back surgery I can understand, but he hasn't gotten healthier since.

Just. Not. Worth. It. Keeping these oft-injured players like Lupul, Rose (NBA), RGIII (NFL), is a recipe for disaster whether the injuries are fluke or not.

Time to turn the page.

 

[thewave]

That's a good breakdown, but I'm not sure it warrants keeping a guy with that history on the roster. Especially signed to the contract he has.

It's simply not worth it. It's guaranteed that he won't last a full season. Maybe my "never played a full season" remark was too harsh, but Lupul hasn't hit the 70 game mark since 2008 (a mark he's only hit 4 times in 12 seasons). The back surgery I can understand, but he hasn't gotten healthier since.

Just. Not. Worth. It. Keeping these oft-injured players like Lupul, Rose (NBA), RGIII (NFL), is a recipe for disaster whether the injuries are fluke or not.

Time to turn the page.

Ultimately this is the case.... And no signing Dave Bollands of the league.

 

[Duke Silver]

I think Lupul is serious about his conditioning. And also okay "never played a full season" -
but he's hit the 81 barrier twice. (Anaheim, and Oilers). Played 75 games. (the average NHLer misses about 7 games a year due to reasons), so that's about on par. 79 (still good).

the seasons where it was less than 75 games were

1: spinal contusion which required back surgery
2: blood infection because of the back surgery
3: due to severe shoulder separation, and needed surgery
4: Broken Arm (thanks, Dion)
5: Concussion (thanks, Flyers)
6: groin injury, and knee
7: broken finger
8: Lucic sitting on his knee.

those don't really scream "conditioning" issues to me.

Thanks for this. This doesn't scream injury prone to me. It just screams unlucky.

If he was always out with groin problems like Gaborik a few years ago, I'd go the "injury prone" route.

 

[Vexed]

Thanks for this. This doesn't scream injury prone to me. It just screams unlucky.

If he was always out with groin problems like Gaborik a few years ago, I'd go the "injury prone" route.

Sometimes when the dealer keeps throwing you duds, you gotta move tables if you want to win a hand or two

 

[Daisy Jane]

Thanks for this. This doesn't scream injury prone to me. It just screams unlucky.

If he was always out with groin problems like Gaborik a few years ago, I'd go the "injury prone" route.

you're welcome.

and that's the thing. so if you want to be he's not reliable (which is true). but it's not a constant thing - or a chronic injury or anything like that. it's just the flukiest things all the time.


I am on either side - i'm not going to shed tears if he's traded - but I can see why we can keep him too.

 

[Duke Silver]

Sometimes when the dealer keeps throwing you duds, you gotta move tables if you want to win a hand or two

I would hope we don't start making personnel changes based on superstition.

There's plenty of reasons to trade Lupul: point in our rebuild, age, body could be broken down, still has value... both I would hope Nonis and co. are debunking the injury prone thing as much as possible.

 

[thewave]

I would hope we don't start making personnel changes based on superstition.

There's plenty of reasons to trade Lupul: point in our rebuild, age, body could be broken down, still has value... both I would hope Nonis and co. are debunking the injury prone thing as much as possible.

If he is bringing you back trash it's better to keep him and hope for a healthy year.

 

[Yosho]

Sometimes when the dealer keeps throwing you duds, you gotta move tables if you want to win a hand or two

Exactly

I would hope we don't start making personnel changes based on superstition.

Superstition? The proof is in the pudding, my friend. Lupul can barely play 75% of a season. It's not superstitious - it's just fact.

Labeling his injury-plagued career as unlucky is just wishful thinking.

 

[Christ]

While I believe that some things can be done to avoid injury like knowing how to take a hit, luck plays a big part in staying healthy as well. Lupul's injury history does not appear to have anything to do with conditioning, just piss poor luck.

 

[Duke Silver]

Superstition? The proof is in the pudding, my friend. Lupul can barely play 75% of a season. It's not superstitious - it's just fact.

Labeling his injury-plagued career as unlucky is just wishful thinking.

But he's not prone to any specific injuries. I consider "injury prone" to be a re-occurrence of specific injuries (multiple concussions - Lindros, knee problems - Neely, groin problems - Gaborik). He's been felled by a smorgasbord of unfortunate events (getting hit in the forearm by a Dion slapshot, having Lucic fall on his knee).

He doesn't put himself in these precarious positions. He doesn't skate around with his head down like Lindros (then) or someone like Anisimov (now). He doesn't have hollow bones. He's actually in damn good shape.

To suggest that he's not unlucky is ignoring the reality of the situation.