Injury Report: Vol. 6 (Updates in 1st Post) | Game Day vs. Sens

[DegenX]

PLAYER |TYPE OF INJURY|REPORTED|RECOVERY TIME|POSSIBLE RETURN|STATUS|UPDATED|SOURCE
Kris Letang | Upper Body | 4.5.17 | 4-6 Mos | Next Season | Underwent successful neck surgery this week for a herniated disc | 4.13.17 | @penguins
Patric Hornqvist | Upper Body | 5.16.17 | Day-to-Day | Unknown | Skated on his own, not probable for Game 4 | 5.18.17 | @penguins
Bryan Rust | Upper Body | 5.16.17 | Day-to-Day | Unknown | Skated on his own, not probable for Game 4 | 5.18.17 | @penguins
Justin Schultz | Upper Body | 5.16.17 | Day-to-Day | Unknown | Did not skate, but part of plan/process | 5.18.17 | @penguins
Tom Kuhnhackl | Lower Body | 5.18.17 | Day-to-Day | Unknown | No other details at this time | 5.18.17 | @penguins

Previous injury thread is here
The spreadsheet for tracking injuries during the regular season is here and the one for the playoffs is here. Check the tabs at the bottom for the previous season and playoffs.

« 05.19.17 | Game Day vs. Sens »

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[SEALBound]

Is what it is. Nothing we can do to change it. All we can do is hope for the absolute best that both are back in a timely manner.

Until then, we have to make it work. No other option. There is still hockey to be played. We have to move past this and accept it. One thing that I do today is get Sprong on his way up. We will need an extra skill guy.

Guentzel-Cullen-Hornqvist
Kunitz-Malkin-Kessel
Rust-Bonino-Sprong
Hagelin-Rowney-Kuhnhackl

 

[SirBrad]

hopefully the timely fashion isn't too late. Desperately need to make this a 3-1 series tomorrow at home without Dis.

 

[Dangles78]

I can't wait until the lawsuit goes to trial and the NHL gets royally ****ed. Their arrogance is so disturbing it makes my blood boil. The NHLPA, NHLDOPS, **** everyone needs to be better as well. I hate Craig Adams as a player, but feel like he could do some good work for the NHL in general

As for the hit; I played 16 years of hockey and never have I extended my arms in a cross-checking motion when bracing an oncoming opponent unless in a mutual battle. You aren't in that position and following through when it's purely reactionary. Looked like Nisky's head was up the whole time reading Crosby and the play as well. I'd have to watch it again though

 

[jjp66]

The positive talk from the Pens is nice and all.. But, let's be honest.. We heard the same kind of talk during the Tampa series in 2011. It didn't look good last night. I think Washington is the biggest hurdle to climb these playoffs, so getting past them would definitely bode well for this year's run.

 

[steveg]

The positive talk from the Pens is nice and all.. But, let's be honest.. We heard the same kind of talk during the Tampa series in 2011. It didn't look good last night. I think Washington is the biggest hurdle to climb these playoffs, so getting past them would definitely bode well for this year's run.

Honestly, I feel this is the absolute best we could have hoped for. The fact that he's up and about, and at the arena, suggests that he's feeling pretty good and that his symptoms were probably last night -- and mild.

NOT that things couldn't change, and that he couldn't start having worse symptoms, but all things said the fact that he's at the arena, upbeat, and with the team is the best we could have heard today, IMO.

I think the Pens are going to be SUPER motivated to eliminate the Caps now -- I feel that this is going to be a rallying point for them, and seeing Sid in good spirits and only mild symptoms has to be a relief to the team, and something they can focus on. In other words, I expect they are looking at it like "eliminate the Caps, and then a good chance we get our captain back." I expect beast-mode Geno game 4, and I'm as certain of a Pens win as I could possibly be, or have been all series.

This is, given what happened, as positive a development as I could have imagined...

 

[905PENS]

Game 7 Crosby comes back and gets a trick.

 

[Lustaf]

As for the hit; I played 16 years of hockey and never have I extended my arms in a cross-checking motion when bracing an oncoming opponent unless in a mutual battle. You aren't in that position and following through when it's purely reactionary. Looked like Nisky's head was up the whole time reading Crosby and the play as well. I'd have to watch it again though

I felt similarly to it, I HATED some of the other players on rival clubs when I was younger but I never went outta my way to brace for an incoming impact like that. OR two hand slash at someones shoulder twice, one resulting in hitting his head.

The NFL made a rule to protect QBs knees. The NHL needs to protect players heads this is ********.

 

[Shady Machine]

Coffey says the league should have looked at Ovi slash.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/sidney-crosby-matt-niskanen-alex-ovechkin-paul-coffey-hit-cross-check-penguins-capitals/

 

[Son Goku]

I'd imagine he'd be out at least a week just to be safe

 

[Pancakes]

hopefully the timely fashion isn't too late. Desperately need to make this a 3-1 series tomorrow at home without Dis.

Ideally he'll miss no more than two games, but yeah tomorrow looms large. If we can get it to 3-1 we buy ourselves some breathing room. If not we're faced with potentially having to grit out a road win just to give ourselves a shot on home ice to close it out.

I'm interested to see how guys step up. Malkin we know will. Kessel has been playing well and I anticipate that continues. Ditto Maf.

How does Guentzel look without Sid? What about Rust et al. That's the story for me.

 

[Pancakes]

I will also say the whole "another concussion could end his career" thing is a waste to worry about. That's always true. Some guys take a lot of them and keep playing. Others are done after one. You just never know when it comes to the brain. So it's pointless to worry about that.

Ideally we get Sid back by game 6. Cole mentioned game 5 as a possibility but that seems very optimistic. Game 6 seems like a more realistic target.

 

[Konig96]

Truth be told there is a very glaring trend with the craps. First off there was the concussion resulting from Steckel, the knee on knee hit by the caveman on Gonchar in 09', Orpiks hit on Maata last year, the blatant knee on knee hit by Wilson on Rust next to the bench last year (with the Caps assistant coach grinning about it right after it happened) and now another concussion for Sid resulting from, drum roll please, you guessed it, a craps player. Coincidence? I don't think so at this point. The craps organization is garbage from top to bottom but I guess I really don't expect anything with any sort of integrity to come out of our nations capitol.

 

[Shady Machine]

Truth be told there is a very glaring trend with the craps. First off there was the concussion resulting from Steckel, the knee on knee hit by the caveman on Gonchar in 09', Orpiks hit on Maata last year, the blatant knee on knee hit by Wilson on Rust next to the bench last year (with the Caps assistant coach grinning about it right after it happened) and now another concussion for Sid resulting from, drum roll please, you guessed it, a craps player. Coincidence? I don't think so at this point. The craps organization is garbage from top to bottom but I guess I really don't expect anything with any sort of integrity to come out of our nations capitol.

It's certainly not a coincidence, but it's really not just the Caps. Dubinsky and the Jackets tried to do the same thing. Marc Staal is a fan of the repeated cross check to the neck as well.

It's a cultural problem in the NHL and Crosby is so good that defenders have to rely on things like that to slow him down. The Caps might do it more than others or it could be that we play them so much that it seems that way. They definitely have their fair share of morons though.

The NHL is really missing the boat on the dangers of stick work. They work hard on trying to take headshots out (although their suspension policy is often weak and inconsistent), but crosschecks, slashes, spears, etc aren't taken nearly as seriously and those are just as, if not more dangerous. Duncan Keith, a repeat offender of intentionally slashing dudes in the face, got a "harsh" suspension of 5 RS games and 1 playoff game. That might hurt the goon type (in the pocketbook), but did nothing to prevent or deter Keith from doing that again. The league doesn't take this stuff seriously enough and because of that, when incidents like this happen, they can't really justify a suspension.

A crosscheck is a crosscheck and if you crosscheck a dude in the head with your stick, you're going to be suspended. That needs to be the policy if they really cared to address this.

 

[Jacob]

I will also say the whole "another concussion could end his career" thing is a waste to worry about. That's always true. Some guys take a lot of them and keep playing. Others are done after one. You just never know when it comes to the brain. So it's pointless to worry about that.

And hopefully nobody actually thought that Crosby would go the rest of his career concussion-free after the first one in 2010 or whatever. Because that's just not realistic.

he's up to 3 in a 12 year NHL career. I mean, that's probably fairly average I'd say. It's hard to compare because not many guys even have 12 year careers. He might have a few more before he hangs them up.

 

[td_ice]

Coffey says the league should have looked at Ovi slash.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/sidney-crosby-matt-niskanen-alex-ovechkin-paul-coffey-hit-cross-check-penguins-capitals/

I totally agree.


I said it seconds after it happened that it was all caused by OV. What Niskanen did was bad enough, but major culprit was that dirty SOB # 8.

Super surprised that he is getting so little attention for it. Good on Coff. And Ken Campbell.

 

[Another Bandwagoner]

:de-lurks: I feel so sick for Sid right now damnit. All the best to him and Sheary.
Being a hockey fan is a sure way to feel frequently frustrated, deflated and powerless. From what I've learnt so far, as a fairly new fan, anyways.

Hoping for a miraculous win in 5.

 

[Konig96]

It's certainly not a coincidence, but it's really not just the Caps. Dubinsky and the Jackets tried to do the same thing. Marc Staal is a fan of the repeated cross check to the neck as well.

It's a cultural problem in the NHL and Crosby is so good that defenders have to rely on things like that to slow him down. The Caps might do it more than others or it could be that we play them so much that it seems that way. They definitely have their fair share of morons though.

The NHL is really missing the boat on the dangers of stick work. They work hard on trying to take headshots out (although their suspension policy is often weak and inconsistent), but crosschecks, slashes, spears, etc aren't taken nearly as seriously and those are just as, if not more dangerous. Duncan Keith, a repeat offender of intentionally slashing dudes in the face, got a "harsh" suspension of 5 RS games and 1 playoff game. That might hurt the goon type (in the pocketbook), but did nothing to prevent or deter Keith from doing that again. The league doesn't take this stuff seriously enough and because of that, when incidents like this happen, they can't really justify a suspension.

A crosscheck is a crosscheck and if you crosscheck a dude in the head with your stick, you're going to be suspended. That needs to be the policy if they really cared to address this.

I'm just tired of it. Which players sell the game? It sure as hell isn't the scrubs. Insanity from a business point of view to not try and protect your most valuable assets. If the nhl were smart and decided it was time to move out of the stone age they would make the punishment fit the crime. You injury a player and it is deemed deliberate, extremely careless and or a repeat offender, you sit without pay until the injured player returns. Unfortunately the NHL as a whole is still on a quest for fire and the art of bronze age tool making.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

I'd imagine he'd be out at least a week just to be safe

If the caps win game 4 and tie it up, I say he's back for game 5.

If the pens win game 4, they probably hold him out an extra couple of days.

Based on nothing more than hope and dreams by me lol

 

[imouttahereEdWinger]

Is what it is. Nothing we can do to change it. All we can do is hope for the absolute best that both are back in a timely manner.

You can turn it off until the NHL becomes a respectable league.

 

[Shady Machine]

I'm just tired of it. Which players sell the game? It sure as hell isn't the scrubs. Insanity from a business point of view to not try and protect your most valuable assets. If the nhl were smart and decided it was time to move out of the stone age they would make the punishment fit the crime. You injury a player and it is deemed deliberate, extremely careless and or a repeat offender, you sit without pay until the injured player returns. Unfortunately the NHL as a whole is still on a quest for fire and the art of bronze age tool making.

I think the first step is getting rid of the ridiculous standard that 1 playoff game = 2 regular season games for a suspension. If anything, it should be the other way around. Hit these guys were it hurts.

The toughest part though, to be honest, is to deem if something was deliberate. Sometimes freak stuff happens and a player is injured because of it. The force of a hit or a crosscheck doesn't always equal the injury. Take Sid's "stick tap" on Methot. The force of that didn't look bad yet Methot's finger blew up. Should Sid have sat for as long as Methot did or was that not deliberate or careless?

I go back and forth on this stuff. Anyway, I definitely think it's reasonable to give Niskanen a suspension if the NHL took stick work seriously. But they don't and therefore, it would have been outside the norm to suspend Niskanen for that play. That doesn't make it right, but under the current precedent, it's not surprising.

 

[imouttahereEdWinger]

Coffey says the league should have looked at Ovi slash.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/sidney-crosby-matt-niskanen-alex-ovechkin-paul-coffey-hit-cross-check-penguins-capitals/

The police should. He clubbed a man in the skull with a weapon.

 

[NewFang]

If the caps win game 4 and tie it up, I say he's back for game 5.

If the pens win game 4, they probably hold him out an extra couple of days.

Based on nothing more than hope and dreams by me lol

Dreams for sure. He did not look good after the hit. Dazed and confused to say the least. For hm to return this series would be a miracle.

 

[Shady Machine]

You can turn it off until the NHL becomes a respectable league.

And deprive myself the joy and entertainment of watching Penguins hockey for the foreseeable future?

Why would I do that?

 

[Shady Machine]

The police should. He clubbed a man in the skull with a weapon.

Oh come on be reasonable. These things rarely escalate to that level. The Bertuzzi incident is the type where police could reasonably be involved.