Speculation: Why do the Pens lead the man games lost almost every year?

[Jaded-Fan]

The Pens lose the most man games (or close to it) every year and have for years now.

From last year:

'Which teams have lost the most man-games to injury?
Mike Halford Feb 17, 2012, 4:13 PM EST

Over at the Globe and Mail, James Mirtle has compiled a list of man-games lost to injury by all 30 NHL teams — and unsurprisingly, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens have topped the charts:

Rank Team GP Pts MGL MGL/G
1 Pittsburgh 57 69 278 4.9

...
30 Boston 55 72 41 0.7
(MGL = Man Games Lost. MGL/G = Man Games Lost per Game.)

Only six Penguins have played all 57 games this year — Craig Adams, Matt Cooke, Steve Sullivan, Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz and James Neal — and the team has dressed a whopping 34 different skaters. That said, the most staggering statistic is probably how Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Jordan Staal have combined to miss 99 games, yet Pittsburgh still finds itself fifth in the Eastern Conference, three points back of second-place Boston.

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/17/which-teams-have-lost-the-most-man-games-to-injury/


I really wonder what is going on with their trainers. Yes, some injuries like Crosby's puck to the face are flukes, but when you see year after year the Pens leading with the most injuries and man games lost, including many of the top players, you have to question. It is not as if it is an old team where you would expect a lot of injuries. Or is it something else?

Click to read more...

 

[Shrimper]

I think that personally it is something to do with the backroom team but also a bit of luck. Well, bad luck.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I really don't know. But I have to think it's more than just coincidence/bad luck, at this point. Maybe the team just isn't very well conditioned? All I know is that it's gotten to the point where it's an expectation every single year. And yeah... I know every team goes through injury troubles. But surely not like this team.

 

[IcedCapp]

bad luck.

Scuderi: broken bone
Martin: broken bone
Bennett: broken bone
Glass: broken bone

Malkin: unfortunate spill
Orpik: attacked from behind


none of that is something a better training staff could avoid.

The only time I would call into question the trainers/doctors is the Crosby injury. The more I watch him play, the more I see other people take serious concussions and come back a week later, the more I wonder if he ever had a concussion or just a broken neck.

I'm not diminishing concussions at all, I just think the broken neck was the biggest issue and they missed it. The entire time.

 

[Winger for Hire]

I think that personally it is something to do with the backroom team but also a bit of luck. Well, bad luck.

I don't think it's fair to blame it on the trainers. A lot of the injuries aren't stuff the trainers can help... broken ankles, fractured tibias, concussions, etc.

If they we suffering a rash of muscle strains, tear and such and they were lingering, then I'd put the blame on the trainers.

But as it stands broken jaws, bones and the like aren't trainer issues, but luck and the body type/recovery speed of the players.

 

[Shrimper]

I don't think it's fair to blame it on the trainers. A lot of the injuries aren't stuff the trainers can help... broken ankles, fractured tibias, concussions, etc.

If they we suffering a rash of muscle strains, tear and such and they were lingering, then I'd put the blame on the trainers.

But as it stands broken jaws, bones and the like aren't trainer issues, but luck and the body type/recovery speed of the players.

My main gripe with the doctors/trainers/team is that they always give vague ideas about the injury. Would make more sense to say it than "lower-body" injury every time.

 

[Captain Hook]

The only time I would call into question the trainers/doctors is the Crosby injury. The more I watch him play, the more I see other people take serious concussions and come back a week later, the more I wonder if he ever had a concussion or just a broken neck.

I'm not diminishing concussions at all, I just think the broken neck was the biggest issue and they missed it. The entire time.

Crosby never had a broken neck.

Penguins center and captain Sidney Crosby did not and does not have a broken neck, a specialist in Philadelphia reported to the team. He does have a soft tissue neck injury that is treatable. That, and not a concussion, could be causing his recurring problems with motion and balance.

http://www.post-gazette.com/home/20...-treatable-tissue-injury/stories/201201310222

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Nothing but bad luck. Hopefully we can stay healthy in the New Year

 

[IcedCapp]

Crosby never had a broken neck.



http://www.post-gazette.com/home/20...-treatable-tissue-injury/stories/201201310222

okay, then they missed that, then. Swear that SportsNet up here reported a healed broken neck. Sorry about that.

 

[Captain Hook]

My main gripe with the doctors/trainers/team is that they always give vague ideas about the injury. Would make more sense to say it than "lower-body" injury every time.

They know what the injuries are and how to treat them. They are vague about what it is publicly because they know guys on the other team will go after the injury.

 

[ByeBye]

They don't drink enough milk.

 

[Shady Machine]

Not enough calcium.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

okay, then they missed that, then. Swear that SportsNet up here reported a healed broken neck. Sorry about that.

I thought that was the case, too. Up until a minute ago.

Either way, it was a bad misdiagnosis.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I don't think it's fair to blame it on the trainers. A lot of the injuries aren't stuff the trainers can help... broken ankles, fractured tibias, concussions, etc.

If they we suffering a rash of muscle strains, tear and such and they were lingering, then I'd put the blame on the trainers.

But as it stands broken jaws, bones and the like aren't trainer issues, but luck and the body type/recovery speed of the players.

Which is why I added the question of the system. The Pens' game is based on speed and, in theory, long stretch passes and speed into the opposing zone. How many times have we seen Malkin crash into the boards and get injured just like he did with the injury which has him out of the lineup currently.

On the other hand, the Pens are not the only team to run that system.

 

[Winger for Hire]

My main gripe with the doctors/trainers/team is that they always give vague ideas about the injury. Would make more sense to say it than "lower-body" injury every time.

That's an organizational thing, not trainers. I'm sure the trainers tell the coaches exactly what the injury is. The reporting isn't their job and I really couldn't care less what they report the injury as. As a fan I really only want to know a rough timetable for recovery and if it's career altering.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Nothing but bad luck. Hopefully we can stay healthy in the New Year

Bad luck for like 5 or 6 years in a row when we led the league, or were near the top of the league, in man games lost?

That strains credulity.

 

[Shady Machine]

Which is why I added the question of the system. The Pens' game is based on speed and, in theory, long stretch passes and speed into the opposing zone. How many times have we seen Malkin crash into the boards and get injured just like he did with the injury which has him out of the lineup currently.

On the other hand, the Pens are not the only team to run that system.

That's more on how Geno plays than the Pens.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Which is why I added the question of the system. The Pens' game is based on speed and, in theory, long stretch passes and speed into the opposing zone. How many times have we seen Malkin crash into the boards and get injured just like he did with the injury which has him out of the lineup currently.

On the other hand, the Pens are not the only team to run that system.

It'd be stupid to change the system based on a fluke injury. You can crash awkwardly into the boards playing the most cautious, slow paced system.

It's hockey, injuries happen. Major and minor. And a majority are just luck.

 

[Captain Hook]

okay, then they missed that, then. Swear that SportsNet up here reported a healed broken neck. Sorry about that.

No problem. I can see where the confusion comes from. There were lots of reports of a broken neck back then but the reports turned out to be wrong.

The soft tissue injury to his neck is such a weird injury. I remember Bob Mckenzie telling a story about a kid in junior that had a really long bout with concussion like symptoms and it turned out to be a neck tissue injury too.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Bad luck for like 5 or 6 years in a row when we led the league, or were near the top of the league, in man games lost?

That strains credulity.

We've been lucky with Sid and pretty much Geno this year, well until Saturday. Eventually you gotta think luck will turn in our favor at one point

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Damn.

I should have included 'thin bones' as a voting option. We were warned afterall.

 

[Shady Machine]

We've been lucky with Sid and pretty much Geno this year, well until Saturday. Eventually you gotta think luck will turn in our favor at one point

Why is it lucky for them to not be injured?

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Why is it lucky for them to not be injured?

Maybe because we've been use to it and pretty much are expecting something bad to happen again unfortunately

 

[IcedCapp]

No problem. I can see where the confusion comes from. There were lots of reports of a broken neck back then but the reports turned out to be wrong.

The soft tissue injury to his neck is such a weird injury. I remember Bob Mckenzie telling a story about a kid in junior that had a really long bout with concussion like symptoms and it turned out to be a neck tissue injury too.

http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_779028.html

Oh, it was Rossi and the Trib.

That stuff gets picked up here all the time as gospel.

 

[Shady Machine]

Maybe because we've been use to it and pretty much are expecting something bad to happen again unfortunately

So it's really that they have been unlucky in the past and this is just normalcy. Being healthy should be the norm for a player.