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

[Winger for Hire]

Damn.

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

I don't know what you want to get out of this discussion.

You can't avoid broken bones and concussions if you play at the speed of the NHL game. It truly is luck when it comes to this stuff. Heck, even playing at a recreational Dek level there's still broken ankles, dislocated shoulders and major injuries. It just happens.

 

[Finesse]

I agree that it's difficult to blame trainers for most of the injuries that we're dealing with at the moment.

However, in Malkin's case, he left the ice twice during that game. It's possible that he might not have been in top-condition when he returned to the game only to sustain a more serious injury. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have been permitted to play again after his initial incident. But it's definitely possible that he wasn't in the right head-space to continue playing. Seemed like his head took a knock. And if that's the case, then the trainers could be blamed. The point being, if he'd been kept off the ice after his initial incident, then he'd probably be playing tonight. Keep in mind I'm not stating that this is fact, I'm just attempting to illustrate the wide effect that the trainers/medical staff can potentially have on the roster.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I would point out that the Pens' doctor did let Orpik get on a plane after his concussion. Which quite a number of Boston posters who have watched ER many many times have told me means either Orpik was lying or the Pens' doctor (and those at Mass General) are bad.

Just throwing that out there.

 

[madinsomniac]

I think its a lot of issues...

Some Bad luck, no doubt Like Crosby getting face'o puck from orpik last year, Or Malkin doing the board split last game...

I also think the Pens have a heavy reliance on certain players, so they play hurt more than others... Malkin, Crosby, Letang... even Duper this year... looks obviously hurt... still in there and probably going to make it worse...

I think teams play a lot rougher with us, as well... teams that cant skate with us are going to try to physical us into bad plays and retaliation... that can lead to injuries

Finally, I think We havent had a lot of size and physicality, so that leads to two issues:
A.) that the bigger guys we do have try to do too much in the physicality sector, wearing them out and making them suseptable to injury
b.) Smaller guys try to play bigger than they are, which leads to other types of injuries


I dont think its one issue... its a lot...

 

[DoktorZaius]

Broken bones are just bad luck. Malkin seems like he is always going to get injured a few times/season, to varying degrees. A) because he's a bit injury prone in certain ways, having accrued various war wounds over the years and B) because he's fearless and will, for example, drive the net hard without worrying about whether it's even going to be possible for him to come to a safe stop.

 

[Finesse]

Broken bones are just bad luck. Malkin seems like he is always going to get injured a few times/season, to varying degrees. A) because he's a bit injury prone in certain ways, having accrued various war wounds over the years and B) because he's fearless and will, for example, drive the net hard without worrying about whether it's even going to be possible for him to come to a safe stop.

Yep. At least he doesn't just fall on his ass in the process anymore, like he did half of the time a couple years ago.

 

[switch23]

But but but the Pens employ some of the best doctors in the world..

 

[PensPlz]

Voodoo dolls.

 

[Winger for Hire]

But but but the Pens employ some of the best doctors in the world..

Doctors can only do so much for injuries. They can't magically heal a broken foot. Or magically make someone pass the concussion baseline test... wait bad example, I think that's what the NFL doctors are trained to do.

I think the doctors, trainers and S&C coach do a very good job at making sure a player knows what's wrong, knows the treatment and can get the rehab necessary to get back to playing (Sid's neck aside).

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Reread the article that I linked. Last year we AVERAGED five roster players out of the lineup every single game. That means on any given night 22% of our regular roster was missing. That is a staggering number when you think about it and can not be mere bad luck. And last year was typical for the Pens.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Reread the article that I linked. Last year we AVERAGED five roster players out of the lineup every single game. That means on any given night 22% of our regular roster was missing. That is a staggering number when you think about it and can not be mere bad luck. And last year was typical for the Pens.

You can't prevent or predict injuries, it's 100% luck. The best you can do is preventive measures (stretching, not hiding minor injuries that can worsen, etc).

It's just a bad run. I'm sure you can grab another 5 year sample size where the Pens were near the bottom of the league in MGL. It's not like DB is running most his player out on super extended shifts or logging 35+ minutes of ice time.

Other teams are running similar up-tempo "injury prone" style of play as the Pens and not suffering injuries, others are. Injuries happen, you can't prevent it or alter timetables for recovery by switching to a better doctor/trainer.

I understand the Pens had hit a run of pretty major lost time injuries, but that's what happens playing hockey. It's a game of high speed collisions with knives on your feet while swinging spear-like objects at a solid rubber puck on ice. They happen quiet often.

 

[Frederick Stanley]

I think it's because of Jobu, of course it could be bad luck, but that's unlikely.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I think it's because of Jobu, of course it could be bad luck, but that's not likely.

Most here think that it is the popup ads.

And yeah, I am hardly a conspiracy theory sort of guy. I laugh at people who believe them and we Pens' fans have the most thrown our way. If the president of the united states could not keep a dalliance with one person a secret I find supposed conspiracies which would involve dozens if not hundreds of people, all of whom never talk, to be ludicrous.

But when you have this much evidence leaning a way, it crosses into legitimate questioning. If the Pens are not looking at this, and trying to figure out a why, they should be.

 

[Ogrezilla]

We may have guys sit out for smaller injuries than other teams because we are almost always very safely in a playoff position recently.

Other than that, we just happen to have some guys who play big minutes who aren't shy about going to the dirty areas. Of course Crosby and Malkin are more likely to be hurt than Adams. They play more and they have the puck more often. Aside from blocking shots, how often does Adams have the puck long enough to really take a hit? How often does he get to stand in front of the net and take slashes and crosschecks?

To really answer this, we'd need to look at the injuries and see if there are similarities in how or when they happen. Are guys getting hurt looking to receive a stretch pass because they aren't watching in front of them? Are we pulling groins trying to turn up ice as soon as the puck is near a d-man?

 

[Jaded-Fan]

We may have guys sit out for smaller injuries than other teams because we are almost always very safely in a playoff position recently.

Other than that, we just happen to have some guys who play big minutes who aren't shy about going to the dirty areas. Of course Crosby and Malkin are more likely to be hurt than Adams. They play more and they have the puck more often. Aside from blocking shots, how often does Adams have the puck long enough to really take a hit? How often does he get to stand in front of the net and take slashes and crosschecks?

How does any of that differ from a lot of other teams?

 

[IcedCapp]

Reread the article that I linked. Last year we AVERAGED five roster players out of the lineup every single game. That means on any given night 22% of our regular roster was missing. That is a staggering number when you think about it and can not be mere bad luck. And last year was typical for the Pens.

okay, so your suggestion is: ___________________

 

[Winger for Hire]

We may have guys sit out for smaller injuries than other teams because we are almost always very safely in a playoff position recently.

Other than that, we just happen to have some guys who play big minutes who aren't shy about going to the dirty areas. Of course Crosby and Malkin are more likely to be hurt than Adams. They play more and they have the puck more often. Aside from blocking shots, how often does Adams have the puck long enough to really take a hit? How often does he get to stand in front of the net and take slashes and crosschecks?

To really answer this, we'd need to look at the injuries and see if there are similarities in how or when they happen. Are guys getting hurt looking to receive a stretch pass because they aren't watching in front of them? Are we pulling groins trying to turn up ice as soon as the puck is near a d-man?

It would be a good start to look at contact vs non-contact injuries, which would be a good indication of which injuries could have been prevented.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

okay, so your suggestion is: ___________________

I had no agenda.

I rarely do when I make these polls.

I merely threw out a question on a topic that I was mulling over and thought would make an interesting discussion.

 

[Sotty]

They should not have build the arena on the site of a hospital.

 

[IcedCapp]

I had no agenda.

I rarely do when I make these polls.

I merely threw out a question on a topic that I was mulling over and thought would make an interesting discussion.

I wasn't saying you had an agenda. You don't like the most common suggestion, so I'm curious as to what your suggestion is.

 

[Winger for Hire]

They should not have build the arena on the site of a hospital.

I like this angle.

Mario and Burkle need to get one of the 500 ghost hunter shows to come and do a special 2 hour special to rid the arena of the injury spirits.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

They should not have build the arena on the site of a hospital.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

I wasn't saying you had an agenda. You don't like the most common suggestion, so I'm curious as to what your suggestion is.

Psst, for my personal opinion look at my vote.

Though like most things I think that a combination of factors play a role. Disco is not the only one who plays that system for one. The trainers and programs that the Pens run need to be looked at as well. How does their offseason conditioning compare for instance. I know that Letang is a workout demon, I wonder in his case if he takes it too far, or is doing part of it wrong, and is more susceptible because of it.

 

[Frederick Stanley]

I like this angle.

Mario and Burkle need to get one of the 500 ghost hunter shows to come and do a special 2 hour special to rid the arena of the injury spirits.

It could be the old Mellon Arena water they poured onto the ice at the opening game. In that case, we need these guys:

 

[Winger for Hire]

Psst, for my personal opinion look at my vote.

Though like most things I think that a combination of factors play a role. Disco is not the only one who plays that system for one.

You said you wanted a discussion and there's a couple people here willing to give you a serious one. Let me know if this is all in jest or just some place to make jokes and I won't waste my time.

Your vague and cryptic responses aren't helping this any.