Injury Report: Zuccarello Fractured Hand (Update: 2/21: Will miss 2 weeks of NHL games)

[eco's bones]

Zuccarello IMO--the best forward on the Rangers this year. His line mates Brassard and Pouliot very likely will look lost without him. We'll probably see. Dorsett's coming back from injury is nice but he's no replacement for Zucc.

Want your guys in these games--you have to live with what happens. Losing Zuccarello for any length of time is going to hurt the Rangers. Maybe not as much as losing Zetterberg for the Red Wings but to be honest I don't give a **** about the Red Wings.

Anyway if the Rangers are expecting him out 3 weeks it's likely he'll be out 3 weeks. Someone else's experiences with a similar injury notwithstanding.

Will it effect the Rangers thinking of moving Callahan? Probably not but it would be less of a shocker.

 

[KenGuru]

Zuccarello was one of Norways poorest players in the Olympics. Next time he can stay in NY. Did not show any entusiasm at all. Obviously he thought he was bigger than the team.

 

[Thirty One]

Zuccarello was one of Norways poorest players in the Olympics. Next time he can stay in NY. Did not show any entusiasm at all. Obviously he thought he was bigger than the team.

Yeah, he and Crosby are pretty much terrible players.

Sample size. Sample size. Sample size.

 

[Nanaki]

Yeah, he and Crosby are pretty much terrible players.

Sample size. Sample size. Sample size.

You forget where you are man? Yeah, its the same place that crowned Petr Prucha superior to Crosbo.

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

Either Dorsett on the 4th and Moore on the 3rd or (if Dorsett needs more time to rehab) Miller on the 3rd isn't the end of the world, especially for a couple weeks. It won't influence transactions if it's a short-term injury. We've been remarkably healthy lately.

If it's a longer-term injury that obviously sucks. Maybe we'd be in the market for a rental with a mid-round pick to keep things respectable for the playoffs if the in-house replacement struggles. Not the kind of thing that would influence the Callahan decision IMO

 

[Thirty One]

Zuccarello leads all forwards in the Olympics in ice-time per game. He was basically being held hostage because he thought he was too good to be there and didn't want to be there. Wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be a self-inflicted injury.

 

[Idlerlee]

Zuccarello was one of Norways poorest players in the Olympics. Next time he can stay in NY. Did not show any entusiasm at all. Obviously he thought he was bigger than the team.

Did we see the same tournament ? :p He tried to play the way he does with the Rangers, and his line in particular. That just wont work when you havent played with players for 4 years.

But he only gave up his sponsor contract (and funding to his own foundation) to be able to go to the Olympics, I'm sure he didnt care about it at all when he first got there o/

 

[SKS]

Did we see the same tournament ? :p He tried to play the way he does with the Rangers, and his line in particular. That just wont work when you havent played with players for 4 years.

But he only gave up his sponsor contract (and funding to his own foundation) to be able to go to the Olympics, I'm sure he didnt care about it at all when he first got there o/

When seeing posts by -31- it is often a good idea to approach them with irony filter turned up a notch

 

[Thirty One]

When seeing posts by -31- it is often a good idea to approach them with irony filter turned up a notch

Wasn't responding to me, though.

(But yes, I recommend one notch at minimum.)

 

[surGeon]

You guys are forgetting that Zuccarello is part Norwegian. Viking bones heal faster.

Just have his mom make him meatcakes with carrots, potatoes and gravy and mead to drink and he'll be fine in a week.

 

[Zucc36]

Zuccarello was one of Norways poorest players in the Olympics. Next time he can stay in NY. Did not show any entusiasm at all. Obviously he thought he was bigger than the team.

Based on expectations I would say Crosby has been the real dissapointment in these games.

But I agree that Zucc seemed very uninspired in the games. Looked like he didn´t want to be there, and I had a feeling that he was trying to avoid getting hurt. And ironically enough he did.....

Didn´t help that Patrick Thoresen also played way under his ability. The best player for Norway was by far Mathis Olimb, and I hope he will get the chance to play in the NHL.

 

[KingStian]

Yes, Zuccarello didn't shine like the last Olympics, but neither did the rest of the squad either. Norway had a offence wise rally bad tournament this time around all over. And as mentioned before, it's not easy when you haven't played much with guys in four years, except for a couple of exhibition games. I saw some passes that some of his teammates just didn't look prepared for. It reminded me a lot the way many of his linemates in the first couple of seasons with the Rangers missed passes cause they weren't prepared for them.

He also played about half the game against Austria with a fractured hand, and the games before he had been vastly overused by the coach. He played nine minutes in the first period alone against Canada for example, and he was used as a PKer too, which was just stupid relating to the ice time in the games otherwise

 

[Dagh]

Yes, Zuccarello didn't shine like the last Olympics, but neither did the rest of the squad either. Norway had a offence wise rally bad tournament this time around all over. And as mentioned before, it's not easy when you haven't played much with guys in four years, except for a couple of exhibition games. I saw some passes that some of his teammates just didn't look prepared for. It reminded me a lot the way many of his linemates in the first couple of seasons with the Rangers missed passes cause they weren't prepared for them.

He also played about half the game against Austria with a fractured hand, and the games before he had been vastly overused by the coach. He played nine minutes in the first period alone against Canada for example, and he was used as a PKer too, which was just stupid relating to the ice time in the games otherwise

That's more or less the feelings I was left with for this tournament too. Defensively the team looked pretty sound. Not that much happening offensively though, and it wasn't all down to Zuccarello. Thoresen could have looked a lot better, and I was hoping for stronger offensive zone board play from Bastiansen's line, as I had a vague memory of him being pretty good at that last tournament I followed.

Other than that, Olimb was perhaps the best offensive player, but I still think he overdid his defensive zone circling around with the puck.

 

[Ilovemymum]

Think Zuke had an almost impossible task and way too much pressure. His linesmates Thoresen and KA Olimb where completely unable to contribute this time, the former very much out of shape and the latter, just unable. I liked Mathis Olimb in this tournament but don't think his figureskating mesh well in the NHL. More East-West than North-South. Would like him in Vancouver though, just to enjoy Torts facial expressions.

 

[parcsalooc]

My buddy just came off a fracture on his hand from a nasty slash. Came back after 3 weeks and refractured it. It didn't help that he wasn't wearing a brace under his glove. Took another 4 weeks after that and now all is fine while still wearing the brace. So 3-4 weeks seems like it would be a good timetable for him with the Rangers training staff.

 

[Zucc36]

Zucc on twitter:

- So tired of journalists that don´t know have a clue about what they are writing about....

And he tags the norwegian journalist Øystein Jarlsbo in the biggest newspaper in Norway, VG.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

So, it's franchise changing because Callahan could MAYBE fall apart and a young asset MAY help us more?

I guess we have a different definition of franchise changing

The irony of your avatar and this convo...although I guess he failed to figure it out too in the end. His was life ending yours is franchise altering. Potential franchise altering. I don't think this MZA injury would play into Sathers decision much

 

[Dagh]

Zucc on twitter:

- So tired of journalists that don´t know have a clue about what they are writing about....

And he tags the norwegian journalist Øystein Jarlsbo in the biggest newspaper in Norway, VG.

Can't say I blame him. I would guess the below quote might have caused it:

Min svenske kollega sa også at han hadde observert følgende: Under en kamp hadde landslagssjef Roy Johansen bøyd seg ned over Patrick Thoresen og Mats Zuccarello på spillerbenken, åpenbart for å gi dem instruksjoner.

Zuccarello, mente min kollega, viste med sitt kroppsspråk at han ikke var så interessert i å ta dem til seg.

Rough translation:

My swedish colleague also said that he'd observed the following: During a game, coach Roy Johansen had bent down to PT and MZA at the bench, obviously to give them instructions.

My colleague felt that Zucc had demonstrated, through his body language, that he wasn't interested in listening.

So this guy talked to someone who though Zucc's body language demonstrated that he wasn't interested in the coach's input, during a conversation he obviously didn't hear the contents of.

 

[Ilovemymum]

Zucc on twitter:

- So tired of journalists that don´t know have a clue about what they are writing about....

And he tags the norwegian journalist Øystein Jarlsbo in the biggest newspaper in Norway, VG.

2nd that. This guy is just too negative to have any constructive value.
(Same guy that complained about Rangers only getting two points out of a shoot-out win btw. And yes, I know, early in the morning and all that, but still a bit funny in my head.)

 

[DeadPuck]

When seeing posts by -31- it is often a good idea to approach them with irony filter turned up a notch

Thanks for the heads-up. I was ready to get out the pitchfork.

 

[ArPanet]

You guys are forgetting that Zuccarello is part Norwegian. Viking bones heal faster.

Just have his mom make him meatcakes with carrots, potatoes and gravy and mead to drink and he'll be fine in a week.

What, no reindeer bladder?

 

[nyrpassion]

You forget where you are man? Yeah, its the same place that crowned Petr Prucha superior to Crosbo.

will never forget that.

 

[RangerBoy]

Zuccarello should be landing this afternoon. 10-11 hour flight from Sochi. Zetterberg also an appointment with a back specialist in Manhattan this afternoon. Maybe they can share a car to take them to their doctor appointments.

 

[AHB*]

Zuccarello should be landing this afternoon. 10-11 hour flight from Sochi. Zetterberg also an appointment with a back specialist in Manhattan this afternoon. Maybe they can share a car to take them to their doctor appointments.

What's the point of a comment like this? How angry are you abuot NHL players in the olympics? This is the best hockey any of us will see. As a Rangers fan sure, it's upsetting. As a hockey fan, it's amazing. I consider myself both, but i love the game first and foremost. Without it, we wouldn't have the Rangers.

 

[Thirty One]

What's the point of a comment like this? How angry are you abuot NHL players in the olympics? This is the best hockey any of us will see. As a Rangers fan sure, it's upsetting. As a hockey fan, it's amazing. I consider myself both, but i love the game first and foremost. Without it, we wouldn't have the Rangers.

I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. He was just listing a bunch of facts that he knows.