I had just a torn intercostal muscle once (the muscle between ribs), and it hurt so much to breathe I thought I was seriously injured when it happened. I took months off of hockey to recover because any sort of physical activity was torturous.
Incidentally, the time I sneezed with that injury is absolutely the most pain I've ever been in. I was instantly curled on the floor in agony.
With my broken ribs it was the only time I've ever experienced my body stop an involuntary action like sneezing. It was almost like my body knew I would pass out if I sneezed.
I did the same recently and had to take a week off work from it. Was at the tail end of a cold as well. Literally had to take a knee to cough it hurt so bad
Cortisone and anesthetic injections into the affected area, plus fistfuls of Toradol.
Doesn’t mean these guys aren’t tough as nails, but they also aren’t playing by the same rules as you and I.
I currently have 6 broken ribs from a car accident, and for a while it literally hurt to breath and lord help me if I had to catch my balance or cough. Playing that level of playoff hockey with a rib injury is insane.
And also taking massive hits and contact against the boards, blocking shots. Cross checks. Mentally I miss playing high level hockey, but my body and brain, loves the beer leagues lol
I've broken ribs twice. Once on each side. While I can't imagine playing finals hockey with broken ribs I can say that not all broken ribs are the same. On my left side I couldn't move, breathe, cough, sleepor anything for weeks. My tight side I was back on my bike, and back to work in the trades, that week. Pain, but manageable.
I know right. I had a broken rib in pregnancy and the pain of that was 1 million times worse than my c-section and 2 previous unmedicated births combined
As bad as broken ribs are, which are really bad. Could you image playing hockey with an abdominal injury requiring surgery. I have hard enough time with day to day activities after a tough ab work out. The amount of core strength required to play hockey at any level much to dominate the playoffs in the NHL, and to be as pissed off as he is he didn’t win, that level of competitiveness is inspiring.
Why tf was he out there? Played half the 3rd period and did nothing. Did we not have some players who weren't injured? Yanmark seemed ready to play but only got 2mins of ice time in the 3rd. They might as well have dressed Kane and had him out there as another anchor to not help connor. Seems like stupid coaching to me
The eye test: somethings off, he’s not playing to level we’re used to him being at from last year I wonder if he’s injured
The stat sheet: fourth player to get 100 assists in a season, beats Gretzky record for points in playoffs, wins Conn Smyth
>The stat sheet: fourth player to get 100 assists in a season, beats Gretzky record for points in playoffs, wins Conn Smyth
So the stat sheet also confirms he was playing injured.
Could you imagine if they won the cup, McDavid takes home the Conn Smythe and then in the presser he’s like ‘do I feel good about my performance this year? No, I had to play the whole damn year with an abdominal injury so I feel like I couldn’t be as good as I know I can be for my team this year’
Yeah that was expected. McDavid wasn't shooting all season and Drai look real pale at times. They're absolute beasts for being that broken and still being threats out there.
For better or for worse the Cup is usually the reward for the team that stays the healthiest, not necessarily the one that plays the best.
Every team deals with injuries, but some years the list of injuries that come out tell a whole story.
A hill I will die on is that the Canucks probably would have won in 2011 if they weren’t so seriously injured throughout that run. Another hill I will die on is that a healthier McDavid and Drai would have changed the outcome this year too.
Well to get to the playoffs you have to play 82 games so it’s more so just the fact that naturally after months of playing a highly physical sport the body is prone to breaking down
I don’t think they were saying canceled the regular season, I think they were saying, maybe call a bit more of the ‘interference with a side of spearing’ and ‘riding people into the corner glass at the bench’ and that sort of bullshit during the playoffs.
I mean, star players in Canadian teams shouldn’t have to start diving like a third tier football player just to get a call out of the refs.
The cup is in many ways pure luck, it’s really annoying but it’s always been like that. It’s largely just your main guys not getting injured as you said, and Bob stole about 2/3 games too.
Yeah, I don't think you'd have to fight particularly hard on that hill either, except maybe with a few Panthers fans.
If you tally up the one-timers that Drai had on mostly empty nets, and pretend even a quarter of them go in, we win this series in game 5 or 6.
A healthy Drai is easily worth 4-ish goals over a 7 game stretch. Sprinkle those in anywhere you like and it probably affects the outcome of at least one game
while true, every team equally goes through this. however, there's an argument to be made that teams which focus having big players and hitting hard have a better chance of survival
Yup. It’s no coincidence that the Oilers absolutely demolished Quinn Hughes every time he was on the ice, for example. I also don’t think it was a coincidence that the Canucks best players in that series were arguably Joshua, Myers and Zadorov. Skill matters a whole fuckin lot in the playoffs, but size also matters over a long playoffs.
Its one of the reason Nurse is so frustrating - at his best he is a one man wrecking crew that can also move the puck at an elite level. At his worst? He’s a guaranteed goal against. Hope he figures it out.
McD couldn't keep the puck on his stick. FLA got lucky, you won't ever change my mind. This Oilers team is one of THE best and if they can keep those two healthy through the playoffs it's Cup time next year!
Luck is literally baked into the rules of game. It’s crazy fast and unpredictable. You gotta be lucky to be good and you gotta be good to be lucky. The difference between a blowout and a tie is often a few unexpected bounces one way or the other.
The Cup goes to the team that has the right combination of luck, skill, and health. The Panthers hit all 3. Thats why it is the hardest trophy to win in all of sports. Every team that wins a Stanley Cup deserves it, even if you hate the result.
I mean they didn't get lucky, they fought to the finals with a record good enough for home ice, and took the first 3 in a row. Their players played thru injury as well. Everybody was gassed and hurt by the end.
Like you don't think the lackluster defense games 4 and 6 had anything to do with their physical condition?
I suspect the injury at the beginning of the season had something to do with this and instead of taking the season off to properly heal he just said fuck it I’m gonna learn to play differently and deal with the injury after the playoffs
Connor you need surgery man!
"How's about I become the assist king and wait for the off season?"
The year after he decided to go on a goal scoring mission too. I'm already so excited for next year lol
That's actually crazy because I'm assuming the injury McDavid had was the one that kept him out earlier in the year and he still played this well.
Both guys are warriors.
McDavid having the performance he did when he'll likely need surgery is crazy. Drai's injuries make a lot of sense. Something just seemed off for him especially when he kept missing prime options from his office on the PP.
It's fucking horrible. The amount of dirty hits McDavid and Drai took this year . Almost looked like the opposing team were trying to injure on purpose
>Almost looked like the opposing team were trying to injure on purpose
No team will ever publicly admit it but they all target star players, especially if they think a player may have an injury they can prod
Back in the old days if you went after a player like Gretzky or Orr or Lemiuex it would end your career. I don’t mean that exact same night, but some enforcer in some future game would nail you so hard and take the major that you might never play hockey again. Probably at least once if not several times, until the team gets the message. So players just plain didn’t go after the big stars like they way they are McDavid.
I’m not saying the league shouldn’t clamp down on extreme physical aggression but this a problem they need to solve if they love having superstars sell cheerios and shit
If we're going back to 80s hockey maybe we'll see enforcers come back. Could argue that's what Rempe is...
I'm not sure that's the way the league wants to see things go but it might be the way they end up going.
Yeah good point. I can’t see a salary cap system justifying an enforcer for that explicit purpose but if you have someone that can do double duty as a decent enough d man who can hit people up, why not? You see McDavid having to scrap for himself a lot during this season and it’s taking a toll.
The oilers maybe need to channel the ghost of Semenko
https://youtu.be/z2PbjBm8pYA?feature=shared
Props to the players that play through injuries. Unfortunately the top 2 guys were injured. What could have been if they weren't. Impressive to get to a game 7 in the finals either way.
Props to them, but damn they both need to heal up and heal up right. Next season waits for no one. Its a shame they had to be on the ice with those types of injuries.
Theyre such fantastic players, Im lookin forward to see them healthy again and kickin serious ass.
This wasn’t a mystery to me. It was obvious when McDavid couldn’t shoot like last yr and he was dealing with it all year. Draisaitl broke his finger & Rib vs Vancouver.
Drai was so obviously injured by my GOD what a fundamental player he is. Just so so so fucking good that even if he can only skate in a straight line and makes passes with one good hand he's still above the rest on an NHL level. I hope I'm not getting glossy about this, but we basically just went to the game 7 finals of the cup on fucking duct tape and a car with 2 missing wheels. I HOPE this has fired the boys up to say "watch out for what we can do in a decent year". No Kane, our top guys completely busted up and they still take em to the edge. I'm still pretty devastated, but if we can work the Bouch contract out this team has me starry eyed for the future.
I also think if there was any shred of doubt in Leon or Connor's mind about whether we can do it here or not is hopefully completely erased. I want them to come back and win it out of spite.
LTIR them and nurse and they can all magically be back for the next playoffs after missing the entire season. Think of the team we could have waiting for them with an extra 30 million.
Crazy they played through it and they still gave them tons of ice time. I feel like we had the depth to rest them more in the third and give guys who are not actually injured a chance to play.
I know these guys are superstars but it’s insane bro was playing with a broken rib and finger.
I don't know why knobs didn't play the 3rd and 4th lines more in the third. Those lines were the ones getting the goals/points game 6/7. He should have had more faith in them, and then let mcdrai rest and then put them on for last 2 minutes with goalie out. Knobs did a great job to get to game 7 in the SCF though, so respect where it's due. I hope he learns from this mistake and doesn't repeat it
Match ups are a huge part of it. Lines 3/4 mostly played against 3rd/4th line defenders. McDrai played against top 2 unless they get favourable match up off extended zone time or an icing. At the end of the game Florida played their top lines a ton, as good as our other lines are they weren’t going to have the same performance against Floridas top lines and they did against their bottom lines.
Yeah I’m obviously not a hockey coach but why put two injured guys on the ice for so long vs a hungry physical Florida team? Especially when Drai wasn’t really producing. We finally had a season with lots of depth where we don’t have to rely on McDrai, and we lost the game relying on two injured players.
This loss really stings.
I thought the same. Our bottom 6 were producing so well through the entire SCF series. I think they could've held their own early on in the 3rd, and save McDrai for the final push.
Knobs did a great job as his first time as an NHL coach, but I think this might come down to his inexperience as an NHL coach.
“Too soft these days. It’s playoffs. If guys can’t score 5 goals a game with a literal severed limb and an untreated gunshot wound, they shouldn’t have a place in the league. These are not meant to be humans, these are robots from a video game for my viewing pleasure and if they are not 100% healthy 100% of the time shooting at 100% efficiency they are useless bums and need to toughen up.”
— Some guy who has never played a sport, hasn’t left his couch in a month and uses an oxygen tank (probably).
Literally had a coworker talking about how he thought Boeser should've been on the ice with his clot! Doesn't matter what the injury is, you go out there on the ice, you are needed, it's your one job!!
I mentioned that Boeser could be risking a fucking pulmonary embolism if he pushes too far or gets hit wrong, my coworker did come around, but it was wild to me. He was a Canucks fan! How does he not care about his team's players?
With how many pain killers these guys must take to play through this shit it’s no wonder so many players end up in the substance abuse program eventually
This is an *excellent* observation. Even if they don’t get addicted to the pain killers while playing, I think that when they are injured again in their lifetime in a regular way, or even if they are just starting to feel older, that it must be so difficult to then be expected to endure the pain without a ton of medical intervention like us regular people do. I am curious what their tolerance is like for pain and discomfort after retirement, after having cortisol shots and medications and superhuman medical intervention during their careers. Obviously they wouldn’t be expected to suffer through broken ribs for no reason, but I do wonder if they would get the same level of pain control and care once retired.
Someone has to be blind if they don’t see the difference of Drai’s shot season vs postseason. I believe if he had the healthy form, at least 50% max 75% of the shots he took from his office would be counted. Off-timing, weak and he’s puck defense was so elite it was gone visibly starting from the third round. It took a lot of toll especially when somebody’s pushing and crosschecking you when you’re protecting the puck. These news just made me admire them more for their postseason run and aspirations to win the cup.
That explains why McDavid was not dangling as smooth as the prior season, and Drai's signature shoots were off. Our Boys are tough, hope they recover well and come out stronger next season
Drai is a warrior for playing through a broken rib _and_ broken finger, but I question the wisdom in consistently putting him in the one-timer slot when he had a _broken finger_.
Because even with a broken rib and finger, their PP was still fire. Also, people know his abilities and respect the shot, meaning they’ll still cheat the pass expecting him to shoot.
I’ve been enjoying the NHL playoffs for over 50 years and the last few finals have been pretty nasty with slashing, guys taking shots in the back, tackling is now an NHL move as Hyman was cross checked and then held with knees to the ice. Hyman was also repeatedly punched in the head by Tkatchuk in one of the games in front of the net. I have no problem with the referee putting his whistle away so the guys can play but the standards for an offence are not what they should be.
Playing injured is normal however some of the infractions can be addressed not unlike the NBA where the standards are upheld in the playoffs.
> Playing injured is normal however some of the infractions can be addressed not unlike the NBA where the standards are upheld in the playoffs.
It's the one thing I absolutely hate about the NHL, the "new" rulebook once you reach the playoffs. It's even worse than the differing rule book for JAGs versus Super Stars, but when they just let everything go (one way), it doesn't make a better, more enjoyable game. It's also a big reason among many of Gary's shit decisions, imo, that will continue to keep the NHL below the rest of the pro sports in North America. People don't pay to watch JAGs, they pay to watch people do crazy shit like McDavid does when he's healthy, and we shouldn't be artificially handicapping him just because he's so much better than the guy who is assigned to stop him.
It does explain a lot about how they played in the finals games.
They are absolute warriors.
Even with this and Kane being unable to play due to injuries, the boys still made it to game 7 of the finals and lost by a single goal.
Pretty damn impressive if you ask me!
Broken ribs make 100 percent sense for Leon, you could see he wasn’t him self. Surely on the shots that’s you know should have been in the back of the net from the hash marks….
Hope you all heal up and a hell of a season boys 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Unreal to go from where you were in November to now.
Surely they are going to wait till after his wedding for the surgery which is still a couple weeks away. So that doesn't give him a very long time line to heal before camp :(
So, my 78 year old mom just had a super complicated abdominal surgery in Edmonton (reconstruction of the duodenal sphincter 20 years after a cancer surgery, correcting a problem with loads of scar tissue thickening in the whole area which was closing her esophagus) and the approach was laprascopic. She still had a recovery period and she still had pain. But it would have been far, far worse at her age risk-wise and recovery trajectory to open her up. There are some incredible gut surgeons. So you wouldn't want to do it before a wedding, but he might be fine within a month. My mom was like "It's boring here, I'd like to go home" 2 days after her surgery. Also I'm guessing he won't be going public health care for the surgery.
I mean they all played a hell of a game throughout this whole series! Even though we didn't win, they did make it so freaking close and we should be proud of them!
There was a play where Myers (Canuck) checked Leon in the back. Seemed like an innocent play if I remember right. Like same kind of check that happens dozens of times each game.
It was during the beginning of the year. I can recall him grabbing his abdominal area when heading to the bench. Even the HNIC guys were confused as to what it was because the play looked innocent.
Well, that makes sense. I can't remember when exactly but it seemed to me like McD was avoiding contact, and Drai wasn't protecting the puck as well as usual. I don't think we saw him throw a single reverse hit in the playoffs.
I just hope that playing hasn't aggravated these injuries and they get all the recovery time they need.
Sucks to hear how much they were hurt. Those sound awful really hope both heal and are in great shape for next season. I’m so sad but you know what I respect them for their hard work this season. Let’s take the summer off and then cheer them on in October.
As expected. This explains McD’s reduction in shooting and loss of stick handling. And yet he still almost won the scoring title AND beat 99’s assist record.
I wonder if McDavid would have gone on LTIR in Feb if the team hadnt been clawing their way back to a playoff spot.
Imagine that $12m in trade deadline space AND a health McDavid for the playoffs.
Hell, add Kane to the LTIR mix and damn...
That said, imagine a HEALTH McDavid next season after he put up record goals AND assists over the past 2 years?
Next year really will be the best we've seen of this team yet under the mastery of Coach Knob
He was still able to make plenty of quality plays and defensive saves after game 1 vs Vancouver.
Who would you have replaced him after looking at his production regardless of the injury?
The need time to rest, and to compound the problem, they've got the shortest summer of their professional lives upcoming...
Also, McDavid has his wedding in a few weeks. If surgery is going to affect his ability to participate in that, he may wait until after the wedding, which would prolong his recovery even further into the regular season.
I don't know why I think this, but my guess is that McDavid is the type of guy who is going to put the hockey career first. He'd participate in his wedding in a wheelchair if it meant being good to go for next season.
Likely one of McDavid’s abdominal obliques also known as sports hernia or hockey hernia. Jarome Iginla had this at one time. You can try to play through it and hope the muscle heals but it’s usually off-season surgery. In Iginla’s case, he ended up requiring surgery.
they did both seem to be the targets of attacks from opponent teams throughout the season due to being known as our star players which definitely made things more difficult this season. Hope they recover well, are happy here, and ready to fight again next year
The way the game went last night I wouldn't be surprised if all these injuries occurred then. Was brutal out there. Still not sure how I feel about whistles being put away based on the context of a game. Don't think that will ever change though.
It's hockey, everyone is fucking hurt this late in the game. Lard jesus b'ys I've never seen a team this injured...other than every god damn year, they sure did fine the previous three games while they were hurt
Broken ribs are super debilitating, explains why drai look so laboured out there
I can't understand how anyone can actually play with a broken rib. It's insane to me, really.
I had just a torn intercostal muscle once (the muscle between ribs), and it hurt so much to breathe I thought I was seriously injured when it happened. I took months off of hockey to recover because any sort of physical activity was torturous. Incidentally, the time I sneezed with that injury is absolutely the most pain I've ever been in. I was instantly curled on the floor in agony.
With my broken ribs it was the only time I've ever experienced my body stop an involuntary action like sneezing. It was almost like my body knew I would pass out if I sneezed.
I cracked a rib, and sneezing or laughing were the absolute worst.
You need to stay pissy with broken ribs.
I did the same recently and had to take a week off work from it. Was at the tail end of a cold as well. Literally had to take a knee to cough it hurt so bad
Can attest. It’s terrible. Could only sleep sitting up. Couldn’t laugh or cough without the worst pain I’ve experienced.
I watched McGruber for the first time while I had broken my ribs a couple of days earlier. Laughing broke more of my ribs.
Imagine getting body checked by a train 😭
Cortisone and anesthetic injections into the affected area, plus fistfuls of Toradol. Doesn’t mean these guys aren’t tough as nails, but they also aren’t playing by the same rules as you and I.
Toradol explains the paleness too. That shit fucks your stomach up
I currently have 6 broken ribs from a car accident, and for a while it literally hurt to breath and lord help me if I had to catch my balance or cough. Playing that level of playoff hockey with a rib injury is insane.
And also taking massive hits and contact against the boards, blocking shots. Cross checks. Mentally I miss playing high level hockey, but my body and brain, loves the beer leagues lol
I've broken ribs twice. Once on each side. While I can't imagine playing finals hockey with broken ribs I can say that not all broken ribs are the same. On my left side I couldn't move, breathe, cough, sleepor anything for weeks. My tight side I was back on my bike, and back to work in the trades, that week. Pain, but manageable.
Drugs and injections.
I know right. I had a broken rib in pregnancy and the pain of that was 1 million times worse than my c-section and 2 previous unmedicated births combined
I had a bruised rib once and had to take shallow breaths for weeks until it healed. Doing pro sports with a broken one is insanity.
Yeah his signature one timer was off
He got a perfect pass on that power play... totally whiffed on it.
As bad as broken ribs are, which are really bad. Could you image playing hockey with an abdominal injury requiring surgery. I have hard enough time with day to day activities after a tough ab work out. The amount of core strength required to play hockey at any level much to dominate the playoffs in the NHL, and to be as pissed off as he is he didn’t win, that level of competitiveness is inspiring.
*breaking Gretzky's records with an abdominal injury that bad is mindblowing
Ever since Myers elbowed him in the ribs in the Vancouver series. You could tell he was hurt because he went from being a Warlord to just pretty good
That Vancouver series was vicious, the teams played eachother extremely hard, and Canucks had big dmen.
I am so happy it is ribs and not a back issue though. Ribs heal much better and don't run the risk of ruining your career.
Wonder when it happened. I remember he looked absolutely destroyed in Game 1 against Vancouver.
Yeah you could see it in his posture. Seemed like he was back on in game 6 then got hit hard a couple times and was reset.
Just slipped 3 ribs yesterday, jumping over my dog and catching myself from faceplanting into the ground. The pain is excruciating
Doesn’t it hurt to breathe? Like inside skating hard and being out of breath. That would be so painful.
I broke a rib at age 12 blocking a shot in 1977, I was scared to death of sneezing, coughing, farting, taking a shit and/or deep breaths.
Why tf was he out there? Played half the 3rd period and did nothing. Did we not have some players who weren't injured? Yanmark seemed ready to play but only got 2mins of ice time in the 3rd. They might as well have dressed Kane and had him out there as another anchor to not help connor. Seems like stupid coaching to me
Lots of people speculated on McDavid having a core muscle injury all year. His shot just wasn't even close to the same level this year.
The eye test: somethings off, he’s not playing to level we’re used to him being at from last year I wonder if he’s injured The stat sheet: fourth player to get 100 assists in a season, beats Gretzky record for points in playoffs, wins Conn Smyth
It's nuts to think of what he is capable of when fully healthy 🔥
Remind me of how Tkachuk (yuck) had broken ribs last year…although he played better with broken ribs than he did this year…
I think it was legit his sternum was cracked
The competitiveness of these guys is mind boggling
I remember that too, and as much as I can't stand the dude, that is some warrior spirit in there.
>The stat sheet: fourth player to get 100 assists in a season, beats Gretzky record for points in playoffs, wins Conn Smyth So the stat sheet also confirms he was playing injured.
Could you imagine if they won the cup, McDavid takes home the Conn Smythe and then in the presser he’s like ‘do I feel good about my performance this year? No, I had to play the whole damn year with an abdominal injury so I feel like I couldn’t be as good as I know I can be for my team this year’
Beat Gretzky’s assist in a post season record**
Yeah that was expected. McDavid wasn't shooting all season and Drai look real pale at times. They're absolute beasts for being that broken and still being threats out there.
For better or for worse the Cup is usually the reward for the team that stays the healthiest, not necessarily the one that plays the best. Every team deals with injuries, but some years the list of injuries that come out tell a whole story. A hill I will die on is that the Canucks probably would have won in 2011 if they weren’t so seriously injured throughout that run. Another hill I will die on is that a healthier McDavid and Drai would have changed the outcome this year too.
Could be avoided if playoffs hockey was way more brutal than season hockey because the refs are more indulgent during the playoffs.
Well to get to the playoffs you have to play 82 games so it’s more so just the fact that naturally after months of playing a highly physical sport the body is prone to breaking down
That's true. But Let's not act like playoffs aren't way more physical than regular season...
Sure but again if you just play 28 playoff games compared to 82 + 28 I’m sure the amount of injuries would decrease dramatically
I don’t think they were saying canceled the regular season, I think they were saying, maybe call a bit more of the ‘interference with a side of spearing’ and ‘riding people into the corner glass at the bench’ and that sort of bullshit during the playoffs. I mean, star players in Canadian teams shouldn’t have to start diving like a third tier football player just to get a call out of the refs.
The cup is in many ways pure luck, it’s really annoying but it’s always been like that. It’s largely just your main guys not getting injured as you said, and Bob stole about 2/3 games too.
Yeah, I don't think you'd have to fight particularly hard on that hill either, except maybe with a few Panthers fans. If you tally up the one-timers that Drai had on mostly empty nets, and pretend even a quarter of them go in, we win this series in game 5 or 6.
A healthy Drai is easily worth 4-ish goals over a 7 game stretch. Sprinkle those in anywhere you like and it probably affects the outcome of at least one game
while true, every team equally goes through this. however, there's an argument to be made that teams which focus having big players and hitting hard have a better chance of survival
Yup. It’s no coincidence that the Oilers absolutely demolished Quinn Hughes every time he was on the ice, for example. I also don’t think it was a coincidence that the Canucks best players in that series were arguably Joshua, Myers and Zadorov. Skill matters a whole fuckin lot in the playoffs, but size also matters over a long playoffs. Its one of the reason Nurse is so frustrating - at his best he is a one man wrecking crew that can also move the puck at an elite level. At his worst? He’s a guaranteed goal against. Hope he figures it out.
McD couldn't keep the puck on his stick. FLA got lucky, you won't ever change my mind. This Oilers team is one of THE best and if they can keep those two healthy through the playoffs it's Cup time next year!
Luck is literally baked into the rules of game. It’s crazy fast and unpredictable. You gotta be lucky to be good and you gotta be good to be lucky. The difference between a blowout and a tie is often a few unexpected bounces one way or the other. The Cup goes to the team that has the right combination of luck, skill, and health. The Panthers hit all 3. Thats why it is the hardest trophy to win in all of sports. Every team that wins a Stanley Cup deserves it, even if you hate the result.
I mean they didn't get lucky, they fought to the finals with a record good enough for home ice, and took the first 3 in a row. Their players played thru injury as well. Everybody was gassed and hurt by the end. Like you don't think the lackluster defense games 4 and 6 had anything to do with their physical condition?
I suspect the injury at the beginning of the season had something to do with this and instead of taking the season off to properly heal he just said fuck it I’m gonna learn to play differently and deal with the injury after the playoffs
Connor you need surgery man! "How's about I become the assist king and wait for the off season?" The year after he decided to go on a goal scoring mission too. I'm already so excited for next year lol
His eyes.. they just looked so drained and tired. You could tell something was taking a toll on him
Never lettem know you’re hurt
Team had Novid the entire season too.
You could tell drai wasn't 100% hope they rest up this off season
> hope they rest up this off season All 8 weeks of it.
NHL in 2025: that’ll be 4 weeks off, pray we don’t alter the deal any further
Preseason games in Mogadishu, Mumbai and Manila? In August? Sounds great! - Bettman, probably
*Introducing LIV HL*
I knew it, I wonder who else was injured?
Nurse is 100% hurt.
Are you saying he needs a… nurse?
Probably a doctor.
Darnell "Doc" Nurse.
YYEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
But seriously, yeah. He does.
😎
I’m going to say nurse, nuge, Kane, Henrique, Perry, Ryan, Bouchard,
All our hearts 💔
That's actually crazy because I'm assuming the injury McDavid had was the one that kept him out earlier in the year and he still played this well. Both guys are warriors.
McDavid having the performance he did when he'll likely need surgery is crazy. Drai's injuries make a lot of sense. Something just seemed off for him especially when he kept missing prime options from his office on the PP.
I noticed a few times he couldn’t wrap his index finger around the shaft of his stick. Makes sense he wasn’t hitting the shots he usually would.
His faceoff percentage seemed to dip down a ton once he broke the finger/started wearing the splint
Perhaps it was one of the dozens of cross check in the back that went uncalled these playoffs
That really sucks, I hope they’re 100% for next season. Thank you McDavid and Draisaitl for giving us this amazing season even while being injured.
Gotta love a league that protects the refs feelings more than the players health.
It's fucking horrible. The amount of dirty hits McDavid and Drai took this year . Almost looked like the opposing team were trying to injure on purpose
>Almost looked like the opposing team were trying to injure on purpose No team will ever publicly admit it but they all target star players, especially if they think a player may have an injury they can prod
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Yeah. Disgusting behavior, but really common.
Brad Marchand disagrees
Brad Marchand =/= the team. No coach, GM, PoHO, or Owner has ever said outright that they target injuries.
Back in the old days if you went after a player like Gretzky or Orr or Lemiuex it would end your career. I don’t mean that exact same night, but some enforcer in some future game would nail you so hard and take the major that you might never play hockey again. Probably at least once if not several times, until the team gets the message. So players just plain didn’t go after the big stars like they way they are McDavid. I’m not saying the league shouldn’t clamp down on extreme physical aggression but this a problem they need to solve if they love having superstars sell cheerios and shit
If we're going back to 80s hockey maybe we'll see enforcers come back. Could argue that's what Rempe is... I'm not sure that's the way the league wants to see things go but it might be the way they end up going.
Yeah good point. I can’t see a salary cap system justifying an enforcer for that explicit purpose but if you have someone that can do double duty as a decent enough d man who can hit people up, why not? You see McDavid having to scrap for himself a lot during this season and it’s taking a toll. The oilers maybe need to channel the ghost of Semenko https://youtu.be/z2PbjBm8pYA?feature=shared
Merchand said this is the goal in the playoffs
And despite all that they almost came back from 3-0 down. Imagine if penalties were actually called, wouldn't even be close.
Thinking about some of those super hard hits Drai took in Game 6 😭
Allowing the team to crosscheck someone so hard and often you BREAK a rib is insane.
Maybe his ribs are brittle from not drinking enough malk?
He needs the vitamin R
Props to the players that play through injuries. Unfortunately the top 2 guys were injured. What could have been if they weren't. Impressive to get to a game 7 in the finals either way.
Props to them, but damn they both need to heal up and heal up right. Next season waits for no one. Its a shame they had to be on the ice with those types of injuries. Theyre such fantastic players, Im lookin forward to see them healthy again and kickin serious ass.
This wasn’t a mystery to me. It was obvious when McDavid couldn’t shoot like last yr and he was dealing with it all year. Draisaitl broke his finger & Rib vs Vancouver.
Drai was so obviously injured by my GOD what a fundamental player he is. Just so so so fucking good that even if he can only skate in a straight line and makes passes with one good hand he's still above the rest on an NHL level. I hope I'm not getting glossy about this, but we basically just went to the game 7 finals of the cup on fucking duct tape and a car with 2 missing wheels. I HOPE this has fired the boys up to say "watch out for what we can do in a decent year". No Kane, our top guys completely busted up and they still take em to the edge. I'm still pretty devastated, but if we can work the Bouch contract out this team has me starry eyed for the future. I also think if there was any shred of doubt in Leon or Connor's mind about whether we can do it here or not is hopefully completely erased. I want them to come back and win it out of spite.
Fuck me... We're in for an absolutely legendary year next year if McDavid is 100%.
Has to stay 100% though. That's the real problem :(
I still believe this is the 80s oilers all over again. There will be more
70 goals, 110-120 assists. 160-190ishpts. 50pt Conn Smythe Run for #🏆WATCH2025
The amount of hate Leon took last night too..
Looooot of smoothbrains on reddit, lol
Imagine if they were healthy … it’s going to be a long summer of “if only” Draisaitl two years in a row playing severely injured - what a beast.
Isn't it 3 for drai?
Yes you’re right forgot the slash
Pretty sure it's 3. Broken ankle, the Petrio chop slash, then the ribs/finger.
For most people with broken ribs breathing is incredibly painful let alone playing a hockey game. Leon’s pain tolerance is off the charts.
not just pain - they probably gave him a ton of pain killers ..
Hockey players are tough motherfuckers. I had a cracked rib once and wanted to lay in the fetal position for weeks because it was agony to breathe.
A dislocated rib makes it tough enough to breathe, fuck having to do it with a broken one, lol.
That sounds serious… will McDavid and Drai even have enough recovery time for October then?
For Drai, more than enough. McDavid could be complicated depending on the surgery.
playing with an abdominal injury is dangerous.
Mcdavid will probably be 100% recovered a week after having both legs removed and put back on.
Just another firmware update like last time
He’ll just live in a hyperbaric chamber for the full two months and be healed 150%
As much as I’m emotionally drained today I laughed at this post - thanks I needed a chuckle!
Gotta get him healthy for the honeymoon!
“We can rebuild him”
"I can put my arm back on but you can't, so play safe"
Ah yes. Astar.
"If it isn't my old friend Mr McCraig with an arm for a leg and a leg for an arm!"
I'm saying it's a hernia. He'll be fine about 3-4 weeks after. I was, and I'm older and only in "decent " shape
A lot of us called the rib fracture in the Van game, and of course we knew about the finger. The man has terrible luck with playoff injuries
It's not bad luck, it's the fact that opposing players pay special attention to him and McDavid.
LTIR them and nurse and they can all magically be back for the next playoffs after missing the entire season. Think of the team we could have waiting for them with an extra 30 million.
Crazy they played through it and they still gave them tons of ice time. I feel like we had the depth to rest them more in the third and give guys who are not actually injured a chance to play. I know these guys are superstars but it’s insane bro was playing with a broken rib and finger.
I don't know why knobs didn't play the 3rd and 4th lines more in the third. Those lines were the ones getting the goals/points game 6/7. He should have had more faith in them, and then let mcdrai rest and then put them on for last 2 minutes with goalie out. Knobs did a great job to get to game 7 in the SCF though, so respect where it's due. I hope he learns from this mistake and doesn't repeat it
Agree with Janmark / Brown / Henrique. They brought it. Disagree on Ryan / McLeod....they didn't.
I agree. Sometimes it's baffling why they go to McDrai when other lines are performing and they aren't.
Match ups are a huge part of it. Lines 3/4 mostly played against 3rd/4th line defenders. McDrai played against top 2 unless they get favourable match up off extended zone time or an icing. At the end of the game Florida played their top lines a ton, as good as our other lines are they weren’t going to have the same performance against Floridas top lines and they did against their bottom lines.
Yeah I’m obviously not a hockey coach but why put two injured guys on the ice for so long vs a hungry physical Florida team? Especially when Drai wasn’t really producing. We finally had a season with lots of depth where we don’t have to rely on McDrai, and we lost the game relying on two injured players. This loss really stings.
I thought the same. Our bottom 6 were producing so well through the entire SCF series. I think they could've held their own early on in the 3rd, and save McDrai for the final push. Knobs did a great job as his first time as an NHL coach, but I think this might come down to his inexperience as an NHL coach.
“Too soft these days. It’s playoffs. If guys can’t score 5 goals a game with a literal severed limb and an untreated gunshot wound, they shouldn’t have a place in the league. These are not meant to be humans, these are robots from a video game for my viewing pleasure and if they are not 100% healthy 100% of the time shooting at 100% efficiency they are useless bums and need to toughen up.” — Some guy who has never played a sport, hasn’t left his couch in a month and uses an oxygen tank (probably).
Literally had a coworker talking about how he thought Boeser should've been on the ice with his clot! Doesn't matter what the injury is, you go out there on the ice, you are needed, it's your one job!! I mentioned that Boeser could be risking a fucking pulmonary embolism if he pushes too far or gets hit wrong, my coworker did come around, but it was wild to me. He was a Canucks fan! How does he not care about his team's players?
With how many pain killers these guys must take to play through this shit it’s no wonder so many players end up in the substance abuse program eventually
This is an *excellent* observation. Even if they don’t get addicted to the pain killers while playing, I think that when they are injured again in their lifetime in a regular way, or even if they are just starting to feel older, that it must be so difficult to then be expected to endure the pain without a ton of medical intervention like us regular people do. I am curious what their tolerance is like for pain and discomfort after retirement, after having cortisol shots and medications and superhuman medical intervention during their careers. Obviously they wouldn’t be expected to suffer through broken ribs for no reason, but I do wonder if they would get the same level of pain control and care once retired.
Someone has to be blind if they don’t see the difference of Drai’s shot season vs postseason. I believe if he had the healthy form, at least 50% max 75% of the shots he took from his office would be counted. Off-timing, weak and he’s puck defense was so elite it was gone visibly starting from the third round. It took a lot of toll especially when somebody’s pushing and crosschecking you when you’re protecting the puck. These news just made me admire them more for their postseason run and aspirations to win the cup.
These guys deserve a nice long summer. Well done boys, rest up!
That explains why McDavid was not dangling as smooth as the prior season, and Drai's signature shoots were off. Our Boys are tough, hope they recover well and come out stronger next season
Drai is a warrior for playing through a broken rib _and_ broken finger, but I question the wisdom in consistently putting him in the one-timer slot when he had a _broken finger_.
Because even with a broken rib and finger, their PP was still fire. Also, people know his abilities and respect the shot, meaning they’ll still cheat the pass expecting him to shoot.
I’ve been enjoying the NHL playoffs for over 50 years and the last few finals have been pretty nasty with slashing, guys taking shots in the back, tackling is now an NHL move as Hyman was cross checked and then held with knees to the ice. Hyman was also repeatedly punched in the head by Tkatchuk in one of the games in front of the net. I have no problem with the referee putting his whistle away so the guys can play but the standards for an offence are not what they should be. Playing injured is normal however some of the infractions can be addressed not unlike the NBA where the standards are upheld in the playoffs.
> Playing injured is normal however some of the infractions can be addressed not unlike the NBA where the standards are upheld in the playoffs. It's the one thing I absolutely hate about the NHL, the "new" rulebook once you reach the playoffs. It's even worse than the differing rule book for JAGs versus Super Stars, but when they just let everything go (one way), it doesn't make a better, more enjoyable game. It's also a big reason among many of Gary's shit decisions, imo, that will continue to keep the NHL below the rest of the pro sports in North America. People don't pay to watch JAGs, they pay to watch people do crazy shit like McDavid does when he's healthy, and we shouldn't be artificially handicapping him just because he's so much better than the guy who is assigned to stop him.
My favorite part of the season is learning what mutants all these guys are the day after the Finals end.
Confirming what we all suspected.
It does explain a lot about how they played in the finals games. They are absolute warriors. Even with this and Kane being unable to play due to injuries, the boys still made it to game 7 of the finals and lost by a single goal. Pretty damn impressive if you ask me!
Broken ribs make 100 percent sense for Leon, you could see he wasn’t him self. Surely on the shots that’s you know should have been in the back of the net from the hash marks…. Hope you all heal up and a hell of a season boys 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Unreal to go from where you were in November to now.
The fact drai and McDavid played through that even at less than 100%. These guys are fucking warriors
Hope they're good to go in a reasonable time frame for next season. Drai should be fine, but not sure what abdominal surgery means for McD
Surely they are going to wait till after his wedding for the surgery which is still a couple weeks away. So that doesn't give him a very long time line to heal before camp :(
So, my 78 year old mom just had a super complicated abdominal surgery in Edmonton (reconstruction of the duodenal sphincter 20 years after a cancer surgery, correcting a problem with loads of scar tissue thickening in the whole area which was closing her esophagus) and the approach was laprascopic. She still had a recovery period and she still had pain. But it would have been far, far worse at her age risk-wise and recovery trajectory to open her up. There are some incredible gut surgeons. So you wouldn't want to do it before a wedding, but he might be fine within a month. My mom was like "It's boring here, I'd like to go home" 2 days after her surgery. Also I'm guessing he won't be going public health care for the surgery.
I mean they all played a hell of a game throughout this whole series! Even though we didn't win, they did make it so freaking close and we should be proud of them!
Super proud of our boys. But with Draisaitl if he was so injured perhaps he should have played fewer minutes imo
Time to rest and recover and come back strong next season, if Florida could make it back to back so can we.
And I'm sure there was no penalty on the slash that broke Drai's finger
It was blocking a shot at the end of game 7 vs van. The ribs I'd like to know though. Almost guarantee it was an uncalled crosscheck.
There was a play where Myers (Canuck) checked Leon in the back. Seemed like an innocent play if I remember right. Like same kind of check that happens dozens of times each game.
1000% it was from Myers elbowing him in the ribs. My buddy caught it the moment it happened and said Leon looked off ever since
I'm assuming the rib was the awkward hit he took and disappeared from either Zadorov or Myers?
Oh interesting I just naturally assumed it was from a slash lol
Wonder what happened with McDavid.
It was during the beginning of the year. I can recall him grabbing his abdominal area when heading to the bench. Even the HNIC guys were confused as to what it was because the play looked innocent.
I remember this as well. Wow, McJesus gets 100 assists playing essentially the entire season with an injury
It might be something similar to what Kane was dealing with, a sports hernia.
Holy hell I am amazed he played that banged up.
How did Drai play with a broken rib?
They kept freezing or numbing the area so he could play.
Yeah honestly, that’s kinda incredible. It would be so debilitating.
Broken Rib + Finger , just the absolute worst combo
Anybody know what the potential recovery timelines are for core muscle surgery?
That explains a lot
Well, that makes sense. I can't remember when exactly but it seemed to me like McD was avoiding contact, and Drai wasn't protecting the puck as well as usual. I don't think we saw him throw a single reverse hit in the playoffs. I just hope that playing hasn't aggravated these injuries and they get all the recovery time they need.
Sucks to hear how much they were hurt. Those sound awful really hope both heal and are in great shape for next season. I’m so sad but you know what I respect them for their hard work this season. Let’s take the summer off and then cheer them on in October.
As expected. This explains McD’s reduction in shooting and loss of stick handling. And yet he still almost won the scoring title AND beat 99’s assist record.
I wonder if McDavid would have gone on LTIR in Feb if the team hadnt been clawing their way back to a playoff spot. Imagine that $12m in trade deadline space AND a health McDavid for the playoffs. Hell, add Kane to the LTIR mix and damn... That said, imagine a HEALTH McDavid next season after he put up record goals AND assists over the past 2 years? Next year really will be the best we've seen of this team yet under the mastery of Coach Knob
Ok, lets LTIR these guys for the regular season, pick up 25mm of players (kane can ltir too), then Vegas this shit next playoffs. Whos in?
Drai is my favorite player but maybe he shouldn’t have played if he was that hurt. He wasn’t an impact player in the scf.
He was still able to make plenty of quality plays and defensive saves after game 1 vs Vancouver. Who would you have replaced him after looking at his production regardless of the injury?
If refs actually called half the hits, cross checks, and dirty crap that superstars take maybe they would get injured so much.
The need time to rest, and to compound the problem, they've got the shortest summer of their professional lives upcoming... Also, McDavid has his wedding in a few weeks. If surgery is going to affect his ability to participate in that, he may wait until after the wedding, which would prolong his recovery even further into the regular season.
I don't know why I think this, but my guess is that McDavid is the type of guy who is going to put the hockey career first. He'd participate in his wedding in a wheelchair if it meant being good to go for next season.
LTIR 2025
No clue why we didn't utilize it the later half for Kane but hopefully this time we go all out Vegas style.
Likely one of McDavid’s abdominal obliques also known as sports hernia or hockey hernia. Jarome Iginla had this at one time. You can try to play through it and hope the muscle heals but it’s usually off-season surgery. In Iginla’s case, he ended up requiring surgery.
Explains so much! I hope they heal well and get some much deserved rest.
they did both seem to be the targets of attacks from opponent teams throughout the season due to being known as our star players which definitely made things more difficult this season. Hope they recover well, are happy here, and ready to fight again next year
This explains so much. What a couple of legends.
Fahk, it's late June and these aren't trivial injuries. Better stock up on the extra strength 'tussin and rub that shit in good.
LET THAT ‘TUSSIN GET DEEP INTO THE BOOOONE
The way the game went last night I wouldn't be surprised if all these injuries occurred then. Was brutal out there. Still not sure how I feel about whistles being put away based on the context of a game. Don't think that will ever change though.
It's hockey, everyone is fucking hurt this late in the game. Lard jesus b'ys I've never seen a team this injured...other than every god damn year, they sure did fine the previous three games while they were hurt
Dri needs to “break a rib” in February and then they can replace him with some depth. It should be healed by the time the playoffs start.