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Happy News To Start Your Weekend: Hank’s Back Hurting Again
by IwoCPO on 08/03/07 at 04:56 AM ET
Comments (16)
Reports out of Sweden (generally more accurate than reports out of, say, Russia) point to an issue we may be discussing for years to come. The old adage seems to be that back problems never really go away, they just fluctuate between bearable and really painful.
Well, Henrik Zetterberg’s back apparently flared recently and if you’ve forgotten about the little break he took prior to the playoffs last Spring, prepare to be reminded.
George Malik provided a translation yesterday of an Aftonbladet story.
Henrik Zetterberg has got forbidden to play by his club Detroit for three weeks.
For that reason/therefore has he politely declined to charity cause game hockey with Icebreakers.
He has still trouble of his back vertebra.
Zetterberg’s back vertebra has been persistent. He missed several weeks’ games spring season with Detroit. Now gets he not train/practice after training ice week and must since heal examine after new by club.
George posted that story around 2:30 Thursday afternoon. Five hours later Khan(!) chimed in.
Khan(!) reports that Piet Van Zant heard from Zetterberg last Friday who told him he’d felt discomfort a few weeks ago. Ready for the funny part? Here we go.
But the Wings don’t believe there’s any reason to worry.
“At this stage, I’m not concerned,’’ Holland said.
I like Ken Holland, but he’s a lying liar. He makes big bucks to stress over stuff like that and, yeah, he’s concerned.
Should we be? Of course. Back issues and the Wings go together like Bubba and possum. Krupp, that frigging dogsledding dumbass bust, started the trend. It continued with Shanahan, and I’ll always be convinced that the dramatic change in his style of play around ‘99 is directly attributed to chronic back problems. Now Zetterberg, and it appears his issues aren’t going away anytime soon.
Don’t worry, though, he’s only the future captain; maybe as early as ‘08-’09. Matt Saler, generally the voice of reason where I am the alarmist, sagely points out it’s probably precautionary. But…
I have to say this is a bit worrisome given that we are well in to the off-season and I would therefore think such injuries would be largely healed, not to mention the fact that the Wings saw fit to ask Hank to step down from what wouldn’t have been strenuous games.
More back problems for Hank. Fun for the whole family.
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Comments
dude, post a warning before I bring that up at work!!! haha
Posted by Jdunc from Flint, MI on 08/03/07 at 06:43 AM ET
Hank has got to learn to stretch before any game. On the ice or off!
Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 08/03/07 at 07:05 AM ET
2/3rds of a scoring line now.
Posted by Thomas on 08/03/07 at 07:27 AM ET
At this point, all indications point to the Red Wings basically telling Hank to attempt to get the most out of his off-season’s worth of rest on that back. There’s no doubt that he’s got some sort of herniation back there, no pun intended, but at this point, the best remedy is allowing his back to heal itself whenever possible as once you have back surgery, you’re probably gonna have it again.
This will be a maintenance issue, like his wrist or Dom’s groin, just not nearly as severe as Dom’s issues. He has some back problems, but as long as he’s taken care of in the Wings’ cautious manner, I think Hank will be okay over the long haul.
Should we be worried? Yeah, because chronic back pain is chronic back pain is chronic back pain. Should we be having visions of Peter Forsberg’s ankle dancing in our heads? Not right now, no.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 08/03/07 at 08:44 AM ET
One more thing: Aftonbladet is part sensible reporting and part sports tabloid, so despite the fact that I translated that article word-for-word using the Swedish government’s official Swedish-to-English dictionary, they love to make minor to moderate injury news into full-bore panic fests.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 08/03/07 at 08:46 AM ET
I’m just glad to know that his “...back vertebra has been persistent.” Imagine the fix he would be in if his vertebra disappeared from time to time! 
Posted by Baroque from Midland on 08/03/07 at 09:23 AM ET
Henrik Zetterberg told the Wings his back feels good, he’s experiencing no symptoms and he’s working out every day, general manager Ken Holland said. Zetterberg withdrew from a couple of charity games in Sweden only as a precaution. He had a minor flare-up with his back 2-3 weeks ago but was cleared by a doctor. Zetterberg missed the last 19 games of the regular season with an inflamed disc.
I like this better.
Posted by Heaton on 08/03/07 at 11:26 AM ET
yeah, and i’m officially staying in DENIAL till training camp
Posted by ar_pharazon on 08/03/07 at 12:29 PM ET
Things could not be worse at this time. August is not too early to hit the panic button. Having a healthy dose of fear is not spineless, it is prudent. Without Zetterberg the Wings will be lucky to back into the playoffs only because of their weak division. The Wings will have to tap into all their resources if Zetterberg is out for any length of time or they will be sent packing early. I expect the division race to tighten now that Zetterberg is hurt and the Wings will have trouble getting any traction at the start of season. The time to prepare is now. The worst is yet to come.
Posted by doomsberry on 08/03/07 at 01:13 PM ET
The Wings have 4 to 6 million reasons why we should remain calm. Now if I can only keep calm myself! I hate to see a lineup without Hank in it. Maybe all this is going to do is move up the date of the acquisition of Federov. Who knows… Anything can happen. Maybe Grigs will surprise the hell outta us all and have a Crosby like rookie season. That would lessen the sting of Hank’s injury.
Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 08/03/07 at 02:47 PM ET
With all due respect to everybody, I personally don’t see Hank’s back issues as anything too serious right now.
At this point, if there’s any level of herniation whatsoever, or even little flare-ups, rest is the best option, because the vast majority of herniations heal on their own, and managing and maximizing the time which Hank’s back has to heal is what the Red Wings’ doctors are concerned about. If Hank has so much as a twinge, which he did, the Wings’ medical staff will tell Hank to take a step back and reduce his activities, because as far as the back is concerned, time is a much more effective long-term option than a scalpel or anti-inflammatories, like cortisone.
Hank had a wrist problem in the past, and now he’s got a back problem. The best way to deal with it is to manage any persistent issues with cautious, preventative medicine, and that’ what we’re seeing.
Is this time to push the “concern” button? Hell, yes, but last summer, Zetterberg admitted he had a wrist problem at the end of August, and went to camp knowing he’d have to take a cortisone shot or three to continue playing (luckily, a buddy of his changed up his diet and the issue took care of itself). As of August 3rd, we’ve got five full weeks before training camp, and Mr. Andersson...I mean Hank...will be in Michigan and under the care of the Wings’ doctors within three weeks.
I certainly don’t expect his back problems to disappear, and the worries about flare-ups just aren’t going to go away, but he’s being taken care of properly by a medical staff that’s taken the Mike Babcock “If he’s got a hangnail, he sits” approach. Let’s see what happens over the next few weeks before figuratively putting Hank on the IR in August.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 08/03/07 at 07:40 PM ET
If nothing else this kind of thing really just about obliterates the likelihood of locking up Zetterberg to a deal Datsyukian in length.
Which is fine by me.
We simply cannot know if Zetterberg will be able to play 70+ games year in and year out. I have seen nothing which leads me to believe such is the case… and the more ‘er, flare up a couple weeks ago but I’m fine. Really.’ stories I hear, the less I think it’s even likely, much less probable, much much less assured.
Posted by HockeyinHD on 08/04/07 at 08:07 AM ET
If nothing else this kind of thing really just about obliterates the likelihood of locking up Zetterberg to a deal Datsyukian in length.
Which is fine by me.
Granted the $$ is a bigger factor into the Z deal, but Holland had no problem locking up Kronwall to a 5 year deal, so I don’t see any reason Holland wouldn’t sign Z to at least a 5 year deal given his circumstances.
Posted by Heaton on 08/04/07 at 12:54 PM ET
Without Zetterberg the Wings will be lucky to back into the playoffs
Um, yeah, OK…
Posted by Paul from Miami Beach on 08/04/07 at 04:12 PM ET
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Maybe Hank’s girlfriend has something to do with his sore back
)
http://www.cafe.se/?id=3360
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dIjPWDneDI
Piet Van Zant has no control over that!
Posted by w2j2 on 08/03/07 at 05:44 AM ET