Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: Pittsburgh-Penguins

Is Obstruction Back In Play?

by Paul on 02/10/12 at 10:13 AM ET
Comments (2)

from Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,

Welcome to the new NHL, which is beginning to resemble the old NHL.

Scoring is down, and obstruction again is becoming a common element of play. Referees, many Penguins said, are allowing the clutching and grabbing that became ingrained in the game a decade ago to resurface.

The Penguins are particularly unsettled by this because special teams have marked a significant part of their success this season. Lately, special teams play has been rare.

“I don’t necessarily think the play has gotten cleaner,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “(But) there are few power-play opportunities out there for every team.”

The Penguins averaged more than four power-play opportunities per game through the end of December. Since Jan. 1, they are averaging 2.76 power-play chances.

continued

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Crosby’s Injury Has No Easy Diagnosis

by Paul on 02/09/12 at 12:55 AM ET
Comments (9)

from Stephania Bell of ESPN,

So why is this injury, which sounds at once benign (soft tissue) and sinister (neck), so difficult to grasp? And why, if it isn’t particularly serious, is it proving to be such a hurdle for Crosby to overcome? The answers are simultaneously straightforward and complex.

Some athletic injuries are just easy to comprehend. Take, for instance, the hamstring strain. This is a classic example of a soft-tissue injury (a term typically used to refer to injury of a muscle, tendon or ligament). Hamstring strains can be mild or severe. At best, an athlete might describe nothing more than “tightness” or “pulling,” and would recover in a matter of days. In more serious cases, the athlete might feel a “pop” or experience a “tearing” sensation while collapsing in obvious pain. If the athlete was unable to return to play for multiple weeks—even months—after such an injury, it might be frustrating but most would understand. And it would not surprise anyone if the biggest concern was whether returning too soon could lead to reinjury.

But when the injury feels less familiar (as is the case with Crosby’s) and the soft-tissue injury is located in that no-man’s land of the neck (where there are very important things like the spinal cord, discs, nerves and vertebrae), it somehow casts a shadow of a far more serious condition.

The reality is that there are very reasonable comparisons between soft-tissue injuries in any part of the body. Just as a hamstring injury is a soft tissue injury of the thigh, an injury to the muscles, tendons or ligaments of the cervical spine is a soft tissue injury of the neck. Soft tissue, when damaged, bleeds to varying degrees, resulting in pain and inflammation in the injured area, whether it’s the thigh or the neck.

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 Tags: Sidney+Crosby,

If Crosby Needs To Retire

by Paul on 02/08/12 at 10:07 AM ET
Comments (1)

from Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star,

NHL players still receive their paychecks if they’re forced out of the lineup with injuries sustained during games or practices. But off-ice insurance policies provide a financial cushion for players in case they are injured away from the rink.

Some teams have threatened to scuttle contracts if players get hurt during certain activities, such as mountain climbing or water skiing. Crosby’s around-the-clock policy covers him against any career-ending injuries.

Pat Brisson, Crosby’s agent, confirmed the Penguins captain has insurance coverage, but he declined to confirm the value of his policy. A source familiar with the matter confirmed the policy is worth about $20 million.

Crosby, who is making $9 million this season and $7.5 million next year, would only be able to cash in the policy if he retires permanently from the NHL.

It’s possible that he could retire and collect from his insurance company and later return to hockey. Crosby would first need to repay his insurance payout.

If Crosby collects a massive insurance payout, it could have a ripple effect across all pro sports leagues. Several insurance industry executives say it would dwarf any other NHL-related payout.

read on

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 Tags: Sidney+Crosby,

Video- Sometimes You Can Catch A Guy Just Right…

by Paul on 02/04/12 at 03:07 PM ET
Comments (6)

... and he can go airborne, just like Daniel Paille did when hit by Brooks Orpik today.

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 Tags: Brooks+Orpik, Daniel+Paille,

Afternoon Line

by Paul on 02/01/12 at 01:49 PM ET
Comments (9)

“I never reported it as a fracture to the C1 and C2.  I deliberately said it was an injury to the C1 and C2. But [Crosby’s agent] Pat Brisson confirmed it as a fracture. So did Alex Guerrero and Dr. [Robert] Bray who both saw the fractures in the MRIs.

“Just because the Penguins now say there was no fracture, why should we believe them? Why are they the most credible source? They’ve had this file in front of them for months, and the story keeps changing. Are they saying Guerrero and Dr. Bray, who’ve worked with many top athletes and teams in the past, aren’t accurate?

“Look, I’d be okay if someone could prove it one way or the other. But this idea that the Penguins and their doctors are the final word on this doesn’t stand up after all that’s happened in the past on this file.”

-Bob McCown of Sportsnet 590 on Sidney Crosby.  More from Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail, plus other hockey releated topics…

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 Tags: Sidney+Crosby,

Video- Looks Like Goalie Interference Will Continue To Be Called Tightly

by Paul on 01/31/12 at 08:29 PM ET
Comments (17)

Leafs goal waved off, incidental contact.

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Crosby Update

by Paul on 01/31/12 at 05:28 PM ET
Comments (18)

via the Pittsburgh Penguins,

An independent specialist contacted to review recent medical tests taken on Sidney Crosby found no evidence of a past or present neck fracture but verified that Crosby is suffering from a soft-tissue injury of the neck, that could be causing neurological symptoms.

Dr. Alexander Vaccaro is a spinal trauma expert at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and co-director of the Spinal Cord Center at Thomas Jefferson University. He is past president of the American Spinal Injury Association.

Crosby’s agent, Pat Brisson, along with Penguins owner Mario Lemieux and CEO David Morehouse traveled Monday morning to Philadelphia, where Vaccaro reviewed a CAT Scan and MRI taken last week by Dr. Robert S. Bray in Los Angeles. Bray diagnosed a neck injury.

Bray has treated Crosby with an injection to alleviate swelling in the C1-2 joint of the neck and will be overseeing his progression with therapists.

Doctors say the symptoms of a soft-tissue neck injury are similar to concussion symptoms.

Vaccaro, Bray and UPMC doctors all agree that Crosby is safe, the injury is treatable, and he will return to action when he is symptom-free.

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 Tags: Sidney+Crosby,

Should Crosby Retire?

by Paul on 01/31/12 at 09:00 AM ET
Comments (29)

from Robert MacLeod of the Globe and Mail,

Concussions.

Sidney Crosby, the National Hockey League’s most recognizable star, has suffered one – probably more than one – and it may be time for him to retire. At age 24.

Retirement, no matter how distasteful it may seem to the NHL and to hockey fans in general, is an option that must be seriously considered, according to some in the medical community.

Over lunch recently with a respected Toronto sports orthopedic surgeon that point was driven home repeatedly – that Crosby has no choice but to retire, that his efforts to resume his spectacular playing career after suffering a concussion early in the NHL season in 2011, isn’t worth the risk.

“Crosby would be far better off quitting the game and becoming the chief spokesperson for concussions and speaking out against head shots in the game,” said the doctor. “He is taking a huge gamble with his health by trying to come back.

“He has nothing left to prove in the game. And imagine the impact he would have, especially to younger kids, by getting out now. That alone would force the NHL to take serious steps to clean up its act.”

read on

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 Tags: Sidney+Crosby,

Now We Wait For Crosby News

by Paul on 01/29/12 at 08:51 PM ET
Comments (6)

from Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated,

The guessing game is when Crosby sustained the previously undiagnosed neck injury, which, the Penguins noted in the statement, will be further “evaluated by independent specialists” in the coming days. The obvious choices are:

A: Jan. 1, 2011, in the ill-fated Winter Classic, when David Steckel, then with Washington, collided with Crosby—inadvertently apparently—in the second period.

B: Jan. 5, 2011, when Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman rammed Crosby into the end boards.

C: Dec. 5, 2011, in a game in which Bruins center David Krejci accidentally struck Crosby with an elbow in the head. The Pittsburgh center also collided with teammate Chris Kunitz during the match.

If the answer is anything but C, there could be problems that go beyond the quotidian issues of rehab for a man whose medical dossier became the only stat sheet on All-Star weekend that ultimately mattered.

Crosby might not have to have said anything directly to Brisson about his treatment by the Penguins. There surely are surrogates, people close to him, who could fill in the blanks if Crosby truly were reticent about sharing his thoughts with a man who has been his agent for almost a decade. People close to Crosby have mused that if the Penguins had noticed how out of sorts he looked after being dinged by Steckel, and if the team had not allowed him to play the final period or in the match against Tampa, a year-plus odyssey might have resulted in several weeks on the sideline instead of several months.

more

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 Tags: Sidney+Crosby,

More News On Crosby

by Paul on 01/28/12 at 06:50 PM ET
Comments (7)

via Elliotte Friedman tweets,

Crosby agent Pat Brisson: Sid did suffer a concussion, but last week, the possibility of two fractured vertebrae (C1 and C2) was…(cont)

discovered. A third doctor is being consulted to determine the exact diagnosis.

When I refer to “another concussion,” it’s from the Krejci hit.

added 6:58pm, Bob McCown of Sportsnet 590 with a timeline report and more details on the possible injury.

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 Tags: Sidney+Crosby,

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