Carolina Injuries - Bad Training, Bad Skates, or Bad Luck?
Last week, the Carolina Hurricanes treatment room looked like a waiting line at a MASH unit. Ten players were nursing some type of injury. Things are looking better at the moment, but the injury bug is nothing new for the Canes and it’s starting to make fans as well as team management ask the magic question, “why us?”.
Of course when someone gets clobbered out on the ice the way that Tim Conboy and Matt Cullen recently did, there is nothing really that can be done to prevent that, it’s just part of the game. Same thing with knee injuries and the like. You can keep your head up to avoid the blind shots, but it’s impossible to keep from being hit if the game is being played properly.
But what about Justin Williams and his most recent injury which happened during an off-ice training session before training camp even started? This article in the Edmonton Journal describes what happened:
The Hurricanes were testing their players at a combine-type training centre where NCAA football players might go through their paces for NFL teams. They were running on turf, going back and forth to lines on the field, in short bursts of speed.
This leads to the title’s first question, do today’s athletes over do it? Is there such a thing as “over-training”?
Earlier during this offseason, I interviewed the Head Athletic Therapist/Strength Conditioning Coach for the Carolina Hurricanes, Pete Friesen and asked him about the plethora of injuries that the Canes had last year. While Friesen didn’t have a definitive answer, he did admit that over-training could be an issue.
One thing I can assure you, it is not because of lack of fitness. I have interviewed several players and different teams around the league, and I honestly believe that our team is the among the fittest, if not the most fit in the NHL. But are we too fit? Do we skate too hard and too fast? Is it our style of play? I don’t know.
Friesen also alluded to the fact that new stiffer skates might be causing some injuries as well. He is not alone with his speculation. The Montreal Canadiens have been suffering from an inordinate number of groin injuries this preseason and head coach Guy Carbonneau blames it on the skates. According to this article in the Globe and Mail:
In hockey, as with most things in life, new technology is usually a good thing - until it isn’t.
Take recent advances in hockey skates, which are now stiffer, more ergonomic and generally light years ahead of the blades worn barely a decade ago.
But Montreal Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau thinks the unyielding boots on his players’ space-age skates - typically made with fibres like carbon, Kevlar and graphite - may be a contributing factor to a rash of groin and hip injuries that has befallen his team.
Six regulars have been laid low with soft-tissue leg injuries - two hip injuries, four groin pulls - in the past six days.
Carbonneau said the lack of flexibility in the next-generation skates means that a player who catches an edge or a rut, or is simply off-balance, has a greater risk of pulling or twisting a muscle as he rights himself.
As mentioned, Pete Friesen said the exact same thing in his interview from three months ago. Coincidentally, Ray Whitney and Tuomo Ruutu both have groin/leg injuries as well. (Although it should be noted that both players have suffered from similar injuries in the past).
The rash of recent injuries has also caught the eye of Hurricanes management. General Manager Jim Rutherford was recently quoted as saying:
We’ve had a couple of years of really bad runs with injuries, but that doesn’t mean this has to continue, I do think we have to take a closer look at how our players prepare themselves and how they train, because I’m not so sure that it’s just bad luck and maybe there has to be some adjustments as to how the players are prepared.”
Speaking of bad luck, things could always be worse Caniacs. Remember last year when Cory Stillman hurt himself in a freak single car accident, and Erik Cole almost broke his foot while kicking a soccer ball around during a pre-game ritual?
While the hockey gods have not necessarily been kind to the Hurricanes this training camp, other teams have injuries as well. Both Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney are out for quite awhile in Pittsburgh. Erik Johnson had a controversial golf cart incident which took him out of action for a few months in St. Louis, and groin injuries have spread like a herpes virus around the league.
No matter what the reasons, hockey players will always be getting injured. It’s a test to the organization’s depth to see if the team can survive the adversity, or falter because of it.
About the Author: Bubba is a hockey fan/citizen journalist who has always wanted to be a sportswriter and is pursuing his dream. He also writes a Hurricanes blog for 
Swenk | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
Great post Bubba, as always. Seems like Whitney starts out every season with a groin issue…
marc | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
I used to sell skates at 2 high end pro shops, and it was amazing how many kids / adults playing once a week in a rec league would want the highest end, most expensive skate possible. Luckily, the company I worked for promoted good customer service over making money, and I was able to convince a few that a high end skate isn’t necessarily the way to go. They were the happiest customers - the boot would break in properly, no foot problems etc. The ones who bought the higher end that didn’t need them were the ones that had the most problems. Not only with injuries, but with the skate itself. I would definitely agree with Guy on this one. Figure skaters had the same problem as well. It reminds me of that old Billy Crystal SNL skit - “It is better to look good than to feel good.”
janeybell | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
Great article, Bubba…..but, please oh please can we have pre-game post for Nashville? Chip Alexander seems to think that we only need three lines…..save us!
Mateo | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
Everyone is freaking out about the Chip Alexander 3 lines post. People forget that in 05-06 we rolled 3 lines while dressing 7 defensive players and 2 extra forwards…. it seemed to work just fine back then….
This is a good post in regards to injury. It seems like every season since the lockout our team has delt w/ groin pulls and “minor” muscle injuries from the start of training camp into about mid-season…. it’s nothing new.
Last season was the worst injury season EVER (I think). Hopefully this season will be nothing like last season… although we are already one (J. Williams) in the hole.
The article from the Edmonton Journal seemed like mostly speculation regarding the Williams Injury. It was all based on hear-say from E. Cole and a phone conversation he had w/ Joe Corvo… Although it did bring up good points about the new skates…
TylerA | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
Bubba,
In a lot of other Canes write ups and Chips debate articles a lot of people are still screaming for Kab to be traded away, while at the same time CH.com has posted i think at least 2 articles about how they think Kab is looking like one of the best d-men on the team. I have to say I agree, hes looked really good on the pp, seems to be skating with confidence and is putting shots up for the guys in front of the net. Another article also mentions that with Gleason, Pitkanen, and Corvo, locked up in the top 6, it seems that Kabs and Seids are in also, who makes the 6th man, Babchuk, Melichar, or Wallin (I think Wallin could be traded)? Whats your opinion on Kabs, Seids, and the last spot on the top 6?
Cory | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
They need to have Wallin waive his no-trade — and he’s already said no once in the past. I think Frank’s in, but I’m not so sure on Seidenberg being a lock yet. There are four guy who all bring diff. things to the table, so it’ll be interesting to see how it hashes out.
Mateo | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
Wallin has that dang no-trade though! And he isn’t afraid to use it…
Although a cut in playing time could change his feelings on it… and you can’t blame a guy for wanting to stick in one place.
I am not one of those who thinks that Wallin is horrible… and I’m not fooled into thinking he is the greatest defensive player on the ice either…. somwhere in between is where he falls with me… But yeah… he is usually a slow starter…. and ALWAYS peaks at about the middle of round 2 of the playoffs….
I’m not sure how this discussion got so off topic… but for what it is worth… CH.com has the lineup for tonight as:
Samsonov - Staal - Eaves
Helminen - Cullen - Bayda
LaRose - Sutter - LaCouture
Gillies - Jensen
Pitkanen - Gleason
Kaberle - Seidenberg
Melichar - Babchuk
Rodney
Ward
Leighton
This is the 7 d-men and 2-spare forwards (rolling 3 lines) approach that coach Lavi has used on many occasions.
Mateo | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
Also keep in mind… Gillies is probably headed to Albany…. and when Brind’Amour comes back then we will have enough forwards for 4 lines (if Sutter sticks around) and the extra d-man (Rodney? Wallin?) would have to be a scratch…
So things are shaping up for opening night more than we may think… who knows?
Bubba | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
Thanks Mateo for posting the lineups, and you and Cory are right about Wallin’s no trade. That makes it difficult if not impossible to trade him. But he’s injured for now, so it’s a moot point at the moment.
I’ll post an article about who I think should be the top 6 defensemen after the last preseason game.
Mateo | Oct 2, 2008 | Reply
yeah…. I did forget about his “head injury.”
I’ve always liked Wallin…. but he is too much of a slow starter… and I don’t know if we can afford too much of that this season….