We also talked about the ever mounting injuries and really at some point…it comes down to players being too well conditioned. That is right! You never heard in the old days of this many players breaking down all at the same time. Today athletes work out year round and do not stop. If your team got all the way to the Finals let’s say, you had to play competitive hockey for oh 9 months. That does not give your body as much time to recover and breakdowns happen. Add in the Olympic Break this year and you have the perfect recipe for more injuries because the schedule is more condensed than New York City traffic around the holidays.
If you think I am kidding….consider this! Last year at this time there were only 63 injuries in the NHL. There were 121 as of this morning…and that 121 is not a misprint. Those are pretty glaring and scary numbers if you ask me. It is an indictment on several things and people — the schedule, Gary Bettman, Colin Campbell, and many others. There is more than enough blame to go around on this issue alone.
Look at it this way…at least the NHL does not have logos like the Olympics. Just be thankful but imagine the scrutiny they would receive if they did. It would be much worse than anyone could comprehend. I think it might be 100 times worse and receive much more exposure than the current situation with the 2012 Olympics.
Lastly on this shortened edition…I wanted to thank Anaheim for pushing that last goal across in regulation even though they lost (another bad Giguere goal). How do you give up 2 goals to Jim Vandemeer but that is for another time. I would like also to thank the fact that the Devils do not play until Wednesday which gives me more time to think about that Luongo and Brodeur tilt.
For now this is goodbye but remember its always cooler on the other side and enjoy the eight games tonight.
Sincerely,
Chris Wassel
Director Of The Program
