All’s quiet on the NHL injury front

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This article was published 24/01/2017 (3353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll made headlines earlier this month after a loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL playoffs when he defended the play of all-star cornerback Richard Sherman — who, the coach said, had played with an MCL injury sustained more than a month before.

The slip of the tongue created a stir among reporters, not simply because Sherman was injured — they had known something was up after Sherman had regularly missed practices — but because the details of his ailment were not released at the time of his injury.

The backlash wasn’t limited to the media, as the NFL launched a full investigation. Under the league’s injury policy, NFL rules mandate when a player is injured, regardless of whether they miss a practice or game, the specifics of the injury are to be included on a report, which is then made public.

The news once again brought to light the stark differences between policies administered by the NFL and those enforced in other professional sports leagues, including the National Hockey League, where the majority of injuries are kept secret and information is often sparse.

A quick scan of the NHL’s injury report reveals just how different the NHL is from the NFL.

In the NFL, a team is expected to detail every injury, including when and where the injury occurred on the body. In the NHL, an injury is often limited to a certain area, identified as either “upper-body” or “lower-body” — but teams are not required to give up even that much information.

“For you and I, we go to the doctors and it’s against the law for them to say anything about it,” Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “I still don’t get how I’m any different.”

Privacy is the most common argument for keeping the NHL policy the way it is, but for many, it’s also safety issue.

The prevailing fear is if an opponent knows a player is returning from injury, that player may become a target. Furthermore, if an injury is reported even when a player has yet to miss practice or a game (as is the case in the NFL), what’s stopping an opponent from trying to cause further injury?

“The vast majority I won’t tell you (about), because the vast majority of injuries get played with,” said Maurice, noting his team had benefited from the current policy after a flu virus hit the locker room last week.

“I can’t tell that next opponent that I’ve got five guys with the flu because there’s another reason to come after us,” he said.

“Or anybody that’s got a shoulder, a knee, any of those injuries where the joint is stable and the doctors say there isn’t any more or less risk necessarily than any other player and there’s a little bit of pain tolerance… I can’t tell you.”

This season, the Jets have had a number of players fall victim to injury. And despite whether a player was ruled out short- or long-term, the reports have, for the most part, been limited.

When centre Bryan Little went down early in the regular season and had to miss 23 games, the Jets called it a lower-body injury.

The same explanation was provided for forwards Shawn Matthias and Joel Armia, who combined to miss 49 games before returning in late December.

Defenceman Tyler Myers, who hasn’t played since the second week of November, is also out with a LBI. Ditto for winger Drew Stafford.

Even as recently as Tuesday, a day after Mathieu Perreault took a highly visible slash to the left arm by Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry, the injury was reported simply as “upper-body.”

It wasn’t always this way.

In the summer prior to the 2007-08 NHL season, general managers voted to be more transparent with injuries, agreeing to bring in a system similar to that of the NFL.

For the most part it worked, with teams complying with the terms throughout the regular season.

But when the playoffs came around, concerns over targeting players started to arise. In June of 2008, general managers met again and put an end to the policy.

“I think playoffs are a little different because you’re playing the same team so many times,” said Perreault. “In the regular season, you might not see a team for two months, so it doesn’t matter.”

Under the 2008 agreement, teams only need to disclose whether a player is expected to miss a game due to injury or, if they have to leave mid-game, an announcement is made in the event a player is unable to return.

Players in the NHL mostly agree with the current philosophy: that injuries shouldn’t be for public consumption. That includes Jets forward Adam Lowry, who missed five games last season with an upper-body injury.

“I think it really benefits us not disclosing the injuries that we have,” said Lowry (who, as a participant in fantasy football leagues, is glad the NFL has a more liberal policy).

“Guys play with a bunch of bumps and bruises and injuries that are more significant.”

Lowry said he understands where the frustration may come from the media, who are constantly trying to figure out what’s happening with a player who is out of the lineup. But, he added, the advantages of having the public in the know about injuries doesn’t quite equate to the edge players and teams get from knowing a potential weakness of an opponent.

For example, said Lowry, a centreman coming back from an injured hand and who takes a lot of faceoffs may be treated differently by an opponent than if the injury wasn’t kept hidden. The same goes for a bad knee, where a player may have issues pivoting a certain way, or, with a defenceman with a banged-up shoulder who may want to stay away from the corners as much as possible.

“No one goes out with the mindset of hurting anyone,” said Lowry. “But you definitely play hard on guys if you know they’re hurting.”

As much as there are benefits, there are also drawbacks.

For one, keeping information from the public keeps the fans, particularly those who pay a high cost for season tickets, in the dark.

In a hockey-crazy market such as Winnipeg, fans are eager to find out information about their favourite players, even more so when they’re out for any significant amount of time.

When they aren’t given answers, fans may feel rejected by the team or, perhaps even worse, engage in spreading rumours.

Those rumours can be anything from a player being perceived as weak to more serious allegations, such as stints in a drug-rehab facility.

At best, they are educated guesses; at worst, outright lies.

“There’s some pretty ruthless people on Twitter,” said Lowry. “If people are saying that I’m soft because I’m not playing and they don’t know the injury, that’s their prerogative.”

For Perreault, public speculation is a reason why he is OK with fans being made privy to information, even if he does have reservations about letting other teams know.

“I don’t mind people knowing, so when someone isn’t playing as well it’s because he had a bad knee, not just because he’s getting bad,” said Perreault. “Sometimes, it can work both ways.”

But until something gives, it’s likely to remain a one-way street for some time.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jeffkhamilton