Why I Think Playing With Injuries Should Be Discouraged

Playing with injuries is a severe problem for me and many other hockey fans. The fact that unfortunately, many players have had career-ending injuries, and some of those players have had career-ending injuries because of playing with those injuries, especially during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I am no doctor or nurse however, I suffered a broken ankle when I was much younger. Besides my ankle, injuries are serious, especially concussions.

I will discuss this topic as follows: 1) What is a severe injury, and how can a non-severe injury become very severe? 2) Players who have had career-ending injuries and players who have played through injuries that would later end their careers. And lastly, 3) Is it worth it to play through the Stanley Cup Playoffs with those injuries? I want to disclaim we are not talking about severe injuries that have happened (the throat slit that happened to Richard Zednik or Clint Malarchuk or near death and even death experiences).

1) What is a Severe Injury, and How Can a Non-Severe Injury Become Very Severe?

In hockey, there are tons of severe injuries, concussions, torn ACLs, breaking your skull, and breaking your leg, everything in hockey is considered a severe injury. However, the one I will label the most severe is anything regarding your face and head. Such as concussions, breaking your skull, and those types of injuries. Not so much a broken nose or a black eye because there are face masks to protect against those injuries. Playing with a non-severe injury can cause the injuries to become very severe. Such as playing with a broken ankle, which could later ruin your career within the next two to five years or when a player or players play with a fractured thumb, it could damage the broken bone even more.

2) Players Who Have Had Career-Ending Injuries and Players Who Have Played Through Injuries That Would Later End Their Careers

Some players have had career-ending injuries (and brief descriptions since I do not want to show the videos as some can be extremely graphic. However, you can find the videos on YouTube).

The Steve Moore-Todd Bertuzzi Incident - on February 21st, 2004, during a game between the Canucks and Avalanche, Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi started following Avalanche forward Steve Moore around on the ice in an attempt to fight him. Moore was ignoring Bertuzzi, and that caused Bertuzzi to grab Moore’s jersey from behind and punch him in the jaw, then, shockingly, when both fell on the ice, Moore slammed his head against the ice, and Bertuzzi landed on top of him. A brawl erupted, and fans were cheering, believing that Moore finally got the karma he deserved. But as soon as the arena quieted down, it became known that Moore was seriously injured. Moore laid on the ice for ten minutes before being removed. Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade-three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial lacerations. He was also suffering from amnesia. Moore had to go through Physical Therapy as well. After the 03-04 season, Moore never played another NHL game again. In several articles, Moore says that he is “still haunted by the hit.”

The Paul Kariya Incident - in game six of the 2003 Stanley Cup finals, the Ducks’ captain took a blindsided headshot from Devils’ Scott Stevens. Kariya spent 48 seconds lying motionless on the ice before he left for the dressing room but returned to the game. Kariya says he has “no memory of playing game six, the hit or playing game seven. Eventually, Kariya played for nearly eight more years before retiring in 2011 due to concussions, as he would have six of them in his career.

A few more incidents that you can search up,

• Pavel Bure falling into chronic knee problems

• Peter Forsberg and his problem with staying healthy

• Eric Lindros and his concussions.

To some people, seeing a current player having to retire as young as 30-35 is rare, as the majority of players in the NHL right now retire due to old age. However, in some cases, old injuries come back to haunt the players and force them to retire. (An example is Henrik Lundqvist retiring in 2021 due to open-heart surgery to repair a leaky valve, saying a heart issue forced him into retirement).

3) Is it worth it to play through the Stanley Cup Playoffs with those injuries?

A lot of people will argue that playing through the Stanley Cup Playoffs with injuries is “worth it,” but in my opinion, they’re not. I believe it is much better to play a long hockey career instead of having to retire early due to playing in the cup finals with an injury. I would also agree that it is a hard call due to the different outcomes. I could be the best player playing with an injury in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and never getting close to winning the cup. I could be the worst player sidelined due to an injury in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and have a long career with decent stats. Again, there are so many outcomes to it. But in my opinion, it is not worth it to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with an injury, as it is better to be sidelined it.

In summary of this long topic, I believe that playing any type of injury during any time of hockey (whether that be the regular season, pre-season or the Stanley Cup Playoffs) should be discouraged as it could lead to a possible forced retirement or a career-ending injury.