All teams have injuries.
When they occur, they appear to be pivotal moments that can ruin the best teams' seasons. But as bad as it was for the Pittsburgh Penguins when they lost Sidney Crosby for half the 2010-11 season and the majority of the 2011-12 season, the NHL does not give any team a mulligan just because its best players get hurt.
The Penguins finished with 106 points in 2010-11 and 108 points in 2011-12.
Injuries are a fact of life in the NHL. The strongest teams find a way to survive despite the injuries they suffer, while weaker teams often end up using injuries as an excuse.
Case in point: the Ottawa Senators
The Senators have suffered a series of devastating injuries this year. They have lost defending Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson (Achilles) for the season. They have also lost Jason Spezza (back), Milan Michalek (knee) and Craig Anderson (ankle) for long periods of time this season.
These injuries were expected to devastate the Senators and send them to the lower regions of the Eastern Conference, well out of playoff consideration. However, they have played sensational hockey, as head coach Paul ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steve Silverman
How Injuries Are Affecting Teams During the Shortened NHL Season
March 30th, 2013 by Steve Silverman Leave a reply »
Advertisement