Page 23 - ARUBA TODAY
P. 23
SPORTS A23
Friday 2 February 2018
Many in NHL just fine with vague injury descriptions
By STEPHEN WHYNO there if you really want In this Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017 file photo, Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock looks on from
AP Hockey Writer to dissect the injury,” Ko- the bench during the first period of a preseason NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild in
Veteran coach Ken Hitch- rnegay said. “There’s only Dallas.
cock struck a nerve ear- maybe a handful of guys
lier this season when he that might make a ma- Associated Press
decried the longstanding jor impact, like (Connor)
NHL practice of describing McDavid or (Auston) Mat- Nashville Predators and too much respect in the the precise nature of the
injuries in the vaguest terms thews or someone like that. Philadelphia Flyers were league” for that, but Capi- injury is I’m not sure is really
possible. Could make maybe a 15- labeled the most evasive, tals defenseman Brooks Or- appropriate for public con-
An injury can be upper- cent impact in the line, while the New York Rang- pik disagreed. sumption.”
body, lower-body or undis- which is very minimal. Al- ers, Vancouver Canucks “I wouldn’t say there’s a Toronto Maple Leafs coach
closed, except Hitchcock most everybody else is like and Minnesota Wild were lot of guys, but there’s defi- Mike Babcock said he gen-
and the Dallas Stars prefer zero impact or maybe five the most open. nitely more than a handful erally agrees with Hitch-
to be more forthright. De- cents impact. ... It wouldn’t When Washington Capitals of (players) in the league cock and doesn’t mind dis-
fenseman Marc Methot be like (Tom) Brady being winger Andre Burakovsky that would target guys if closing injuries, except he
had a knee injury, Martin out.” underwent surgery to re- they knew where they were doesn’t like talking about
Hanzal had a hamstring in- The NHL represents less pair a broken left thumb hurt,” Orpik said. “I don’t re- head injuries. Jets coach
jury and Stephen Johns was than 5 percent of the total in October, the team an- ally see what you gain by Paul Maurice went the oth-
dealing with concussion amount bet at the West- nounced it as such. Upon releasing it.” er way, saying teams have
symptoms. gate, and less than 6 per- his return, Burakovsky wore Hitchcock’s comments a “responsibility” to show
“Rather than go through cent for online sports book extra padding and wor- generated chatter around the NHL is handling con-
the dance and play the Bovada. ried little about opponents the league and a variety cussions the right way but
big game, we just decided League executives and hacking at his thumb to try of opinions, but don’t ex- cited privacy concerns in
let’s get it out there so they coaches have little to no to reinjure it. pect the current system to the larger discussion about
can print it, move on and appetite to change things. “When I’m playing, I’m change any time soon. revealing specific injuries.
let’s get on with the subject “I would ask the question, playing,” Burakovsky said. “At the end of the day, Then there’s Carolina Hur-
of what’s going on on the ‘Why is it important that “I don’t really focus on if I’m not sure it’s really any- ricanes coach Bill Peters,
team,” Hitchcock said. you know everything?’” Los they’re going to go after body’s right to know exact- who wouldn’t mind an NFL-
This is a far cry from the Angeles Kings coach John my thumb or whatever it is.” ly what’s ailing a player,” like policy.
world of the NFL, where Stevens said. The central debate over deputy commissioner Bill “It’d be nice if the NHL just
teams must reveal specific “I think sometimes it pro- disclosure comes down Daly said. “Perhaps there’s said, hey, make it full dis-
injuries. Coaches and NHL tects the player. Sometimes to whether revealing spe- kind of fan interest in how closure. I’d have no prob-
officials point to gambling a player’s working through cific injuries puts players in long he’ll be gone, when lem with that — as long as
and fantasy football as an injury. If he’s coming danger of being targeted. he can be back to the it’s consistent across the
driving forces behind those back, opponents might Hitchcock said “there’s lineup, etc., etc., but what board,” Peters said.q
detailed NFL injury reports, know. If it’s a knee injury,
noting hockey has far less they might try to take ad-
of that; one NHL player vantage of it.”
even joked that it would be The collective bargaining
foolish for anyone to bet on agreement doesn’t require
the sport. any specificity be included
Yet more people are. West- in injury announcements.
gate sports book vice presi- And that means they vary
dent Jay Kornegay said the dramatically among the 31
addition and success of teams.
the Vegas Golden Knights NHL Injury Viz , which tracks
has at least tripled the information about player
amount of bets placed on injuries and illnesses, ranks
NHL games this season. He teams on an “evasiveness
said the gambling public index” based on how many
isn’t affected much by the injuries are called upper- or
information or lack thereof lower-body, undisclosed or
about injuries. soreness. Through Jan. 20
“There’s information out games, the Winnipeg Jets,
