It seems like every team has fans that complain that they have horrible injury problems. Most of the time, the fans are delusional and afraid to admit that their team just isn’t that good. But other times, the fans could be onto something. The truth is that EVERY team has to deal with injuries throughout the year. Here are Top 10 teams that have had to deal with injuries the most.
10. Atlanta Thrashers
"Damn, I'm pretty important! I wonder if they'll remember this when we're talking about my contract..."
If you have any question about how important Kovalchuk is to the Thrashers, take a look at their record to start the season (5-2-1) vs. their record since (2-4-0). The difference between Kovalchuk and a guy like Alexander Ovechkin is that Atlanta doesn’t have the depth to make up for the loss of offensive production. He’s only one player, but apparently he’s a pretty important player.
Ilya Kovalchuk – Broken Bone, Right Foot
Boris Valabik – High Right Ankle Sprain
Matt Siddall – Undisclosed Injury
Noah Welch – Right Knee
Kari Lehtonen – Back Surgery
9. Dallas Stars
The good thing is that none of these players really have anything that would be catorgorized as a long-term injury. The bad thing is that each and every one of these players is vital to the Stars success this season. The reason they are so low on the list is because everyone except James Neal is already back in the lineup (and he’ll be back any day).
Jere Lehtinen – Abdominal Injury
James Neal – Pulled Groin
Mike Modano – Ribs
Brad Richards – Groin
8. Nashville Predators
Until last week, the top line for the Preds was only together for Opening Night. As soon as their forwards situation started to get straightened out, their anchor on defense went down with a foot injury. Thankfully for the hockeytonk, Weber should be back in the lineup sooner rather than later.
Colin Wilson – Groin
Jason Arnott – Shoulder
JP Dumont – Upper Body Injury
Shea Weber – Foot
7. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pens are doing their best to climb these rankings as quickly as possible (not a good thing). Orpik left the game early with an injury in Boston. Malkin will be back any day now. But the reason that they’re on this list right now is because of the importance Sergei Gonchar to this team. Last season they were awful until he joined the team mid-season. This year they started on fire; but as Gonchar went down, so did their winning percentage. He’s out for another 2-4 weeks.
Brooks Orpik – Undisclosed Injury
Kris Letang – Right Shoulder Contusion
Tyler Kennedy – Undisclosed Injury
Sergei Gonchar – Broken Wrist
Max Talbot – Left Shoulder Surgery
Evgeni Malkin – Shoulder
6. Montreal Canadiens
"If I could play like this, I'd have no need for that lacerated tendon!"
If the Thrashers show people how important a forward can be to a team, the Habs show everyone how important a defenseman can me. Of every player on their entire roster, the ONE player they could not afford to lose was Andrei Markov. Imagine the feeling that spread all over Quebec when Markov went down on Opening Night with a freak injury. In 4-6 months, we’ll see exactly how important Markov is to their success.
Georges Laraque – Upper-body Injury
Hal Gill – Fractured Foot
Matt D’Agostini – Concussion
Ryan O’Byrne – Knee
Andrei Markov – Lacerated Tendon, Ankle
Olivier Fortier – Shoulder
5. Vancouver Canucks
When Roberto Luongo went down with a fractured rib, most people thought the Canucks would be completely screwed until he returned to the net. Funny thing happened though: the much maligned Andrew Raycroft has proven to people that he’s not as awful as Maple Leaf fans thought he was. Daniel Sedin’s foot hasn’t been a great subject either. Everyone should be coming back in the coming weeks.
Michael Grabner – Fractured Ankle
Alexandre Bolduc – Shoulder
Daniel Sedin – Broken Left Foot
Jannik Hansen – Right Hand
Pavol Demitra – Torn Left Rotator Cuff
Roberto Luongo – Rib
Mathieu Schneider – Shoulder
4. Chicago Blackhawks
People forget that we still haven’t seen the full Blackhawks team yet. Toews missed a couple of weeks after taking a brutal hit from Willie Mitchell. Upon his return, Chicago played all of ONE GAME before losing Dave Bolland for a few months. But forget both of those guys, they have the injured Marian Hossa—who STILL hasn’t played a game in the Windy City.
Dave Bolland – Back Surgery
Adam Burish – Torn Right ACL
Marian Hossa – Right Shoulder Surgery
Jonathan Toews – Concussion
3. Boston Bruins
What the number of injuries in Boston lack in quantity, they certainly make up for in quality. Marc Savard is their most dynamic offensive player who creates opportunites for his teammates. Losing him adversely effects the entire team. Milan Lucic and his physical presence is also a huge whole that they can not readily substitute. It might just be two injuries—but those are two tough players to try to replace.
Marc Savard – Broken Left Foot
Milan Lucic – Broken Right Index Finger
Levi Nelson – Undisclosed Injury
2. Detroit Red Wings
After losing a ton of scoring in the offseason, the Red Wings didn’t have the depth that they usually have. So when Filppula and Franzen went down with LONG-TERM injuries, there’s no the depth that there used to be to pick up the slack. The Red Wings will have to figure out a way to perform without them though, because its going to be a while until they make it back to the line-up.
Patrick Eaves – Bruised Foot
Jason Williams – Fractured Right Fibula
Valtteri Filppula – Broken Right Wrist
Johan Franzen – Torn Left ACL
Andreas Lilja – Concussion
1. Carolina Hurricanes
It seems like just about every damn player on the team has had a injury this season. Their best defenseman, best two forwards and their cornerstone goaltender have all missed time—and still aren’t back in the line-up. It might only be November, but it looks like it might be “one of those years” for the Hurricanes.
Cam Ward – Leg Laceration
Ray Whitney – Upper-body Injury
Michael Ryan – Concussion
Eric Staal – Upper Body Injury
Tim Gleason – Rib
Dishonorable Mentions: Toronto Maple Leafs (Phil Kessel); Edmonton Oilers (Sheldon Souray); Washington Capitals (Alexander Ovechkin)
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