SHAMELESS: NHL GENERAL MANAGERS’ NEW POLICY ON INJURY UPDATES
A text to Garth Snow tonight was returned with a note that the Islanders are unable to provide an official update on the status of Chris Campoli’s injury, suffered in Tuesday’s ex game. You’d have to think the Islanders would have a full report on Campoli from their doctors on Friday. Jeff Tambellini (”below the neck,” according to Scott Gordon) and Sean Bergenheim are also injured.
Greg Logan has a story on his blog with some important detail on how NHL teams are reporting injuries this season - which is not reporting them at all. I spoke about this on XM NHL Home Ice today (link to interview in entry below) and will follow this story over the next few weeks after digging around some more.
What’s known is the general managers of the NHL - not the Board of Governors, not the Players Association, not the league office, not PR - pushed hard to essentially have no injury policy. This is an inane decision that no doubt will have major ramifications. And it’s unlikely to be pretty. Simply put, I don’t think the Boys Club thought this baby through. Prediction: they’ll be forced to re-group on it by Christmas.
Another one: commentators will wonder why the National Football League does full disclosure on injuries, but the NHL can’t.
Just wait til a major market writer decides to use a reliable source to make his own season-ending injury announcement about a star player. Oh, I pray the confrontation is in a locker room hallway where I’m standing.
Logan points out in his blog how a player can have a serious injury and be shamed as the team refuses to disclose why he’s not playing. Fans see these players on the arena concourse, looking sharp in their GQ suits, and wonder why the heck they’re not out there battling for their team.
For the Islanders and other teams that strive to communicate with their fans with integrity, I would suggest they consider their own team policy regarding the announcement of injuries. Islanders president Chris Dey has made strong strides opening doors to the fans, even going on Islandermania to clarify issues. When it comes to injuries, a balance between protecting your players and informing your fans can certainly be struck.
Above everything else, National Hockey League teams might want to feel an obligation to their ticket-buyers to tell the truth about whether their favorite players are going to be in the lineup.
9 Responses to “SHAMELESS: NHL GENERAL MANAGERS’ NEW POLICY ON INJURY UPDATES”
Please Wait
You, more than anyone, should know that Garth was probably the one who pushed for this change.
I do not understand how this policy (or lack thereof) helps ANYTHING. If teams give out straightforward and factual information, that is what people will have. With this policy, what everyone will instead have is wild unbridled speculation… and, consequentially, hysteria. WTH is good about THAT???
Nobody should fear truth. The NHL policy is misguided.
From what Logan said this is being done so opposing cannot exploit a player’s injury when they return. Does anyone really believe that teams cannot figure out what kind of injury a players has suffer when they do their video scouting? I don’t.
While players will play dirty and attempt to go after another players injury at times, things should be done to curb this sort of thing. But with the NHL’s seemingly hands-off approach to high hits, we know that won’t happen.
These are games, not duels in the Coliseum of Ancient Rome.
Why is the only place I’m reading about this policy is in articles about the Islanders? Why is it only the Isles media seems to have a problem with it? Not a word about it from any other team’s media? The Isles are singled out for ‘gotcha’ stories yet again. Rangers and Flyers hide injuries…no problem. Great job. Isles do it…federal case.
hi Neil. I think the only reason you’re reading about the policy in Islanders articles is because, frankly, I was the first one to call the new NHL media policy to anyone’s attention. As I mentioned in the Home Ice interview, I think this will be a bigger story once the season starts and guys get hurt…CB
This is NOT helpful to the PR pros out there, who, in my experience usually are the ones lobbying the coach / GM / Doctors to give the ok to servicing the media. I get the whole injury thing, but there are ways to help the media tell the story without painting a target on a guy. This is just going to strain media relationships for a league that NEEDS some media coverage.
Thanks for the response, Chris. I agree with your take, and when someone like Malkin or Drury get dinged, we’ll see if it becomes a bigger deal. However, I still feel the Isles will get an unfair amount of blowback on this. Along the lines of “The Pens are just protecting their stars from being targeted, but god-forbid we don’t have revealed to us every last detail of Mike Comrie’s groin injury. How dare you!”
Again, thanks for the response.
Isles beat the Leafs Friday 5-2. You heard it here first……..SW