DON’T SHOOT HIM…HE’S ONLY THE TRAINER
Don’t blame training staff for growing injured list
There are several reasons to fire an NHL trainer or conditioning coach:
- Failing to keep the team, you know, well-conditioned
- Instead of complete player medical files, inappropriate content found on laptop
- Hosting Mike Sillinger’s hip rehab sessions at BK Sweeney’s
- Mishandling an in-grown toenail into a half-season stint on the IR
You have not failed as an NHL trainer when Kyle Okposo sprains his wrist. Your job performance does not fall under scrutiny when Frans Nielsen suffers multiple leg fractures when Mike Mottau tries to take his head off. You do not lose your job when Nate Thompson fractures his ankle in a game in Columbus. You cannot be blamed when Radek Martinek seems to fail to understand it’s okay to not absorb every hit coming your way.
Just like it wasn’t the doctor’s fault when I severely sprained my ankle playing one-on-one against Sean Byrnes on the courts outside Trinity Lutheran in Hicksville 25 years ago.
Sillinger has repeatedly praised trainers Garrett Timms and Nates Goto and strength and conditioning coach Chris Schwarz for their patience, work ethic and know-how in putting him back together again. So have Rick DiPietro and Mike Comrie. You know how we’d know if the trainers sucked? The players would never volunteer the information. The well-traveled Silli has had more trainers than Evander Holyfield.
Trainers, who work harder than anyone in this league - you think Timms had Sunday off? - have been fired plenty of times. Some, no doubt, for fair reasons. But as Ted used to say, hockey is not just a contact sport, it’s a collision sport.
If the Islanders fired their ball and butt-busting trainers because their players suffered sprained wrists, broken legs or even busted hips, it would be as outrageous as any blown trade. Which is why it is not happening.
* Disclosure: Yes, I worked with Timms, Gato and Schwarz for a few years. Decent guys, but they never did jack for me. I’d ask Timms to help me describe an injury, and he was as forthcoming as “House.” Getting Schwarz to give up a Powerade was like asking for a kidney.
Comments.
40 Responses to “DON’T SHOOT HIM…HE’S ONLY THE TRAINER
Don’t blame training staff for growing injured list”
Please Wait
i don’t blame the trainers. my theory is that the hockey gods want us to get hedman/tavares and thus are making that possible with all of the injuries.
Thanks for writing about it. Commonly asked question around here. Have a hard time understanding why we always seem to have a lot of players down. Agree when you are talking about fractures, breaks. Have a hard time believing the whole hip flexor, groin strains, acl problems isn’t partially due to conditioning or training. Seems to be a common problem on the Isle not just this year or last but previous as well. Nice to respond quick with everyone’s questions CB!!!
I am not upset at injuries. Yes for developments sake I am, however each game DP misses gets us closer to TAVARES. I am excited at each loss. Even though its a kick in the nuts. And they need to keep the “3rd” as primary, and bring back the home whites!
Any thoughts that the Hockey Gods would like us to stink it up for a couple more years, get a couple blue chippers, have to move the team up to Canada after endless efforts to get a new/renovated building, and then the team be really good and we all can just be miserable back here on LI? Ok, wait. I am done with that horrible thought.
I can’t see how the injuries mentioned could be attributed to the training staff, but if someone goes down with a groin injury or some sort of mysterious ‘lower body’ injury that is more muscular and a result from game play rather than contact, one can’t help but wonder if the players can’t take the system. Also, wasn’t Gordo hired later in the summer so the current players had no clue what to expect come training camp?
I think some of the injuries may be due to the crappy ice conditions, rather than what the trainers are or are not doing. Fix the ice, then maybe you don’t have to fix the players.
Sorry, CB, but I have to disagree on this one. I know you worked for the team and all, but this has been a consistent problem with this team.
Sure, it’s not the trainer’s fault when Mottau tries to take Nielsen’s head off. But it is the trainer’s fault when players are on the ice (i.e. Comrie, DiPietro) when they’re obviously not ready to go.
Changes need to be made in this department. Period.
Well put. That may be managements fault as well. It seemed like Snow had his hand in DP sitting on that bench during that drubbing by the sabres.
It is the groin pulls that are worriesome.
On a diffrent note, I was reading my favorite journalist larry brooks today (cough cough) and he wrote that the Rags, in an effort to clear salary to sign mats sundin would possibly put peter prucha on waivers …. to claim or not to claim? I for one would grab him in a NY minute.
Garth would be nuts not to grab Prucha.
As you most likely didn’t read on my site, I blame it all on bad luck. The injuries we are seeing aren’t any strains or pulls of muscles, they are as you say “collision” related - or as I put it “hockey related”.
As a player, it’s easy to spot injuries that come from simply playing the sport or the result of contact. It’s nothing more than really bad luck when it results in half the team being lost to injury so early in the season.
That’s the sport of hockey for you. Some teams escape injury for the entire season, others just have a black cloud.
This is always an issue ripe for self-doubt, when the gods are after us via injuries. But a lot of teams (Caps come to mind) have been hit very hard this year.
Probably so many variables: hits like Michael documented, maybe ice conditions like Calgary said, travel, the busy schedule is always a complaint.
I’ve long suspected [translation: I have no data] that injuries increased after the post-lockout rule enforcement promoted skating (and more collisions that were previously avoided by hooking/holding) and discouraged passive play.
Goalie health, too, cannot be helped by more wide-open power plays and the addition of a breakaway contest and skills circus after 65 minutes of already tough “obstruction-free” play.
Hmmm…. multiple leg “fractures”… interesting.
Doesn’t sound too good for Frans…
Nice that the Islanders keep calling it multiple leg injuries.
DOC
“Brett, it’s just a headache.”
“Well, Rick says he feels fine”
Maybe it’s go-go-go-go-going to hard on the ice and getting in a jam in a nonasecond.
Maybe it’d demons.
And CB, now I’m craving the wings from BK Sweeney’s with no way of getting there…..ugh!
Why would anyone in their right mind actually try and blame the training staff for the injuries the islanders have suffered???
Chris…
How about allowing a player with a neck injury - later diagnosed as a broken neck - to skate off under his own power??
How about clearing Dipietro to play, when the coach felt he was too injured to mop up?
It is clear that the Islanders aren’t very well conditioned and as a result, they have suffered injuries. Injuries happen to bad teams that aren’t well conditioned. Now, the terrible Isles are using injuries as an excuse for their futility.
Ray,
We are all now stupider for having read your post.
But in all seriousness I hope that your post wasn’t serious, because as CB stated in his post the Islander’s injuries are broken bones and/or sprains and I don’t think it can be traced back to being out of shape …
Are we the most conditioned team? We have the worst +/- in the 3rd period.
While you cant blame them for fractures… we have had a multide of hip injuries, dipietros comeback was very short lived, andy suttons hamstring injury and “unknown hand” injury are a concern. Baileys groin injury.
im sure the training staff is a good group of guys, but its fair to question their performance after the past 2 years.
@Ken,
Snow was quoted saying Bailey’s injury was a hip flexor, not a groin injury as many speculated.
I want 10-70-2! Not only would it be hiliarious but we could get the 1st Pick! Lets hope Garth doesn’t screw it up!
Caps will wax us 5-2! about 10,000+ at NVMC as the attendance starts to wane to its eventual 4,000 a game soon!
Lets Go Islanders by 2012!
CB I have a request… Would it be possible to add “Last Time Updated” field to the NYI PointBlank “Click Here” screen on the NYI.com Website. I and probably others check PointBlank numerous times during the day for updates and with the new field wouldn’t have to enter Pointblank directly many times. Hope this comment makes sense. PLEASE/THANX
DP vouches for the trainers? Well I’m sold! Seriously though, who makes the decision on when a player should resume playing in games? That guy should probably get at least a little more scrutiny. Would that not qualify as a hangnail turning into a serious injury? Just this year we’ve seen DP and Comrie miss more games than necessary because they came back too soon. We’ve seen it with DP for almost his entire career - and hopefully he’s not ruined because of it. Someone has to say “NO” when it’s appropriate.
TAVARES OR BUST.
At the risk of stirring up another debate about Ricky, it does seem that Ricky spends a lot of time in the weight room. It seems to me that a goalie should concentrate more on flexibility than on pumping iron. Maybe Ricky’s injuries arise from not having a workout program that serves a goalie’s needs. Whose fault would that be?
UIF, can they read minds? I remember reading the truth about Comrie’s hip injury - he had the surgery in May and was given a 6-month recovery timetable, at least. Is it the training staff’s fault if everything is OK structurally (totally possible) and Comrie lies about his condition so he can get back in the lineup? At least now I hope they can adapt to this situation, just like with DP. I don’t want to see DP start for this team until after the all-star break due to the extent of his injury and the fact that this was his 4th major surgery in a year and a half. However, blaming the training staff for a player either hiding the truth or lying seems as odd as blaming the training staff for Nielsen getting mugged by Mottau and Okposo getting speared by Davison.
That’s basically what I was going to say, Nick. It’s quite possible, even probable that these guys lie (cover it up) sometimes about an injury just because they want to play. In addition, when they are out they miss playing and want to get back as quickly as possible. So another opportunity for them to tell the staff they are doing “great!” when they really aren’t. Sometimes they think playing thru it will not damage it further but ….dun dun dun…sometimes they’re wrong.
Thanks for the info CB.
When I read yesterday’s article, my first thought wasn’t about the trainers. LOL, I thought “what is going on in that house?”. Isn’t it Gervais, Okposo, Bailey and Thompson who are sharing a house? Or am I wrong and its a different combo. Anyway my first reaction was too much rough housing over there, they are killing each other. (by the way, I KNOW that’s not the reason for the injuries, no need to set me straight people). LOL
I’m certainly no doctor, but if my shoulder is badly hurt, I will not be able to rotate it without showing some sign of pain or discomfort. There are also timetables to follow for certain injuries, which the Islanders seem to regularly ignore…amazing how all of their players are always “well ahead of schedule.” Look, I’d agree with you, Nick, if this was an occassional thing. But it’s happened EVERY time DP has been hurt, and with others as well. Heck, earlier this year he was rushed back when it was clear he could not even play. Who clears him for that? It was obvious to all of us and every journalist, but not to the training staff?
Seanie had you beat on the court anyway!
UIF, you’re right. I hope they now understand that it’s a pattern of behavior and are extra cautious. With DP, however, it was different injuries, so you really never know. At this point I don’t want to see him here until after the all-star break. Let him get himself in game shape, send him to Bridgeport to get back into stopping pucks, and then bring him back.
Disclaimer: I’ve never met any of the training staff. If I’m lucky, I only get to visit LI once a year. So what I have to say isn’t personal.
That said: Ryan (16)… Nobody in their right mind SHOULD actually try and blame the training staff for many of the injuries the Islanders have suffered. Unfortunately, I don’t believe a filter that would block those not in their right mind from posting here has been created yet, so this is what we get. Lots of people who just need something to bitch about.
Seriously, Sutton’s “unknown hand” injury was a concern? Maybe because we weren’t exactly clear on the nature of it, but how the hell is a hand injury something the training staff could have prevented? And, yeah, the ice @ NVMC caused Thompson’s injury - while he was playing in Columbus.
Maybe - just maybe - the Islanders continue to be bitten by injuries at such a pace because they’re simply not big and strong enough to absorb the punishment of professional hockey - no matter who’s coaching them and in what “system”. Anybody gonna deny the Isles are about as small and fragile as a professional hockey team could be? The smaller and, thus, more fragile you are, the more injury prone you just might be. And that won’t change until they get different players.
Some guys are just plain injury prone, and injuries can happen to anyone - especially when someone’s looking to decapitate you. Ted was right: it’s a collision sport, and that’s just the way it goes sometimes. Nick (28) also has a point re: the player’s role in when he gets back on the ice, so let’s back off the training staff just a bit.
Sorry, CB, for the excess words, but this sort of thing drives me nuts.
CB,
Can we ask Timms, Gato and Schwarz if they have EVER seen a team so snakebitten with injuries?
Thanks
Disagree CB. The training staff is as incompetent as the owner, management and players. Two words, KEVIN COLLEY. He had a broken neck and the trainers didn’t even take him off on a stretcher. They’re clueless as most of this organization is. (All these injuries this season and last happen for a reason)
Good point TP. CB — do you have any info on that incident?
Back in the days of Ron Waske and when Laura Stramm was training guys like Nysrtom and others how to “Power Skate” I don’t remember seeing “groin pulls” like they have now. That’s when we were winning Stanley Cups!!! How about when The “Wolfman” Kenny Morrow had arthroscopic surgery on his knee in between two Stanley Cup playoff games and never missed a game. That was then and this is now.
I’ll take THEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“nuff” said
I did mention the trainers in one of my comments. But I really didn’t think they were to blame, BUT it’s good to check.
I’m also not a big fan of Snow, he’s seems like he’s not a very a good GM, so to be honest if there’s something I can pin on him, I will. He doesn’t seem to have a concrete grasp of the job as of yet. But he’s still a prospect trying to learn the pro game. He has an MBA, so I’m hopeful in 3-5 years he can be a Top 6 GM. Until then I’ll probably want him fired & will continue blame him for everything. Besides Wang refuses to hold himself accountable for anything OR step in front of TV camera to answer HOCKEY questions, at least Snow acknowledges the Isles are a disaster, with the term “Youth Movement”; which means “God-forsaken mess” in GM speak.
OK, let’s say that the amazing number of injuries the past 2 seasons are not due to poor work by the trainers. I am not inside and cannot argue this point.
But is it something else? It seems hard to believe that it is just coincidence. Others have speculated about other possibilities.
Bad ice? The same injury prone players getting hurt over and over again (eg. Martinek)? Bad management in regard to rehab and return time? Something else?
I would appreciate a little more on this subject. Thanks.
I think there is plenty of blame to go around for the injuries the last few years … as some have said some are unfortunate collision or incidental injuries caused by another player. I think the ice also contributes … Exibit A: Sim’s season ending injury during the second home game last year.
I think the trainers are responsible for the strength conditioning and limber range of the player … groin pulls shouldn’t be as common as they were with the Isles … I also think the trainers should know each player’s threshold and detect when a player isn’t 100%.
The management / coaching “may be” rushing players back before they’re ready … and I think the players also try to hard to get back before they’re good to go.
Gordo’s hyper speed system has to push the players’ bodies to the limit. Fatigue is one of the biggest reasons for injury.
Hockey players are competitive by nature … they always want to be on the ice … leaving the decision up to them is just wrong.
There … I pretty much blamed everyone but the ice girls … hey … come to think of it … didn’t DP have a run in with an ice girl last season when he tripped over the flag after coming out on the ice after being named star of the game?
OK … now I’ve officially blamed everyone except CB & Logan