The shortened 2013 hockey season has been a quick-paced, exciting season so far. Unfortunately, a shorten season leads to an increase in the amount of injury. With teams averaging three to four games per week, during this season, injuries become more of a determining factor and they threaten the success of a team.
Injuries threaten a team whether it’s a normal 82-game season or a shortened 42-game season. In a shortened season, however, these games are so close together and the time a player has to recover from each game is significantly shortened.
Sports Editor, Jeff Levitt, points to the fact that NHL players "are athletes who are at the peak of physical ability, and when they aren't fully able to recover from their games it totally alters their abilities for the next game."
This lack of recovery time causes players to become more fatigued faster, causing them to have a slower reaction time which could possibly lead to more serious injuries.
It's not just major injuries impacting NHL teams during the 2013 season, minor injuries are becoming just as threatening. Minor injuries, putting players out for two or more weeks, wouldn't carry as big of an impact in a normal season where they would miss only four to six games. In the shortened season, a minor injury could bench a player for eight to ten games, which is a significant difference.
Paul Bunge, NHL Hockey fanatic of Broomfield, Colo., used the Chicago Blackhawks to exemplify this point. The Blackhawks showed a "weaknesses" during the back-to back match ups against the Colorado Avalanche because both Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa were benched at some point during these games due to injuries.
One of the biggest factors that injuries have an impact on is the overall chemistry of the team. Both Sharp and Hossa, from the previous example, were key factors in Chicago's chemistry. With both of them out of the lineup, the chemistry of the Blackhawks was changed, allowing the Colorado Avalanche to significantly beat them in Denver, Friday night.
To more directly relate the impact that injuries can have on a team to the Colorado Avalanche, we can use the example of Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog was a huge offensive power for the team throughout the 2011-2012 season. After a bad hit from San Jose's Brad Stuart, Landeskog was on the Injured Reserve (IR) list and out for 11 games. The Avalanche struggled to fill the offensive void left by Landeskog, and their first fourth of the season clearly showed it.
Gabriel Landeskog's injury deeply affected the Avalanche's early season record, but it is arguable that other early Avalanche injuries had a stronger impact on the team. One major injury that deserves some attention, is the early injury drawn by Avalanche forward, Steve Downie. In the second game against the season, against the L.A. Kings, Steve Downie tore his ACL resulting in season-ending knee surgery.
"With the loss of Steve Downie, the Avs lost a top six forward who they traded a top four defensemen [Kyle Quincey] for at the trading deadline of last season," commented Levitt.
The injuries sustained by defensemen Ryan Wilson and Erik Johnson, should not be overlooked as well. Even though both these players returned o the ice this weekend, the impact they had on the team while still on the IR list was detrimental. Replacing a defenseman in such a short season can be a tricky task.
Hockey enthusiast, Julie Williams of Kansas City, Kan. stated that "the level of trust between a goaltender and the defenseman is key to a strong team."
The goaltenders need to have confidence that their defensemen are going to back them up and not leave them alone in the net.
There is not right answer to the question of what injury, major or minor, has had the strongest effect on the Colorado Avalanche so far in the 2013 season. The bottom line is that every team throughout the NHL has been affected by injuries, and these injuries are going to be a key factor in the final outcome of the shortened season.
Sources:
NHL.com
Jeff Levitt, Sports Editor at Altitude Sports & Entertainment
Paul Bunge, NHL fanatic of Broomfield, Colo.
Julie Williams, hockey enthusiast from Kansas City, Kan.
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