United behind United CenterĪ lot of rinks around the league could learn from how the Blackhawks’ United Center in Chicago puts on a game. Now if only the goalless Brent Burns can find a goalie with a shutout streak. His 195:54 without giving up a goal is a franchise record - and probably will be for some time.įunny how things work out sometimes. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Dubnyk was the third goaltender in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to post three consecutive shutouts multiple times in his NHL career, joining Brian Elliott (three times ) and Roberto Luongo (twice). His goal came 49 seconds into the game Thursday against the Wild, and it broke a three-game shutout streak for goalie Devan Dubnyk. The 25-year-old was also coming off a season that ended abruptly with emergency surgery in May for acute compartment syndrome in his left thigh, keeping him from the rest of Nashville’s run to the Stanley Cup final. 18, the Predators finally got a goal from Ryan Johansen, who is in the first season of an eight-year, $64 million contract. Two streaks end on one shot Filip Forsberg (top) celebrates with Ryan Johansen AP It’s funny, but the concealment of injuries is not. And then people think it’s cruel that the Montreal Gazette has a “prediction generator” for Price’s return - my most recent click saying: “Carey Price, who is dealing with a slightly dislocated little toe, will be back in 509 days.” Another day goes by with the league thinking less information for the fans is better. Why on Earth does there need to be a third-party website to track salary-cap information? If fans want to intelligently talk trades - which is a barroom classic and necessity of engagement - they need this information.īut no. Same can be said about the specifics on contracts. The more information about the game, the better likelihood of fan engagement. To ask what the benefit of that is - which, believe me, players and teams ask often - just think if you went to read a novel and every other chapter was missing. I get it - it’s a cruel marketplace out there, and if it’s common knowledge one player has had knee problems and another one of commensurate skill hasn’t, guess who’s getting the contract? That’s a big reason players don’t want to disclose their own concussions, too.īut it is only beneficial to the league to force teams and players to make this information public. The other big reason players don’t want to disclose injuries is the stigma of being hurt. And, let’s say Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh is playing through a minor knee injury - which, of course, we don’t know - you think the opposition is going to hit him harder than normal, and try to make him beat them with his skating? I can’t imagine it would change a coach’s gameplan in the slightest. If a guy is playing hurt and the fans and media don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him, don’t be fooled by thinking the opposing players and coaches don’t know exactly what’s wrong. But the idea that other players are going to try to come after that weakness in a game, is foolish. I get it that players don’t want to disclose injuries for a couple reasons. Tell me, what is the benefit of keeping this a secret? Is it because if someone found out he had a hamstring injury they might try to exploit it? How, exactly, would one go about doing that? It’s good both of them spoke to the media - another improvement for the normally tight-lipped organization - but is there any reason not to say what is wrong with him? The closest they will get is saying that it’s not related to the right-knee injury - but that’s it. He played through that ailment until it became unbearable, but the team was never transparent about what was going on, first saying he’d be out six weeks before finally admitting he was done for the year with a MCL sprain.Īt least this this time, they’ve learned a small lesson, saying on Tuesday that he is going to stay off the ice for a few days because the injury “just wasn’t getting any better.” Price tried to ease some concerns by adding, “I’ll be back soon.” Even general manager Marc Bergevin chimed in, saying, “It won’t be long.” The knee injury that ruined Price’s 2015-16 season also happened during warmups, when he stepped on a puck. He said he was injured that night in some capacity during warmups before looking “discombobulated” in a 6-3 loss to the Wild. In a bit of postseason-like subterfuge, the Habs are refusing to disclose the nature of goalie Carey Price’s injury that has kept him out since Nov. But the always-interesting Canadiens decided to bring it to the forefront early. Normally this conversation waits until the playoffs.