Rafalski questionable tonight with flu

[The Mule 0]

Raffi out. Kindl in.

[Miller Brew 0]

at this point, counting Lilja seems pointless. I know he's still on our roster but I don't see how he could ever play in the NHL again since his symptoms have lasted this long.

8 players is ridiculous. If they manage to win tonight that would be quite an accomplishment.

Lilja is practicing with the team. I'm not ruling out his career. Seems like Wings are still invested in him.

That said, I'd rather have Lilja over Lebda, Meech and/or Janik.

[Yak19 303]

Rafalski hasn't been playing well anyway, Kindl might even be a step up at this point.

[Rick Zombos Ghost 82]

when guys were going out and playing with injuries they werent considered the million dollar assets that they are today. During the playoffs its a different story because of the extra money being brought in.

[Dano33 41]

I've thrown a football with a seperation, which has a greater range of motion than shooting a puck. What a seperation does it make it easier to seperate again until the surrounding tissue heals and the ligaments firm back up, but as long as the shoulder is in place there is no pain and no structural damage.

Again, the best example is Emmit Smith against the Giants in 92, 27 carries (each time hitting 250 men at 15 mph and then hitting the ground with 600-700 pounds on top of you) after seperating his shoulder AND tearing a ligament, true longterm damage. Now that's old school hockey mentality there..

You realize there are different types of separation, right? Just because you didn't have pain doesn't mean nobody does. Also, if I were running a professional franchise I would want to make sure my star player is fully healed so it doesn't happen again. I definitely wouldn't just throw him back out there and hope his shoulder stays in place.

Football is a different story. There are so few games that players can't afford to miss a game. In Emmitt Smith's case, what does he really need his shoulder for, a stiff arm? Yeah, in that situation, I'd say the risk is worth taking.

[under_par_00 45]

Yay for Kindl. This guy has looked solid in his time with the Wings.

Boo for Rafalski going down, why can't he give the flu to Meech, and have Kindl replace him?

[Guest micah]

This will get me flamed, but I don't mean this as an indictment on our players as it applies to all teams it seems.... When did hockey players get so lame? Miss 4 weeks with a seperated shoulder? Ask Emmit Smith and any number of football players about not missing a quarter of a single game with that injury.. Hell, my HS coach told me I might as well sent the bench the rest of my JR year if I didn't play the next week with a seperation on my THROWING shoulder.

Micheal Jordan played 43 minutes, hit 7 3's in one half and made a video replay of all time over Craig Ehlo with 103 fever and a full blown case of the flu...and it goes on and on.

Walter Payton rushed for a then-record 275 (on 40 carries) when he had the stomach (non-Influenza, natch) flu. Then again, I suspect Walter Payton was tougher and more dedicated to conditioning than any current Red Wing, heck, any current NHLer or NFLer. Few atheletes today have that sort of "screw tomorrow, I'm playing today on this broken ankle - if my foot flies clean off I'm playing on this bloody stub" attitude.

[MSMarine 0]

when guys were going out and playing with injuries they werent considered the million dollar assets that they are today. During the playoffs its a different story because of the extra money being brought in.

I'll buy that to a point, but the fact still remains you have modern examples in other sports.

[hooon 1,089]

You realize there are different types of separation, right? Just because you didn't have pain doesn't mean nobody does. Also, if I were running a professional franchise I would want to make sure my star player is fully healed so it doesn't happen again. I definitely wouldn't just throw him back out there and hope his shoulder stays in place.

Football is a different story. There are so few games that players can't afford to miss a game. In Emmitt Smith's case, what does he really need his shoulder for, a stiff arm? Yeah, in that situation, I'd say the risk is worth taking.

Also, the game play and time on field is completely different in football. As the clock is running throughout the game, the average time of ACTUAL football being played is between 12 and 12.5 minutes a game. Compare that to hockey where a full 60 minutes is played every game.

A football team only about plays 200 minutes of actual football a season, whereas a hockey team plays 4920 minutes a season. Pretty big difference there. No, football players are not tougher.

Edited December 23, 2009 by hooon

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Walter Payton rushed for a then-record 275 (on 40 carries) when he had the stomach (non-Influenza, natch) flu. Then again, I suspect Walter Payton was tougher and more dedicated to conditioning than any current Red Wing, heck, any current NHLer or NFLer. Few atheletes today have that sort of "screw tomorrow, I'm playing today on this broken ankle - if my foot flies clean off I'm playing on this bloody stub" attitude.

I've seen better.

[Guest micah]

I've seen better.

Of course you have, boy, of course you have. Tell me all about them.

[MSMarine 0]

Walter Payton rushed for a then-record 275 (on 40 carries) when he had the stomach (non-Influenza, natch) flu. Then again, I suspect Walter Payton was tougher and more dedicated to conditioning than any current Red Wing, heck, any current NHLer or NFLer. Few atheletes today have that sort of "screw tomorrow, I'm playing today on this broken ankle - if my foot flies clean off I'm playing on this bloody stub" attitude.

seems most are taking issue with the seperation, and it I'd irritating to me because that is an issue I can relate to and I know how many athletes play through with them...but the flu was the catalyst.. You should get your balls clipped if the flu keeps you off the field... Bj Penn just won a MMA championship with the flu, Steve Young set Super Bowl passing records with the flu, there are just too many examples to list.

[Yak19 303]

ya Rafalski seems quite frail, i don't mind Kindl playing instead of him, not a big loss in my opinion

[Third Man In 2,091]

Uh, how did this turn into a hockey v. football pissing contest? Keep this on topic, please.

[Third Man In 2,091]

ya Rafalski seems quite frail, i don't mind Kindl playing instead of him, not a big loss in my opinion

I was so sure this was going to read: "ya Rafalski seems quite frail,/Jakub Kindl will never fail."

[Datsyerberger 279]

Back on topic...

[lgw]Lebda and Meech are questionable every night![/lgw]

Edited December 23, 2009 by Datsyerberger

[hooon 1,089]

seems most are taking issue with the seperation, and it I'd irritating to me because that is an issue I can relate to and I know how many athletes play through with them...but the flu was the catalyst.. You should get your balls clipped if the flu keeps you off the field... Bj Penn just won a MMA championship with the flu, Steve Young set Super Bowl passing records with the flu, there are just too many examples to list.

Yeah, yeah, we get it.... you are tougher than any player on the Wings, and any player in the NHL for that matter. And having experienced SOME degree of separation does NOT make you an expert on all shoulder injuries to every person... as already pointed out the cases vary significantly between person to person, so as much as you think that you are omni-knowledgeable here, you really do not have much of a frame of reference.

The flu? I'll agree it's a little soft... but have you ever gotten the flu before? I have, and sometimes you literally cannot move, wake up, or get out of bed.

[Third Man In 2,091]

Not to mention the team can hardly handle a flu epidemic at the moment.

[MSMarine 0]

Yeah, yeah, we get it.... you are tougher than any player on the Wings, and any player in the NHL for that matter. And having experienced SOME degree of separation does NOT make you an expert on all shoulder injuries to every person... as already pointed out the cases vary significantly between person to person, so as much as you think that you are omni-knowledgeable here, you really do not have much of a frame of reference.

The flu? I'll agree it's a little soft... but have you ever gotten the flu before? I have, and sometimes you literally cannot move, wake up, or get out of bed.

I've seen this posted, but I think any ortho will tell you that a seperation is a seperation and that the degree really only refers to how much the initial displacement was and how long it will take to completely heal around it. Any tear or anything permanent changes the classification

I'm not lauding myself, hell I said I didn't want to play and was made to...but other athletes, everyday people who do physical jobs while sick/ injured, and old school hockey players.

Have I had the flu? Who hasn't?

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Of course you have, boy, of course you have. Tell me all about them.

[stuck in socal 56]

So injuries and now illness? What is next? I am expecting like a tornado or something to attack the Wing's dressing room.

[jollymania 162]

seems most are taking issue with the seperation, and it I'd irritating to me because that is an issue I can relate to and I know how many athletes play through with them...but the flu was the catalyst.. You should get your balls clipped if the flu keeps you off the field... Bj Penn just won a MMA championship with the flu, Steve Young set Super Bowl passing records with the flu, there are just too many examples to list.

Rafalski played through a seperated shoulder and bad back in the playoffs, thanks for ignoring that fact, and why risk having the whole team catchthe flu and not be able to play 100%

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

I've seen this posted, but I think any ortho will tell you that a seperation is a seperation and that the degree really only refers to how much the initial displacement was and how long it will take to completely heal around it. Any tear or anything permanent changes the classification

I'm not lauding myself, hell I said I didn't want to play and was made to...but other athletes, everyday people who do physical jobs while sick/ injured, and old school hockey players.

Have I had the flu? Who hasn't?

You are aware you can spread the flu to other people, right?

Do you honestly want players getting sick with the flu simply because Rafalski can "still play"?

[jollymania 162]

I've seen this posted, but I think any ortho will tell you that a seperation is a seperation and that the degree really only refers to how much the initial displacement was and how long it will take to completely heal around it. Any tear or anything permanent changes the classification

I'm not lauding myself, hell I said I didn't want to play and was made to...but other athletes, everyday people who do physical jobs while sick/ injured, and old school hockey players.

Have I had the flu? Who hasn't?

your jsut making stuff up for who knows what reason to try to bash Rafalski, and your using a terrible argument considering hockey players are tougher than football players

[MSMarine 0]

Rafalski played through a seperated shoulder and bad back in the playoffs, thanks for ignoring that fact, and why risk having the whole team catchthe flu and not be able to play 100%

no, that kinda makes my point, that you can play w/ a seperation. So then the only issue becomes relative importance of the game as the motivator to play/sit.

On that note, you never know how important these games are. Each could be an elimination game as terminal to a season as SCF game 7 loss if we miss the playoffs come Apr. The points count the same in DEC as they do in MAR.

And you are typically most contagious in passing on the flu in the 12 hours before you are syptomatic, so the damage Rafa could do has likely been done