[News] Backlund injured...again?!

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Well you certainly have an interesting view of things. He's contributed a lot this year and his importance to our lineup was shown when he was out.

I'd say there's no need for patience for him now, he's clearly turned a corner. The question is no longer can he be good but instead how great will he be?

IMO he's one of the few building blocks of this franchise long term along with Brodie and Sven. I think you can easily pencil him in as one of our top two centres for years.

Unfortunately, I think the question is actually not 'Can he be good?', but 'Is he durable enough to be the player he can be?'

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

Unfortunately, I think the question is actually not 'Can he be good?', but 'Is he durable enough to be the player he can be?'

I don't really buy into the idea that certain players are "injury prone" or "made of glass". Backlund got hurt by blocking a shot with his foot. That can happen to anyone with the balls to block a shot. Last season Backlund was injured thanks to a teammate slashing his wrist. That can happen to anyone.

Backlund has had some bad luck and nothing more. Although he could work on his shot blocking technique Just because he's had some bad luck with injuries does not mean he is destined to continue to get injured over and over again. There's no logic behind that idea.

[ThePrince]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I don't really buy into the idea that certain players are "injury prone" or "made of glass". Backlund got hurt by blocking a shot with his foot. That can happen to anyone with the balls to block a shot. Last season Backlund was injured thanks to a teammate slashing his wrist. That can happen to anyone.

Backlund has had some bad luck and nothing more. Although he could work on his shot blocking technique Just because he's had some bad luck with injuries does not mean he is destined to continue to get injured over and over again. There's no logic behind that idea.

Sami Salo and Rick DiPietro would like a word with you.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

Unfortunately, I think the question is actually not 'Can he be good?', but 'Is he durable enough to be the player he can be?'

Backlund might just be a guy who has run into some bad luck the past two seasons. People are far too quick to throw about the injury prone label. He was never an injured player over in Sweden and he wasn't in junior for the Kelowna Rocket either.

The played 90 games between the Heat and Flames (including playoffs) in 2009-2010 and then 73 games for the Flames in 2010-11. He missed half the year last season because of injuries and has missed time this year too. I'd easily chalk that up to a string of bad luck then being an injury prone guy.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I don't really buy into the idea that certain players are "injury prone" or "made of glass". Backlund got hurt by blocking a shot with his foot. That can happen to anyone with the balls to block a shot. Last season Backlund was injured thanks to a teammate slashing his wrist. That can happen to anyone.

Backlund has had some bad luck and nothing more. Although he could work on his shot blocking technique Just because he's had some bad luck with injuries does not mean he is destined to continue to get injured over and over again. There's no logic behind that idea.

Some players put themselves in positions to get hurt more than others though. I'm not saying that this is the case here, but blocking shots with poor technique is a possible sign. It would require a lot of quality footage of Backlund to see if he consistently uses poor technique when attempting to block shots or if this was an unlucky case. At least he keeps his head up while skating and we're not talking about concussions here.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Backlund might just be a guy who has run into some bad luck the past two seasons. People are far too quick to throw about the injury prone label. He was never an injured player over in Sweden and he wasn't in junior for the Kelowna Rocket either.

The played 90 games between the Heat and Flames (including playoffs) in 2009-2010 and then 73 games for the Flames in 2010-11. He missed half the year last season because of injuries and has missed time this year too. I'd easily chalk that up to a string of bad luck then being an injury prone guy.

My point was more that durability is the last questionable thing I see in him. His play this year when healthy has removed my doubts about his skills.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by ThePrince

Sami Salo and Rick DiPietro would like a word with you.

Would they? So two players in a 700+ person league are "injury prone" and that proves that if somebody gets unlucky with injuries that he must also be "injury prone"?

Don't buy that logic. Never will.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

My point was more that durability is the last questionable thing I see in him. His play this year when healthy has removed my doubts about his skills.

Oh yeah, I know. It was more of a general response to how quickly guys throw out the injury prone label without giving it much thought.

[doctajones428]

Breaks his foot while blocking a shot, made of glass.

Breaking a bone after getting hit by a frozen puck isn't unusual

[Bourque's Twin]

Most of the band-aids in the league are the guys who constantly battle concussion problems.

I think Backlund has just had bad luck.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Backlund might just be a guy who has run into some bad luck the past two seasons. People are far too quick to throw about the injury prone label. He was never an injured player over in Sweden and he wasn't in junior for the Kelowna Rocket either.

The played 90 games between the Heat and Flames (including playoffs) in 2009-2010 and then 73 games for the Flames in 2010-11. He missed half the year last season because of injuries and has missed time this year too. I'd easily chalk that up to a string of bad luck then being an injury prone guy.

I always heard he fell in the draft due to an injury when he was in Sweden and if he wasn't hurt he would have been a top 10 pick? Maybe I am wrong though

[J epworth]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I always heard he fell in the draft due to an injury when he was in Sweden and if he wasn't hurt he would have been a top 10 pick? Maybe I am wrong though

That's true, he had a knee injury in Sweden and many pundits said that if he had a full season that year his stock could have rose to a top 10 or 15 pick.

[kyuss275]

Any news on Backlunds injury? Where is the guy from last year who told us that Backs had broken his finger in training camp and nobody believed him? He must know a trainer or someone.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Backlund might just be a guy who has run into some bad luck the past two seasons. People are far too quick to throw about the injury prone label. He was never an injured player over in Sweden and he wasn't in junior for the Kelowna Rocket either.

The played 90 games between the Heat and Flames (including playoffs) in 2009-2010 and then 73 games for the Flames in 2010-11. He missed half the year last season because of injuries and has missed time this year too. I'd easily chalk that up to a string of bad luck then being an injury prone guy.

When Backlund plays in Sweeden, doesn't he play in some Swedish Beer league or something, versus the actual premier league? Likely has something to do with why he doesn't get hurt over there, he's not playing with the best and the biggest.

You can isolate each injury and give a reason for how it could happen to anyone, but the bottom line is the guy has had 4 major injuries now in less than two full seasons and its impacting his development and his impact on this club. He seemingly can't stay healthy at the NHL level. We can talk about the slash and blocked shot and say its bad luck, and maybe it is. But there also players in this league who throw their body's on the line way more than Backlund and rarely get hurt. He's also now dislocated his shoulder on a very innocent looking wrestle to the ground, and really hurt his knee on a knee on knee that was very tame by what we have seen before in this league. While true, he may just have gotten unlucky in all those situations and just been caught in the wrong spot, but as the injuries pile up relentlessly I'd say its very fair at this point to question his durability and physical capability to stay healthy in the best and toughest league in the world.

[Stay Golden]

terrible news for the Flames, too bad for Backlund i like the kid but he just isn't durable.
Sure it was a puck to the foot but still the kid has a history now of getting injured constantly.

Flames better be looking at 3 Centers in the offseason and the draft that better be their main focus.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I don't really buy into the idea that certain players are "injury prone" or "made of glass". Backlund got hurt by blocking a shot with his foot. That can happen to anyone with the balls to block a shot. Last season Backlund was injured thanks to a teammate slashing his wrist. That can happen to anyone.

Last season Backlund was also injured in a game against the Canucks either by taking a hit from Edler or in a scrap with Alberts (whatever you believe).

To dispute the existence of certain players being more "injury prone" than others or "made of glass" is simply being ignorant. There are reasons why injuries are a concern even when they occur at a young age. It's because body parts, joints, ligaments etc. get weaker after injury. That's why some players keep injuring the same parts. Some players simply can't take that much physical abuse, can't play their style of game without being injured, or can no longer do so due to past injuries.

Almost every player is going to suffer some nicks and pains throughout the season, some players are able to play through it or only miss a few games while others almost always miss a chunk of time at a time. Right now, I'm concerned that Backlund simply can't play the type of game we've seen from him at his best without getting injured.

[Prufrock]

Great news: Backlund is only listed as day-to-day!

Scott Cruickshank ‏@CruickshankCH
#Flames C Mikael Backlund (foot) -- "bone bruise associated with a crack" -- could play tomorrow. Day to day.

Calgary Flames ‏@NHLFlames
Injury Update: Mikael Backlund has a bruise associated with a crack in the bone. He is listed as day-to-day.

[puckluck2]

That's awesome news!

[kyuss275]

The bruise part sounds okay, but the crack in bone does not. Can i get a Doctor or med student analysis?

[calumniate]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

The bruise part sounds okay, but the crack in bone does not. Can i get a Doctor or med student analysis?

Freeze it and go out and play! Oh, i'm not a doctor. Sounds promising.. Could be great news!