[News] Monahan knows what's on the line this season: 'I have a lot to prove'

[heep223]

I’d try Monahan on the wing at this point. Give him less responsibility and let him float a bit more, find his confidence and score.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

They weren't out of it for the last month.

Statistically, no. But they were playing sub .500 hockey, and Monahan was not positively contributing. It was evident that, at best, the team was going to back into the playoffs.

[Geeoff]

It's really weird that Monahan is hurt often but almost never is on the IR.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Statistically, no. But they were playing sub .500 hockey, and Monahan was not positively contributing. It was evident that, at best, the team was going to back into the playoffs.

The question, assuming all other issues are dealt with is whether he’s better or worse than a potential replacement, who would be Gawdin or Ruzicka.

IMO the decision is:

A. Is his injury going to be worse with further play. If yes, pull him out.
B. If no, then ask whether it’s reasonable to have him play through whatever level of pain is involved. If no, then pull him out.
C. If he can handle the pain and it’s not going to make his injury worse, is he better than whoever would take his place on the roster? If there’s no one better, you would normally keep him in until there’s no reason to do so.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

The question, assuming all other issues are dealt with is whether he’s better or worse than a potential replacement, who would be Gawdin or Ruzicka.

IMO the decision is:

A. Is his injury going to be worse with further play. If yes, pull him out.
B. If no, then ask whether it’s reasonable to have him play through whatever level of pain is involved. If no, then pull him out.
C. If he can handle the pain and it’s not going to make his injury worse, is he better than whoever would take his place on the roster? If there’s no one better, you would normally keep him in until there’s no reason to do so.

If this injury happened in game 6 couldn't the team have put him on LTIR and found a much better potential replacement through trade with the new cap space? At least something better than Gawdin or Ruzicka.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

If this injury happened in game 6 couldn't the team have put him on LTIR and found a much better potential replacement through trade with the new cap space? At least something better than Gawdin or Ruzicka.

I don’t know. Do you? And qualification for LTIR isn’t just a unilateral choice of the team. The league has to agree. I don’t think it’s tough to get an approval but it’s not just “OK whatever you say”.

[FanIn80]

More stuffs from that article:

“I’ve had a lot of injuries where you just play and you don’t really know how bad it is until it’s time to get it really looked at,” said Monahan, who has punctuated four of the last five seasons with significant injury revelations."

“You learn your lesson. You can play through things or sit out, but as an athlete you want to play. My thing is, if you dress and are in the lineup, there are no excuses.”

Of note:

After a 27-goal season in 2016-17, Monahan underwent surgery on his left wrist.

A year later, following a 31-goal effort, Monahan was shut down three weeks early for two hernia surgeries, groin surgery and wrist surgery.

In 2018-19, he followed a career-high 34 goals by revealing after the playoffs he played through a cracked thumb.

Only he knows how last season’s hip ailment ranked in terms of pain.

“It was tough to sleep, I couldn’t walk normally,” he said.

“I mean, when your hips get stuck when you bend down and your leg doesn’t straighten, it’s obviously not a good feeling. The day after surgery, I had instant relief. It changed even my day-to-day life, and I’m really happy with it.”

Screw the haters. This guy is a mother-fata-ing ninja.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Right, I am sure there is a procedural process to getting a player on LTIR, I guess i feel like hip surgery with an indefinite return would qualify for LTIR, seems like Kucherov was just thrown onto LTIR with a hip issue. Anyways it would have opened up another option for the Flames in terms of cap constraints and roster management.

[Erick Estrada]

As with Bennett I find Monahan a likeable player and I am pulling for him. I really hope he can get the arrow pointing back up again but to me he looks like he's rounding into a decent 3rd line center. It's tough to take when you consider where he started but it's hard to ignore his play over the past few seasons with or without injury.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I have mixed thoughts on the subject:
- On one hand, I don't like to play doctor. I don't know how they assessed if they should shut him down or not. So I think there's a lot of poorly informed assumptions being made.
- On the other hand, I think that a problem with hockey culture is that the idea of playing hurt is something held up as being admirable. And that breeds this type of thing. And I don't think it is exclusively a team or player thing. As much as the Flames wanted for him to keep playing, I bet he also wanted to. Again - it's a problem with the entire culture and approach.

I feel guilty as hell whenever I take a single day off of work. I could be sick as a dog, and I still feel like I should be at work doing my job.

I can only imagine what a professional athlete getting paid millions of dollars to do a job would feel like about missing work. I get that not everyone is like me, and that some people would even argue that "if you're making millions of dollars already, then why care about taking a day off - it's not like you can't afford to lose your job."

I think about a guy like Monny, and I know what this guy's thinking in his head about not showing up for work.

[jaikorven]

These guys should at least understand the risks of playing through certain injuries. Johnny said he was limping when he walked, how could you be playing decently? How could you not question further damage to your hips if they are locking up after bending them? I don't know what the medical risks were, but it should have at least made Monahan, himself, think twice about playing and whether it could shorten his overall career.

Maybe I'm way off base here...idk.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I have mixed thoughts on the subject:
- On one hand, I don't like to play doctor. I don't know how they assessed if they should shut him down or not. So I think there's a lot of poorly informed assumptions being made.
- On the other hand, I think that a problem with hockey culture is that the idea of playing hurt is something held up as being admirable. And that breeds this type of thing. And I don't think it is exclusively a team or player thing. As much as the Flames wanted for him to keep playing, I bet he also wanted to. Again - it's a problem with the entire culture and approach.

It is definitely a huge part of the culture of sports. I think it is somewhat silly to call out one single team because a player was playing hurt. You then have to call out every team, player and coach in every level of every sport. This is not limited to sports either.

[dino7c]

If injured players didn't play in the playoffs we would be watching AHL playoffs with NHL unis

Every team has multiple surgeries to schedule the day they are eliminated

[Macman]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

It's really weird that Monahan is hurt often but almost never is on the IR.

It's a lack of depth on the Flames roster. Glenn Gawdwin cleared waivers today. I'm also not convinced that Dylan Dube is a top 6 player yet, he's a good player no doubt but I just don't think he's there yet.

There was a play last game when all three forwards were right on the blueline and Dube had the puck and put them offside, that was a telling play to me just because you don't see it at the NHL level that often. Somebody pointed out a bad play Kylington made which wasn't even that bad in my view but he ended up sitting the whole game for it.

I think Blake Coleman is going to help out a lot as a skilled veteran.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

As with Bennett I find Monahan a likeable player and I am pulling for him. I really hope he can get the arrow pointing back up again but to me he looks like he's rounding into a decent 3rd line center. It's tough to take when you consider where he started but it's hard to ignore his play over the past few seasons with or without injury.

I don't understand this kind of mentality. How exactly is it hard to ignore the poor play of an athlete with a hip that literally locks up every time he takes a faceoff? It's not difficult for me at all, in fact it literally explains WHY he wasn't playing well.

"Sorry I wasn't able to make it all the way across the street in the allotted amount of time. I got hit by a car halfway through, but I felt so strongly about finishing the task, I decided to crawl the rest of the way instead of quitting and going to the hospital."

"Sucks to be you. Traded!"

[GioforPM]

Now I want to be clear. I’m not saying the Flames were correct. I’m just saying it’s not “he’s hurt - he clearly had to sit”. His own description of the injury and its effect causes me a lot of doubt.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Now I want to be clear. I’m not saying the Flames were correct. I’m just saying it’s not “he’s hurt - he clearly had to sit”. His own description of the injury and its effect causes me a lot of doubt.

I think there was something about one of his previous injuries where the coach mentioned he was hiding how sever it was from the trainers and coaches. Clearly he can't be trusted to be honest with his own body.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Buff

I think there was something about one of his previous injuries where the coach mentioned he was hiding how sever it was from the trainers and coaches. Clearly he can't be trusted to be honest with his own body.

TBF, I’m not honest with my body either.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

TBF, I’m not honest with my body either.

I play injured all the time... and I'm only involved in a weekly game of pick-up!

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Buff

I play injured all the time... and I'm only involved in a weekly game of pick-up!

I’m just talking about saying “yeah, you look great” to the mirror.