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

[SuperMatt18]

It's Eric Francis but actually one of his better articles.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...son-lot-prove/

Monahan revealed at the opening of camp that the injury was suffered in Game 6 of the season, which explains plenty about how the man who’d scored at least 22 goals for seven straight seasons only managed to pot 10 in 55 outings.

Even that was a feat, given how serious his ailment was.

“If I bent down, my hip would lock and it would stay locked,” explained Monahan.

“It would take a few seconds to unlock. When you’re taking faceoffs throughout games and you bend down and it’s stuck, it sucks.”

Johnny Gaudreau, Monahan’s best friend on the team, got a first-hand look at the daily pain Monahan endured.

“I remember it like it was yesterday, playing in Vancouver and me Lindy (Elias Lindholm) and Monny always get off the ice first and walk back to the hotel for our pre-game meal and naps,” he said of a jaunt made before Game 13.

“It’s a quarter-mile walk and Monny is limping the whole way. It’s shocking to me this guy can barely walk from the rink to the hotel, and he’s getting up to play games. He’s been like that his whole career where he’s had an injury and plays through it. It shows the type of guy and leader he is. He’s earned that “A” on his jersey and he does a great job wearing it.”

Refusing to take painkillers despite having trouble sleeping through the pain, Monahan counted on the training staff to mask a problem that didn’t get better.

But Monahan is soft

Honestly I have more questions for our training staff allowing him to play on that hip to close last season.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It's Eric Francis but actually one of his better articles.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...son-lot-prove/



But Monahan is soft

Honestly I have more questions for our training staff allowing him to play on that hip to close last season.

think it's more on coaching/management for not sitting him, not on the training staff.

[alan21]

Soft isn't the word but perhaps injury prone.
Hopefully he can stay healthy and get back to his production levels we've seen in the past.

[bdubbs]

Yeah, players playing through pain that needs to be corrected through surgery needs to stop being a thing. If you're hurt, get it fixed.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Honestly I have more questions for our training staff allowing him to play on that hip to close last season.

And Tanev with his injury (ribs? shoulder? can't recall). I get the whole "you can't make the player sit" mentality but here's the deal. You can.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It's Eric Francis but actually one of his better articles.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...son-lot-prove/



But Monahan is soft

Honestly I have more questions for our training staff allowing him to play on that hip to close last season.

I really think the team has to control these things better. Monahan should have been on IR for this, not playing games. Part of that is on Monahan, but part of that is on the coaches. I can't believe they didn't recognize that it was an issue. Even fans could see it on the ice.

And not to beat this horse more, but there are/were other players on the team that may have been able to seize the opportunity for more ice time if Monahan was out.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

It's Eric Francis but actually one of his better articles.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...son-lot-prove/



But Monahan is soft

Honestly I have more questions for our training staff allowing him to play on that hip to close last season.

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

think it's more on coaching/management for not sitting him, not on the training staff.

It’s only an issue if it gets worse with playing and if he’s better than any replacement even with the issue. He was yanked when the games meant nothing any more.

[CroFlames]

I still love Monahan. Screw you, haters.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

It’s only an issue if it gets worse with playing and if he’s better than any replacement even with the issue. He was yanked when the games meant nothing any more.

I don't know...you have to think about the person too, not just on ice stuff. When the guy is saying it's impacting his day to day life and he feels immediately better after the surgery...just let him get the surgery ASAP.

“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.”

[DeluxeMoustache]

His possession numbers have been very good. I suspect Sutter may be giving him a few games to get up to speed. He did hold him out of games in camp until later as well.

Great to get some insight in to what he was playing through

I look forward to seeing how he is doing after the 10 and 20 game marks

[Scornfire]

Why is this still happening, it's been obvious to us every time he's played through not just pain, but injury. Monny has been like this his whole career, be the ####ing adult in the room and put his health first for him ffs. Of course the young guy who feels like he owes it to the fans to do everything in his power to play/perform isn't going to sit himself, why the #### is he being ALLOWED to play, he's going to have a completely broken body by the time he hits retirement and he has no concept of how much that's going to effect him later in life. it's just a ####ing game, take care of the players. Reading stuff like this is infinitely more disappointing then watching us suck on the ice as a fan, personally. It's just so unbelievably short sighted and greedy on the part of the organization

[Naitix]

Man you guys who are saying that if he's hurt he should just get surgery instead of playing through it need to consider the mental health of the player and what he feels like. He obviously knows the criticism that he's been receiving the past couple of years: being soft, playing bad, not captain material etc... . You have to be delusional if you think he doesn't let it get to him, so imagine what he feels like when in the season that he wants to prove people wrong he gets injured at the start of the season. Stop looking at the situations in black and white and consider what another person feels like as a human being that has millions of people watching him perform at his job, it obviously has mental health impacts and it's not easy.

While I am also on this topic, same thing applies to Tkachuk last season, where the team was not as supportive of him getting into scrums compared to previous seasons, and then pair that with the fact that he had to play in an empty and silent arena without any fans supporting him when he gets into scrums with other players. It must have felt like he was alone against everyone, which I think impacted his performance and I am confident he will be way better this season with the support of fans or just feeding of the energy. As much as players do not admit it openly that it impacts their mental health, it obviously does, and Tkachuk especially is the guy that feeds of from this type of energy that was missing last season.

[HighLifeMan]

I mean this just reflects poorly on the organization as a whole. I don't blame Monahan whatsoever for wanting to do everything in his power to help his team, but somebody needed to step in and make the correct call here. It was blatantly obvious that Monahan was struggling with an ailment even to those outside of the room.

To further compound the issue we had a young former top five pick outright screaming for an opportunity to play his natural position in the top six and completely ignored the opportunity to do so.

Decisions like this really illustrate to me that the problem with this organization starts at the top.

[Igottago]

I agree it seems like an organizational mistake to have allowed him to play through this, its not like it was the playoffs or something. In the end it was probably worse for Monahan as well as being completely ineffective from a hockey perspective.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by bdubbs

Yeah, players playing through pain that needs to be corrected through surgery needs to stop being a thing. If you're hurt, get it fixed.

If you're hurt, you play.
If you're injured, you don't.

The other factors are:

Can playing make it worse or not? If not, you play.
Can short-term rest make it better? If yes, you rest, subject to the below.

Then there are the factors as to whether or not the game has meaning, i.e. out of the playoffs, or if there is someone better to take your place.

[Samonadreau]

Ya, at what point do you just get the surgery done in season. Especially when a guy is at 50%. Bit of a head scratcher for whoever's calling those shots.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

think it's more on coaching/management for not sitting him, not on the training staff.

Tough to tell if trainers were adamant enough that the injury was bad or management chose not to fix it.

Regardless, the team should be ashamed of not knowing severity or not deciding to fix it. The player was replacement level at best last year....why not get the surgery. Telling of the pressures that this team has internally if they don't pull him out to do surgery.

[djsFlames]

Hey Sean, next time Kassian checks you up high from behind, feel free to leave him with one less tooth than he came in with.

Starting there will land you a lot of good will from the fans.

We know you have emotion, maybe even something that resembles rage in there somewhere.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

If you're hurt, you play.
If you're injured, you don't.

The other factors are:

Can playing make it worse or not? If not, you play.
Can short-term rest make it better? If yes, you rest, subject to the below.

Then there are the factors as to whether or not the game has meaning, i.e. out of the playoffs, or if there is someone better to take your place.

Yeah that’s what I’m talking about- it’s not black and white or simple

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Hey Sean, next time Kassian checks you up high from behind, feel free to leave him with one less tooth than he came in with.

Starting there will land you a lot of good will from the fans.

We know you have emotion, maybe even something that resembles rage in there somewhere.

We’ve seen Monahan’s fighting ability. A fight with Kassian would simply be a loss that pumped up the Oilers and possibly an injury to Monahan because Kassian would go for a takedown.