Blackhawks Injury Transparency Is Great For The NHL

Hearing the words “upper-body” or “lower-body” injury is one of the most aggravating aspects of hockey. Fans and analysts of the game usually end up with more questions than answers about injured players. What exactly is the injury? How severe is it? When will the player return? How will he rehab? But more importantly, it offers little to no advantage strategically to the team the injured player represents. Granted, this is the NHL we're talking about. A league that has made a bad habit of not being able to get out of its own way. Some of the highlights on the NHL idiocy list include goalies not being able to move the puck from the corners, or their idiotic playoff format that allows the top teams in each conference to be bounced out early. And the lack of honesty when it comes to what specifically players’ injuries are is nothing new, but still tiring and stupid. But the Chicago Blackhawks have taken it upon themselves to do something that improves this aspect of the game for everyone involved. Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford revealed that the injury he sustained in December of last season was indeed a concussion. He says he is still feeling the effects of the injury heading into training camp.

"Most of the symptoms are gone, but I'm not cleared yet," he said. "Until that happens, I won't be back in."

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It still does not look good from the standpoint of Crawford returning to the Hawks for the start of the 2018-19 season. But the fact that light has now been shed on what was ailing Crawford for months is something to celebrate. Since Crawford has been out, the Blackhawks have had one policy when it comes to his status: tell no one. And no one has until now. Rumors were circulating that he did suffer a concussion. Others were that he is dealing with vertigo or that he fell down a flight of stairs at another Rise Against concert. (Still weird how that happened). But his concussion reveal shines a bright light knowing that we're not going to be playing the guessing game or have the rumor mill churn with baseless claims when it comes to these injured athletes. The standard “lower-body injury” or “upper-body injury” or, in some cases, “middle-body injury” may not apply to the Blackhawks anymore. By the way, I am still not entirely sure what a “middle-body injury” actually is, but I digress. It was not just Crawford’s ailment that was shared to the masses by the Hawks. The team later revealed that defensemen Connor Murphy will be out for eight weeks due to a back injury, while Brent Seabrook will miss a week with an abdominal injury. Perhaps those are considered “middle-body” injuries. [embed]

It is still unclear what exactly prompted the Hawks to change their policy, but it does not matter. For too long the NHL has been stubborn about being as transparent as possible about why they do the wacky things they do.

The generalization of what injuries players sustain is embedded in old-fashioned convictions.

One of these convictions is trying to protect the player from suffering the same injury again. That a tough, bruising enforcer with an angry face like Kanye West or Kristen Stewart hammers the opposing playmaker on his recovered ribs or head and is out again for a certain amount of time. There certainly is some validity to this, but if a player returns from injury the idea is that the player is healthy and ready to compete at full-speed again. If the player is not healthy, he should not play. Another argument is that the NHL does not have to be as forthcoming with injuries due to the lack of betting on the league. And while the NHL is not the massive gambling machine like the NFL or NBA, there are still NHL fantasy teams and fans wagering in Vegas on the outcomes of games. These wagers are contingent on the status of injured players and when will they be ready to play again. But even that argument is minuscule compared to the broader picture of being honest with the hockey fan base. Certainly, the rules do not force teams to reveal injuries, but it would certainly be nice if all teams would. Perhaps the Blackhawks are an outlier in this new way of thinking and other teams with not follow suit. But it is comforting to know that the Hawks seemingly have learned their lessons from the past of keeping fans and reporters in the dark. So if there is an uplifting side to the Crawford injury, it is this change of direction. Hopefully, the rest of the NHL will follow suit.