SJSabres Fan Posted August 15 Report Posted August 15 https://apple.news/Ad3godWgORzCBtACxqc9VuQ man we’ve had some bad injury luck over the years. This article ends with a good question…what other Sabres’ careers have been shortened by injury? Mine is Jan Ludvig…when we got him from NJ I thought he was going to be pretty good! Quote
mjd1001 Posted August 15 Report Posted August 15 Tim Connolly. He took a decent (but not huge) step up in 05-06. But I remember the playoffs right before he got hurt, he looked, for that small window, like he was playing as a top-10 player in the league. Then he got hurt. Never close to that again. 2 Quote
tom webster Posted August 15 Report Posted August 15 6 minutes ago, mjd1001 said: Tim Connolly. He took a decent (but not huge) step up in 05-06. But I remember the playoffs right before he got hurt, he looked, for that small window, like he was playing as a top-10 player in the league. Then he got hurt. Never close to that again. It’s gotta be him. He was so good when he got hurt. Lafontaine a close second for me and if you want a personal favorite, I was on the Corey Tropp bandwagon early so I’d of liked to see him succeed. Quote
thewookie1 Posted August 15 Report Posted August 15 Connelly is the biggest what if for me. While Lafontaine is another great question, it’s more of a longevity question versus would he have been good since he was despite his injury history. Another interesting What if? Casey Mittelstadt doesn’t get hurt in the 1st game 2 years ago, does Thompson ever take off? Quote
Huckleberry Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 Cody hodsgon, always thought he could be a good 2c Quote
Getpucksdeep Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 2 hours ago, tom webster said: It’s gotta be him. He was so good when he got hurt. Lafontaine a close second for me and if you want a personal favorite, I was on the Corey Tropp bandwagon early so I’d of liked to see him succeed. Also Tropp wagon. That one sucked, he was shaping up to be a solid and versatile player. And I don't think he got a NHL contract before fading out. Quote
Taro T Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 No love for Hank Tallinder? For the last 2 months of the '05-'06 season he was the 1st #1 D man this team ever had. And then he breaks his arm against the Canes and never was quite the same again. He was good after that. But he was never again dominant like he'd started to be. 1 1 Quote
nfreeman Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 4 hours ago, mjd1001 said: Tim Connolly. He took a decent (but not huge) step up in 05-06. But I remember the playoffs right before he got hurt, he looked, for that small window, like he was playing as a top-10 player in the league. Then he got hurt. Never close to that again. Yes except that IMHO he did take a huge step that season — from afterthought to legit top 2 center — and then another one in the playoffs to NHL star — and with a beautiful game to boot. I’d also put forward that the great Richard Martin’s career, although he’d already achieved stardom, was cruelly cut short by a knee injury suffered in an arguably dirty play in a collision with Mike Palmateer, a goalie for the Leafs. 1 1 Quote
Pimlach Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 4 hours ago, tom webster said: It’s gotta be him. He was so good when he got hurt. Lafontaine a close second for me and if you want a personal favorite, I was on the Corey Tropp bandwagon early so I’d of liked to see him succeed. Rick Martin was on pace for a 500+ career goals, and a Hall of Fame career. What if, he never got injured? Quote
tom webster Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 1 hour ago, Pimlach said: Rick Martin was on pace for a 500+ career goals, and a Hall of Fame career. What if, he never got injured? I look at Martin like Lafontaine. I wish they could have continued but they had great careers before their injuries. Connelly never really had a chance to show how good he was or could be. 1 Quote
SJSabres Fan Posted August 16 Author Report Posted August 16 10 hours ago, mjd1001 said: Tim Connolly. He took a decent (but not huge) step up in 05-06. But I remember the playoffs right before he got hurt, he looked, for that small window, like he was playing as a top-10 player in the league. Then he got hurt. Never close to that again. Question about Connolly…was he injury prone before we acquired him from the islanders? If not I think this was another shrewd trade by Darcy Quote
Porous Five Hole Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 12 hours ago, #freejame said: Denis Hamel was always my great what if. He was inducted into the AHL hall of fame in 2020. He scored 338 goals in the AHL in 12 seasons. He was never fast enough to play in the NHL before his lost season due to acl tear. 1 1 Quote
#freejame Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 1 minute ago, Porous Five Hole said: He was inducted into the AHL hall of fame in 2020. He scored 338 goals in the AHL in 12 seasons. He was never fast enough to play in the NHL before his lost season due to acl tear. I didn’t know this, good for him. The Islanders are still one of my least favorite teams for his injury. I couldn’t even tell you if it was malicious, all I know is young me was pissed. Quote
triumph_communes Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 8 hours ago, SJSabres Fan said: Question about Connolly…was he injury prone before we acquired him from the islanders? If not I think this was another shrewd trade by Darcy Concussions are different. One bad one is enough no matter the player Quote
tom webster Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 8 hours ago, SJSabres Fan said: Question about Connolly…was he injury prone before we acquired him from the islanders? If not I think this was another shrewd trade by Darcy His first four years, two with the Islanders, two with Buffalo, he played 80 or more games. 1 1 Quote
PerreaultForever Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 9 hours ago, SJSabres Fan said: Question about Connolly…was he injury prone before we acquired him from the islanders? If not I think this was another shrewd trade by Darcy If I remember correctly he had had a concussion or two before coming to Buffalo but had not missed as much time as he did later. Back then concussions weren't monitored as closely as they are now and there was a cumulative effect. You'd just "get yer bell rung" or something and you'd "shake it off" and play the next night. The serious symptoms started to kick in several hits down the road. There's no question that in Buffalo he was concussion prone. He was targeted by opponents because he was skilled and fast but not overly physical or responsive to physicality. He wasn't alone in that. Happened all over the league all the time. Ask Bruins fans how they still feel about Matt Cooke for example. 1 Quote
Taro T Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 3 hours ago, tom webster said: His first four years, two with the Islanders, two with Buffalo, he played 80 or more games. Before his suspension, he was actually on a pretty good iron man streak. Quote
tom webster Posted August 16 Report Posted August 16 3 hours ago, PerreaultForever said: If I remember correctly he had had a concussion or two before coming to Buffalo but had not missed as much time as he did later. Back then concussions weren't monitored as closely as they are now and there was a cumulative effect. You'd just "get yer bell rung" or something and you'd "shake it off" and play the next night. The serious symptoms started to kick in several hits down the road. There's no question that in Buffalo he was concussion prone. He was targeted by opponents because he was skilled and fast but not overly physical or responsive to physicality. He wasn't alone in that. Happened all over the league all the time. Ask Bruins fans how they still feel about Matt Cooke for example. A) like I said, he didn’t miss anytime with the islanders B) if I recall correctly, his first “concussion “ turned out not to be a concussion at all but some sort of neck injury that had mis-diagnosed 1 Quote
PerreaultForever Posted August 17 Report Posted August 17 9 hours ago, tom webster said: A) like I said, he didn’t miss anytime with the islanders B) if I recall correctly, his first “concussion “ turned out not to be a concussion at all but some sort of neck injury that had mis-diagnosed That could be right. Sounds vaguely familiar. Nerves in the neck maybe not that different from Eichel come to think of it. Quote
Kristian Posted August 17 Report Posted August 17 (edited) 21 hours ago, tom webster said: A) like I said, he didn’t miss anytime with the islanders B) if I recall correctly, his first “concussion “ turned out not to be a concussion at all but some sort of neck injury that had mis-diagnosed That was actually the Schaffer concussion, that turned out to be a protuding disc in his neck. Pretty good read on him here, apparently he coached peewee with Jim Lorentz boy, back in 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1669164/2020/03/12/what-happened-to-sabres-star-tim-connolly-after-7-years-hes-ready-to-explain/ Edited August 17 by Kristian Quote
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