Is Connolly getting better?

[Corp000085]

http://wgr550.com/sabres/fullstory.php?id=1884

 

is he getting better, or is this a sabres PR smokescreen?

 

 

and speaking of PR smokescreen, remember when afinogenov got a "concussion playing pickup hockey without a helmet in russia" from 5 years ago? that's a classic tomfoolery if i ever saw one!

[hopeleslyobvious]

http://wgr550.com/sabres/fullstory.php?id=1884

 

is he getting better, or is this a sabres PR smokescreen?

and speaking of PR smokescreen, remember when afinogenov got a "concussion playing pickup hockey without a helmet in russia" from 5 years ago? that's a classic tomfoolery if i ever saw one!

 

Working out is at least a step in the right direction!

[deluca67]

I don't mean this in a bad way. But I hope Tim hangs up the skates. This is two really bad head injuries in a seasons worth of games played.

 

I know it's his dream and it's hard to let go. I just don't want to see any player from any team being carried off the ice.

 

He has banked some decent cash and should just worry about getting healthy and starting the next phase of his life. He owes it to himself and his family. :(

[fushetti]

I don't mean this in a bad way. But I hope Tim hangs up the skates. This is two really bad head injuries in a seasons worth of games played.

 

I know it's his dream and it's hard to let go. I just don't want to see any player from any team being carried off the ice.

 

He has banked some decent cash and should just worry about getting healthy and starting the next phase of his life. He owes it to himself and his family. :(

 

 

bite your tongue. He's had 2 concussions...he's not in Brett Lindros territory yet . Give him a Mark Kelso helmet. He'll be fine.

[deluca67]

bite your tongue. He's had 2 concussions...he's not in Brett Lindros territory yet . Give him a Mark Kelso helmet. He'll be fine.

 

It's been four months and he's just begining to do light exercise. The previous one took two years to get over. :(

 

Also,

 

Why must a player be in "Brett Lindros territory" to make the smart decision. Why should any player risk the rest of his life like that. What's the point of coming back and winning the 'Cup' if the kid won't remember it in two years. :o

[That Aud Smell]

I don't mean this in a bad way. But I hope Tim hangs up the skates. This is two really bad head injuries in a seasons worth of games played.

 

I understand DeLuca's concern.

 

But what the medical experts keep saying is that the two injuries are unrelated.

 

I'm still not sure what that means, but I've heard it enough from (or attributed to) Tim's medical team that I am taking it on faith as a considered medical opinion.

 

My inference is that these tests they run -- the actual brain imaging they do, etc. -- has led them conclude that injury 1 and injury 2 are unrelated in some demonstrable ways, physiologically and/or neurologically.

 

If the same doctor(s) who told Primeau to hang it up (Tim's got at least one of Primeau's doctors on his team, I've heard) is saying that Connolly can give it another go, then I want to see him back on the ice working his art.

 

Only this time around, Tim, keep your head up.

[RayFinkle]

and speaking of PR smokescreen, remember when afinogenov got a "concussion playing pickup hockey without a helmet in russia" from 5 years ago? that's a classic tomfoolery if i ever saw one!

What actaully happened to Afinogenov? Didn't he get blasted in the noggin with a slap shot?

[nfreeman]

It's also worth pointing out that (i) Timmy's 2 concussions were 3 full years apart and (ii) the one he got this year was on a huge kill shot -- ie anyone in the league would have been concussed. So it's not like he's getting them frequently as a result of normal hockey contact.

 

Having said that, if he gets another one this year, I am probably with DeLuca on this.

[LabattBlue]

I don't mean this in a bad way. But I hope Tim hangs up the skates. This is two really bad head injuries in a seasons worth of games played.

 

I know it's his dream and it's hard to let go. I just don't want to see any player from any team being carried off the ice.

 

He has banked some decent cash and should just worry about getting healthy and starting the next phase of his life. He owes it to himself and his family. :(

I have no problem if he wants to hang up the skates. I just wished he would have done it prior to signing a 9 million dollar contract.

[Stoner]

DeLuca, I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for your post. Coming from a huge fan who wants the Sabres to win it all in the worst way makes it all the more impressive. You might agree with me that Connolly's injury was the real reason the Sabres didn't win the Cup last year. To say the missing link should retire is to say a mouthful. I can't quite bring myself to say it, but I am close to saying that for the reasons you point out.

 

The problem I have is that I want to believe everything on the medical side is on the up and up. But the cynic in my says "look out." Remember the concussion specialist in Pittsburgh Adam Mair visited after the doctor in Buffalo wouldn't clear him to play? The Pitt doctor said he was fine. Mair played, what, one game before symptoms came back? I think diagnosing the brain is an inexact science, and I know hockey can be a sordid business. This is a really tough call. I will say this -- one more and he should be done. And if the symptoms don't abate soon, it should be a pretty good sign it's time to hang 'em up.

 

One more thought. While the two concussions technically might be unrelated, who's to say the first one didn't contribute to the second? I'm no brain expert, but could a significant injury to it result in a loss of judgment? I will never understand why Tim cut across the middle like that. Perhaps the explanation is upstairs.

[Bmwolf21]

I think you're both right in the sense of diagnosing brain injuries is an inexact science, especially when you take into account the violent collisions pro athletes absorb in the context of a normal season. Some of the research seems to suggest that three concussions is the magic number; that one or two doesn't have a cumulative effect on length or severity of symptoms, but it really is new research in that sense, and I think most was done with high school athletes. (Whether that skews the results I don't know, as you would have to take into account the susceptibility of HS athletes to injury, given that most aren't fully developed physically & mentally, and many may not have learned how to avoid hits to the head, whether by an opponent or by the playing surface/ice/boards.)

 

The other wildcard in Timmy's case is whether he ever suffered an undiagnosed concussion; maybe he got his bell rung in HS or juniors or whatever and never went to see a doctor, or the physician misdiagnosed it. In that case, this would be at least his 3rd (or more) concussion and it would definitely be cause for orry.

 

Of course that brings us back to PA's complaint about the secrecy surrounding injury reporting in the NHL - who knows what actual injuries ANY player has had during his pro career.

[jad1]

Of course that brings us back to PA's complaint about the secrecy surrounding injury reporting in the NHL - who knows what actual injuries ANY player has had during his pro career.

 

Blaming the NHL injury reporting process is stretching it a bit far. Whether an injury is listed on the report truthfully or not, the player, his doctors, and the team know what the true diagnosis is. They are also well aware of the player's medical history. And if Timmy has hidden a past concussion from his doctors, the practice of reporting NHL injuries isn't to blame, Connolly is.

[Bmwolf21]

I'm not sure what you're getting at, jad - my comment about the injury reporting process was simply to illustrate that its tough for us to debate whether Timmy should be considering retirement based on the very limited information we have on his medical history. That is between Tim, his family and the doctors, since we don't know how many concussions or how severe they have been, what his propensity for another concussion is, etc.

 

Dave might know the answer to this, but I would hope that the team would have some form of redress if Tim (or any player) were to withhold part of his medical history and it ended up being something that forces him into early retirement, especially in a situation like Tim's, where they just signed him to a long-term deal that would cost the team millions. (This is just an example, I know the team probably wouldn't sign him to that deal if they weren't pretty damn sure they would get equal value for the contract, and I know that the team can sometimes get affordable insurance as well, though not in this case.)

[Corp000085]

What actaully happened to Afinogenov? Didn't he get blasted in the noggin with a slap shot?

 

 

that was the story... the speculated true story was that he was beaten by members of the russian mob over something or other... I have no links to back this up at the moment, but that was the speculated truth...

[bob_sauve28]

I don't mean this in a bad way. But I hope Tim hangs up the skates. This is two really bad head injuries in a seasons worth of games played.

 

I know it's his dream and it's hard to let go. I just don't want to see any player from any team being carried off the ice.

 

He has banked some decent cash and should just worry about getting healthy and starting the next phase of his life. He owes it to himself and his family. :(

I felt that way about Lafontain, but I think Connelly just needs to remember not to cruis through the neutral zone with his head down. He's a big guy and should be able to handel the rest of the hits.

[hopeleslyobvious]

I'm not sure what you're getting at, jad - my comment about the injury reporting process was simply to illustrate that its tough for us to debate whether Timmy should be considering retirement based on the very limited information we have on his medical history. That is between Tim, his family and the doctors, since we don't know how many concussions or how severe they have been, what his propensity for another concussion is, etc.

 

Dave might know the answer to this, but I would hope that the team would have some form of redress if Tim (or any player) were to withhold part of his medical history and it ended up being something that forces him into early retirement, especially in a situation like Tim's, where they just signed him to a long-term deal that would cost the team millions. (This is just an example, I know the team probably wouldn't sign him to that deal if they weren't pretty damn sure they would get equal value for the contract, and I know that the team can sometimes get affordable insurance as well, though not in this case.)

 

They couldn't get insurance for Connolly's contract because of his injury.

 

DeLuca, I understand where you are coming from. I am not ready to say it's time for him to retire yet. I would like for him to take his time, no matter how long it takes to fully recover. Then if the Dr's clear him to play and he feels comfortable playing, then by all means he should come back.

 

However, if he decides walking away is the right decision, I would not be upset.

[Bmwolf21]

They couldn't get insurance for Connolly's contract because of his injury.

 

DeLuca, I understand where you are coming from. I am not ready to say it's time for him to retire yet. I would like for him to take his time, no matter how long it takes to fully recover. Then if the Dr's clear him to play and he feels comfortable playing, then by all means he should come back.

 

However, if he decides walking away is the right decision, I would not be upset.

Yeah I remember Darcy saying something like insurance was available but the cost was too high...

 

 

As for walking away, I don't even want to speculate on when the time would be and how i would feel about it. If t happened soon, like sometime this season after not making it back from the last concussion, I'd be pretty pissed at Darcy & the Sabres for giving him such a big, LT deal. I don't see that being an issue, as I think Timmy is a fighter and has too much passion to play, and I think he'll be on the ice as soon as they give him the OK. Just get a better helmet and keep your head up!

[jad1]

I'm not sure what you're getting at, jad - my comment about the injury reporting process was simply to illustrate that its tough for us to debate whether Timmy should be considering retirement based on the very limited information we have on his medical history. That is between Tim, his family and the doctors, since we don't know how many concussions or how severe they have been, what his propensity for another concussion is, etc.

 

 

The point is that PA's comments about the gamesmanship that is part of the NHL's playoff injury report and Connolly's decision to retire or not are two separate things. Whether we fans have enough information to "debate" this issue plays no role in Connolly's decision.

 

That decision is between him, his doctors and the team, not the fans. So it really doesn't matter if the injury report contains 'truthful' information or not.

[Bmwolf21]

I'm not sure what you're getting at, jad - my comment about the injury reporting process was simply to illustrate that its tough for us to debate whether Timmy should be considering retirement based on the very limited information we have on his medical history. That is between Tim, his family and the doctors, since we don't know how many concussions or how severe they have been, what his propensity for another concussion is, etc.

 

The point is that PA's comments about the gamesmanship that is part of the NHL's playoff injury report and Connolly's decision to retire or not are two separate things. Whether we fans have enough information to "debate" this issue plays no role in Connolly's decision.

 

That decision is between him, his doctors and the team, not the fans. So it really doesn't matter if the injury report contains 'truthful' information or not.

Maybe I am the one feeling the effects of a blow to the head, b/c as far as I can see, you just parroted back what I wrote about the decision being his, his family's and his doctors'.

 

As for the part about the injury report - my intent was not to imply that the injury report should contain every detail about a players' injury; nor was I trying to say that the fans should have access to details about each and every injury; I wasn't trying to equate the "gamesmanship" of misleading injury reports with Tim's decision to continue his career or not; nor at any point did I advocate the fans' debates should play any role in Connolly's decision. The comment was intended as a (mostly) off-handed, supposedly witty and sarcastic remark about how the NHL and its clubs are less than truthful in their injury reports, and how that misinformation affects fans' abilities to discuss the team, league & players rationally and logically. Guess I forgot a smiley in there, but the joke didn't land, so let's move on...

[deluca67]

It's also worth pointing out that (i) Timmy's 2 concussions were 3 full years apart and (ii) the one he got this year was on a huge kill shot -- ie anyone in the league would have been concussed. So it's not like he's getting them frequently as a result of normal hockey contact.

 

Having said that, if he gets another one this year, I am probably with DeLuca on this.

 

Yeah. But for two of the three years he spent sitting in the dark because bright light would give him headaches.

 

This is two injuries where the recovery time is slow. I think many of us have had concussions and were not on the shelf for months at a time.

 

I am not doubting that Tim will be cleared at some point and he could return. I question if he should. As much as doctors know about the human brain you can multiply that by 100 and that's what they don't know. It's like the ocean. As much as we know about the ocean. 80% of the ocean has been untouched and unseen by man.

 

I wish the kid luck and hope whatever he decides down the road works out the best for him. ;)

[Corp000085]

ok i'll weigh my opinion... I want timmy back on the ice as soon as its medically possible. He needs a better helmet, a giant mullet for extra protection, and he needs to keep his head up. What i don't want is for the doctors to fudge the data and let connolly come back early. that could lead to permanent damage or possibly death. if it's recommended that he retire, i'd back that decision fully, no matter the contract/cap implications. With that being said, i really really really hope he plays, and plays soon. As either labatt or PA mentioned (can't remember, its early...) we were one connolly injury away from hoisting the cup last year... Well, i almost 80% agree with that... had connolly been healthy, there's no way that carolina series goes 7... don't know what else can be said about losing 4 defensemen and if that would have played a roll, but connolly was on FIRE till that ottawa game 2. I just hope that if he comes back, he comes back around that same level.

 

 

now keep your friggin head up!

[That Aud Smell]

He needs a better helmet, a giant mullet for extra protection, and he needs to keep his head up.

 

mark those words, corp!

 

that is frickin' hilarious.

 

p.s. was there anything weirder than the transformation that connolly went through as measured between the height of his pretty boy days in 2002 and the shaved-head, black-eyed freak show that he became in the playoffs before he got whacked?

 

p.p.s. speaking of his pretty boy days and ways, my buddies and i actually had a nickname for connolly when he first came over from the isles --" p_ssy face" -- or "PF" when any of our kids were around. anyway, right before game 2 against ottawa, that physical transformation struck me as symbolic of what he'd done with his game -- the cbc cameras were panning down the bench and showed timmy ("yikes," my wife said at the sight of him) -- then, about 100 seconds later, schaefer just blew him up. <sigh>

[ejg3855]

so has there been any new releases about his status?

[apuszczalowski]

mark those words, corp!

 

that is frickin' hilarious.

 

p.s. was there anything weirder than the transformation that connolly went through as measured between the height of his pretty boy days in 2002 and the shaved-head, black-eyed freak show that he became in the playoffs before he got whacked?

 

p.p.s. speaking of his pretty boy days and ways, my buddies and i actually had a nickname for connolly when he first came over from the isles --" p_ssy face" -- or "PF" when any of our kids were around. anyway, right before game 2 against ottawa, that physical transformation struck me as symbolic of what he'd done with his game -- the cbc cameras were panning down the bench and showed timmy ("yikes," my wife said at the sight of him) -- then, about 100 seconds later, schaefer just blew him up. <sigh>

I bet you the injury wouldn't have happened if he didn't shave his head. He is now more aerodynamic and probably was going faster then he would have with a full head of hair dragging him back when the hit happened. And he did not have the hair to help cussion the blow. :lol:

 

This now makes me worry about JP Losman, he cut his hair in the offseason. :D

 

And no, there has not been any new updates on Connolly recently. I haven't heard about him practicing or training at all either.

[apuszczalowski]

Well, I found this on TSN.ca's Ice Chips Section today

 

Buffalo Sabres: Teppo Numminen didn't skate the final seven minutes of Tuesday's throttling of the Flyers because of a groin injury. Numminen, who didn't practice Thursday, said it wasn't the same injury he suffered in last year's playoffs and that he would play Friday against the Hurricanes. Sabres' centre Tim Connolly has been hanging around HSBC Arena, but his return to exercise - much less skating or serious conditioning - still isn't on the horizon. Head coach Ruff said the extent of Connolly's activity these days is a "pretty good route to the coffee pot and back. That's about it." - Buffalo News

 

Doesn't exactly sound good for Timmy