Panthers' Tomas Kopecky out of Olympics with concussion; Kovacevic suspended

Punishment is meted out quickly in international hockey, and even more quickly when the transgressions occur in the high-profile, crown jewel of the sport, the Winter Olympics.

As reported here yesterday, Slovakian forward Tomas Kopecky was knocked out of Saturday's match with Slovenia when defenseman Sabahudin Kovacevic delivered a brutal elbow to Kopecky's head, rendering him unsteady and clearly in distress - and now on the shelf for the remainder of the Sochi Games.

Kopecky missed Sunday's shootout loss to Russia amid conjecture regarding his status going forward, but TSN's Bob McKenzie likely has cleared that up via Twitter, reporting that Kopecky will probably miss the rest of the tournament.

Tough OLY for FLA. Barkov out of tourney (knee). MRI today but expected to miss NHL time (weeks?). Kopecky (head), also expected out of OLY.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 16, 2014

Of course, McKenzie is speaking of Finland's Aleksander Barkov, Florida's teen prodigy who was forced to retire from the games with a knee injury who, together with Kopecky, were the lone representatives of the Florida Panthers in Sochi.

Less painful times: Kopecky (L) with Barkov in Florida (USA Today)

In fact, Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat is reporting that Barkov's injury is severe enough to require surgery and may mean a disappointing end to his rookie season, while Slovakian-based websites are reporting that Kopecky has suffered a concussion and will miss the rest of the games and perhaps some NHL playing time as well.

While those reports remain unconfirmed, what is known for certain is that Kovacevic missed Slovenia's blowout loss to the United States on Sunday and will be back in action when eighth-seeded Slovenia faces ninth-seeded Austria for the right to advance to the Quarterfinals...

...while Slovakia must face rival Czech Republic without Kopecky for the same honor.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/panthers-tomas-kopecky-out-of-olympics.html#.UwFHgoUcq58

Sweden's Lundqvist: We will miss everything about Zetterberg

At the start of the Men's Ice Hockey tournament at the Sochi Olympic Games, there were 149 players from the National Hockey League spread throughout the roster of the 12 competing countries - but now that number is down to 146...

...as both Florida Panthers' participants, Aleksander Barkov and Tomas Kopecky, have been iced due to knee and head injuries respectively, but perhaps the biggest loss to the tournament is Detroit Red Wings' forward Henrik Zetterberg, lost to the Swedish team with lingering pain from a herniated disc.

Zetterberg is more than just a gifted scorer, as his Swedish teammates lamented on Saturday.

“Leadership,” goalie Henrik Lundqvit replied when asked what the national team would miss most about Zetterberg. “His coolness in big moments. Big plays at both ends of the ice. It’s going to be tough to replace him. I don’t think you can.”

Zetterberg in Sochi (USA Today)

“His presence all over the ice, defense and offense,” added forward Daniel Alfredsson, Zetterberg's teammate with the Red Wings. “It’s incredible. He can set the pace of the game. It’s a tough blow for us. It’s something we have to deal with. We can’t sit and dwell on this, but it’s sad.”

Alfredsson put his money with his mouth is, dealing with the loss by scoring the lone goal in Sweden's tougher-then-expected victory over Switzerland on Friday - while St. Louis Blues' forward Patrik Bergland assumed Zetterberg's spot on the top line and played a solid game.

Though Sweden's Gold Medal chances have taken a significant hit, it is important to remember that Zetterberg came into the Sochi Games as damaged goods, having dealt with the herniated disc for the past couple of months, missing eleven games for the Red Wings with the ailment...

...Swedish team physician Bjorn Waldeback saying that there was no specific contact in the first game on Wednesday that caused the disc to inflame, but also stated that there was no doubt that Zetterberg was done for the tournament, and probably beyond.

"In this situation it was no tough decision as this was no borderline case," Waldeback said on Friday. "For people who know medicine it is obvious that this couldn't continue. I have been in touch with the NHL doctors who are here. They totally agree with us. When you suffer from a herniated disk the way he does, you need to go home for a medical evaluation."

"It is Z who has taken this decision together with me,” Waldeback continued, “I think it is the cumulative load. There was no specific thing that happened. The issues came the morning after. These are nerve-related issues and they often come creeping in. It is not one specific injury.”
 
Red Wings' General manager Ken Holland agreed. "He's going to be down for a period of time," Holland said, while reiterating that Zetterberg will not be on the ice when the NHL schedule resumes in late February.  Zetterberg has not yet returned to the United States, but it is assumed that he will in the next few days.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/sweden-will-miss-everything-about-red.html#.Uv-7SYUcq58

Slovakia's Kopecky leaves loss to Slovenia with UBI

The Sochi Olympics are all out of Panthers.

Florida Panthers, that is, as Tomas Kopecky of Slovakia joined Panthers' teammate, Finland's Aleksander Barkov on the shelf with an upper-body injury, believed to be a concussion.  If so, it would likely end Kopecky's involvement in the Sochi Games.  Kopecky and Brakov are the only Panthers playing in the games.

Kopecky was entrenched to the left of the Slovenian goal in the first period of Slovakia's 3-1 loss to Slovenia when defenseman Sabahudin Kovacevic cleaned his clock with an aggressive elbow to the head.  Kopecky was attended to on the bench, but was in obvious distress and was taken back to the room.

Kopecky after the hit (Mark Humphrey/AP)

No penalty was called on the ice, but the hit is being reviewed by the International Ice Hockey Federation for possible sanctions, including suspension - so Kovacevic's status for Slovenia's match against Russia on Sunday is questionable.

Kovacevic is in the midst of a superb season with Sary-Arka Karaganda of the Russian Supreme league, scoring nine goals and logging 21 total points in 46 games while Kopecky, a right winger with the Panthers has played in 49 games ans has four goals and eight helpers playing on the Panthers' third line.

There have been no updates on Kopecky's condition since the injury occurred, and it is to be remembered that any layman's diagnosis of his injury is purely speculative.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/slovakias-kopecky-leaves-loss-to.html#.Uv-uJoUcq58

Finland's Barkov out of games with bum knee

The Finnish Olympic hockey team is all about defense and goaltending - good thing, because they just lost another offensive weapon.

Already down Anaheim's Mikko Koivu and Tampa Bay's Valtteri Filppula, who were scratched from the games by injury before they even started, Finland suffered their greatest loss when Florida Panthers' Aleksander Barkov was forced from their game with Norway with a knee injury that will keep him from participating in the rest of the tournament.

The 18-year-old Barkov was a bit of a surprise to be selected for the Finnish team, and even more of a surprise to be a top six forward, but when it was announced that he would be centering his boyhood idol Teemu Selanne on the first line, he was delerious. 

"I have been always watching him play and he's a legend. So I will enjoy every moment to play with", Barkov said at the time of the announcement - unfortunately, he only got to savor playing with him for two games.

Finnish hockey federation confirms Barkov out of the tournament.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) February 15, 2014

Preliminary reports from Sochi offer few details on the injury Barkov, nor the severity of it, nor even which ligament(s) is affected.  

Barkov was centering Mikael Grandlund and Selanne on Finland's top line and left after playing just two shifts in the third period - and there has been no word as to who will take Barkov's spot on the top line, though the early favorite is Olli Jokinen who is centering the second line.

Barkov had just returned to the Panthers' lineup after sitting for 10 days with a knee injury suffered in Buffalo against the Sabres on January 21st, but it is unclear whether this latest injury is fresh or the result of a lingering issue from the previous ailment.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/finlands-barkov-out-of-games-with-bum.html#.Uv-lFoUcq58

Canucks' Burrows on the shelf again with "sprained hand"

Maybe instead of having his last name on the back of his sweater, Vancouver Canucks' winger Alex Burrows should have "Fragile, handle with care."

The veteran winger was injured in a brief dust up with Toronto Maple Leafs' Phil Kessel - suffering a sprained hand according to various reports - after Burrows engaged the NHL's second-leading goal scorer with a slash to the face then some pushing and shoving, and finally some nasty cross checking before his gloves went flying.

Kessel obviously didn't want to fight, but Burrows insisted by instigating the tussle, which lasted all of three seconds and caused the play-by-play announcers to humorously quip that both should have just received two minute roughing calls.  But somewhere in the scrum Burrows got his hand damaged, his third injury this season.

So yes, "Fragile, handle with care" would work nicely blazoned across the back of the sweater...

Either that or stop getting in the way of pucks, and certainly stop trying to pick a fight with Kessel - because neither of those things are good for his health - nor is the pulling of hair, which is aesthetically displeasing to everyone except schoolyard sissies and WWE Divas...


...and somewhere in the NHL rule book there's got to a clause pertaining to the practice, but if there's not Burrows should probably trim down his lettuce to the nubs before the NHL schedule resumes in late February and someone goes all salad bar on him, provided they can get past that Hannibal Lecter-style mask that he wears.

Of course, he wears the face shield for good reason (No, not to keep him from biting Patrice Bergeron, although...), protecting his jaw that was broken in December when he tried to eat a puck while facing the Carolina Hurricanes, and combined with the time he missed after taking a puck off his skate in the season opener which resulted in a broken bone in his foot, Burrows has missed 32 games.

And in the 28 games he has played in, he has taken just 68 shots, or a little over two shots per game while averaging 18:21 minutes of ice time per game.

Something is clearly amiss with Burrows, who used to be one of the better two-way players in the NHL, but inexplicably fell off the face of the hockey planet toward the end of last season's lock-out shortened schedule and this season has but five points - all on assists - to show for his efforts.

And now, he's taking to venting his frustrations by slashing and cross-checking folks in the face - something that not even Vancouver bench boss John Tortorella would understand, and he's a man that knows what it's like to get all riled up...

There has been no time-table announced for Burrows return, just standard, "He can use the break to get healthy" talk, so hopefully that's the plan and Burrows can back on the ice and concentrate on scoring goals and stop with the goon act - something not befitting a man of his talent.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/canucks-burrows-on-shelf-again-with.html#.Uv5XEYUcq58

Sweden's Zetterberg out for rest of Sochi games

Detroit Red Wings' and Sweden's team captain Henrik Zetterberg will be on his way from Russia back to the United States in the next day or two to be evaluated for possible surgery on a herniated disc.

"When you suffer from a herniated disc the way he does, you need to go home for a medical evaluation." said Sweden team doctor Bjorn Waldeback on Friday morning, adding that the NHL doctors "Totally agree with us" on the decision to send Zetterberg back to Detroit.

Zetterberg scored a goal on Wednesday as the Swedes defeated the Czech Republic in an opening round match of the Sochi Olympic Games, but missed Thursday's practice with the ailment.  It was reported via Twitter at the time that he was undergoing anti-inflammatory treatment and was bed-ridden in an attempt to soothe the offending disc, but to no avail.

"It is so painful for him that he can't be in it anymore," Waldeback said. "It is Z who has taken this decision together with me. I think it is the cumulative load. There was no specific thing that happened in the game. The issues came the morning after. These are nerve-related issues and they often come creeping in. It is not one specific injury."

In the short-term, Sweden still must be considered a dangerous contender - but the long-term implications for the Red Wings could be catastrophic as Detroit is clinging to the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race, and coupled with Pavel Datsyuk's bum knee means that they may be without their two top scorers if both are on the shelf for very long...

...a nightmare scenario that Red Wings' general manager Ken Holland envisioned with Datsyuk, though hadn't publicly lamented on - but Holland seemed resigned to the worst in issuing a statement on Friday morning after consulting with all involved.

"In fairness to Sweden, the Red Wings and himself, he made the right decision to pull out of the Olympics," said Holland, who is in Sochi attending the games. "He's going to be down for a period of time."

Zetterberg's Red Wings' teammate, defenseman Niklas Kronwall, has reportedly been named captain of Sweden for the remainder of the tournament.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/swedens-zetterberg-out-for-rest-of.html#.Uv4n44Ucq58

Sweden's Edler to serve one more game on international ban

It's the gift that keeps on giving - well, not so much a gift as a protracted punishment.

In late July, the International Ice Hockey Federation Disciplinary Committee ruled that Vancouver Canucks' defenseman Alexander Edler was to serve a suspension of four games in international play stemming from a nasty hit he laid on Canada's Eric Staal in last year's World Championships that left him sprawled on the ice and earned Edler an ejection from the contest.

The knee-on-knee collision that left Staal nursing a a third-degree sprain of the right medial collateral ligament on a play the IIHF later ruled was reckless and dangerous. Edler was suspended for the remainder of the tournament.

Staal on the ice after the hit from Edler - Jonathan Nackstrand/Getty Images

Even though the injury didn't require surgery, Staal, ended up on the rehab trail for months, and while he considers the hit dirty, he holds no ill will toward Edler...

...but Staal isn't the governing body of international ice hockey, who slapped the defenseman with the ban that would carry over to the Olympics, if he qualified for the Swedish team - which he did, so now Edler missed the Swede's first match of the Olympic tournament against the Czech Republic and now must sit for the next game against Switzerland before being reinstated.


Edler, who has been involved in more than a few cheap shots since - including a head shot on San Jose rookie Toma Hertl never did try to contact Staal to make nice, but he reportedly did speak with Staal's teammate Dan Hamhuis immediately after that game in May and told him that the hit was unintentional.

“He told Dan it wasn’t his intention to hit me like that,” Staal said months later, then adding, “That’s fine.”

Maybe so for the "forgive and forget" style of Eric Staal, but not fine for anyone else - including the guys in charge of punishment for such acts.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/swedens-edler-to-serve-one-more-game-on.html#.Uv13BrQcq58

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/11/30/3421409/staal-has-no-ill-will-for-canucks.html#storylink=cpy