In sports, the notion of making excuses is generally frowned upon and often illegitimate. Some blame referees, others weather, and more still various injuries. At the end of the day, the only thing that truly matters is the scoreboard.
For the Nashville Predators, though, fans are left wondering what might've been if Barry Trotz and his coaching staff had even close to their full complement of players to work with. After the jump, taking a look at every injury this season for Nashville that has caused a player to miss a game or more.
All information courtesy of NashvillePredators.com
| Player | Injury | Man Games Lost | Date Injured | ||||
| Pekka Rinne | lower-body | 5 | 9-Oct | ||||
| Sergei Kostitsyn | broken toe | 2 | preseason | ||||
| Matthew Lombardi | concussion | 65 | 13-Oct | ||||
| Martin Erat | back spasms | 3 | 9-Oct | ||||
| Ryan Suter | lower-body | 9 | 19-Oct | ||||
| Martin Erat | upper-body | 4 | 30-Oct | ||||
| Ryan Suter | lower-body | 2 | 18-Nov | ||||
| David Legwand | lower-body | 9 | 18-Nov | ||||
| Kevin Klein | illness | 1 | 25-Nov | ||||
| Pekka Rinne | knee | 8 | 1-Dec | ||||
| David Legwand | lower-body | 9 | 8-Dec | ||||
| Patric Hornqvist | upper-body | 3 | 13-Dec | ||||
| Cody Franson | personal reasons | 2 | 17-Dec | ||||
| Martin Erat | upper-body | 9 | 23-Dec | ||||
| Steve Sullivan | lower-body | 18 | 23-Dec | ||||
| Jordin Tootoo | personal reasons | 23 | 27-Dec | ||||
| Cal O'Reilly | broken leg | 29 | 2-Jan | ||||
| Shane O`Brien | suspension | 2 | 13-Jan | ||||
| Marek Svatos | knee | 13 | 13-Jan | ||||
| Francis Bouillon | concussion | 22 | 16-Jan | ||||
| JP Dumont | upper-body | 1 | 23-Jan | ||||
| Marcel Goc | shoulder/upper-body | 16 | 16-Oct | ||||
| Ryan Suter | upper-body | 1 | 19-Feb | ||||
| Sergei Kostitsyn | undisclosed | 1 | 22-Feb | ||||
| Steve Sullivan | sports hernia | 6 | 24-Feb |
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In case you were wondering, that adds up to 267 man games lost due to injury or illness, and its not like these injuries have been to pluggers like Joel Ward or Nick Spaling. It's a staggering number for a team that began the year with such high hopes and at one point had the Central Division title within reach.
On the Forecheck's injury coverage
- Pekka Rinne hurt in season opening victory over Anaheim
- Martin Erat placed on IR with back spasms
- Matthew Lombardi and Marcel Goc go on injured reserve
- Cory Sarich knees Ryan Suter, forcing the Nashville defenseman to miss nine games
- David Legwand suffers injury against Montreal
- Cal O'Reilly breaks leg in midst of breakout season
- Francis Bouillon suffers concussion against Chicago
- Marcel Goc requires season ending shoulder surgery
- Steve Sullivan undergoes sports hernia surgery; out 4-6 weeks
And so, while the Predators could certainly have done some things differently on the ice that would make the upcoming stretch drive much easier, you can't help but wonder where the team would sit today had Lombardi remained healthy, O'Reilly not broken his leg, or any one of Erat, Sullivan, and Legwand not spending multiple occasions on the shelf.
Of course, all of that is in the past - the Preds must buckle down and play with the hand they've been dealt, or else it will be a long summer for us all.