Clark Out, Smyth In, Stastny Delayed

by Joe Dunman on Feb 13, 2008 2:40 PM MST in NHL News

As one key Avalanche player today prepared to return to the lineup, another was ruled out indefinitely.
Defenseman Brett Clark suffered a dislocated shoulder in the second period of the Avs' game against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center and will miss considerable time, but Ryan Smyth will play against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. Smyth had been out with fractured ankle.
Star forward Paul Stastny will not play in the game against the Blues at the Pepsi Center as he continues to recover from a groin injury. Coach Joel Quenneville has said Stastny has recovered from an appendectomy, but the groin injury remains a problem.

Well crap. I hope Clark's recovery is speedy, but I know that joint dislocations are nasty and his recovery will take a while. As for Son Of Stastny, I recommend ice, and lots of it, but try not to freeze your balls off. That's bad.

Smyth better tape that ankle of his.

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Shoulder dislocations

are no joke. Once you pop it out, it's pretty easy for it to occur again.

One of the best d-men on my beer league team had one last winter season. We play in a no-check league, and every time she (yes, she) got bumped just right or fell awkwardly, she'd pop it out. It happened 3 times in about 8 months. She finally got surgery to fix it. That was in June. She still isn't playing.

by Mike @ MHH on Feb 13, 2008 3:09 PM MST reply actions

My knee...

...does the same thing. After the eighth or ninth time it happened, the recovery process got a lot faster and the pain got a lot easier. I've only popped it out once this year and only a few times during 2007, and these days the pain isn't even really that bad. It pops back in, and I have a heavy limp the rest of the day. Within a couple days, the pain is gone.

Skating is really tough, but then, Clark dislocated his shoulder, not his knee. He's probably going to be on the edge of reinjury for the rest of his career, but then again, who isn't? Was Zednik prone to having his neck slashed?

by Thomas @ Mile High Hockey on Feb 13, 2008 5:57 PM MST up reply actions

Re: My knee...

I dislocated my knee last April and had surgery for it. It still hurts a bit during some exercises and it will probably never feel as good as it did. Luckily, I haven't dislocated it again---yet.

by Joe Dunman on Feb 14, 2008 7:01 AM MST up reply actions

Shoulder

I dislocated my left shoulder 10 years ago (almost exactly) and I still have problems. Part of that is from improper rehab, but when i lift weights I can't do any of your typical shoulder exercises. Where I really have a lot of problems is when I try to lift things straight up over my head.

by Jibblescribbits on Feb 14, 2008 8:27 AM MST up reply actions

Given this year's injury reporting history

I would expect "considerable time" to equate to 2 years. And then his return will be delayed when the Avs discover that they have been treating the wrong shoulder.

by Bob in Boulder on Feb 13, 2008 3:15 PM MST reply actions

omg

roflmao!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Mike the Avs Fan on Feb 13, 2008 4:53 PM MST up reply actions

That would be fine...

...especially if the Avs have an insurance policy on his contract (which I am sure they do).

$3.5m cap slot just opened up.

by Thomas @ Mile High Hockey on Feb 13, 2008 5:58 PM MST up reply actions

Svatos

Just ask Svatos how serious shoulder seperations can be. We might not see Clark until the playoffs, when every check is just like those we saw against the Ducks. Bad, bad news.

by Dario on Feb 13, 2008 3:42 PM MST reply actions

too bad

I know Clark isn't exactly a fan favorite, but this is a pretty big loss for us.

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Feb 13, 2008 4:23 PM MST reply actions

well

I think Clark is our best defenseman, this loss is HUGE. He averages the most icetime out of anyone on the team, this is very very bad. I just hope we can somehow pull through, is Cumiskey coming back anytime soon? We really need him now.

by Mike the Avs Fan on Feb 13, 2008 4:57 PM MST reply actions

he supposedly skated the other day

and im in agreement about Clark. he's not the best pure defender or pure offensive guy, but he does both really well, and he's calm both ways, almost to a fault.

This season is friggin cursed. :(

by thedoctor on Feb 13, 2008 5:20 PM MST up reply actions

Hey Brett...

Hey Brett,

Don't hurry getting back, okay? If you want to take this opportunity to hang em up for good, by all means.

This injury is not a big deal at all. It frees up a ridiculous amount of cap room (it's still a $3.5m slot for the rest of the year, even if the actual remaining dollars aren't that high), and we lose absolutely nothing by him being gone.

His defense had gotten a tad better this year, but that's not saying much - he's always been absolutely ATROCIOUS defensively. Offensively, he's regressed since last year. If he's not going to put up 40pts, and he's going to play the kind of defense he's been playing, this is addition by subtraction.

He's a Brisebois clone, and that's being VERY generous to Clark. We were just fine when we finally flushed that turd, and this one just jumped into the toilet for us.

by Thomas @ Mile High Hockey on Feb 13, 2008 6:03 PM MST reply actions

bah!

Are you crazy?? A BRISEBOIS clone??? Those are harsh, harsh words. He's not as bad defensively as you think, I actually find him to be a good defender, and he's 2nd in the league in blocked shots. You say $3.5 mil just opened up, it's not like we're actually gonna DO anything with it! We're just gonna sit on our asses and watch the deadline come and go without signing anyone. Forsberg? Yes, but we could've signed him either way, Clark injury or not.

by Mike the Avs Fan on Feb 13, 2008 6:45 PM MST up reply actions

Clark's defense...

...is atrocious.

I've played, coached, scouted, written about and studied the sport academically over the past 20 years. I know defense, and I know when someone plays piss poor defense.

People talk about a player playing good defense when the coach gives them lots of ice time and they don't really produce anything with it. They assume that if he's not scoring but still getting minutes, that means he's good defensively. That's simply not the case.

People also point to +/-, but +/- has absolutely no relevance to an individual player. It's a team stat.

Clark is caught out of position more than any Avs DMan I have ever seen besides Brisebois. Yes, even more than Ozolinsh. He's not fast enough to catch up to the play and save the team from his mistakes. He's not aware enough to make the right play. If I had a dime for every time a goal was scored because he played the puck instead of taking away the pass on a 2-on-1, I'd buy the Avs and fire his useless ass immediately.

How many times do you need to see him hang his head after his man scores a goal before it dawns on you that maybe Clark isn't what Idiot and McKnob make him out to be?

Clark belongs in the AHL, where the opposition usually isn't going to be offensively aware enough to take advantage of his horrible defense. The fact that he gets anything more than 3rd pairing minutes is the best evidence that Idiot is one of the two or three worst coaches in the league. For the Avs to sign him to an extension, much less for $3.5m a year, is an absolute fucking farce.

Clark is an absolute loser, and I cheered last night when I saw him go down. I felt bad for it at first, but screw him. He didn't feel bad for ruining my night so many times the past couple years with his awful defense and boneheaded plays, so I am not going to feel bad that the useless fuck is going to be sitting on his couch instead of screwing my team.

Eat shit, Clark.

by Thomas @ Mile High Hockey on Feb 13, 2008 7:08 PM MST up reply actions

Re: Clark's defense

Thomas, seriously, I'd prefer you not wish injury on people simply because you don't like the way they play a game.

Obviously, you bloviating on the Internet has no real effect on Clark's life at all, but still, let's maintain at least some semblance of class here. Deal?

by Joe Dunman on Feb 14, 2008 7:05 AM MST up reply actions