Does Auston Matthews Deserve To Be Resigned By Not Playing? – Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs
Every spring, it seems Leafs Nation goes into complete meltdown when the Maple Leaves are removed. This year is different though – they’re gone before Toronto is finished. William Nylander missed the first three games of the series before returning for Game 4. As is often the case with injuries in the NHL, the Maple Leafs remained tight-lipped about the nature of his injury, and even Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had a hard time pinpointing his injury.
To make matters worse, Maple Leafs and perhaps the league’s leading shooter Auston Matthews missed Game 5 and is guaranteed to miss Game 6 as well. Predictably, Leafs fans weren’t too happy about the news. On social media, there are a lot of articles arguing that the playoffs and there are players who played with broken legs, broken ribs, broken fingers, sprained ankles or knees, and while they are sick so Matthews should be ready.
An often-cited example is Maple Leafs legend Bobby Baun who played through a broken fibula and went on to score the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup Final. He continued to play in Game 7 and it was only after Toronto won the championship that the extent of his injury became known.
Player and Doctor Are Best Placed to Determine if You Can Play
Game 5 marks the second straight shutout Matthews has missed, and I’m guessing it’s not something he’s happy about. Hockey players want to play, that’s what they’re “programmed” to do, especially in the playoffs. Like Nylander’s injury, the Leafs haven’t released much information about what’s wrong with Matthews, only saying it’s an illness that’s keeping him from playing.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports that initially it was an illness that kept Matthews from playing, but something happened alongside that illness that made things worse. Some have speculated that he is now battling an illness that could lead to sepsis if not treated properly. If so, you can understand why he doesn’t play. Seriously though, there is no reason for fans to doubt his fitness to play. Fans are not health professionals, especially for the most part anyway.
Playing When You Shouldn’t Do So Can Have Bad Consequences
Hockey players have always been known to be tough, unlike football, they never fall and can lose a tooth in one shift and come back in the next. A number of players have admitted that they have played with injuries and had serious consequences.
Who doesn’t remember Scott Stevens’ famous hit on Paul Kariya in Game Six of the 2003 Stanley Cup Final? The Anaheim Mighty Ducks’ ace stayed on the ice for a while, went back to the room for a while, and came back to play. Today, he does not remember the game itself or scoring a goal after this incident. He doesn’t even remember Game 7. When Kariya officially retired in 2011, he had six hits.
What better examples than Shea Weber and Carey Price in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final? Weber was injured multiple times during his tenure with the Canadiens and was beaten so badly in that Final that his teammates believed he would call it a day. They all went to see their Captain and shake his hand before retreating to the locker room after losing Game 5 and the Stanley Cup to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It wasn’t Weber’s first time playing injured, in 2017, he was injured early in the season and played for two months with a torn bone in his left foot.
As for Carey Price, knee injuries became part of his life in 2014 when Chris Kreider collided with him in the 2014 Eastern Conference Final. he went on to play just five more games with the Canadiens before retiring all but named.
We can also think of all the participants who played injured, badly hit. They were praised for doing it long ago, but now we all know that it can lead to permanent damage. One of the long-term effects of concussions can be depression and after the suicides of Rick Rypien, Wade Belak and Derek Boogaard in 2011, the hockey world knows they can also lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
In his excellent book entitled “Game Change” Ken Dryden says it is time to change the game and protect athletes from it using the life of Steve Montador as an example.
Sure, Matthews doesn’t have a concussion (that we know of), but whatever he has, if the doctors say he can’t go, he better listen. Can you go to work if your doctor says you are unfit to do so? I know they won’t so why should hockey players?
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