Even a subpoena might not be enough to force NHL players and
coaches to disclose all injuries with the Stanley Cup playoffs on
the horizon. Which makes it all but impossible for outsiders to
truly know how banged up the Sharks might be as they face the
Phoenix Coyotes on Friday night in the first of two home-and-home,
back-to-back games to end the regular season with the No. 2 seed in
the Western Conference still up for grabs.
GLENDALE
Even a subpoena might not be enough to force NHL players and coaches to disclose all injuries with the Stanley Cup playoffs on the horizon.
Which makes it all but impossible for outsiders to truly know how banged up the Sharks might be as they face the Phoenix Coyotes on Friday night in the first of two home-and-home, back-to-back games to end the regular season with the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference still up for grabs.
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But there are signs that Joe Thornton may be joining Ryane Clowe on the list of key forwards who are hampered by aches, pains or worse at the moment.
Thursday, Thornton did not practice with his teammates, instead skating on his own under the direction of assistant coach Jay Woodcroft.
“Jumbo had a maintenance day today,” coach Todd McLellan said. “We still got him on the ice and he skated a little bit just to make his legs feel good and clean them out from last night. As we go forward, he’s a big and important part of our team and we want him to be as healthy as possible.”
Thornton already had drawn attention this week for staying out of the faceoff circle and on Wednesday night he played only 11:54 — his lowest ice time of the season — and did not skate at all in the third period. The fact the Sharks were trailing by five goals against an Anaheim Ducks team known for its physical style could also have been a factor, of course.
“He just kind of wanted me to rest. The last couple days were kind of rest days, so it was nice to get the body feeling right again and get ready for tomorrow,” said Thornton, who said that as far as he knew, he would be in the lineup Friday night against the Phoenix Coyotes.
Then, to add a little mystery, he added: “But that could change over night.”
Clowe played only three shifts in Monday night’s 6-0 victory over Los Angeles and sat out the Anaheim game with what the team has described as a “lower body injury.”
He didn’t skate at all Thursday, then indicated he probably would not see action before the playoffs as injured players rarely return to the lineup if they haven’t practiced in the previous 24 hours.
McLellan, who makes a distinction between injuries and the “bumps and bruises” that may not keep players out of the lineup, acknowledges that all NHL teams try to keep things in-house — unlike the NFL where full disclosure is required.
“You play hockey, you play a seven-game series and there’s no sense in doing homework for other teams as far as injuries go,” McLellan said. “You may as well just paint a target on somebody and say, ‘Hey, he’s got a bad ankle.’
“We have hopes and we have dreams tied up in key people,” he continued. “We have huge salaries. Fans have a passionate following, and it’s our job to put players in scenarios where they’re able to succeed. Exposing injuries to the opponent, it doesn’t do that.”
One injury readily apparent after the Anaheim game was the arc-shaped wound that had opened on the forehead above rookie Brandon Mashinter’s right eye when his head hit the ice to end a fight with Anaheim enforcer George Parros.
Mashinter, who flew cross-country from Worcester on game day as an injury replacement for Clowe, needed 12 stitches to close the gash and did not practice Thursday as a precautionary measure.
“They wanted me to stay off today and we’ll see tomorrow,” Mashinter said. “Head things, you’ve got to be careful with that.”
— Story by David Pollak, San Jose Mercury News
