Career Longevity
by AlexStitch on Jan 30, 2010 2:42 AM EST
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PrintHow's it going every body? I've been thinking about this topic for quite some time now and thought I would put it out there and see what others thought about. I always find it interesting when you hear about hockey players and the varying ages, and especially now with the growing number of large contracts being given to players. I'm not talking about money, just the time periods here, like Ovechkin signed a 13 year deal I think it was with Caps, DiPietro signed for 15 years with Islanders, and didn't some of the old farts on the Red Wings just sign some 12 year deals? Granted OV and Rick are young players, but Zetterberg (29) and Franzen (30) signed 12 year deals that will take them into their forties.
And then you have Chris Chelios who is 48 and still playing, or at least still able and willing to play. Gordie Howe played until he was 52? Not to mention Joe Sakic (40) and Rod Brind'Amour (39) are some current players. How do they do it!?!?!?
I don't know if anyone read the Sports Illustrated (or was it ESPN the Mag, I forget) and the story they had about the growing number of concussions in the NHL and in hockey in general, but it gave the statistic that it's passing NFL players, particularly the lineman, who are the ones that usually get the most concussions. And as we are learning more and more, concussions are more serious than everyone thought and cause some really serious problems. I know, that's kind of obvious, but people are still shocked by it.
I started thinking about this more tonight after I saw that Kurt Warner, quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, retired today, yesterday, recently, whenever it was. Warner is 38 and played 12 season in the NFL. I'm not saying football players, especially QBs, don't get knocked around (just ask Brett Favre after playing the Saints- Zing!) but I think it's safe to say that hockey players get knocked around quite a bit, and some times the hits are that much worse and involve more risks. So how come hockey players are able to play for so long while others, like the gridiron counter parts, have to call it quits so much sooner?
Like I said in the beginning, I would like to know what you all think about this. Sure, you could go the route of hockey is a different sport and there is more tradition and loyalty to it or whatever, but I mean besides that. Besides the "it's fun" argument or the "hockey players are just tougher." Do you think there is anything else that helps contribute to this? I mean, as Pens fans we can see from this season alone that injuries are always occurring; everyone has sat out a game(s) for an injury, no matter how minor or serious.
I hope some people read this and just offer some advice. I think it's interesting, but I might be a loser. Cheers.
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Maybe hockey players are just built better
Beyond that fact that I’m gonna get slammed for that bad joke, I think some players can carve a niche when they get older. Take Modano, he started out as the franchise for Dallas but settled into a 3rd line role as he got older. In basketball, Michael Finley (San Antonio) is one of the older players in the league and he went from an explosive finisher at the rim to a mostly spot up shooter role.
Not to mention for offensive players like Keith Tkachuk, Mike Modano & Joe Sakic, they made careers for semi-skilled grinders who received time on the first line just so they could bring up some protection for them.
Additional note for Rod Brind’Amour, he’s a major league gym rat. That oughta count for something. Also love for the game/city/team (remember Mario?)
You have this in all sports. You just like hockey more, so you pay more attention to these guys. Think about high profile guys like Mario Lemiuex, Eric Lindros, Pat LaFontaine, whose careers were cut short from injuries or even younger guys like Brett Lindros who only played a few seasons.
10 (11) Oldest professional athletes as on 1/1/2009 (couldn’t find anything newer)
Chelios – 47 NHL
Jamie Moyer – 47 MLB
(Randy Couture – 46 – UFC) – I added
Randy Johnson – 45 MLB
John Carney – 44 NFL
Kenny Rogers – 44 MLB
Jeff Feagles – 44 NFL
Mike Timlin – 42 MLB
Tom Glavine – 42 MLB
Greg Maddux – 42 MLB
Gary Roberts – 42 NHL
So then it is hockey players, pitchers, and kickers.
Very interesting. And pitchers and kickers are hardly representative of the rigors of those respective sports. UFC is a different animal in manifold ways. Thus, it does seem that there is a better chance of a hockey player hanging on in some form resembling that of an everyday player beyond the point of what tends to happen in other disciplines.
"Never mistake motion for action." - Ernest Hemingway
I see what you’re saying, even though I think 4 of those guys have retired already (I know, I’m not hating on your stat) but to be honest I just recently started following hockey as much. I’m usually a bigger basketball and baseball fan.
I guess the real point I was trying to make and ask was how, through all of the injuries that hockey players take, and ones that are now being considered more severe than football injuries, do they play that long.
Pitches, ok what’s the most common injury for them- sore shoulder, hammies, something with the ankle or shins, and maybe elbows like Tommy Johns surgery.
And then kickers. Seriously? Unless they’re the retard from the Bucs or whoever, the name escapes me, who celebrated after kicking a field goal and blew out his knee. Kickers probably have cramps and maybe something with their planting foot. Personally, kickers don’t count for me. In the NFL they say RBs have 5 good years in them before injuries start to take a toll? And baseball, besides pitchers, that is such a variable sport too, like depending on position; obviously catchers’ knees are going to go sooner than others, but also it’s a stop and go game, hence the many pulling hammies and groin problems. The other sports have more fluidity.
A bee in a bird's nest never made no honey, and a bird in a hive sang no song.
Maybe it's the shift work
Soccer injuries are very common when most of the players on the field for a full 90 minutes at a time. Maybe hockey’s shift work where a long shift usually ends before a minute and a half helps preserves players where they go out for a quick burst of playing time and then take a short break to recuperate.
It’s why I think basketball & hockey are so much more dynamic and fun to watch than soccer.
Hmmm. . . that’s a good point, but I still think the opportunity to be injured, like a major concussion, is still there. Because if you think about it, how many shifts do these players get? Sometimes 20, sometimes more or less.
I see what you’re saying about having time to recuperate, like say if they take a wicked shot off of the shin or knee or even face, players usually come right back after just taking a breather. But what about those head shots?
A bee in a bird's nest never made no honey, and a bird in a hive sang no song.
I've got nothing
But this was fun to think about. You should go read up on Messier’s new helmet. I’ve been saying for a while that the league should take notice.
I got a concussion once, spent the night in the hospital and the rest of the week with dizzy spells and nausea. Not at all fun.
My brother actually works for a PR firm that is working with Messier and his M11 helmet. Unfortunately it’s not his account, and I’ve been asking if he could get me one, but no such luck. But they’re very expensive, and from what I hear no one like Cascade helmets, they just don’t sell.
A bee in a bird's nest never made no honey, and a bird in a hive sang no song.
Haven't tried one
I got my concussion when I caught a puck square in the face mask and i fell backwards on the crossbar. Minor whiplash and a bad concussion. I hated that feeling of helplessness when they were stretchering me off the ice.
Not sure how much the Cascade helmet would help but I hope it’s a lot better than what I went through
When you consider that the longest a hockey player is physically on the ice is (at the upper end) 15-30 minutes a night, with those breaks in between shifts and two intermission periods, it is easy to spot the difference.
Football, for instance, has similar stops and starts (in between plays for example), but players are guaranteed to be hit on every play (some for the entire play – like linemen). Some of the positions, like the RB or the WR (when they get the ball) are the focus of the hit, and are actively straining to NOT go down, thus ensuring more punishiment. The level of ferocity in all sports has gone up due to work out routines and the advance of science, but I think the argument could be made that in no other sport is the damage to a players body felt more than in football. When looking at injuries other than concussions, you can see that career ending injuries are a bigger problem in football (think blown knees, neck injuries, etc.).
Granted, football may not have the most older guys playing, but they also get substantially bigger paychecks which makes retiring that much more enticing once you’ve put $20 million in the bank playing for 5 years.
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." - George Washington
by Hockey Beard in SLC on Feb 2, 2010 9:20 PM EST reply actions
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