Perhaps by way of being blind, deaf and dumb (or maybe it was an undisclosed injury?), I just discovered in today's Post-Gazette that Brooks Orpik has been battling pneumonia since (ironically enough) the October 25 game against the Rangers. Maybe it was just hard to spot because, after all, Orpik didn't really look like he was lagging out there now did he?
"It was only really, really bad for about a week, week and a half. There were times where you had breathing problems on the bench, but the biggest problem was feeling rundown, just no energy. I'd get about halfway through a practice or a game and just [hit a wall]. You had to conserve your energy as much as you could."
Brooks Orpik
Post-Gazette
Way to man up Brooks. Then again, word is Orpik was also pretty stubborn about it which is only typical of a hockey player. Luckily though the "walking pneumonia" didn't progress and he's apparently still coming back around from it nearly a month and a half since diagnosis.
On one hand it's admirable that he was able to step up even while sick, but at the same time I'd have willingly watched him sit a week's worth of games so as not to 1) risk losing him for longer and 2) having him playing healthy longer.
Thoughts?