TIME TO SHUT WHITNEY DOWN?
Robin Brownlee
January 05 2012 11:11PM
The Edmonton Oilers will have to get along without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for the rest of January because of a shoulder injury. I can't imagine the news will get any better when Ryan Whitney meets with team medical staff in Dallas to discuss his difficult comeback from ankle surgery.
With all the trouble Whitney has had coming back from surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right ankle, the Oilers defenseman met with the specialist who performed his procedure in Charlotte this week to try to get some answers as to why he's still experiencing so much pain.
My understanding is one distinct possibility is that Whitney re-injured himself four games into his comeback when he took an awkward fall against the Vancouver Canucks at Rexall Place Oct. 25.
The fall resulted in a sprained right knee that put Whitney back on the shelf for 13 games. It might also have damaged his right ankle or foot – not necessarily the tendon that was repaired but perhaps a ligament or other soft tissue. Until the results of an MRI are interpreted by team medical staff, it's too early to say for certain.
MORE TIME NEEDED?
If that's indeed the case, it seems obvious to me the only option would seem to be to keep Whitney, who has missed Edmonton's last six games, out of action until the pain that's clearly impacted his game subsides and any further damage is allowed to heal completely..
With the Oilers hitting the halfway mark in the schedule when they wrap up their road trip against the Stars Saturday, Whitney has played in just 17 games so far this season. It's been more than obvious that he hasn't been skating or moving like he did prior to the injury.
Before this road trip began, it was determined Whitney had tendinitis in the ankle. Rest, these last six games, was the course of action decided upon. If that condition has been complicated by further damage to a ligament in the foot, it's a safe bet Whitney will be in for more of the same. Likely a lot more.
Bottom line, there's a distinct possibility the Oilers will not only be without their best forward for the rest of the month, but that Nugent-Hopkins will have company in Whitney. For how long exactly, we don't know yet.
Stay tuned.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TEAM 1260.
The kid looked dynamite in this year's TC and I think would have had a shot at a couple of good cups of coffee this year.
The lingering question for me is... a lot of people speculated that he might have a career-ender of an injury and even if he returns it could take a long time... I'm just wondering... several months in... if we have any progress reports on him... has he recovered enough to start physio? is he walking on his own power? Does his progress project him to be ready for the TC in earnest next year?
Any info. would be appreciated. It would be great if we could solve some of our problems at D within the system. I don't know if Musil, Klefbom, Gernat and Marincin will turn out and Petry is still a ? for me... but Fedun looked legit in TC last year.
I used to think that too, but the training staff got replaced recently in The Great Purge and the injury situtation hasn't improved. The Oilers usually have way more than average man-games lost to injuries.
Could Big Sexy have been onto something? Is there an environment in the Oilers that encourages playing hurt, that just makes things worse in the long run?
Or instead of these bizarre rants you could just, I don't know, post a relevant comment on the hockey article. Either way.
Trust me that doesn't mean that if someone doesn't like it won't be edited or deleted. It happend to me. I also got threatend with a ban if I "pushed it".
If you took the time yourself to read all of the comments on this thread you would see that i did indeed comment on the topic of this article.
Looks like your PI skills need a tune up.
You got it Travis....McSteeley should move to Calgary...not only will he be "FIST", he'll be "ONLY"..which rhymes with "LONELY"...
...on a more serious note, just let Whitney recover as well as Hemmer and Nuge...
...Brownlee, I love your column so forget the morons...but it's your column so do what you think best...
....My Avatar?? Yep, that's big Yakushev after Henderson's 72' winner...sweet huh?
lol, funny people get so worked up over the FIST, its not a racial slur or a swear, why get so against it? It makes me laugh everytime i see a beautiful fist comment on here, nice to see after the oilers game where they usually crap the bed with continually more negatives then positives.
Don't forget about Lombardi this summer, that wasnt even injury history that was a current injury and he still pulled the trigger.
Yup, I'm sure the Flames regret bringing in some cheap depth now that they have injuries.
Who is Ryan Whitney? I seem to vaguely remember heading his name about 13 months ago... and then nothing ever again.
Hmmm... weird
Especially after that defensive clinic they put on last night.
Hannan was only a -1.... not too bad.... oh wait he played 8:15 the lowest minutes of any player on either team.
I'd be more interested in the fact that he's averaged 20+ minutes over 42 games then playing 8 minutes in one of them.
Yup and now he's one of the guys who is injured
And once again, he is useles depth that doesn't make the Flames anymore of a playoff contender just as he wouldn't have made the Oilers anymore of a playoff contender.
That is sweet.
Are you old enough to have seen Yakushev play live? That's a guy who could have been an NHL all-star for 15 years if the young Soviets could have come over as they pleased back then.
Do you think the team only needs to add stars and/or superstars?
We don't have room for solid NHL'ers?
By your logic (that adding a guy of Hannan caliber is pointless) we might as well gut all the current players that are roughly as good as Hannan as well.
Bye bye guys like Smid/Gilbert/Jones/Belanger ect... I'm not sure who we are going to replace you with, but theirs no point having you if you aren't individually going to turn us into contenders.
I am more interested in the fact that you brought up the Calgary Flames. Are you saying that Calgary has done a better job of managing their team this past off season than the Oilers?
Bill, Bill, Bill . . . I'd much rather stick to talking about what's been written -- this first comment thing, like a lot of the bickering that goes on here is a lot of noise about SFA when you get right down to it -- and have a few laughs, but you're back for more, so I'll oblige.
You weren't threatened. You were told in no uncertain terms how it's going to be. I don't care if you don't like it. I don't care if you don't think it's fair. You don't have to put up with it. You are free to go elsewhere.
Since I spelled that out to you a couple of days ago, you've come back with some posts clearly intended to test it. You are pushing it. If you want to keep commenting here, my advice is that you let it go and write your face off about the Oilers and hockey in general all you want. That's supposed to be what everybody is here for.
If you -- or Soft Hands or Oilfan or anybody else for that matter -- can't or won't bring yourself to stick to that, that's your call. Now back to Whitney and his return in September 2012 . . .
I'm saying Hannan is a good NHL player.
Any news on a Gagne trade yet?
The comment in question was "about what's been written".
"Try to get under my skin again -- six minutes or six months from now, doesn't matter -- and you're gone for good. Don't like it? Too bad. You've been warned."
Really? That's not a threat?
I hope Whitney is given enough time to heal properly. There is zero benefit in my eyes to having him play with a nagging injury such as tendinitis. If he finishes the season the added damage to those tendons may not heal in the off season. I don't want to see this carry on another season. We need him healthy.
I hate to say it, because you know... bros before hoes, and RB is the equivalent of one sweet, sweet hoe, but Soft Hands may have jumped the gun a little.
RB's "NO CIGAR!" is a gateway comment into possibly some serious FISTing in good time. So props to you, RB (14th one is mine), for dangling that in front of the Movement. But now that the invitation has been sent, the Movement, much like Borat's brother Bilo, *will* "break cage and GET DIS"!
***Of course I'm referring to RB's articles as the "number 3 prostitute in all of Kazakstan". And that ain't too shabby at all!***
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIe1hn56m9w&sns=em
@Oilerbill
"Try to get under my skin again -- six minutes or six months from now, doesn't matter -- and you're gone for good. Don't like it? Too bad. You've been warned."
It was longer than six minutes but it was less than six days. Won't back off, eh? You sure showed me.
Now you're gone.
The problem is the teams 5 on 5 play. Special teams are lighting it up, and the goal tending was great when we weren't letting teams get in deep on us like they are now.
We need our veterans to come back to the form they were in at the beginning of the season. We didn't have Whitney then either. Remember Ryan Smyth's start, Horcoff's? Gagne and Hemsky didn't start well I'll give you that, but they couldn't possibly do any worse than they did at the beginning of the season.
Please please for the love of i-eesh-ah, do NOT start calling for another first place pick at this point (not pointing at anyone in particular, just picking up that vibe). It's Friday, and I don't want to cry myself to sleep on the weekends anymore.
I was kind of looking forward to dicing with Soft Hands and his crew, but I'm a cranky old bugger and when somebody skips right past an opportunity to have some fun and takes a poke at me, I get stubborn and ugly in a hurry.
I was even going to phone our website tech guys to see what it would take to replicate the first comment box at the bottom of every story I write so that it automatically appeared filled out when I file my items. That would have produced a shutout of like 100-0 after six months and Soft Hands and his crew would have been absolutely spastic by that time.
Stalin my eye. Maybe next time.
edit: not going to take a shot at a guy who cant respond due to his inability to let it go....
Opportunity knocks for Gagne and Tuebert. Listening to stauffer at the intermission last night talk about how the Oil needed to be aware of the penalty situation and then bang 12 seconds in there 3-2. Then another penalty 3-3. Is it me or was that just plain stupidity on the players.
Whitney. Done. Maybe for good. If thats me. Im done. I would rather sacrifice the rest of my hockey career than be sitting in a wheelchair the rest of life knowing that I could have done something to prevent it. Not saying he is going to be in a wheelchair. But man the idea that I would have to function with limited mobility would be real frustrating. He needs to look after number 1. Longterm. Life. You only get one ride.
delete away brownlee . . . edit: No, let's leave it. Thank goodness it's 2012 because I'd reached my ban quota for 2011 and would have had to get special permission from Oilersnation headquarters (whatever cathouse Wanye is in over in Thailand) to run more readers.
I had a long post typed out but changed my mind...it's pointless.
Although I will say that solid nhlers would be good but only if they will make some sort of difference positively.
Hannan would make zero difference to this team now or going forward.
Of course the Bronte 5000 is right, it's always right. It is a virtual truth machine.
Never doubt the B 5000.
Not that it matters but the Oilers record the game after a Bronte banning is 5 wins and no losses. Put another win in the books for tommorows game in Dallas.
Thanks OilerBill
Yes of course, you have absolutly no way to prove your point... hell you don't even have a way to back it up, but lets just assume a guy that's played 2nd pairing (or better) minutes for the better part of a decade would be of no help to one of the worst defenses in the league.
One of?
Are you serious?...how much more back up do you need?...I've been giving you tons of backup, tons of it right from last summer to now and yet you ignore it all and you just keep bringing up the last 10 yrs....
We're not talking about how good he has been, we're talking about how good he is now.
You have nothing to support your point of him being a solid nhler at this point..it's been pointed out to you ad nauseam that Hannan's minutes have dropped consecutively for 4 straight seasons but you ignore it...you've been informed that he was 9th in minutes in Colorado not very long ago, it's been pointed out to you that Washington chose not to bring him back and instead decided to go with Hamrlik, it's been pointed out to you that Hannan's numbers are less than stellar in Calgary, it's been pointed out to you that there were no takers for Hannan all summer even though he was ready to sign cheap until finally Calgary came calling in desperation, it's been pointed out to you that said team that did sign him is now one of the worst defenses in the league and that's with Hannan in their lineup and one of the best goaltenders in the world...
And all this despite you insisting he would be a solid addition and that he would make the team so much better....you refuse to answer why he hasn't made Calgary better and you refuse to address his decline...The only thing you state is how he is now 4th in minutes played for Calgary and that somehow makes him a solid nhler...I will agree he once was a solid nhler....but he isn't anymore.
How much more back up do you need?
Ha-ha, good point.
Nope, that doesn't prove anything. It's impossible to say if the teams record would be better with him or not. The rest of your post is just filler. He continues to play top 4 minutes in the NHL, and that's all that matters. Bad players don't play 20 minutes per night. Add that to the fact that our defense is horrendous... Well...
Stubborn and ugly is the only way we want it to be Reuben. This place just wouldn't be the same if we couldn't get that Bronte 5000 to short circuit once and a while.
I enjoy your articles Robin.
Looking back, I'm off by a couple weeks as this should have been brought up during The Airing of Grevances.
But I feel like this has taken up far too many of the 80 Comments here.
I think Whitney's body has over worked the "working" parts compensating for the injured or weak parts. He needs more time to get work through this and get back to true #1 form. And if that means sitting most or the rest of this season then so be it. Third times the charm right?
And you just saying he's a solid nhler doesn't prove anything...I've provided much more proof to back up my point than your lame minutes arguement.
Oh, BTW, Jeff Petry leads all Oilers d-men in ice time the last few games....I guess that makes him a top 2 d-man in the league...Potter plays over 20 min per game too, so what's your beef with the Oilers blueline? That they play over 20 min per game makes them good players, right? In fact five (5) of the Oiler blueliners avg over 20 mins a night. That makes them all good players, doesn't it?
Using your logic, as you like to say
How can the Oilers blueline be horrendous given this and how is it that Hannan and Calgary's blueline isn't horrendous and that's with Kiprusoff?
@Soft Hands McSteeley - FIST Movement
So, should we get this back on? I've got the tech guys on speed dial and you have ZERO chance. NONE. NADA.
If I decide not to cheat outright like that, I can enlist an all-star team of blockers to match up against your fingers-clenched crew and we can have at it. I'm in if you are.
I vote for Stocc :)
2 games at over 20 minutes? Yup I'm sold
Come talk to me when Petry or Potter have played 600 games over 20 minutes.
Well Robin, I used to sell programs for the Edmonton Flyers at the Edmonton Gardens and wrestling at the Sales Pavillion..but I'm not as old as dirt...although the Flyers folded in 62' or 63'...so yes I did see Big Yak play. He's my favourite Russian all time.
I see the NHLPA has rejected the alignment proposal...interesting development.
You're a piece of work
Why do you ignore the questions about Hannan and the Horrendous defense in Calgary? Just wondering.
Actually, nevermind...not really interested in anymore of your it's so because you say it is
I ignore it because it's such a weak argument.
Basing individual players evaluation on team results is ... well weak.
You're argument is the equivalent of saying Ryan Getzlaf is a bad hockey player because the Ducks are the lowest scoring team in the league or saying Brent Seabrook is a poor dman because the Hawks have given up the 5th most goals.
See the problem?
You've been provided with endless data and have been quoted as saying that Hannan would make this team better and could possibly turn them into a playoff team yet he isn't able to help Calgary in that regard and according to you they are so superior.
He has pathetic numbers in Calgary and you can't even fathom that maybe he's a part of the problem with Calgary being such a bad defensive team.
Either he would make the team better or he won't....evidence suggests he won't...but you ignore it.
See the problem?
I would also hazard a guess and it's just a guess that if Getzlaf or Seabrook were UFA's this summer...they wouldn't sign cheap and they wouldn't have to wait until late summer to get signed. But you'll ignore that fact as well I'm sure.
@OB1 Team Yakopov - F.S.T.N.F
Thats right. You can't base an individual evaluation on a team game. You also can't ignore it. Hannan showed very well in San Jose playing a defense first game on a very solid team. Playing in Colorado on a much weaker team that was more offence first he did not show as well. Decent players can look very good on great teams just as weaker players can look above average on bad teams.
I am not saying that Hannan is not a solid NHL'r but he needs to be put in the right position. As for him helping the Oilers..... Well 70% of the NHL defenseman playing 3rd pairings on any other team would be probably be pairing 1st and easily 2nd on this team. Especially with all the injurys.
A bit of an update on Whitney from The Sun:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/01/06/no-timeline-on-whitney-return-to-oilers
Give him the rest of January off and try pushing it again in Feb. If it's still tender, try again in the fall. We're in Hockey that doesn't matter mode anyways.
Yakupov/Grigorenko and Murray or bust.
Ya I didn't say they'd turn them into a playoff team, I said he'd be an upgrade on our defense.
He's not an offensive dman, he doesn't put up big numbers, never has.... doesn't mean he isn't a good player, I also wouldn't call a -8 on a team with 22 minus players, with the team that has the 5th worst gf/ga ratio in the league... you are grasping at straws when you say he has horrible stats.
Hey, I agree with you 100%... that's what I'm trying to get accross.
- Solid NHL'er
- Would be an upgrade over a big chunk of our defense
- Would have been nice depth considering how often our players get hurt
- Could have been aquired for dirt cheap
Looks like resonable thoughts to me.
I'm all for adding defensive depth but I'm not sure Hannan is better at this point in his career.
I wouldn't put Scott Hannan in that quality player category. He's just another quantity player the Oilers have plenty of already.
6 of one, half a dozen of the other, i don't think Hannan would have made any difference on this club. For all we know he probably turned down more money from Edmonton so he could play in Calgary. He's flopped in Calgary much like he would've here in Edmonton.