Joel Armia couldn’t finish Tuesday night’s game in New Jersey, and if he’s not in Friday night’s game in Philadelphia, his name will be added to the very long list of Canadiens players who are no longer able to continue.
In fact, instead of counting the absentees in the Montreal camp, it is much easier to count those who have not had to miss any games this season.
Tuesday night’s meeting in Newark was the 57e of the Canadiens this season, and only two players, Nick Suzuki and Christian Dvorak, have taken part in all games.
Others ? There were injuries, other injuries, there were players who came back but left, and there were players who disappeared without really knowing why, a bit like these characters from the Serie X Files who left on board a flying saucer at the end of an episode.
Last I heard, there are no members of the Canadiens who have been abducted by an extraterrestrial group, but at this stage, and in the current state of things, we should not rule out any possibility.
Thus, not counting Carey Price and Paul Byron, who have not played this season, the Canadian currently has nine players on his list of injured, ten if ever Armia was not able to resume the collar.
Is this a top in the National League? Not quite. As of Feb. 6, according to the Man-Games Lost NHL website, the Toronto Maple Leafs led the way in games missed this season due to injury, with 381. The Canadiens were second with 369 games.
The Montreal club is starting to get used to it. Last season, again according to Man-Games Lost NHL, players in blue, white and red had to miss a total of 731 games due to injury. The second club among the most afflicted by the infirmary came far behind: the players of the Arizona Coyotes had to be absent for 627 games in all.
In the modern era, the Kings of 2003-2004 were previously those who had missed the most games for health reasons, with 629. It is therefore another record that the Canadian broke with pride.
At this rate, the Canadiens could be the most “injured” club in the NHL for the second season in a row. Earlier this week, coach Martin St-Louis admitted that management may have to address this reality.
“It’s sure that the management will look at this at the end of the season, replied the coach of the Canadian Monday in Brossard, before the departure of the club for the present trip to New Jersey and Philadelphia, where the Canadian will face the Flyers on Friday night. But there are things you can’t control. Are there things we can control better? I don’t know. We will analyze that. »
In the immediate future, the club’s management remains unable to offer a return date for the majority of its injured players, including Sean Monahan, absent since December 5 and unable to resume full training, and also defender Joel Edmundson, absent since January 26, he whose season had only started on November 3.
It turns out that these two players were likely to be among the most coveted in the Montreal camp as the trade deadline approaches on March 3, but for the moment, such a scenario seems unlikely at best.
During a press briefing in January in Brossard, general manager Kent Hughes had also indicated that Edmundson and Josh Anderson were the two most requested players during his discussions with the GMs of other teams.
Then, about the many injuries that were already slowing down his club at this time of the season, Hughes then replied: “It’s really something that is surprising, the number of injuries. Sometimes we have players who want to return to the game. Brendan Gallagher is one of those players who always wants to push the limit. It’s his character, his personality. With some players, we have to do a better job of protecting them from themselves. Others may need a little push. »
In the meantime, all that grows with the Canadian is this injured list, which is starting to look a little too similar to last year’s.