The Montreal Canadiens led the NHL in man-games lost in the 2021-22 season, setting an NHL record. Then, in the 2022-23 season, they broke that record to lead the NHL yet again in that category. Something had to change leading into the next season. But who gets the blame?
Related: Canadiens’ Injury Issues Need to Be Solved for Future Seasons
According to Tony Marinaro of the Sick Podcast and BPM Sports Radio, the Canadiens have relieved Graham Rynbend, the Head Athletic Therapist, and Donald Balmforth, the Head Physiotherapist, of their duties. These two have been with the organization for many years. At this point, it seems they are the first casualties of the medical staff review that general manager (GM) Kent Hughes and executive vice president (EVP) Jeff Gorton vowed to complete this summer.
Canadiens Review Staff
The Canadiens struggled this past season, finishing 28th in the NHL with a 31-45-6 record. While injuries leading to over 750-man games lost weren’t the only reason for their poor record, they did play a major part. Especially since several key players, such as Cole Caufield, Sean Monahan, Kirby Dach, and Brendan Gallagher, missed significant time.
This led to Hughes and Gorton vowing to review the issues surrounding these recurring injuries.
“We can have all the greatest plans in the world,” Hughes started, “but if we don’t find a way to improve what’s going on from a medical standpoint, we’ll never build a winner here.”
– Kent Hughes
These changes signal only the beginning, as they came following an extensive review of the Canadiens’ medical practices and how they handle injuries and their recoveries. This couldn’t be based solely on the last two seasons, either. There had to be a deeper dive, looking back several years.
They completed exit interviews of all the coaching staff and the players. After taking that information and following that with interviews of the entire medical and training staff, a decision was made, and these firings are likely only the beginning.
Canadiens Injury Concerns
There was no shortage of odd injury updates in 2022-23. While it may simply be a communication issue or the players not wanting their information shared, the injuries mentioned below and how they were followed up raised alarm bells among the fan base.
The first is Sean Monahan. He was a salary cap dump from the Calgary Flames, yet he arrived in Montreal looking to re-establish himself. He showed that he still had value, as he scored six goals and 17 points in 25 games. He had been playing well enough that Hughes had legitimate hope to be able to trade the final year of his contract in return for a first-round pick. Then came his return to Calgary, where he played on a broken foot. He performed well in that 2-1 victory, then played the next match against the Vancouver Canucks, where he aggravated his hip issues due to the need to modify his motion for his injured foot. That led to him missing the rest of the season and Hughes missing out on adding a significant asset at the trade deadline.
Next, Cole Caufield can be used as an example of the coordination between the physicians and training staff. Shoulders are a key area to target in training to optimize mobility, muscle control, and strength, especially for Caufield, whose elite shooting ability is affected by this. His shoulder injury occurred earlier in the season, yet he was allowed to continue to play. His injury was more acute, not overuse but one stemming from contact and an awkward fall.
Then there was Brendan Gallagher and his broken ankle. He had initially broken it blocking a shot on Nov 9 and sat out 13 games. After returning for a few games, he reinjured his ankle, missing the remainder of the season, limiting him to 37 games played.
Then there was the odd case of Kirby Dach. He was listed as dealing with a non-COVID illness, which morphed into a lower-body injury a week later. At the same time, Joel Edmundson was initially listed with a minor injury, but that turned into a setback that caused him to miss the month of February and not return until after the 2023 trade deadline, leaving Hughes with yet another highly valued veteran who he couldn’t trade for assets even if he wanted to. It seemed for a while that everyone was injured, even 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky. The numbers show that the Canadiens were injured far more often than any other team over several seasons. That had to lead to significant change.
The Canadiens Find Cause
After the interviews and research, management felt it was time to make changes. The question is, “Was it warranted?” Well, partially. It can be argued that players’ therapy in recovery wasn’t sufficient. This thought likely led the new regime to decide it was time to update the systems and personnel in the medical department. They have modernized the analytics and development departments by expanding the staff and incorporating the latest approaches. This review and these personnel changes should signal to the fans that they are following through on the medical side.
There will need to be a change in how they assess injuries. NHL players are notorious for wanting to be “warriors” and playing through the pain. Because of this, they hide their injuries or at least the severity of them. When a player continues to play injured, they can’t go out onto the ice without being medically cleared, so that indicates the medical staff may be next. It also points to the Canadiens having to do a better job of protecting the players from themselves when it comes to dealing with injuries.
For now, Blamforth and Rynbend are paying the price. These personnel moves are likely to be the first changes to that department as the Habs look to avoid breaking their man-games lost record for the third season in a row. It will be interesting to see what other changes will follow as Hughes and Gorton modernize the medical staff, using the misfortune of all the injuries as motivation to modernize and become leaders in the treatment of sports injuries.
