Adrian Dater
Nobody has actually told me this, so this is my own hunch here. Well, maybe a slightly informed hunch: I think Nazem Kadri will play in the Stanley Cup Final for the Colorado Avalanche against Tampa Bay. I don’t think no stinkin’ broken thumb is going to keep him out of the biggest event in hockey, playing for the Stanley Cup. He’s waited his whole life for this, and a bad thumb is going to keep him out? I don’t see it.
The question: can Nazem Kadri still be an effective player with a thumb that doesn’t work great and hurts a lot?
I’ve talked to a couple of doctors who have worked regularly with hockey players before and they both say “yes”, to an extent. He’d likely play with a soft cast over the thumb, they said, and likely have plenty of painkiller injected in there. He’s going to feel like he’s playing with only four fingers at times, they said, but plenty of players have done it.
Jack Eichel, for instance, played the final six weeks of Vegas’ season with a broken thumb. He did not have surgery on the thumb, however. Eichel wasn’t a world-beater in those six weeks, but he still scored some goals.
And, playing with a broken thumb after surgery is the harder deal apparently. I got this off a site called Crossicehockey, on a story about hockey injuries, this one about thumbs:
Surgical Treatment
If the ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb is completely torn, surgery may be needed to regain normal movement. Surgery involves reconnecting the ligament to the bone. When the ligament tears away from the bone, sometimes fragments of bone are pulled away with it. If this is the case, during surgery the bone fragments may be removed or put back into the correct position and fixed with a pin or screw.
After surgery, a short arm cast or a splint will be necessary for 6 to 8 weeks to protect the thumb ligament while it heals
Six to eight weeks. Well, in Kadri’s case, he’s going to have to try and play in 11 days post-surgery, or close to it. Can he do it? I have no doubt he can and will want to try. Maybe a doctor will just tell him ‘no’, but, again, I’ve talked to a couple of them and they said this can be done with the right care.
Of course, there would be risk in this. You don’t think a player with the Lightning won’t try to give Kadri a good whack on that thumb with a stick? As my grandma used to say, “Poor naive child.” This is hockey. This is the Stanley Cup. It’ll come down to Kadri’s ability to protect that thumb, and what kind of pain tolerance he can stand.
Kadri is one tough guy, though. If anybody can do this, he can. He would join a long list of hockey players that have played playoff games despite some gruesome injuries. Bobby Baun played a Cup Final game for Toronto on a broken leg in 1964. Jeremy Roenick played with a fully fractured jaw for a playoff game for Phoenix. Also, with a broken thumb in that game!
After every team’s season is over, you get the rundown of guys who played hurt. Some Edmonton guys played with some pretty serious injuries the last round, including Leon Draisaitl with a high ankle sprain. Hockey guys are tough guys.
That’s why I think Kadri will play, and so will Andrew Cogliano – the one-time NHL iron man. Again, maybe a doctor will say no, or maybe the limitations from their injuries will just prove too much to play with. But I’ll bet they play.