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The news came out yesterday that Ryan Kesler has had successful shoulder surgery. The injury was rumoured to have occurred in a game with the Red Wings, when Niklas Kronwall levelled Ryan Kesler with a hit along the boards. The projected time frame is six months. Get well soon Kes.
Now that date kind of makes sense. In the remaining 36 games Kesler wasn't really the Kesler we all know and love. In those 36 games, he put up seven goals, 10 assists, and was -3. Those aren't exactly Ryan Kesler type numbers, but what really confuses me is how the Vancouver organization handled the whole thing.
First, I have to wonder about the Canucks medical staff. Did they miss the injury? Did they not think it was that bad? I mean this wouldn't be the first time they missed something, just ask Cody. What happened with their diagnoses, and why did they not at least recommend/force Kesler to take a bit of a break? Or did they tell Kesler and the team that he needed a break and they just didn't listen?
This leads me to the coach, Alain Vigneault. Why was Kesler playing so much down the stretch in games that were pretty much meaningless? Was AV more concerned with the Presidents Trophy than he was with the Cup? 48 hours after the injury, Kesler was sent over the boards for more than 24 minutes in a meaningless game while he was banged up. The only thing I can say is WTF Vigneault, WTF. There were a couple of games where Kesler's ice-time was scaled back to 15-17 minutes, but for the most part, he was getting more ice-time than any forward, all while being at only 50 percent. That amount of playing couldn't have helped the injury.
Those types of stats make you wonder what was going through the coach's head. I get that Ryan Kesler doesn't ever want to take a break, but when you have a player that is hurt and it's a player that you know won't ever take his foot off the gas, you as a coach have to hold him back. It was AV's responsibility to have Ryan Kesler at as close to 100 percent come playoffs and I'm not sure he did that by running Kesler further and further into the ground.
Lastly, one has to question the Hodgson trade even more now. Now I'm not saying that Cody would have singlehandedly guided the Canucks past the Kings, to be honest, I'm not sure he would have made much of a difference. But, I saw Cody as sort of a plan "B" if Kesler got hurt, and Gillis just tossed that away on a project that played a grand total of 20 minutes (roughly) in the playoffs. To me that move was like dealing your backup quarterback when you know your starter may not be able to play. It just doesn't make sense.
Maybe Cody was just looking out for the team and Ryan Kesler when he started to ask for more ice-time. Cody has tried to play through injuries and knows that all that does is drive you further and further back. Maybe he went to Gillis after seeing Kesler at 50 percent and said, "Give me some of Ryan Kesler's minutes, the guy just isn't right, right now. You guys are killing him by playing him as much as you are."
One has to wonder what would have been so bad about resting Kesler and giving Cody a bit of experience. The Northwest Division was locked up at Christmas so what difference would have it really made playing Cody more? This team was getting a top three seed and I would have been good with that. My guess is that Gillis and AV were too proud to listen to a 21 year old kid and removed the "distraction" before the rest of the team started to catch on that maybe the kid had a point.
Well that's a wrap for today.
Stay classy Vancouver.
Ian
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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