W5: The high cost of painkiller abuse in professional hockey -- featuring Ryan Kesler, Kyle Quincey, and Zenon Kenopka

[GoCanucks16]

 

This is a great watch. We see players getting bruised every night there's a game on, but what's little talked about is how they manage the pain and the long-term health consequences of what they're prescribed for it.

 

Some points of interest:

 

Quincey alleges that the Grand Rapid Griffins training staff would receive bonuses based on games played and so were unwilling to order an MRI for Quincey when he had back and leg pain that turned out to be resultant of a herniated disc. He also says that no warning was given to him about the negative health consequences that could result from his taking the drugs he was prescribed by team doctors to manage his pain.

 

Kesler developed Chron's very likely as a result of the anti-inflammatory drugs he was on. He describes his pain as pretty much debilitating and says his quality of life is not where he wants it to be. He can't play with his kids without paying for it the next day.

[Dekey Pete]

That's a tough watch.  Really feel for Kesler.

[Green Building]

Saw this awhile ago. It's a must watch for hockey fans. Opiods may be gone from the game, but they've just been replaced with other drugs.  

 

I was prescribed Toradol for some mouth surgery and the both the surgeon and pharmacist (mostly the pharmacist cause that's his job) were careful to explain how risky it is to take. I took it for half the prescribed time because of the warnings. To think that people are getting pills and shots of this stuff every game for years is insane when it's not suggested to take for more than 5 days straight. Imagine going up to your team doctor and getting none of this info before he hands you the stuff.  

 

Don't ask don't tell. 

[hlinkas wrister]

Professional athletes are nothing more than high priced horse flesh to these organizations. Remember that the next time you feel like complaining when they exercise their contractual rights.

[Phil_314]

1 hour ago, GoCanucks16 said:

Quincey alleges that the Grand Rapid Griffins training staff would receive bonuses based on games played and so were unwilling to order an MRI for Quincey when he had back and leg pain that turned out to be resultant of a herniated disc. He also says that no warning was given to him about the negative health consequences that could result from his taking the drugs he was prescribed by team doctors to manage his pain.

 

Kesler developed Chron's very likely as a result of the anti-inflammatory drugs he was on. He describes his pain as pretty much debilitating and says his quality of life is not where he wants it to be. He can't play with his kids without paying for it the next day.

Yikes, thanks for sharing, sure sheds light on the dark side of sports.  After taxes, agent fees and the severe toll these injuries and aches take on the body, can only imagine what it's really like to be one of these guys when their playing days are done, their body is battered and (if they didn't invest their earnings correctly or stay healthy) they'd be footing their own exorbitant medical expenses with what's left of their earnings.   

[KoreanHockeyFan]

This makes you think twice when you start criticizing a player because he's "injury prone" or when you cheer on someone because he's an absolute "warrior." 

[FaninMex]

Thanks for sharing. The really ugly side of sports. 

[King Heffy]

1 hour ago, Dekey Pete said:

That's a tough watch.  Really feel for Kesler.

Should be shown to anyone who still is butthurt about how he left.  Most of what he's going through now is a direct result of how much of a warrior he was for us in the playoffs.

[KoreanHockeyFan]

That last bit from Kesler when he talked about his kids really made my heart sink - hope the NHL gets their heads around this soon.

[Elias Pettersson]

Wow.  Heartbreaking.  And to imagine the NFL is 10 times worse than hockey. 

 

I guess it's easy for us to criticize when these players don't go into the corners or the front of the net, or throw body checks or get into fights.  They know what will happen to their bodies if they do that, whereas we simply cheer them on or boo them off the ice if they don't get physical.  I'm sure Virtanen changed his game because of this.  It was weird to see him so physical when he first came out and now he is a shell of that former player.  Who knows how much of these drugs he had to take in order to be such a physical player every game.  Maybe he just had enough.  Can't really blame him now.  The game is much less physical that it used to be.  I am sure the players have woken up and are trying to save their future lives.

[4petesake]

This is probably as big of an issue as concussions. What happens to these athletes when they leave their sports sometimes addicted to prescription painkillers? Prescribed drugs are the true gateway drug.

[Nuxfanabroad]

As a fan(to be honest), I don't really feel complicit. For three decades now(since my young 20's) I've been b*tching about how this league has been run. Absolutely knew horrible trubs were in store, the minute I laid eyes on that weasel Bettman.

 

So I won't view this vid.

 

What happened to great young men like Ryp is enough for any fan(who's paying attn), to understand the league went to shyte. I'm of the opinion today that almost all pro sport is rigged(to varying degrees). This is the only one left that still gets some of my precious time.

[TNucks1]

thought this was a tsn special? 

[Coconuts]

4 hours ago, hlinkas wrister said:

Professional athletes are nothing more than high priced horse flesh to these organizations. Remember that the next time you feel like complaining when they exercise their contractual rights.

Absolutely. That's exactly what they are. 

 

They've gotta look out for their futures in every contract negotiation and CBA disagreement, nobody else will. And it's so much easier to paint them out as bad guys when they delay things. 

3 hours ago, KoreanHockeyFan said:

This makes you think twice when you start criticizing a player because he's "injury prone" or when you cheer on someone because he's an absolute "warrior." 

Definitely. The reality is the average hockey fan wouldn't be able to handle the physicality that comes with taking body checks at high speed regularly, let alone blocking shots from guys like Chara and Weber. It's easy as fans to sit our asses down on our couch and bitch about this player being soft, not throwing his body around, not blocking a shot, ect. Yeah, it's entertainment and they're paid handsomely to play a sport, but they're flesh and blood like us. 

5 hours ago, Dekey Pete said:

That's a tough watch.  Really feel for Kesler.

Absolutely, dude worked his ass off to fulfill his hockey dreams and now his quality of life post-hockey isn't what you'd expect from a millionaire former athlete. It's tragic really, he gets a bad rap for how he left, but he really gave everything he had. We as fans don't know the half of it. 

[4petesake]

38 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

 

They've gotta look out for their futures in every contract negotiation and CBA disagreement, nobody else will. And it's so much easier to paint them out as bad guys when they delay things. 

Definitely. The reality is the average hockey fan wouldn't be able to handle the physicality that comes with taking body checks at high speed regularly, let alone blocking shots from guys like Chara and Weber. It's easy as fans to sit our asses down on our couch and bitch about this player being soft, not throwing his body around, not blocking a shot, ect. Yeah, it's entertainment and they're paid handsomely to play a sport, but they're flesh and blood like us. 

Absolutely, dude worked his ass off to fulfill his hockey dreams and now his quality of life post-hockey isn't what you'd expect from a millionaire former athlete. It's tragic really, he gets a bad rap for how he left, but he really gave everything he had. We as fans don't know the half of it. 

Players have every right (and obligation) to look after themselves and their families when negotiating contrasts. As fans we tend to get our knickers in a knot when they leave and that is fair enough too. After all as true fans we are tied to our teams and don’t get the luxury of changing teams. You don’t have to cheer for them when they play against you but if you loved and respected them here that shouldn’t change when they’re gone.

[iinatcc]

It make me wonder if the NHL would consider shortening the regular season permanently. Perhaps reducing it to 60 to 62 games ?

[McBackup]

Say what you want about Kes, he was an absolute warrior for us. This exemplifies it even further. Sad that there some out there who still boo him.

[canuktravella]

 ya the league and greedy teams are so complicite in this. I feel bad for kes  hope he   is ok in time. cbd  is great for pain and  naturpathic methods  in healing  including pressure point massage and  herbs definately is the way to go over this  pain pill popping.

[Maginator]

8 hours ago, iinatcc said:

It make me wonder if the NHL would consider shortening the regular season permanently. Perhaps reducing it to 60 to 62 games ?

I would love that.

 

I think 82 games is too much to watch anyways as a fan..

 

Also, around the 30-45 game mark the players somewhat dog it. The compete level is nowhere near how it is during playoffs.

 

But the loss in revenue would never fly. Sadly, if they could expand the schedule, they would.

[Lancaster]

Unfortunately, it's the culture of hockey (national identity) that promotes sacrificing everything to win.  

I remember when Kesler broke his finger during the 2007 playoffs, he was partially begging for the trainers to cut it off as healing the finger would takes months whereas a removed finger would be significantly shorter.  Had he somehow went through with it, he would have regretted it later in life.

 

Also, how often have fans casually referred to a player as being a "soft", especially if they're European or whatever.... maybe the European system doesn't want players to be destroyed physically after the game?

 

How often is it "Canadian/American pride" when a player throws his body to block a puck, to take a hit to make a play, to tough it out?  Not saying European players doesn't do the same too, but it has almost become a cultural identity for Canadians.