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In Hainsight: Taking Steps to Sort out the Injury Woes |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Every team in the NHL is now in off-season mode after the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in five games against the Florida Panthers. The resemblance with the 2021 playoffs is uncanny, the Panthers were the underdogs who were carried by a goaltender at the top of his game who ran out of gas in the final. Thankfully for them though, the run won’t have cost their goalie’s and top defenseman’s careers (at least I don’t think so). The Knights win also means that the Canadiens’ 2nd first-round pick will be the 31st.
Speaking of injuries, Tony Marinaro revealed on his Sick Podcast last night that the Canadiens had made a couple of significant personnel moves showing the door to Donald Balmford, the Habs’ chief physiotherapist, and Graham Rynbend, the chief athletic therapist. Last season, the Canadiens lead the league in man-games lost to injury with 751, shattering the league record of 720 man-games lost which they had set the previous year.
Of course, hockey players being what they are, oftentimes they are economical with the truth when it comes to their injuries, but that alone cannot explain how the team has been hit so hard with health issues. Balmford had just completed his second season with the team while Rynbend had been with the Sainte-Flanelle for 19 years. At the end of the year, the Habs brass said they would have to do a better job of protecting players from themselves, and this is a first step towards this.
Chantal Machabée confirmed that both men had been let go and added that the team wouldn’t be making an official statement on the matter. It remains to be seen if the Canadiens will make any other personnel changes in their health department, but so far Dr. David S. Mulder is still the head team physician.
Meanwhile, former Canadiens’ legend Patrick Roy and Jacques Tanguay held a press conference yesterday where they announced that they were both leaving the Quebec Remparts having accomplished everything they had set out to do. Roy was asked if any NHL team had approached him for a coaching job and he said that contrary to rumors, not a single team had reached out to him. That being said, former Habs minority owner and Senators new owner Michael Andlauer once interviewed Roy to become the Canadiens’ bench boss, if he decides that Ottawa needs a new voice and gives D.J. Smith is marching order, perhaps he could give Roy a call.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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