still i ask... broken, not broken, torn or otherwise... what IS known is that Kopitar is having surgery tomorrow. that means he almost certainly will not be back this season.
who was first, who was more correct, whatever... it doesn't matter. no configuration of the apparent injury is likely to mitigate his career all that much. in other words, barring any unforeseen and unfortunate complications like some horrible infection to the point of amputation, he should make a full recovery.
I'm sorry if my questions was so disturbing to you. The thing was that I wanted just that Kopitars chances for quick and uncomplicated healing to be as high as possible not trying to throw **** on anyone or calling anybody out..just wanted to find out more about his injury since it is my biggest interest right now.
Longer interview with Kopi. Basically the most interesting part of it is his explanation what caused it... bad ice. He says there was a hole in the ice and his skate got stuck there. $%@~# !!!
Longer interview with Kopi. Basically the most interesting part of it is his explanation what caused it... bad ice. He says there was a hole in the ice and his skate got stuck there. $%@~# !!!
Edit: "6-8 weeks" is mentioned also.
Also wanted to post this. Kopitar himself confirm, that he broke his fibula (actualy he said, he broke his leg, but in Slovenian language this can have general meaning, when you break any bone in your leg) and the cause was a hole in the ice where he stuck his skate and couldn't move his leg, when he was falling.
A number of weeks ago, I took my 6YO little girl to a Kings game. We went early so we could catch the warm ups at ice level. She brought along a little hand made sign that said "I love Kopitar #11" and help it up all during warm ups, hoping Kopitar would flip a puck over to her. Didn't happen, she was so disappointed.
So I called in a favor with someone who's "connected". He told me to send a copy of the above pic and he'd see what he could do. A couple of weeks later we received a package that contained a bunch of Kings stuff, a signed Kopitar game puck and the picture above signed to her by Kopitar. It was awesome.
She was pretty sad when she saw Kopitar get hurt....about 10 minutes ago my wife texted this pic of a get well card she made for Kopitar. I'll mail it out to my guy tomorrow.....
That is a cool story and what a nice kid to boot. The return is also not unexpected when you consider the character that Kopitar shows off the ice or most any of the players do really.
That is a cool story and what a nice kid to boot. The return is also not unexpected when you consider the character that Kopitar shows off the ice or most any of the players do really.
I'd add the organization on the whole to that as well - the person who made it happen is a Kings employee as well.....
"Warm weather, Clippers game the night before and the rush to get the set up right and there you go".
I don't blame our ice crew as much as I do several other things. I had asked a few questions of Tim L while the Staples Center was being built regarding a concern of mine on how well the building would be able to maintain a temperature that would be conducive to remaining in line with NHL standards game ready condition and he assured everyone present at the time that the building was designed specifically to do so.
I asked around and everyone agreed that the building itself was designed with the sheet in mind and that it was state of the art in that area at the time.
Then I asked about the type and quantity of compressors as well as all the additional equip and was satisfied by the steps that had been taken to maintain the sheet to a high standard.
During a walk through of what was then called HealthSouth about two months before it was open to the public I spent a couple of hours with one of the lead engineers responsible for determining all of he requirements to maintain the two sheets of ice and was blown away by how many factors went into the design.
Remember that todays *ice* isn't simple frozen water and getting that chemical mix perfect is both a science and an art and while our ice sheet at the Staples Center has been deemed as average to good by certain league officials that it is actually a small miracle that the quality is as good as it is.
The people responsible for maintaining our sheet has done a good enough job to where they have been allowed to do so since 2004 in a very highly competitive field.
Everything seems to be perfect right?
I don't know.
I would question two things and remember that these are questions, I am not saying that anyone has done anything other than the absolute best possible job at the very highest level possible in every aspect of providing the team with the best possible sheet of ice to play on night in and night out.
My first question would be regarding the compressors and all ancillary equipment and their ability to work with the increasingly intricate mixes of materials that make up our sheet of "ice".
My second question would be the amount of time that it takes for these exotic materials to set up perfectly for the best possible ice surface.
The Oilers Ryan Jones said in an Edmonton Journal article this january "You can deal with hard ice that chips. It doesn't slow you down too much. Anaheim and L.A.? It's so humid and hot, the ice just gets soft."
Soft ice has been considered to be the single most dangerous element to ice skaters forever and the comment made by Jones is one that we have heard before.
I wouldn't consider Jones an expert on what it takes to make the perfect ice surface though you have to at least consider his opinion.
I spoke with an official at Beck Arena Products inc. about the new and synthetic materials used in making todays NHL ice rink and was told that it all depends on the specific mix that each sheet of ice is comprised of but he did say that in warmer climates the expense of maintaining a sheet of ice to a very high standard would be exceptionally expensive.
He went on to say that while it is all up to each individual arena, how hard they want the ice surface and how much set up time that they have and need.
He told me that it is possible to mix a synthetic (what he refers to as a standard) sheet of ice in a few hours that would be considered a very high quality sheet. I asked him if it would be up to NHL standards and he told me it depended on how much money I had to spend.
In the end he told me to take a look at the ice quality of this years NHL outdoor games. No expenses were spared in the building of those sheets of ice and yet they had their problems due to the variables caused by the weather. He then said pretty much the same thing that Ryan Jones said about the ice in Los Angeles and Anaheim "humidity and hot weather plays havoc on an arena's ability to keep the ice hard".
I asked several more people both players and a couple of other people involved with ice maintenance and all of them pretty much said the same thing in that the ice is only going to be as good as the arena it is in, the people responsible for keeping it, the equipment that is used and the weather outside the building.
So where does the blame rest?
To me it seems to be one of those cases where there is enough to go around for everyone.
The people who schedule a ridiculous Clipper game the night before the Kings play get me riled but really, most every arena runs a similar schedule so they aren't to blame.
Our ice maintenance crew do the best job possible but can only work with what they have and from what I have heard do an exceptional job.
The building was built to state of the art standards and the Kings where given every consideration in its design.
In the end do you blame the weather? Was it particularly warm when Kopi got injured and if so, should we place the blame there?
I don't have any concrete answers but I can say that this is how it goes in today's mega arena world.
We want the best for the Kings. Laker and Clipper fans want the best for them and so on and so on.
If you ask the blackhawks why they think that they had so many hip injuries some might tell you that their ice was really bad and the same thing was being said in Edmonton, once thought to be the greatest ice on earth they blamed their run of ankle injuries on their dated compressors.
Its the same all over.
Last edited by Tonellisghost: 03-29-2011 at 06:06 PM.
When Tim Leiweke was pitching Staples Center to Kings fans before it was built, one of the primary selling points was that the Kings would finally have their own building and that they would ALWAYS have first priority.
When Tim Leiweke was pitching Staples Center to Kings fans before it was built, one of the primary selling points was that the Kings would finally have their own building and that they would ALWAYS have first priority.
So much for that....
I took part in the design/construction of Staples and can tell you from first-hand experience that the Lakers were priority #1 and the Kings #2. Clippers were an afterthought. Can you really blame them however since most of us would agree the Lakers are the marquee tenant?
Put it this way, NBBJ was the architect for the entire facility, but when it came to the Laker "areas", they brought their own architect on board to "consult" with NBBJ.
I can't say any of this really affected the ice surface to the point that it caused Kopitar's injury. If his skate got caught in a hole, who's to say it's not a hole that could have occurred on any NHL sheet? Sharp skates are going to get caught up on ice no matter what happens if all the stars align right (or wrong, as the case may be).
Injuries happen in hockey. Nearly 450 games have been played there since 1999, and this is the first time (that I know of) that an injury has even focused attention on the ice.
I took part in the design/construction of Staples and can tell you from first-hand experience that the Lakers were priority #1 and the Kings #2. Clippers were an afterthought. Can you really blame them however since most of us would agree the Lakers are the marquee tenant?
Put it this way, NBBJ was the architect for the entire facility, but when it came to the Laker "areas", they brought their own architect on board to "consult" with NBBJ.
I can't say any of this really affected the ice surface to the point that it caused Kopitar's injury. If his skate got caught in a hole, who's to say it's not a hole that could have occurred on any NHL sheet? Sharp skates are going to get caught up on ice no matter what happens if all the stars align right (or wrong, as the case may be).
Injuries happen in hockey. Nearly 450 games have been played there since 1999, and this is the first time (that I know of) that an injury has even focused attention on the ice.
Going off of memory here, but wasn't the Parise injury the result of a collision and then an awkward turn of the leg, possibly frum a deep rut?
First thing I thought of when I saw the Kopitar replay when I got home from the game was "bad ice". You're correct though that this bad ice--as it relates to injuries anyways--hasn't been brought up often, if at all, since the move to Staples. Quality of play has come under question, but nobody has trashed the quality of the ice for leading to injuries.
It just seems to me that you'd want to give the team you own the best possible conditions to win. Staples Center is one of the few venues that is home to 3 teams in the same season - then they book major events for large blocks of time during the season. Obviously it doesn't affect basketball nearly as much as hockey - hardwood is hardwood.
We'll never know if it makes a difference in the end, but it's sad when you lose your best player to an injury apparently caused by conditions that could have been avoided.
The temperature inside Staples needs to be dropped minimum 10 degrees on game days. If fans can wear shorts to the game and be comfortable-it's too warm inside!
It just seems to me that you'd want to give the team you own the best possible conditions to win. Staples Center is one of the few venues that is home to 3 teams in the same season - then they book major events for large blocks of time during the season. Obviously it doesn't affect basketball nearly as much as hockey - hardwood is hardwood.
We'll never know if it makes a difference in the end, but it's sad when you lose your best player to an injury apparently caused by conditions that could have been avoided.
How do you figure it could've been avoided? not scheduling event the way they do isn't an option.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cutty Sarkn3ss
He died
Might as well have. Since everybody here has to blame something.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SLang
I take it to mean the 2011/12 season? Are you thinking something like Nov. 2012?
Same here. So why not say "done for the season"?
EDIT: Thanks Tony.
Last edited by KopitarFAN: 03-29-2011 at 08:22 PM.
Reason: merged posts
He says there was a hole in the ice and his skate got stuck there. $%@~# !!!
