Trevor van Riemsdyk Added to a Growing NHL Injury List

Image from Blackhawks roster

Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk had to sit out of Sunday’s game against the Dallas Stars after taking a puck to the leg during the first period.

Stars defenseman Trevor Daley shot the puck at 6:18 of the first and it managed to be so bad that it made van Riemsdyk fall to the ground. Van Riemsdyk struggled as he skated by himself off the ice and disappeared into the dressing room. The Blackhawks announced that he would not be returning for the rest of the game right after the beginning of the second period.

This is definitely not the best of starts for the Blackhawks rookie. He has played in all 18 games of the season so far and has a zero-rating, one assist, and an average of 14:11 on the ice. He is also the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk.

Thankfully for the Blackhawks, the only other major injury besides van Riemsdyk is left wing Patrick Sharp who suffered a leg injury on Nov. 4 and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

Irony or not, with the season barely have started just a little over a month ago, the entire league’s injured list seems to be growing rapidly. Pittsburgh Penguins’ Olli Maatta had a tumor from his thyroid removed that was proved to be cancerous. The Anaheim Ducks have had some of their biggest players and even a goalie in and out of the list for weeks with things like the flu and upper body injuries. Los Angeles Kings’ hard hitter Alec Martinez will be undergoing surgery for his finger after last week’s game. San Jose Sharks’ Alex Stalock had minor knee surgery and the Bruins’ Matt Fraser was a little disoriented after his fight with Canadiens’ Nathan Beaulieu. That is just to name a few as the list grows daily.

Maybe it is just early season blues or just a bout of bad luck but at the rate this is going, who know how many things could happen by the end of the season. Even the playoffs had more injuries than most people knew about but this is just ridiculous. These injuries are even bringing some of the best teams around the nation and who really knows if they can be prevented or not. Is it just a case of overworking and too much ice time, sore losers that will do sneaky things to win or maybe just sheer coincidence that will have brighter days coming out soon? Either way, cross fingers and hope that favorite players and injured ones get well fast and stay that way through the rest of the long season ahead.