The Myers Injury

Last night’s game was not ideal. In every sense of the word. But the reality with the playoffs that we have to keep in mind is 6-2 losses are the same as a 1-0 loss.

While the loss can be wiped out by simply winning on Tuesday night, the injury to Tyler Myers is an entirely different story.

A strange sequence of events brought us to this image. Most of the cameras at the game missed the actual moment when this freakish injury happened.

We put out this zoomed in video, according to what was put out by Sportsnet. It doesn’t show the whole sequence. I took some time to put together what I could, (admittedly only a part of one clip and then longer of the other)

When I saw the initial video clip I was incensed for Myers’ sake. It looks like a player (Foligno) who got into a bad position and then decided to take the shot at the back of Myers’ knee, sending him ankle first into the boards. Now seeing the second clip, I am not so sure.

Foligno goes to make a block on the shot from the point:

As the puck leaves the area, and there is no reason for Marcus to be down, he attempts to get up. Unfortunately for him (and Myers) his momentum carries him into Myers:

Then the next camera angle kicks in and as Foligno goes to get up/disengage with Myers, he falls again:

This is where the real point of contention comes in as your “natural” response to falling is to put your hands downwards and brace yourself. Instead, Marcus’ hand and arm carry through the back of Tyler’s knee:

In my opinion, the issue comes down to, do you think Marcus was bracing himself with his left arm, causing his right arm to swing in a pendulum motion. Or is this a dirty play with the intent to injure.

I know stills of the incident don’t tell the whole story. So please take some time to watch the full video I provided of what is available to us. You decide. Let me know in the comments below. Was it dirty, or a freak accident?

The department of player safety has weighed in, according to Dreger: