San Jose Sharks Injury List Includes Marleau, Pavelski, Others
By Eric He
No one will use this as an excuse, but the San Jose Sharks had several key players fighting through mild to severe injuries during the playoffs, which ended in a disappointing Game 7 loss to the Kings after the Sharks had won the series’ first three games.
GM Doug Wilson updated the injury report during a conference call with reporters on Thursday, and Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area compiled a list:
- Jason Demers – fractured foot
- Brent Burns – torn thumb ligament
- Tomas Hertl – right knee “wasn’t all the way back” from original injury
- Patrick Marleau – torn wrist ligament, oblique tear
- Joe Pavelski – torn labrum in shoulder (has since had surgery)
- Raffi Torres – had knee injected to play in the playoffs, underwent postseason “cleanup procedure”
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic – upper body injury, knee injury
We knew about the injuries to Hertl, Torres, and Vlasic, but the injures Demers, Burns, Marleau, and Pavelski were not disclosed. Anything that is “torn” or “fractured” obviously is cause for concern, and that’s what all four of them were dealing with throughout the postseason and possibly even during the regular season.
Still, injuries shouldn’t be used as an excuse for the postseason debacle. The Kings, like the Sharks, probably had a number of players “hiding” their injuries as well.