One of the main reasons NHL teams opposed player participation in the Olympics was the concern over injuries that could be avoided. That fear has come to fruition for the Los Angeles Kings. Toward the end of today’s game between Canada and Switzerland, Kevin Fiala had to be stretchered off the ice due to an apparent leg or knee injury.
As mentioned, the injury happened with approximately three minutes left in the game. Fiala absorbed a hit from Tom Wilson and was in immediate pain on the ice. Although the hit was leveled, the incident causing the injury seemed accidental, and more like a freak play. According to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic, after the game, Wilson said, “It’s the Olympic Games and I feel terrible that he may not be able to keep playing. Just sending his family and him my best. You never want to see a guy go down, in a tournament like this, especially.”
Still, accident or not, it doesn’t make the situation any easier for the Kings. Fiala is the team’s second-highest scorer with 18 goals and 40 points in 56 games while averaging over 19 minutes of ice time per game.
Considering how starved Los Angeles is for offense, it’s a worst-case scenario. The team recently acquired high-scoring Artemi Panarin before the Olympic break, but that didn’t relieve all of the team’s goal-scoring woes. No, the Kings haven’t yet played with Panarin on the ice, but losing a player with Fiala’s goal-scoring capabilities will objectively make it more difficult for them to put the puck in the net.
There haven’t been many updates regarding Fiala’s immediate status. Arpon Basu of The Athletic reported that Fiala has been taken to a local hospital, and there are concerns that the injury could be season-ending. If that’s the case, the Kings’ uphill climb toward playoff contention just became remarkably more difficult.
Great statement by Tom Wilson, The Olympics are a useless, And meaningless exhibition, And It’s a terrible idea to shutdown the NHL during the season. Just wait until a major star (Connor McDavid) misses the remainder of the NHL season, Then the decision making clowns may finally get it.
So if you were given the opportunity to represent your country in whatever it is youre good at (assuming there is something), you’d balk at the honor of it and tell everyone its meaningless?
Somehow I doubt that.
And yet tom Wilson is there by choice. All of these players choose to play.
And Fiala is not a main star come on all guys on NHL teams are stars and there for a reason. Like I say Olympics are for amateurs not pros
That’s not the point being made by OP.
What happens when a star player goes down. There’s insurance for this I assure you.
No hockey fan is going to clamour for no more Olympic Hockey. Ever. You should try watching the games before calling the Olympics for amateurs. This is the best of the best. Minus a few countries…
Guys get hurt in NHL games, and that’s what Fiala would be doing if he wasn’t in Milan.
As for a meaningless exhibition, that’s true of the NHL or any other sporting event if you really think about it. What does any of it matter?
Yes. I have always been opposed to NHLers going to the Olympics.
I wouldn’t even bother with Wilf, seacap. He is and always has been a vapid troll that offers nothing to a discussion.
That said, your take is spot-on. Olympic participation is an incredible, one-of-a-kind opportunity, but hockey is hockey. Injuries will happen regardless of where you play, because it is a high-impact, high-intensity game. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be the sport that it is today.
Wilf’s argument is as shortsighted and misinformed as one can be. I should be careful though, he might take that as a challenge to do even worse.
If trolling were an Olympic event he’d be there in a heartbeat
I can see both sides of the argument, but the truth is everyone involved wants this to happen; it sure is not a ‘meaningless exhibition’ to the players who are desperate to be involved, and no one is forcing anyone to do it. Just because something unfortunate happened doesn’t mean we have to immediately start casting blame and pointing fingers, it is what it is! (And this is coming from a Kings fan who is pretty bummed about the whole thing!)
Wishing him the best. Never want to see a guy go down with injury.
Kings season is over because we needed to see Canada roll a team with no chance. 4 nations is fine. Ridiculous for the NHL to pause their season for this junk
The Kings were already up against it as far as making this season matter, this sure isn’t gonna help. The worst thing about it is if they use this as an excuse for any failure on Hiller’s part; it’s so painfully obvious to everyone he doesn’t have it as a coach!
Theses takes are absurd. The Olympics is far more important than 1 of an infinite number of NHL seasons. The players wanted to play in the Olympics. Thats why they are there.
Holland and Hughes discussing Laine trade.
As a monster kings fan. I’m mixed on this. The guy can score no doubt but cannot play defense and takes so many stupid penalty’s. He has had this issue his entire career. Plus let’s face it. He has not had the best season
If. There is a silver lining. The Kings have tons of space and capital to go get help