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Hanzal: It Hurts When You’re Hurt…

By William Grigsby

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It’s been a familiar storyline… “No. 11, Martin Hanzal is injured, and will will not play tonight.”

I’m not a big Hanzal fan, and in fact have commented on sites like this stating that he’s injured far too often. I don’t have enough info to know if it’s an issue of Hanzal’s conditioning regimen, or if he’s naturally delicate… or what. All I know is he has played 460 NHL games, including the 4 this season, and has missed 87 games due to injuries/suspension. That comes in at a 18.9% ratio that he is not on the ice helping his teammates win games.

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I certainly wish I could be gone from work for 18.9% of the time, which for most folks would come out to about 47 work days, or about two MONTHS with pay.

Now, I’m NOT an NHL player, but if you check most of the other players who have been in the league for seven years like Hanzal, you can see my point has validity. Other centers smaller than him aren’t injured as frequently. Hanzal’s response is simple as stated in an article by Sarah McLellan, AZCentral Sports April 17, 2014: “I think it’s the style of the game I play because I’m trying to be physical,” Hanzal said. “I’m trying to get energy for the team. That’s what happens.”

Oct 15, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Martin Hanzal (11) passes the puck while falling to the ice while facing off against Edmonton Oilers center Boyd Gordon (27) during the third period at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Sorry Marty, but that sounds about as plausible as Mikkel Boedker saying something like: ” I skate really fast, so collisions happen, and that’s why I get hurt.”

Besides, sometimes Hanzal gets carried away with his physical play, and it costs him a suspension- thus, he misses even more games. Or, worse yet, he takes stupid penalties which disable his team when they need him. He needs to play smarter, and use his size to his advantage.

Some try to justify that Hanzal is a defensive tool to be used against big forwards such as Joe Thorton. I could agree… if his plus/minus numbers spoke to that point.

Frankly a -2 over his career doesn’t convince me that he is a defensive superhero… to the contrary, it sort of speaks in contradiction to that effect. If he picked up his offensive game and scored more, his plus/minus numbers would improve- but you can’t base a player’s talent off of ‘what he could be doing’.

Marty needs to take some lessons on how to screen the goalie out as well. Look at Shane Doan; he does an excellent job, and he’s smaller and a right wing. Hanzal should be in there blocking the goalie’s view and getting rebounds or deflections whenever possible. I remember when we had Ed Jovanowski (6’3″, 220)  playing for the Yotes, and they put him in front of the goalie to screen him, and it paid off.

I’ve tried to be patient with Hanzal, and have hoped year after year that he will produce better for the salary he gets paid. So far, nothing has changed my mind that he will either stay healthier, or produce enough to keep him. I think this needs to change, or the team needs to start looking for another consistent top six center- because rotating in bottom six players to compensate won’t push a team into the post-season.

[PLEASE REMOVE THE SOAPBOX NOW…]

Next: Czech yourself before you wreck yourself, Hanzal nets a hatty in 5-0 win

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