Perhaps, the definition of “injury prone” needs to be accompanied with a picture of Vancouver Canucks defenceman Sami Salo.

 

The 35-year-old from Finland expects to be out for at least three months due to an Achilles tendon tear. Of all things, he was injured playing floor ball in Finland. The Canucks confirmed the latest setback but also added, “There will be no further comment from the club or Salo at this time”. In other words, they are not amused. (Floor ball is a more skilled version of floor hockey). Salo has suffered “roughly” 35 injuries, which have kept him on the sidelines for over 200 games during his 11-year NHL career.

 

Although Salo played 68 games (the most since the 2003/04 season), during the 09/10 regular season there is a wide spectrum of reasons why he has missed so much action during his career. Salo has suffered injuries to his knees, shoulders, ankles, ribs, wrist, nose and even to his derriere. Internationally, during the 2006 Winter Olympics, Salo hurt his shoulder, colliding into a teammate during a line change.

 

There are also rumours that Salo was bitten by a snake while golfing in Finland and that he suffered a ruptured testicle after he was hit in the groin by a shot from Chicago’s Duncan Keith during game five of their 2010 playoff series. To his credit, he shook off the pain and returned to play game six.

 

In honor of Salo for his wounds, welts and woes, he would captain my NHL all injury prone all-star team that includes one goalie, two defencemen, and three forwards. The other five are (And the envelope please):

 

Carolina Panthers defenceman Joni Pitkanen: Can it be? Another player from Finland, but a younger version of Salo at just age 26. Pitkanen has undergone knee surgery as well as injuries to his hip, back, groin, and to his abdomen. He has also missed games due to wounds to the upper body and lower body. Pitkanen has been sidelined 81 man games due to injury over his six-year NHL career. He could be on pace to catch his fellow compatriot.

 

 

New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro: On September 12, 2006, DiPietro signed a 15-year, $67.5 million contract with the Islanders. Shortly after, he suffered concussions to start a string of injuries highlighted by surgery to fix a torn labrum in his hip in 2007 and knee surgeries that began in 2008. He has played just 13 games over the last two seasons. How is that for an investment on your money?

 

 

Minnesota Wild forward Martin Havlat: He has almost become an ironman in the last two seasons having missed just 10 games, however, in the three previous years; Havlat missed 135 games with Chicago and Ottawa. Like all on this illustrious list, Havlat has had many injuries in his career, most often in the form of groin strains. In addition, he has had an assortment of shoulder, elbow, hamstring, and concussion issues.

 

N.Y. Rangers forward Marian Gaborik: Let's get the calculator out. He missed six games last season with the Rangers. In his four previous years with the Minnesota Wild, Gaborik was sidelined 65 games in 08/09, five games in 07/08, 34 games in 06/07 and a mere 17 in 05/06. That is 125 games in five years. Those numbers certainly should make Salo proud. Gabby has had hip surgery and has been out with numerous knee, groin and the always-popular lower body and upper body injuries.

 

 

los angeles Kings forward Ryan Smyth: He is the lone Canadian on the team and holds a Team Canada record for most games played at 78. Smyth failed to add to that total this year after he suffered a fractured ankle in practice after only one game at the world hockey championship in Germany. This 34-year-old native of Banff has suffered injuries to nearly every part of his body including the foot, head, leg, ankle, and the neck. He missed 15 games last season with the Kings and 32 more in the previous two years with the Colorado Avalanche. Smyth also was sidelined 11 games in 06/07 with the Islanders and Oilers and 7 more with the Oilers in 05/06. Earlier in his Edmonton career, he missed 16 games in 02/03 and 21 more in 01/02.

With apologies to Tim Connolly of Buffalo, Pascal Leclaire of Ottawa and ex P.G. Cougars’ Sheldon Souray (Edmonton) and Blair Betts (Philadelphia) and several others worthy candidates, Salo who is joined by Pitkanen on defence, heads my NHL injury prone all-star line-up. Dipietro plays goal and Havlat, Gaborik, and Smyth provide the offence up front.

 

That is four Europeans, one American, and one proud Canadian. Can you put together a more proficient hard luck all-star team? The floor is yours, or should I say “FLOORBALL”.

 

Cowboys rookie Dez Bryant raised some eyebrows in camp by refusing to carry Roy Williams' shoulder pads. There hasn't been a stir like this over shoulder pads since Bill Clinton refused to carry Hillary's.

 

Tim Tebow has signed to become a Jockey spokesman. Don't know why--the only thing he'll be riding anytime soon will be the bench.

 

Robert McCune... a defensive end for the Calgary Stampeders... spent 4 years active duty in Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea and Kuwait...played NFL football with Washington, Baltimore and Cleveland... and originally looked at playing in the CFL for the Eskimos... but even he can’t get his wife to move to Edmonton.

CFL receivers seem to be dropping a lot of passes this season. Instead of keeping their eye on the ball the players seem to be looking on the field for loose change.

 

Alabama Coach Nick Saban has compared unscrupulous sports agents to “pimps”. To which pimps all across the country are demanding that Saban apologize to them.

 

Among this year's D-I football prospects: a defensive end at Hialeah (Fla.) American Senior High School named God's Power Offor.
Good luck completing a Hail Mary pass against those guys.
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sidelinechatter/

 

Kim Kardashian, who is dating Cowboys receiver Miles Austin, graces the cover of the latest Life & Style wearing only a revealing bikini. In football parlance, this would be considered a busted coverage.
www.Sportsdeke.com

 

When there was a bee problem at a Florida Marlins baseball game the other day, they called a bee removal company called 'I'll Bee There,'. If the toilets were backed up, would they have called 'Skip
To My Loo'?"
Len Berman of ThatsSports.com   

Odds on the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas? 50 to 1. Although realistically it's more likely someone will open an outdoor ice rink on the Strip in July.

France soccer coach Laurent Blanc will suspend all 23 players on the team for one game next match as punishment for their embarrassing performance last month. So that means in the next match, none of the team that traveled to South Africa will be playing. Which is different from the World Cup how?

 

I miss the World Cup so much, I decided to hang out at the pier and watch the fisherman haul in their fish just so I could see something flop.

A man who uses medical marijuana for cancer says Walmart fired him after a positive testing for the drug. Oh, he isn’t suing anyone; no, he wants to thank them.