Lidstrom returns to playoffs after testicle surgery!

Will Carroll was marveling on Baseball Prospectus about a player who had just undergone an appendectomy and was only scheduled to miss the minimum 15 days on the DL. I give you Jonathan Ericsson of the Red Wings - had his appendix removed on May 27, and scored a goal in the Stanley Cup finals on May 31.

 

And, of course, it's a contact sport.

 

Not that the Chicken Swede myth needed to be busted any further, but ...

 

Hockey players are dirt tough, no doubt about it.

The one thing that never made sense to me is guys diving in front of pucks to block shots and breaking body parts in the process. Is blocking one shot really worth missing weeks with a broken whatever? It seems that discretion is the better part of valor.

 

If you block shots properly you'll seldom get seriously hurt.

 

Try sitting in a dressing room after bailing out on blocking a shot.

 

None of this would have happened had Crosby simply shook Lidstrom's hand.

 

The Penguins wouldn't have won the series with the Capitals or the Red Wings without selling out to block the shots. So yes, this Pens fan would argue that it is worth it to them.

 

Boooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!