Are Hockey players the toughest athletes of the top 4 Sports?

[Gompers]

I have been seeing some posts on Facebook comparing hockey players, and their injuries to other sports making basketball and baseball players especially, look like pansies. Football would be a close second, IMO, but hockey players are the toughest.

[laughedatbytime]

I have been seeing some posts on Facebook comparing hockey players, and their injuries to other sports making basketball and baseball players especially, look like pansies. Football would be a close second, IMO, but hockey players are the toughest.

Well, if you got rid of the wide receivers, it might be football, but I agree with you w/r/t hockey...

[Chicken hawk]

Definitely Hockey! Hope they get paid their high risk worth!

[alphseeker]

I agree they are toughest by far of the top 4 sports but i'm biased of course but would put cyclist right up there with them. And yeah they are probably all drugged up anyway and can't feel the pain but they are still damn tough - All these riders finished the race -

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/bauhaus92/john-2_zps958d8e72.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/bauhaus92/crash_zpsde4078e2.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/bauhaus92/000_par6395012tendam_600_zps61aeb95a.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/bauhaus92/32937_bike_crash_zps1c7e8a75.jpg

[Xanadoood]

You can't forget about Combat Sport participants. But of the mainstream 4 sports, yeah Hockey players I think edge out Football guys.

 

Rugby and Lacross guys are tough as well.

Edited June 18, 2013 by Xanadoood

[apetersvt]

I also think that hockey and football are pretty close. But, hockey players have to go through 82 games (plus preseason and playoffs) as opposed to the 16 (plus preseason and playoffs) for football.

 

NFL playoffs would be a max of 4 games. NHL could go to 28. So, the edge goes to hockey.

[invisibleairwaves]

Probably. But I'm not really convinced that it's a good thing for the sport.

[Rick N. Backer]

Gregory Campbell's leg gets broken when he blocks the shot.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h15m87WsCHQ

[ILSnwdog]

Hockey by a mile. It's not uncommon for players to finish a shift with broken bones (see Ricky's post above). I remember when Roenick to borded by Derian Hatcher. Roenick played a couple of more shifts before he decided to have his broken jaw looked at. In the 2010 playoffs, Ducan Keith took a puck to the mouth and lost 7 teeth. He tried to stay out and finish his shift. He said he had to come off because he was chocking on his teeth. He was back the next period after a few shots of novocaine. I've seen numerous players get sticked in the face or take a puck to the face, go off for "repairs" and come back and finish the game.

[laughedatbytime]

Hockey by a mile. It's not uncommon for players to finish a shift with broken bones (see Ricky's post above). I remember when Roenick to borded by Derian Hatcher. Roenick played a couple of more shifts before he decided to have his broken jaw looked at. In the 2010 playoffs, Ducan Keith took a puck to the mouth and lost 7 teeth. He tried to stay out and finish his shift. He said he had to come off because he was chocking on his teeth. He was back the next period after a few shots of novocaine. I've seen numerous players get sticked in the face or take a puck to the face, go off for "repairs" and come back and finish the game.

I've said hockey, but I don't think it's by a mile. If you look at the quality of life of players 25-30 years after they've left the game, and granted I'm much more familiar with football than hockey, the number of players with severe problems with their ability to walk or who have suffered horrible concussions is frightening. What's happened to Dave Duerson, Andre Waters, John Mackey, Junior Seau, and Earl Campbell, just to name a few, is extremely sobering.

 

Not saying there aren't examples in hockey (only that I'm not familiar with them) but that's a huge list.

Edited June 18, 2013 by laughedatbytime

[ILSnwdog]

Hockey by a mile. It's not uncommon for players to finish a shift with broken bones (see Ricky's post above). I remember when Roenick to borded by Derian Hatcher. Roenick played a couple of more shifts before he decided to have his broken jaw looked at. In the 2010 playoffs, Ducan Keith took a puck to the mouth and lost 7 teeth. He tried to stay out and finish his shift. He said he had to come off because he was chocking on his teeth. He was back the next period after a few shots of novocaine. I've seen numerous players get sticked in the face or take a puck to the face, go off for "repairs" and come back and finish the game.

I've said hockey, but I don't think it's by a mile. If you look at the quality of life of players 25-30 years after they've left the game, and granted I'm much more familiar with football than hockey, the number of players with severe problems with their ability to walk or who have suffered horrible concussions is frightening. What's happened to Dave Duerson, Andre Waters, John Mackey, Junior Seau, and Earl Campbell, just to name a few, is extremely sobering.

 

Not saying there aren't examples in hockey (only that I'm not familiar with them) but that's a huge list.

Probert was said to have died as a result of playing hockey. Some may argue it was more the effect of coke.

[laughedatbytime]

Hockey by a mile. It's not uncommon for players to finish a shift with broken bones (see Ricky's post above). I remember when Roenick to borded by Derian Hatcher. Roenick played a couple of more shifts before he decided to have his broken jaw looked at. In the 2010 playoffs, Ducan Keith took a puck to the mouth and lost 7 teeth. He tried to stay out and finish his shift. He said he had to come off because he was chocking on his teeth. He was back the next period after a few shots of novocaine. I've seen numerous players get sticked in the face or take a puck to the face, go off for "repairs" and come back and finish the game.

I've said hockey, but I don't think it's by a mile. If you look at the quality of life of players 25-30 years after they've left the game, and granted I'm much more familiar with football than hockey, the number of players with severe problems with their ability to walk or who have suffered horrible concussions is frightening. What's happened to Dave Duerson, Andre Waters, John Mackey, Junior Seau, and Earl Campbell, just to name a few, is extremely sobering.

 

Not saying there aren't examples in hockey (only that I'm not familiar with them) but that's a huge list.

Probert was said to have died as a result of playing hockey. Some may argue it was more the effect of coke.

There's also Bill Masterson of the early North Stars days, who died in a game, and Wayne Maki(?), who I believe was rendered quadriplegic as a result of a stick swinging incident (Teddy Green was the culprit?). But there have also been players paralyzed in the NFL (Mike Utley, and Everett from the Bills).

 

Then there's the enforcers like Derek Boogaard who have suffered multiple concussions from fights.

 

Both are brutal games, to be sure.

[Finding IT]

I've played wrestled and played football in High School. Rugby and College and Club Rugby thereafter, and had some boxing in my teens. However, nothing comes close to my experiences in MMA, both as a fighter and spectator. One in five pro MMA fighters has a medical suspension of at least 90 days following a fight. Imagine if we saw that in any other sport.

 

The most deadly sport (if you call it that) is pretty clearly auto racing.

[Finding IT]

I also think that hockey and football are pretty close. But, hockey players have to go through 82 games (plus preseason and playoffs) as opposed to the 16 (plus preseason and playoffs) for football.

 

NFL playoffs would be a max of 4 games. NHL could go to 28. So, the edge goes to hockey.

 

Of the four, I give the edge to hockey but I think football generally leaves greater life-impacting injuries than hockey. I would be very surprised to learn that the average hockey player experiences as much brain trauma as the average football player.

[invisibleairwaves]

I also think that hockey and football are pretty close. But, hockey players have to go through 82 games (plus preseason and playoffs) as opposed to the 16 (plus preseason and playoffs) for football.

 

NFL playoffs would be a max of 4 games. NHL could go to 28. So, the edge goes to hockey.

 

Of the four, I give the edge to hockey but I think football generally leaves greater life-impacting injuries than hockey. I would be very surprised to learn that the average hockey player experiences as much brain trauma as the average football player.

On average, my guess is that you're probably right. That said, I would be surprised if fighters in hockey are any less susceptible to brain trauma than football players. It's an absolutely brutal (and arguably unnecessary) aspect of the sport.

 

Of course, the consequences don't end with the concussions themselves or their after-effects. When players play through a painful injury, they're probably getting by with more than just grit. Painkillers are a huge issue, especially after Derek Boogaard's death, and the culture of "man up and play through it' probably isn't helping.