Matthew Lombardi update/information thread

[cw]

The NFL star and the brain injuries that destroyed him (not necessarily 'fair' to compare football concussions to hockey but for some gruesome insight ..)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/19/nfl-star-brain-injuries-destroyed?INTCMP=SRCH

Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy
Academic Articles
http://www.bu.edu/cste/our-research/academic-articles/

Sports Legacy Institute
http://www.sportslegacy.org/index.php/cte-and-concussions/what-is-cte

There's lots of articles on concussions. One thing they've come to realize is the damage starts as kids playing contact hockey and kids are more susceptible which today's NHLers didn't realize as kids and they've probably suffered more. The other key thing is they still don't know as much as one would like about concussions. A third observation of mine is that there seems to be a trend: the more they find out, the more one needs to be concerned about the long term effects of these serious concussions - effectively to me, it's physical brain damage (as to me, the first article suggests).

 

[leafplasma]

The NFL star and the brain injuries that destroyed him (not necessarily 'fair' to compare football concussions to hockey but for some gruesome insight ..)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/19/nfl-star-brain-injuries-destroyed?INTCMP=SRCH

That  article was very disturbing, really makes you sit up and take note of what these athletes put on the line for our entertainment.

 

[Guilt Trip]

The NFL star and the brain injuries that destroyed him (not necessarily 'fair' to compare football concussions to hockey but for some gruesome insight ..)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/19/nfl-star-brain-injuries-destroyed?INTCMP=SRCH

That  article was very disturbing, really makes you sit up and take note of what these athletes put on the line for our entertainment.

Not trying to split hairs, but athletes aren't putting anything on the line for us fans......

 

[leafplasma]

The NFL star and the brain injuries that destroyed him (not necessarily 'fair' to compare football concussions to hockey but for some gruesome insight ..)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/19/nfl-star-brain-injuries-destroyed?INTCMP=SRCH

That  article was very disturbing, really makes you sit up and take note of what these athletes put on the line for our entertainment.

Not trying to split hairs, but athletes aren't putting anything on the line for us fans......

Well if your looking at things from the angle of a paycheque sure there are  personal reasons why an athlete wants to put his body at risk.  In so many instances these players may be in the twilight of their career and set financially, maybe even mired in a contract that will pay them for a few more years anyway so in these scenarios money isn't the sole reason.  In many cases, it is pride, a love for the game or yes the need to play for the fans, look at how many times a player tries to rush back from a concussion to play in the playoffs.  The pro athlete isn't always a selfish SOB you know, there are some genuine good people in the industry as well.

 

[Guilt Trip]

The NFL star and the brain injuries that destroyed him (not necessarily 'fair' to compare football concussions to hockey but for some gruesome insight ..)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/19/nfl-star-brain-injuries-destroyed?INTCMP=SRCH

That  article was very disturbing, really makes you sit up and take note of what these athletes put on the line for our entertainment.

Not trying to split hairs, but athletes aren't putting anything on the line for us fans......

Well if your looking at things from the angle of a paycheque sure there are  personal reasons why an athlete wants to put his body at risk.  In so many instances these players may be in the twilight of their career and set financially, maybe even mired in a contract that will pay them for a few more years anyway so in these scenarios money isn't the sole reason.  In many cases, it is pride, a love for the game or yes the need to play for the fans, look at how many times a player tries to rush back from a concussion to play in the playoffs.  The pro athlete isn't always a selfish SOB you know, there are some genuine good people in the industry as well.

Sorry, don't agree....players don't play for fans....fanfare, ego, money, love of the game, yes...it's a self rewarding deal, as it should be.

 

[princedpw]

If we click on the posted ads like the one above, does the site get money?

 

[freer]

Well I hope for his professional sake that he does not come back to early, he imo can added a new exciting part to the leafs game. good luck Matt

 

[cw]

Leaf won't rush Lombardi
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/11/leaf-wont-rush-lombardi
That doesn?t mean Toronto general manager Brian Burke will push his luck by rushing centre Matthew Lombardi back for the vital first part of the schedule. Not even in the wake of reports that the centre?s summer of recovery from a severe concussion continues to go better than most people thought.

?It?s too soon to tell,? Burke told Sun Media. ?As we always do with head injuries, we?ll err on the side of caution.?

Which means keeping Lombardi out of contact drills at the start of training camp and perhaps no game action until well into the schedule.

That bold sentence should be the best case given what he's been through.

 

[Britishbulldog]

I was surprised by how many SH goals he was in on in this high light video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v32nT1ePBU

 

[WAYNEINIONA]

Even if he doesn't come back until midway in the season it will be a bonus for the Leafs. It will really put the pressure on Bozak.

 

[Britishbulldog]

Even if he doesn't come back until midway in the season it will be a bonus for the Leafs. It will really put the pressure on Bozak.

Is Lombardi that great on face offs to not move him to LW on the 3rd line?

 

[AvroArrow]

I was surprised by how many SH goals he was in on in this high light video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v32nT1ePBU

He's fast...like, really fast...

 

[darcy tucker16]

I hope I get used to seeing that. 

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I was surprised by how many SH goals he was in on in this high light video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v32nT1ePBU

He's fast...like, really fast...

One of the fastest players in the league for sure. I'd love to see his speed in the line-up. Hopefully he's a nice mid-season addition to our team.

 

[Deebo]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2011-08-11-matthew-lombardi-injured-players_n.htm

"He says he is going be at training camp, and our guys believe he will," Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said.

 

[Erndog]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2011-08-11-matthew-lombardi-injured-players_n.htm

"He says he is going be at training camp, and our guys believe he will," Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said.

That's great news!  Much better than reading "we don't know if Lombardi will play this year."  We really can't ask for anything more at this point.  Hopefully he can come in, stay healthy and win a top 9 job.  If healthy he should and could even play with Lupul and Kessel if Connolly doesn't work there.

I don't remember the Leafs ever having this much depth.  Our 3rd line could be Kadri-Lombardi-Armstrong and it wouldn't surprise anyone if they were our best line on any given night.  We have 9 forwards who are, for the most part, interchangeable in lines and combinations.  It used to be Mats/Gary/Alex and everyone else.... then it became just Mats.  Now it's a solid 9 who, while none are as good as Mats, could all play at a very high level. 

I still think we are lacking that #1 center and perhaps a true power forward but things up front have shaped up nicely.

 

[Bender]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2011-08-11-matthew-lombardi-injured-players_n.htm

"He says he is going be at training camp, and our guys believe he will," Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said.

That's great news!  Much better than reading "we don't know if Lombardi will play this year."  We really can't ask for anything more at this point.  Hopefully he can come in, stay healthy and win a top 9 job.  If healthy he should and could even play with Lupul and Kessel if Connolly doesn't work there.

I don't remember the Leafs ever having this much depth.  Our 3rd line could be Kadri-Lombardi-Armstrong and it wouldn't surprise anyone if they were our best line on any given night.  We have 9 forwards who are, for the most part, interchangeable in lines and combinations.  It used to be Mats/Gary/Alex and everyone else.... then it became just Mats.  Now it's a solid 9 who, while none are as good as Mats, could all play at a very high level. 

I still think we are lacking that #1 center and perhaps a true power forward but things up front have shaped up nicely.

I don't think it's out of the possibility that we can win games through attrition now. What I mean by this is we can start to withstand the opponent's offense, while scoring a couple goals a night. I suspect we'll see a lot of close games again this year, with the Leafs scoring first a lot more. We'll likely see a lot of 2-1, 3-2 games. We have a pretty solid defense and hopefully James can come up big again. The Kessel line will be able to gain the zone and score some with slick moves (I think Lupul has the biggest bounceback this year), The Grabbo line will mix scoring with sparkplugging and the Bozak/Lombardi line will have some grit and skill. It'd even be interesting to see Frattin step into one of the wings!

Do we know who our fourth line centre is? I'm assuming the line will look something like Brown - Boyce - Dupuis.

One unknown though is the shootout. We really can't squander them...

 

[Kin]

I don't remember the Leafs ever having this much depth.  Our 3rd line could be Kadri-Lombardi-Armstrong and it wouldn't surprise anyone if they were our best line on any given night.  We have 9 forwards who are, for the most part, interchangeable in lines and combinations.  It used to be Mats/Gary/Alex and everyone else.... then it became just Mats.  Now it's a solid 9 who, while none are as good as Mats, could all play at a very high level. 

With all due respect, that's just nutty. 03-04's team had Sundin/Roberts/Mogilny, sure, but below that were Antro/Tucker/Reichel/Nolan/Nieuwendyk and then Francis at the end of the year.

 

[Bender]

I don't remember the Leafs ever having this much depth.  Our 3rd line could be Kadri-Lombardi-Armstrong and it wouldn't surprise anyone if they were our best line on any given night.  We have 9 forwards who are, for the most part, interchangeable in lines and combinations.  It used to be Mats/Gary/Alex and everyone else.... then it became just Mats.  Now it's a solid 9 who, while none are as good as Mats, could all play at a very high level. 

With all due respect, that's just nutty. 03-04's team had Sundin/Roberts/Mogilny, sure, but below that were Antro/Tucker/Reichel/Nolan/Nieuwendyk and then Francis at the end of the year.

To be fair, Reichel and Renberg wern't so hot that year, but Francis and Nieuwy were good that year. Nolan had some respectable numbers too. Was that year he injured his knee?

I think Erndog also means that we have young depth, as opposed to old depth like in '04.

 

[Kin]

To be fair, Reichel and Renberg wern't so hot that year, but Francis and Nieuwy were good that year. Nolan had some respectable numbers too. Was that year he injured his knee?

Well, Reichel was always more of a defensive presence/third centre so his scoring numbers aren't terribly indicative of his play and I didn't even mention Renberg.

But if we're inclined to pick those guys apart like that then I'd maybe hold off a bit on getting too worked up over Bozak and Lupul too.