Senators’ Travis Green Remains Vague About Injuries, Says Ullmark is “Fine”

Throughout his tenure with the Ottawa Senators, head coach Travis Green has been vague when it comes to answering questions about injuries. The league is starting to lean that way, and injury disclosure doesn’t have strict rules like other leagues, but with the latest updates on Linus Ullmark and Jake Sanderson, he has been leaving more questions than he has answered.

Green Uses “Precautionary” for Both Sanderson & Ullmark

After missing some time in preseason, Green told reporters that he expected Sanderson to be ready to start the season. There were multiple practices missed, and he only played 13 minutes, leaving the game at the halfway point.

Green stated that Sanderson was “fine,” and that him leaving the game was “precautionary,”.

Expectations were seemingly met as Sanderson was in the opening night lineup, but after just 4:39 of ice time, he sat on the bench for the rest of the first period and did not return for the rest of the game. Sanderson got tied up with Nick Paul and fell into the boards, but there were no obvious parts of the play that looked dangerous.

Green confirmed that Sanderson flew back to Ottawa after their matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Senators were at the start of a three-game road trip, beating both the Leafs and Boston Bruins, and have a matchup against the Detroit Red Wings next.

Having Sanderson miss at least two more games is already a big loss for the club, and the right thing to do would be to let him recover fully, but fans are asking for more transparency.

That transparency came into question with Ullmark as well. After a collision at the net, Ullmark seemed to be in discomfort, but finished the final four minutes of the second period. Sam Ersson hit the ice for the third period, with Ullmark on the bench.

After the game, Green told reporters, “He kind of tweaked something a little bit. Precautionary, we just felt it was best if we bring him out. Get it evaluated again.”

Ahead of the Senators’ game against the Red Wings, the Senators recalled Jonas Johansson, who stopped 64 of 70 shots faced through two games with Belleville. Johansson was claimed off waivers following the loss of Leevi Merilainen.

Johansson will serve as the backup behind Ersson, but when speaking to reporters, Green stated Ullmark was “fine”.

Now, there is certainly a possibility Ullmark is fine, and with the back-to-back, he wasn’t going to start anyway, so now he gets the whole night off. This happened a few times last season.

If Ullmark misses the Senators’ next game too, that will be two people missing time after the terms “precautionary” and “fine” were both used.

To give credit to Green, if a player is injured, letting everybody know what they are dealing with could lead to targeting of the area during the play. Players will take advantage of a known weakness.

Green’s Vague Injury Updates Point to Bigger Questions

The NFL has specific rules on injury disclosures from teams. This includes stating what body part the injury is on, rather than “upper-body” or “lower-body” injuries. Part of the reason the NFL is so strict on these rules is because of its consistently growing affiliations with betting companies. With the sponsorships and partnerships, transparency was crucial.

The NHL has been rapidly growing its gambling connections. The Collective Bargaining Agreement not including specific rules benefits both the players’ privacy and the opportunity for targeting certain injuries.

If the NHL is going to continue down the betting route, more transparency could be demanded.