Kraken Defenseman Vince Dunn Gives Update On Season-Ending Injury

One thing which gets revealed only after a hockey season has ended, is all the injuries players ignored. The kind that would have laid us mere mortals up for weeks, or more.

For instance, Seattle Kraken forward Jordan Eberle playing for six weeks with a broken hand early in the season.

Many, if not most, of his teammates have similar stories from some point in their careers. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare played through a meniscus injury while a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Throughout the league, and throughout NHL history, players have risked their personal well-being in the same way. Here's a tip of examples from a gruesome iceberg, as chronicled by The Hockey Writers :

"Boston Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron played with broken ribs, torn cartilage, a separated shoulder, and a slowly collapsing lung. Teammate Gregory Campbell broke his leg, yet finished his shift.

"Pittsburgh's Ian Cole played through a broken hand and broken ribs. San Jose's Joe Thornton played on a torn ACL and MCL. Ottawa's Erik Karlsson had major muscle damage to his ankle and a fracture in his heel."

Maybe if the Kraken had reached the postseason this year like the players just mentioned, Vince Dunn would have risked his safety, too. And been allowed to. We hope not.

Dunn suffered a significant neck injury in Calgary on March 4 when he was illegally boarded by the Flames' Martin Pospisil. As we reported at the time, "(Former coach Dave) Hakstol said the team isn't considering letting Dunn sit out of the rest of the season. "There's still a focus on having him work through his rehab and rejoin the team."

But as Seattle's playoff hopes evaporated, the top-pairing defenseman was held out of 19 of the Kraken's final 21 games.

Dunn provides an injury update in today's Kraken Reaction .