Are the Penguins’ Injuries Due to a Lack of Size?

A number of faithful PenguinPoop readers and bloggers (myself included) have suggested in the recent past that the Penguins’ onerous injury situation may be related to our physical stature. Comparatively small, by NHL standards.

With a little time to kill between games, I thought I’d do a quickie comparison to see what I could see.

Beginning in 2012-13, Toronto-based writer James Mirtle has published a list each year displaying the average height, weight and age of NHL teams, based on season-opening rosters.

Here’s the Pens’ tale of the tape.

Season	Height	Rank	Weight	Rank	Age	Rank
2012-13	73.3”	13	203.3	17	28.5	11
2013-14	73.1”	22	202.1	19	28.9	3
2014-15	73.2”	15	199.6	25	28.5	4
2015-16	73”	24	197.8	26	28.3	4
2016-17	73”	20	197.4	27	28.4	2

It comes as no great surprise that the Pens rank among the smallest teams in the NHL. Since the days when Jurassic Period dinos such as Hal Gill, Georges Laraque and Mike Rupp roamed Steel City ice surfaces, the black and gold have steadily downsized, trading off bulk for speed. Culminating in last season’s light but blitzkrieg-quick Stanley Cup winners.

Next comes the table displaying man games lost to illness and injury, according to NHL Injury Viz. The data stretches back a couple of extra seasons, to 2010-11.

For the sake of comparing apples to apples, I’ve excluded retired players Pascal Dupuis (’16-17) and Tomas Vokoun (’13-14) who were still under contract. Technically, they count toward the total.

Season	Forwards	Defense	Goal	Retired*	Total	Games	MGL/P
2010-11	321	37	7	0	365	82	4.45
2011-12	192	154	17	0	363	82	4.43
2012-13	41	37	1	0	79	48	1.65
2013-14	289	156	0	82	445	82	5.43
2014-15	196	133	5	0	334	82	4.07
2015-16	243	61	14	0	318	82	3.88
2016-17	123	122	8	76	253	76	3.33
* Not included in Total

While hardly an in-depth study, my attempt to establish a correlation between average size and injuries proved inconclusive. Still, the results are eye-catching all the same.

Much to my astonishment, this hasn’t been the most injury-plagued of our recent seasons. To the contrary, we’ve been reasonably healthy from a Penguins perspective, trailing only the lockout shortened 2012-13 campaign in fewest man games lost on a per/game basis.

Nor has our present defense lost the most time due to ailments. That honor—dubious as it may be—goes to the decidedly star-crossed ’13-14 squad, which led the NHL in man games lost. The blueline corps that season was bled to the tune of 156 man games lost, compared to the current total of 122 this season.

Talk about calamity.

Of course, the numbers don’t reflect the timing of the injuries. I thought I’d take a look at that, too. The following table displays man games lost for each month.

Season	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	Total*
2010-11	39	22	41	37	103	103	20	365
2011-12	52	54	94	51	47	55	10	363
2012-13	—	—	—	2	12	18	47	79
2013-14	42	50	101	79	27	98	48	445
2014-15	18	21	117	64	41	43	30	334
2015-16	24	21	39	34	76	88	36	318
2016-17	29	27	28	24	43	102	—	253
* Does not include retired players still on the roster

The Pens enjoyed comparatively good health through February. However, March—with 102 man games lost and counting—has been a disaster. Shortly to become the second-most injury plagued month in the study, behind only December of 2014.

Obviously, the timing couldn’t be poorer. Especially for a team with legit Cup aspirations.

Here’s hoping our Pens buck the downward trend in April and regain their vigor. Faced with what, in all likelihood, will be an ultra-difficult first-round matchup with a very physical Columbus team, they’ll surely need it.