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Can Tiger Woods come back from this? – CBC.ca

Published

4 years ago

February 24, 2021

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Tiger Woods’ injuries might be too much this time

Since yesterday’s newsletter, more details have surfaced about the damage done to the golfer’s right leg when he rolled the vehicle he was driving yesterday in Southern California. And it does not sound good.

Tiger’s camp released a statement around midnight ET saying he had “undergone a long surgical procedure on his lower right leg and ankle.” The statement also included descriptions of the injuries and the surgery from the head of the hospital where it was performed by orthopedic trauma specialists. He used a lot of medical jargon but, basically, the lower part of Woods’ right leg was crushed and the major bones shattered.

Woods’ tibia and fibula bones splintered into pieces in multiple places and punctured through his skin. A rod was inserted into the tibia (the larger of the two bones) to deal with that. “Additional injuries to the bones of the foot and ankle” (no details were provided) “were stabilized with a combination of screws and pins,” the hospital head added. He also said surgeons had to cut into tissue to reduce swelling and pressure from “trauma to the muscle and soft tissue of the leg.” Woods’ people added that he was “currently awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room.”

Once this statement made it clear that Tiger’s life was not in danger, and that his injuries — at least the most serious ones — seem to be concentrated in his right leg, the next question became: could this end his golf career?

No one seems to have that answer right now — partly because there are (thankfully) few instances of an athlete’s body being damaged quite like this. Football is the only major sport capable of regularly producing car-crash-level injuries, so the closest recent comparison to what Woods could be facing might be NFL quarterback Alex Smith.

While playing for Washington in November 2018, Smith’s right leg got caught at an awkward angle as he was sacked by two Houston defenders. He broke his tibia and fibula, and bone punctured the skin. An infection after Smith’s initial surgery caused doctors to fear he’d lose the leg and maybe even his life. He ultimately needed 17 operations on the leg.

It took Smith almost two full years to get back into an NFL game, which he did last season. It was a great story and he was named the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year, but he wasn’t the same. He only got in because of injury and/or gross incompetence by Washington’s other two QBs, and he threw more interceptions than touchdowns as the leg hampered him. For their playoff game, Washington chose to start a journeyman with one NFL start over Smith.

Obviously, every injury is different and golf is easier to return to than football. But Tiger is 45 — nine years older than Smith — and his body had already been through a lot. At the time of his crash, he was working to return from a December back surgery — his fifth — that was threatening his career. And, according to this lengthy list of Woods injuries compiled by The Associated Press in March 2019, he’d already undergone four surgeries on his left knee. Now he’s recovering from these massive injuries to his right leg, ankle and foot, and additional surgeries seem like a possibility. If someone showed you this medical history and told you to guess what sport the person plays, you’d probably say pro football. By golf standards, the damage Woods has endured to his body over the last couple of decades is staggering.

It’s too early to tell if the greatest golfer of all time will be able to play the game at a high level again. He’s surprised us before, winning the 2019 Masters after his fourth back surgery left him openly questioning whether he’d be able to compete anymore. But, for his 15th major title to not be his last, Tiger might need to pull off his most astonishing feat yet. Read more about what he’s facing here.

Golf superstar Tiger Woods needed surgery after a car crash in Los Angeles on Tuesday that left him with multiple leg injuries. Officials say he was conscious when pulled from the wrecked SUV and the injuries are not life threatening. 2:02

Quickly…

The Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller. The Habs looked like a possible Cup contender when they started the season 8-2-2. But they have only one win in the six games since then, and they’ve lost all three coming out of their one-week break. Worse, they just dropped back-to-back games to lowly Ottawa. Julien was in his second stint as the Canadiens’ head coach. He never made it past the second round of the playoffs with them, though with Boston he won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and reached the final in 2013. Montreal promoted assistant Dominique Ducharme to interim head coach. He coached Canada to gold at the world juniors in 2018 and silver the previous year. Read more about him and the other changes to Montreal’s coaching staff here.

The IOC wants Australia to host the 2032 Summer Olympics. A Brisbane-based bid was selected today by the IOC’s executive board for exclusive talks. The sides will now enter into “targeted dialogue” (the IOC’s phrase) and, if all goes well, they’ll make it official. This leaves only one of the next seven Olympics without at least a tentative host — the 2030 Winter Games. Read more about why Brisbane was picked so early here.

There’s only one perfect rink left at the Scotties. Defending champion Team Canada, skipped by Kerri Einarson, improved to 6-0 by beating Yukon in the morning draw while Pool A rival Ontario (Rachel Homan) fell to 5-1 with a loss to the Northwest Territories. Pool B was considerably messier heading into Draw 14. Quebec (Laurie St-Georges) and the wild-card team skipped by Chelsea Carey were tied for first at 4-2, with four rinks right behind them at 3-2, including six-time champ Jennifer Jones’ Manitoba. The top four in each pool advance to the next round. Read more about today’s results here and catch tonight’s episode of That Curling Show with host Devin Heroux and six-time Scotties champ Colleen Jones at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CBC Olympics Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages.

And finally…

A guy in the Czech Republic swam for 81 metres under ice. David Vencl held his breath for 95 seconds as he covered the equivalent of more than 1½ lengths of an Olympic-size pool in a frozen-over lake. There was at least 30cm of ice above him at all times and he did it without using any fins, diving suit, cap or weights. The distance broke an eight-year-old world record, according to Guinness. Read more about it here.

Coming up on CBC Sports

Cross-country skiing world championships: Watch the women’s and men’s sprint finals in Germany live Thursday from 5:30-7 a.m. ET here.

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

7 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

Published

8 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

8 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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