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The news that Bobby Ryan is undergoing season-ending surgery did not come as a complete surprise. Earlier this week, head coach Paul MacLean confirmed that Ryan had been dealing with a nagging injury since November – our first tangible clue that the winger has not been 100 per cent healthy all season. But for the past few weeks, the whispers had been growing louder and louder that Ryan was playing hurt. When the club returned to practice after the Olympic break, the winger took a couple of maintenance days that raised a few eyebrows. Now that the club has confirmed he was playing for the past four months with a sports hernia injury, it forces us to reassess our opinion of Ryans first season in Ottawa. In a strange twist, every player involved in the massive Ducks-Senators trade from last summer suffered a significant injury this season. Jakob Silfverberg had a broken hand, Stefan Noesen tore the ACL in his knee and now Ryan is done with the sports hernia injury. (The Ducks may want to order some bubble wrap to protect their first round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft that they will receive from Ottawa). When he was famously left off the Team USA roster for the Olympics, many suggested that Ryan was crushed by the bad news and went into a prolonged slump. He scored just two goals in 12 games in the month of January and looked like a shadow of himself at times. Certainly, the Team USA snub hurt him on a personal level, but its rather obvious that the physical pain of a sports hernia injury was the bigger factor for his declining numbers. Ryans limited ice time was also a source of controversy in this market, as fans and media openly questioned MacLeans deployment of his No. 1 sniper. He was taken off a unit with Kyle Turris and Clarke MacArthur and was given third-line minutes instead. When the Sens were swept in Alberta earlier this month, Ryan played fewer than 15 minutes on each night – causing some to wonder aloud if there was a rift between star player and coach. In reality, the reduced ice time was likely the result of his nagging injury. In a statement to the media on Thursday, general manager Bryan Murray indicated that Ryan tried to play through the injury and doesnt appear to be concerned about how he was used by MacLean. "I know there were some times in games that he felt like he couldnt contribute very much but he stayed on the ice as required by the coaching staff and tried very hard to be a big factor for our team," Murray said. "I think he was and obviously we like that kind of person and want to treat him right in return." If you look at Ryans on-ice production from this season (time on ice to produce a point), you can see a significant drop-off once the calendar flipped to December: Month Time on ice/point October 20:32 November 16:17 December 24:42 January 33:10 February 46:40 March 41:47 Ryans struggles were a red flag for many Ottawa fans, who were concerned about his lack of productivity and compete level down the stretch. With a contract set to expire at the end of next season, there were more than a few fans who were suggesting it was time to move on from the 26-year-old winger. But now that we have a clear picture of Ryans health, its a little more accurate to say that his first season was not a complete disaster. The fact that he led this team in goal-scoring with 23 despite the injury is fairly impressive. Considering the recovery time from this injury is about six weeks, GM Bryan Murray says there is every reason to believe that Ryan will come into training camp next season ready to return to his 30-goal form. "Well, he certainly started very, very well. He shoots the puck awfully well, he scored some goals, his line obviously carried the team early on. He was a big part of that," Murray said. "I think after the hernia started to get aggravated a little bit, he seemed to shoot the puck a bit less. Overall, very happy and satisfied with his overall play and we know hell be a real contributor going forward." That last comment from the general manager seems like the one that carries the most weight moving into this summer. Nobody is certain if the Sens will lock up Ryan with a long-term extension in the coming months, but one thing is clear: this organization hasnt soured on him after a disappointing season in which he played hurt. Markus Wheaton Jersey . Almost 40 years to the day, the two teams will meet again, this time at BC Place, to celebrate the past and try to earn important points for the present. Mike Wallace Eagles Jersey .com) - Its fair to call Mike McCarthy one of the best coaches in the NFL but its also more than objective to point out that the veteran mentor bookended the Green Bay Packers season with two, truly awful game plans in Seattle. http://www.eaglespromart.com/josh-sweat-eagles-jersey/ . -- The Chicago Bears have agreed to a one-year contract with cornerback Kelvin Hayden. Avonte Maddox Eagles Jersey . At quarterback, all agree that Andy Dalton has been a wonderful surprise, but to truly progress he has to play his best in the playoffs. The two losses in the wildcard rounds keep the evaluation on Dalton open -- just like it did for Peyton Manning many years ago and Matt Ryan until last year. Markus Wheaton Eagles Jersey . Louis Blues have returned to the top spot in the TSN.Gary Bettman was walking down a Toronto street recently when a fan approached him.Some guy walks up to me and says, I really dont like you, the NHL commissioner recalled. And I said, But you dont know me. And he says, Yeah but I dont like work stoppages, and I go, Well neither do I, so we have that in common.Bettman will forever take a popularity hit for three lockouts during his tenure, but he wont apologize for them. Ten years after the league ground to a halt and the 2004-05 season was cancelled, he maintains it was necessary for the health of the sport.Pointing to the 04 Stanley Cup final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames in which the team to score the first goal won each game of the series and contrasting that with the 2013 playoffs and its unpredictability, Bettman believes the on-ice product is better than ever.To get to this point, though, Bettman said implementing the salary cap a€” which came out of the 2004-05 lockout a€” was essential.We had teams with 80-, 90 million-dollar payrolls and we had teams with 20-million-dollar payrolls, Bettman said at a recent Canadian Club luncheon. And I would talk to the managers and coaches of the 20-million-dollar teams and go, How are you doing this? And they would say to me, to a man, We clutch, we grab, we hook, we hold and we do everything possible to neutralize skill for 50 minutes and then we try to steal the game.That is why the game as it was being played in the late 90s and early 2000s wasnt nearly as good as it is today.In his 21-plus years as the first official commissioner of the NHL, Bettman has overseen expansion, change and booming business. In the process he has also become a popular target for fans because he has shown a willingness to sacrifice games to affect the kind of change he and the owners want.The game was unhealthy, the competitiveness wasnt there, Bettman said of the 2004-05 lockout. We did what we had to do to not have six, eight or 10 years of a mess. We go through these things not because we want to but because we have to get to a point where the game can be healthy.Now that its healthy, Bettman doesnt look like an executive on the way out. When Bud Selig steps down and Rob Manfred takes over Major League Baseball, Bettman will officially be the longest-tenured commissioner in North American professional sports a€” tthough he insists because Selig previously had an interim tag that he already is.dddddddddddd will be the oldest when he steps down, said Bettman, who says he hasnt considered any kind of a succession plan. Im still trying to figure out how I got to be 62 years old.Bettman said on multiple occasions during a public interview with George Stroumboulopoulos at the Canadian Club luncheon and in a sit-down with The Canadian Press that he loves his job and the people associated with it. After he hands out the Cup each June, the New Yorker wonders What do I do with myself at night with no games? and insists he hasnt thought about how long he wants to remain in his post.Its as long as Im happy and excited and energized as I am today, Bettman said. If I ever reach the point where Im not, then I need to let somebody else do it. But its a joint decision. Its the owners and its me. But I love what I do and I come to work excited and energized every day.NFL counterpart Roger Goodell is going through a crisis period amid criticism of how he has handled domestic violence and child abuse cases in his league. NBA counterpart Adam Silver recently forced Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers after racist audio recordings surfaced, and the Atlanta Hawks are going through a similar process.Selig, like Bettman remembered for games not played because of the 1994 strike that cancelled the World Series, has a legacy tied to an era of performance-enhancing drugs but also introduced revenue sharing.Pending concussion lawsuits, particularly in light of the deaths of Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien, look like the NHLs biggest concern. But Bettman has pointed to the league creating concussion study groups well before the NFL or any other sports league.On the ice, Bettman called last season the best in an almost 100-year history and expects this one to be even better. On a personal level, he doesnt know when, or if, he hit his stride in this job but is proud of where the league is.The game is growing and the game both from a business standpoint and more importantly on the ice has never been healthier, Bettman said. If thats a measure of my stride, then were moving at a pretty good pace. ...Its an honour for me to be associated with the game. 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