Article content continued

“It’s the best I’ve felt in quite awhile coming into a season, so certainly that part is deflating.”

Of course, there has been discussion about Ryan wearing different gloves and better protection for his hands. He did change this season the manufacturer of the gloves he wore but there’s not a whole lot he can do about getting protection because he needs to be able to shoot the puck with good force.

“I changed into a different brand this year and I wasn’t picking gloves based on protection,” Ryan said. “It certainly weighed in and the gloves I used this year are a different brand from the last couple. I picked them for comfort level and, No. 2, because the padding was a little bigger.

“I felt like there was an extra layer of protection there. There’s no way around it when you take a direct shot, you’re certainly putting yourself in that position and that’s just the way it happens when you get hit directly between the pads.”

Ryan has had so much experience with these injuries he really didn’t need a doctor or an an X-ray to tell him the finger was broken.

“I knew before the trainers did,” Ryan said. “You go for X-rays and I told them we didn’t need it because I’ve felt that same feeling five times now. I was well aware before I even got in the room that it was broken.”

Ryan is trying not to get down about the injuries to his hands, calling it a string of bad luck. What else can explain it?

People have asked me about more padding, but then you sacrifice feeling in the hands and your gloves are heavier.

“I put more padding in and used the most I could possibly use, but when you take a direct shot the chances are you’re going to break it.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com