Tough break – two, in fact – for Breezer

That's a pretty drastic step to give one guy more ice time! One of the things they were saying was that he was "cliquey", but I find it hard to believe that a talented guy would be traded away for that. Kovalev (didn't) said the same thing about the current dressing room, in that interviews he (didn't) gave to the russian press about last year's edition of the team. Again, I'm not entirely sure why folks couldn't just "build a bridge and get over it"- there must have been more downside to Ribeiro than I'll ever know. Either way, the Stars must be happy.

Wear and tear on the body is not just about density of the projectile and speed of the game. You also need to take into account how much flex and torque is being applied to joints and bones...players often end up in vulnerable positions in soccer (following through on a kick for example, stepping on the ball, landing on feet following header attemps) where a mis-timed tackle or bad luck can result in massive damage to feet and lower legs. The snug skate you mention provides protection and stabilizes your foot, preventing a lot of the movements that would really hurt a broken foot or lead to a broken foot. On the other hand, high-end soccer shoes provide almost zero protection and you have a recipe for a lot of broken feet (as seen by the rash of broken metatarsal bones in soccer players in the past few years). As an example, you can play hockey through even a reasonably bad lower ankle sprain due to the support provided by a hockey skate, but there is no way that you could play soccer through that...I know this one from experience. :) But I do agree that its easy to get bruised or broken feet from blocking shots, and anybody standing in front of most NHL level players' slapshots deserve massive props.

loved Brian Glennie and Don Awrey as well for their toughness and shot blocking ability. Back in the day, equipment was not as good as it is now. Your description at the beginning made me chuckle and brought back lots of memories of slowly taking a skate off of a frozen foot, half expecting it to be broken in to little pieces because someone drilled your foot with a slapshot.

It wasn't the ball that broke the bones, the ball slip through as both myself and the other player went full swing at it. I broke every bone in the other players ankle to the point that his shoe was just hanging there. In return, I broke two small bones. My point was that I should have sat it out and instead made the foolish attempt to play the rest of the season. I also played a lot of hockey and have taken a fair share of pucks. Obviously, Hockey has a higher potential for injury, I don't think it's possible to argue that, but North American soccer has become a hybrid between soccer and rugby. In Rugby however, you brace yourself and expect injury, whereas soccer isn't meant to be played that way. Ankle, Knee and Foot injuries are a regular occurence in soccer since it is played with your feet after all.