Sheng Peng
Connor Murphy has experienced the same injury that’s sidelining Logan Couture — but even he was surprised by the severity of Couture’s injury.
In January, Murphy was felled by osteitis pubis, an inflammation in the joint between his two pubic bones.
The veteran defenseman, however, was able to return by April and has been healthy so far this season.
In the summer of 2023, Couture was felled by the same deep groin issue, returned in Jan. 2024 to play six games for the San Jose Sharks, but then re-aggravated the injury. He’s yet to return to the ice, to even skate on his own.
“There’s no clear answer on how to fix it,” Murphy told San Jose Hockey Now in Chicago in mid-October.
Murphy spoke about why osteitis pubis is such a challenging injury, other players who have had it, and the severity of the San Jose Sharks captain’s injury:
Murphy, on his struggle with osteitis pubis:
I think it was a hard one, because there’s no clear answer on how to fix it. There’s no quick surgery, no quick set of exercises that are uniform for everyone going through that injury. I think that’s why it’s important to try to learn and see different people and talk to different players that are going through something like that, because it’s different per person. It’s one that takes a lot more time than you would expect, and one that’s hard to make sure it’s gone and doesn’t come back.
Murphy, on how long his recovery took:
It was from January until mid-April, or beginning [of] April, I’d say. But even when I played a couple games at the end of the year, I still felt it. So it took me pretty much all summer to slowly build strength and to slowly build up intensity on the ice, to feel 100 percent. It’s a really nagging one that’s hard to get rid of.
Murphy, on the severity of his osteitis pubis compared to the San Jose Sharks captain’s:
I don’t think mine is as serious as his. The intensity of his pain was way higher than mine, and so that’s why I was fortunate. But feel for him, and he’s had a long road.
He’s not back? Wow.
I feel for him, and luckily mine wasn’t near as serious. I was really grateful, actually, that he answered my texts and calls when I was able to talk to him, and was really open to giving advice and show the good character guy that he is. He wants the best for any player going through an injury and I think everyone wants the best, obviously, for him. I feel for him going through it, it’s a big mental grind, and I hope that he’s able to find some comfort and some strengthening to get himself back 100 percent.
Murphy, on other players who have had the injury:
I know that [Jake] Middleton, a defenseman, had it before. I think [Pierre-Edouard] Bellemare did too. I think there’s been a lot of players, and there’s guys I talked to, old teammates that had it years before, that knew about it and everyone’s severity is different. Some guys, it’s just low grade, or they can continue to play with it. They noticed that they feel it for months. So it just depends the severity of it. Obviously, Logan’s had a severe case.
Murphy, on if he considers his osteitis pubis to be of medium severity:
I would say so. Mild is you’re able to kind of play through it. Mine, I played through it for a bit, and then it just got worse and worse, to the point that it was too painful to skate at all. Then I was able to not have pain off ice after a couple days. So I would say mine is definitely medium, and Logan’s definitely more of a severe case.
Murphy, on how frustrating osteitis pubis is:
It’s the worst injury. I think even an injury that you’re out a year with, with surgery, whether it’s Achilles or ACL or different, those are bad but at least you know there’s a recovery timeline. You know that there’s specific surgery or specific rehab. So an injury like this, one, no timeline, two, no specific healing, recovery, strengthening protocol. It kind of is all up in the air. That’s the mental part that it takes a strong mind to be able to get through it and stay positive that’s going to go away.
I really feel for Logan. I hope he’s able to come out on the other end.