Performance and return to sport outcomes following hip arthroscopy in National Hockey League players
Bibliographic record
Abstract
PURPOSE: Intra-articular hip disorders, such as femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS), labral tears and chondral damage are common in ice hockey players, particularly in the National Hockey League (NHL). However, evidence on return-to-sport (RTS) rates and performance outcomes post-hip arthroscopy remains limited. This study evaluates RTS rates, career longevity, and performance metrics, including games played, points per game (PPG), save percentage, and performance scores (PS), following hip arthroscopy. METHODS: NHL players who underwent hip arthroscopy for intra-articular pathology between 2000 and 2024 were identified using public records. RTS rates, career duration, and performance metrics were analysed pre- and post-surgery. Paired t-tests and analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed across positions (forwards, defensemen and goaltenders). RESULTS: A total of 92 NHL players (103 hips) met inclusion criteria. The overall RTS rate was 79.3%, increasing to 84.9% when excluding players still recovering. RTS was significantly higher in players <30 years (90.0% vs. 64.3%, p = 0.003). The average number of post-operative seasons played was 2.7, with no positional differences. Forwards showed significant declines in PPG (pre: 0.63 ± 0.38; post: 0.51 ± 0.37; p = 0.013) and PS (pre: 0.60 ± 0.74; post: 0.37 ± 0.69; ∆PS = -0.23; p = 0.026). Defensemen showed no significant change in PPG (p = 0.648) or PS (p = 0.509). Goaltenders had a decline in save percentage (pre: 0.91 ± 0.01; post: 0.89 ± 0.03; p = 0.038), while wins per season were unchanged (p = 0.205). RTS did not significantly differ by position. CONCLUSION: NHL players undergoing hip arthroscopy have high RTS rates and often resume multi-season careers. However, forwards experience greater declines in performance, while defensemen and goaltenders are less affected. These results underscore position-specific recovery trends and may inform rehabilitation strategies in elite hockey athletes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".