Though this has been speculated for a couple of weeks, Penguins medical staff and management made it official today: Jordan Staal will miss the start of the regular season. It sounds like the infection that set in on his surgically repaired foot was pretty nasty, but they have the situation under control…
Here is the official release from the team on the situation. Interesting quotes from team physician Charles Burke and Ray Shero…
PENGUINS’ STAAL EXPECTED TO MISS START OF REGULAR SEASON
Penguins center Jordan Staal is expected to miss the start of the regular season following a procedure this week to cure an infection in his foot, the team announced today.
Staal’s recovery period is expected to be 5-6 weeks. The Penguins open the regular season Oct. 7 against Philadelphia.
Staal originally suffered a lacerated tendon in his foot in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Montreal. The tendon was repaired by off-season surgery.
“Jordan developed a post-op infection in his foot, and it can require several procedures to ensure that all infected tissues are removed,” said Dr. Charles Burke, the Penguins’ team physician.
“Jordan was bothered by a localized recurrent infection in the tissue area near the tendon repair. This has required treatment with both antibiotics and several repeat debridements (clean-outs) to remove infected tissue. We are confident the situation has been resolved.”
The Penguins report to training camp Friday and hit the ice for their first practice session Saturday at CONSOL Energy Center.
“The most important thing for us now is that the infection has been addressed and Jordan is on the road to recovery,” said Penguins general manager Ray Shero. “While we know he is disappointed that he will miss the start of the season, he will now be able to make a full recovery and get back on the ice early in the season.”
I hope they take their time with this and make sure he gets all the way back healthy. Might be a nice chance to see if Letestu can handle the 3rd line role.
VINJUT! Staal’s iron man streak will be over…but hopefully he recovers soon, and he’ll always have eternal respect for coming back as quickly as he did originally!
right now all I want to do is bite my tongue and stop shouting… This is so frustrating for the start of the season.
Gunner you are right they had better not rush him back. I dont care if he only plays 50 this season. As long as they are Staal at 100% and not 70 games at 80%.
Get my drift?
It’s better he sits now than in April/May/June – this is so meh….