With the lack of NHL hockey, and the Hamilton Bulldogs sitting at the bottom of the division, things have not gone well for Habs fans this hockey season, but one bright spot was the play of 2004 first round pick Kyle Chipchura, who was having a very good season when you consider that his team was having a tough time putting wins together. Well things just got worse for the fans, as yesterday Kyle Chipchura injured his Achilles Tendon in his right foot and was taken to Victoria Hospital where he underwent surgery right away and likely will miss the rest of the season since recovery often takes a considerable amount of time with this sort of injury.
While some fans may be crying that the sky is falling, the fact is that Kyle is an 18 year old kid, who has many months to rest and rehab his latest injury. Yes missing a large part of playing this year has to be a setback, and yes there will now be question marks about his health since he’s had two major injuries in less then twelve months. But to step back and look down the road, only time will tell what impact this will have on his skating, and as for his missing a large part of the season, he’ll have ten months of recovery time before next season starts, where he will be the leader of Prince Albert, a virtual lock for Team Canada World Juniors, and likely he could see some time with Hamilton once the Raiders season is over.
Perezhogin selected for the Euro Cup
In other injury related news, Alex Perezhogin is back from his shoulder injury, where he was injured while working out with the Russian National team, as he was again selected to take part in the Euro Cup. In his second game back with Omsk, he was able to record a goal and a assist, giving him a very impressive eleven points in just seventeen games, all while playing on the third line.
Cote, Korpikari and Larrivee back in the lineup
Also back from injury in Hamilton is J-P Cote, who missed the first two months of the season, but has finally recovered and will hopefully make a solid contribution to Hamilton, as they could use his physical style of hockey.
And in Finland, Oskari Korpikari was also back in the lineup for Karpat, as he was out of the lineup for several weeks after breaking his ankle. Korpikari ended up losing his spot with Karpat last year when he injured his shoulder while playing for Team Finland at the World Juniors tournament, but this time around he is back in the lineup with Karpat and reports are positive on his play since returning two weeks ago.
Christian Larrivee was back in the lineup for Long Beach, as he picked up an assist in his first game back from a week long injury.
Komisarek recovering from surgery
On the other side of it, Mike Komisarek underwent hip surgery and will be out of action for an unknown amount of time, a big blow to the defense of Hamilton, as they could use his puck moving skills.
In addition to Komisarek, Jonathan Ferland received a minor concussion last week, and will likely end up missing a handful of games.