Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper can hardly hide his dismay at the news that shocked his team on Thursday, as they will be without their No. 1 goaltender, Andrei Vasilevskiy, for at least two months.
The Russian, one of the best in his field in the National Hockey League, will therefore not be able to help his team at the start of the regular season after back surgery. In his absence, the Bolts will have to stick together while general manager Julien BriseBois will certainly try to find an alternative outside the organization; In the training camp, Jonas Johansson, Hugo Alnefelt and Matt Tomkins are in position, which is not necessarily reassuring for club fans.
• Also read: NHL: The sky is falling on the Lightning’s head
• Also read: Here are three ways to replace Vasilevskiy in your pool
• Also read: Ethan Gauthier returns to the QMJHL
“To be honest, Vasy, betting on him is a luxury and we were very lucky to have him for so long. However, we have been through some time without him and the most important thing for every team is that it will help if we can reduce the chances of scoring,” Cooper clarified to the media on Friday.
The fact is that the instructor could have avoided this trap. “I have full confidence in the way this team plays. […] Now, does it hurt to lose a member of your core, be it “Vasy” or someone at the top? Surely.”
Vasilevskiy will rise again
Luckily for the Lightning, Vasilevskiy’s injury isn’t a complete catastrophe, as was announced in training camp rather than in the middle of the season or playoffs. In addition, it was important for everyone to carry out the surgical procedure as quickly as possible.
“Once the decision was made to operate, everything was done within the next few hours,” Cooper said. This is a problem that came up early in camp, so there’s nothing else we can do. Everything was done properly, but believe me, if we had known there was a problem earlier, the operation would have been rushed. But no one, including Vasy, knew.”
“At this point I would like to make it clear: This is not the end of the “Vasy” season. He will come back and know him, sooner rather than later. However, for a short period of time, we will make up for his loss,” he added.
Among the players, we say that despite everything, they are willing to put in the effort to achieve success.
“I believe everyone should try to do what they do best, which is perform and compete hard. It’s about putting on the work boots and doing the work that needs to be done,” said forward Tanner Jeannot.