The news is certainly bad for the Halifax Mooseheads, but there is still hope: Their best forward and reigning MVP in the QMJHL, Jordan Dumais, is going under the knife, but his season wouldn't be over just yet, it's learned Newspaper.
The Blue Jackets prospect traveled to Columbus last Sunday to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan due to a multi-year hip injury that aggravated during Junior Team Canada's (JT) recent camp.
This discomfort had taken its toll on him throughout the tournament, which ended with a disappointing fifth-place finish for Canada.
The Blue Jackets prospect received the results on Wednesday night and surgery will be necessary on both hips, and doctors will also use the opportunity to address discomfort from a sports hernia. The surgery is scheduled to last around 10 days and a convalescence period of between two and three months is expected, meaning Dumais could be back in action sometime in April, in the second or third round of the playoffs, when the Mooseheads get there .
A hard blow
Even if he manages to return to the playoffs, it will still be a big blow to the Mooseheads, who are aiming for big things this season.
Before joining ÉCJ, Dumais had scored 47 points in 21 games and appeared to be on his way to a third consecutive 100-point season, a first in the QMJHL since Claude Giroux, who achieved the feat between 2005 and 2008.
Dumais formed a devastating trio with Markus Vidicek and Mathieu Cataford, probably the best on the circuit.
All is not lost for the Mooseheads, however, as they sit in fourth place overall. Halifax still has outstanding players, starting with two more Canadian representatives at the last World Juniors: defenseman Jake Furlong and goalkeeper Mathis Rousseau, as well as Vidicek and Cataford.
The team's general manager, Cam Russell, also added some interesting players in the last trade period, including 20-year-old forwards Lou-Félix Denis and Peter Reynolds, as well as European player Jan Sprynar.
Bad time
The team led by former New York Rangers assistant coach Jim Midgley is currently experiencing a slower phase.
Since December 9, when four of their members left the team to join Junior Team Canada: Rousseau, Dumais, Furlong and Markus Vidicek, who was cut, the Mooseheads have won just four of their 10 games.