ANAHEIM | The Canadian has yet to play a game in California, but there has already been bad news. And they came out of the infirmary.
On the eve of the game against the Ducks at the Honda Center, CH announced that winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard would be absent for a period of six to eight weeks, while defender Jordan Harris would remain on the sidelines indefinitely.
It’s a bit like Groundhog Day for this team. Despite changes within the medical group, the bad luck remains with several injuries.
Watch Renaud Lavoie’s explanations of the day live from Anaheim in the main video.
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“It’s a physical sport, it’s going to happen,” said winger Brendan Gallagher after a sixty-minute training session in Anaheim. Obviously we feel like the injuries have hit us harder the last two seasons. We know this reality. But each of us will have our work to do. When you wear this jersey you must be indebted to your teammates.
There will still be a lot to juggle for Martin St-Louis in hopes of filling the gaps.
“Yes, it will be more difficult, but the league will not stop with injuries,” said the head coach. Whether it’s hard or easy, you have to find ways to keep the team going.”
Too hasty a return?
Harvey-Pinard was originally injured on November 2nd against the Coyotes in Tempe. He fell heavily against the boards at the end of the first period after contact with Josh Brown. At that time it looked like an injury to his right ankle.
Despite the pain, “RHP” tried to get back into the game in the second half, but he caught his leg while trying to avoid a check from defenseman Troy Stetcher.
After visiting Arizona, Harvey-Pinard missed the next three games against the Blues, Lightning and Red Wings. He returned to the Bruins’ game in Montreal on November 11. He wore the Habs uniform for three games before returning to the infirmary.
And it will stay there for a long time. There is now reason to question whether the medical team made a mistake in this matter by allowing him to return to the game when he was clearly not at 100%.
On this topic, Johnathan Kovacevic refused to blame the team’s doctors or therapists.
“It’s in the DNA of a hockey player to play as long as possible,” Kovacevic replied. There is this mentality where a player can endure pain. And I know it’s the same story for all 32 NHL teams.”
One more defender less
David Savard, Arber Xhekaj and Harris. This means three of the team’s six regular defenders are now on the sidelines at the start of the season.
Archive photo, Martin Chevalier
“It’s difficult, you never want to see your teammates and brothers in the infirmary,” Kovacevic said. It’s like a punch in the stomach. But injuries are part of our sport.
Harris had accompanied the team to California but quickly turned back to undergo medical tests. Before returning to his game against the Bruins in Boston on Saturday, the American had missed the games against the Golden Knights and Flames due to an upper body injury.
The CH is now talking about a lower body injury in his case. Harris played just over 21 minutes against the Bruins.
After training in Anaheim, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton confirmed the recall of defenseman Mattias Norlinder from the Laval Rocket. Jayden Struble, another recalled Rocket defenseman, is expected to make his NHL debut against the Ducks on Wednesday night.