L’heureux on the mend from hip injury
It's no wonder Zachary L'heureux couldn't suit up for the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL playoffs.
The third-year winger was saddled with a debilitating hip muscle injury that slowed him to the point he could no longer help the team. He was able to avoid surgery and is about to start extensive rehab.
"It was basically a torn muscle in his hip flexor area," Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell said. "The doctors decided it didn't need surgery, just time to heal. So that healing process is over now and he can start training again."
L'heureux played through the pain for a while but finally had to give in after Halifax's April 9 game against the Quebec Remparts. At first, doctors worried he might have been suffering from a sports hernia but it took some time to make an accurate diagnosis.
He stayed on the sidelines while doctors continued to run additional tests to determine the exact nature of the injury before making a final determination right at the start of the post-season.
"The timing was tough because it's not one of those things you can work through, you just have to let the muscle heal and that means being totally inactive during that time," Russell said. "That's the only way to repair it so it was unfortunate timing for him and for us. Playoffs are what you play your whole season for so it was disappointing for everyone."
"He's just starting to work out now so even if we were still playing now, he wouldn't be ready because he's only just starting with light stuff right now and it's going to take some time to build up," he added. "I don't think he'd have even been ready if we went as far as the third round."
L'heureux finished fourth in team scoring with 56 points in 46 games. He was the Nashville Predators' firstround pick (27th overall) last year.
Otherwise, the Mooseheads wrapped up their exit interviews with the players this week and Russell said all players and staff who are eligible to return will be back next year. The four graduating players are Zack Jones, David Lafrance, Zac Beauregard and Elliot Desnoyers.
"We had a good group of kids and I thought we played well," Russell said. "We had a tough stretch in March but if you take away that month I thought we had a really good season. We saw good development from our young kids and they all got some important mileage. A lot of them played in key situations and we're looking forward to seeing them take a big step next year."
Notes: Desnoyers was one of three finalists for the Guy Carbonneau Trophy as the QMJHL'S best defensive forward. Jacob Gaucher of the Baie-comeau Drakkar was the winner. Desnoyers had 88 points in 61 games, including five shorthanded goals, which tied him for the league lead. He is signed by the Philadelphia Flyers and will move on to professional hockey next season . ... Gaucher's younger brother Nathan was the other finalist and he also won the award as the league's top pro prospect for the 2022 NHL draft. He is a centre with the Quebec Remparts and is projected as a potential firstround pick. He had 57 points in 66 games this season. Yannick Gaucher, their father, is the assistant general manager and chief scout for the Rouyn-noranda Huskies.