No surgery for Isles’ Tavares
It was the silver lining in what is an altogether dark cloud.
The Islanders had their star, John Tavares, back at the Coliseum on Tuesday, and despite suffering a seasonending knee injury while playing for Team Canada in the Olympics, the 23yearold center said he will not need surgery, following an examination by team doctors.
With an awkward hit into the boards by Arturs Kulda in a game against Latvia, Tavares partially tore the MCL and the meniscus in his left knee. It didn’t allow him to play in Canada’s final two games en route to winning the gold medal, but it won’t stop him from being ready for next season’s training camp.
The rehab and recovery time is expected to be between eight and 12 weeks, thus allowing Tavares the full time he usually has for an offseason workout regimen.
“Just going to have to take my time and make sure I get healthy,” Tavares said, “and do all the things to get me back to where I need to be.”
The biggest issue regarding the injury is not the fate of the Islanders; at 12 points out of a playoff spot and six teams to leapfrog with 22 games remaining, with or without their best player, the season is pretty much lost. Instead, an injury in the Olympics to a player who is a reigning Hart Trophy finalist has reemphasized the risk NHL teams are taking by allowing their players to participate.
It led Islanders general manager Garth Snow to join the group of league executives who have been harshly critical of the process, telling Newsday the day after the injury, “It’s a joke. They want all the benefits from NHL players in Olympics and don’t want to pay when our best player gets hurt.”
He was referring to the fact the Islanders now have to pay the whole of Tavares’ $5 million contract (a salarycap hit of $5.5 million through the next four years) without help from insurance, as he was injured playing for someone other than the team.
And that situation has very much put in question what hockey tournament at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea mike look like. The situation is even more muddied by the players’ enthusiasm for the Olympics, echoed by Tavares despite his injury.
“Certainly I know [Snow] cares a lot about the Islanders and this organization, and so do I,” Tavares said. “There is always that concern, but with this game, there is always that risk, anytime you step on the ice, the possibility of injury. It’s obviously a tough situation, but I certainly love playing for my country, and if I got the call again, I would.”