VANCOUVER – A devastating and potentially career-threatening injury to defenceman Sami Salo changes everything for the Vancouver Canucks this summer.
Salo is likely out for at least three months, and probably a lot longer, after suffering a torn Achilles tendon while playing floorball in Finland.
His injury throws a wrench into the team’s off-season plans. For starters, Kevin Bieska’s days as a member of the Canucks may no longer be numbered.
Bieksa and his $3.5-million salary have been on the trading block as he was deemed expendable with the acquisitions of Keith Ballard and Dan Hamhuis.
Now everything changes. Salo could be gone until Christmas and while the Canucks thought they could live without Bieksa, they likely can’t afford to be without both Bieksa and Salo.
General manager Mike Gillis was hoping he might be able to package Bieksa and get a top-six forward in return. Salo’s injury could force Gillis to look to the free agent market, where most of the top talent has been picked over, in an attempt to bolster his offence.
And Salo’s injury further complicates the team’s salary cap woes, which could worsen if winger Mason Raymond wins his arbitration case next week.
The Canucks confirmed Salo’s injury Friday morning, a few hours after the news broke in Finland.
In a brief statement, the Canucks said "there will be no further comment from the club or Salo at this time."
Salo, who turns 36 in September and has weathered a long list of previous injuries, is entering the final year of his contract and this was expected to be his final season in Vancouver. Now the Canucks must hope he hasn’t already played his last game.
Dr. Bob McCormack, a Vancouver-based orthopedic surgeon who has served as chief medical officer for Team Canada at the last few Olympic Games, said Friday that Achilles injuries typically require lengthy rehabilitations.
Most tears or ruptures are complete tears that require surgery. The Canucks have not said whether Salo requires surgery or has already had it. Age would certainly not be on his side.
"With a (surgical) repair our goal is to get the person back to all their previous activities and previous levels of activity," McCormack said. "Having said that, there are a number of things that can affect that. If you’re 20 years old it’s easier to come back than if you are 40 years old. Add on top of that the fact there are tears and there are tears. If there is some pre-existing tendinitis and the tendon is not very good quality, that can make it a little more challenging.
"What I will say is the good news for someone like Sami would be that hockey puts a little less stress on the Achilles than other sports. Someone who is a sprinter or a high-jumper may have more troubles than someone who is in a rigid boot like a hockey skate."
Many Achilles injuries suffered by hockey players come as a result of the tendon being sliced by an opponent’s skate, rather than a rupture. Bieksa had his Achilles cut by a skate during the 2007-08 season and missed 47 games.
McCormack said if Salo suffered a complete tear, the recovery time will likely be longer than had the tendon been cut.
"More commonly in hockey it’s like a cut or laceration across the tendon or muscle and that actually heals a little more quickly," said McCormack, an associate professor at UBC who serves as orthopedic surgeon for both the B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps. "When it ruptures the ends kind of look like a bowl of spaghetti, it’s not just a clean cut across, there’s a larger zone of injury. So if it’s a clean cut, it heals a little bit faster."
Salo played some of his best hockey in the second half of last season following the season-ending injury suffered by Willie Mitchell in mid-January. Salo played 68 games, the most he’s logged since the 2003-04 season.
He suffered his latest injury playing floorball, a sport with Scandinavian roots that is highly popular in Europe and gaining traction in Canada.
"We are trying to get more Canadians playing floorball, leave it to Sami to make it seem dangerous," said Greg Beaudin, president of B.C. Floorball.
Floorball is a faster, more skilled version of floor hockey. Shorter, ergonomically designed sticks about one metre tall are used that Beaudin said allows players "to do some amazing creative stickhandling. You can do some incredible wizardry with a floorball stick … and you can shoot with a floorball stick 180 kilometres an hour."
The sport is growing fast in the Vancouver area, but it’s extremely popular in places like Finland, Sweden and Switzerland, which all have professional leagues.
Beaudin said many European NHL players play floorball during the summer.
"(Marian) Gaborik, the Hossa brothers (Marian and Marcel), Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, they always said they played floorball."
Salo suffered his injury while playing floorball with some other Finnish hockey players. The Canucks said Salo has played floorball during the summer for the past 15 years.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.