Injuries are unavoidable in hockey. It's a violent sport where rock-solid bodies collide at high speeds. So, when you're running an NHL team, you expect to lose a few bodies over the course of a season.
But when you lose a player during a team golf event, it's a tough one to take. I just shake my head.
Erik Johnson of the St. Louis Blues, a bona fide star in the making, tore his knee ligaments last week while stepping out of a golf cart. Mercy.
"It's a curveball, I can tell you that," Blues president John Davidson told ESPN.com. "But you know what? The world of sports, you never know, you have to deal with things. Freak things happen and this is a very freak incident."
The St. Louis Blues got the bad news last night -- a second MRI revealing that the second-year defenseman would miss the entire season.
"When you have an ACL [injury], that's usually the time frame," said Davidson.
Understand how big this is. For a rebuilding team like the Blues, a franchise trying to resurrect itself, this is a crushing blow. Johnson, as Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote in today's edition, is the face of the franchise. He's the guy that sells jerseys, he's the guy the Blues put in TV commercials. You get the drill.
And I ask again, injured at a golf event? I mean, if he was water-skiing or wakeboarding, you could at least see the possibility of danger.
"I know; it's not like he was out there surfing or something like that," said Davidson. "He was playing golf and he got his leg caught up as he was getting out of the cart. Just like it's happened to you and me, I'm sure. I drive the cart with my left leg hanging out all the time and, with my right leg, I push the brake.
"He did the same thing and his right leg got caught as he was getting out and it wrenched. He slipped and that was it."
Davidson did his best to stay upbeat, saying the most important thing was to get Johnson healthy for next season.
"He'll get himself strong," said Davidson. "We're not going to mess around with it. We want what's right for Erik, what's right long-term. We're going to do it right."
Johnson is expected to have surgery within the next month once the swelling subsides.
Pierre LeBrun
