Pekka Rinne- will he play this year?

[yave1964]

 Fans in Nashville are more than a bit frustrated with the Pekka Rinne recovery, for over a month the voices have been getting louder calling for a timetable for When/if we will see Rinne between the pipes again this season.

  The trade for Dubnyk may mark the end of hopes for Rinne this season. If so it is a damn shame, he is one of my favorite netminders, when he is on he can take over a game like nobody else, his massive size and quick glove hand make him as good as it gets between the pipes.

 

From the Preds:

We are encouraged and pleased to report that Pekka is moving on to the next stage in his recovery and rehabilitation. He has been cleared to begin weight-bearing exercises under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Byrd. There is no timetable for this stage as that will be evaluated by Dr. Byrd and our medical team on a daily basis. Our primary objective is to insure Pekka’s full recovery and return to the ice by taking every possible precaution throughout the process. We will provide further updates when available.

 

  This was from just a couple of days ago. Doesn't really say a lot. Reading the Nashville papers the whispers have become a murmur that Rinne will be shut down for the season really soon.

 

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Rinne could very well not play again this season.

 

I don't know all the intricate details, but it is my understanding that the slow recovery is due more to infection issues in his surgically repaired hip.

Those things can be tricky. No one can really have a timetable for that.

 

Some years ago, a guy I trained with in Tae Kwon Do had a surgically repaired ankle from a motorcycle accident. He was fine for a long while, and as you can imagine, pretty impressive in the martial arts having that impairment, then one day developed some sort of discomfort in there where he had some plates and screws, didn't pay much mind to it...next thing you know, his wife finds him almost passed out in the shower, he is rushed to the hospital, where it was discovered he did have some bacterial issue there...and was lucky he was found when he was, otherwise, things could have ended badly...

 

He was away from Tae Kwon Do for a long while during recovery...some days he felt great, other days, not so much, antibiotics up the ying yang.

Eventually he returned, though not at full strength, but he said it was the infection, more than anything outright physical, that was hampering him.

 

Sorry I rambled, but my point is, Rinne and his doctors need to make sure that infection is under control and/or gotten rid of.

Forgetting just a second about how high a level the goaltender must play to be in the NHL, how under control they get that could be the difference in life or death for him.

Understandably, the doctors do NOT want to take any chances on that.

Once that is taken care of, I am willing to bet the actual physical activities regarding goaltending will come pretty quickly.

 

Fans need to be patient on this (difficult I know), and IMO, the organization would have to continue on as if they will NOT be having Rinne available at all the rest of this year....then evaluate the situation in the off season.

In the meantime, whatever they need to do goaltending-wise for this team, they just need to do.

 

Whether it's picking up a goalie, giving more time to a promising prospect...whatever the case. Just can't sit around waiting on Rinne...he has a personal battle he is dealing with right now, and it supercedes hockey.