Williams Injury

[Caniac24-7]

WOW.. this officially really sucks!!!

I hope willy gets well soon.

This is the chance for some people to step up. First name that pops in my head is Ladd, its about time and there is no better time. I think Staal needs to play more consistent, he is doing all the little things right but now he REALLY needs to start scoring some goals. As for cullen, dont mess will his line, he plays well with about anybody he plays and makes them better too.. he plays well with walker, cole, and Whitney.

I say do it like this:

Stillman/Brindy/Ladd

Whitney/staal/cole

Walker/Cullen/Nolan

Letowski/Hamilton/Adams

Thats just what I am thinking, but what ever Lavi puts together it needs to stay for a while because if the lines are inconsitant the play is consistant. I just hope for the best.

Oh and what sucks too is that willy wont get to go to that allstar game

[nc4life61]

I hope Williams has a good recovery. He has been having a pretty good year.

[wesley-number-1-fan]

GET WELL SOON J. WILLIE!!!!

[wheresthepuck]

Well this stinks for sure. I saw news about Larose earlier today with nothing about Williams. Because of that I was hopeful that Williams' time off would be minimal. Just strange.........Stillman's contortion looked worse than Williams' confrontation last night. But Williams' looked to be in severe pain after the fact. I can only wish the best for Justin Williams.

As for the lines.............I'm just for whatever works........I guess it will interesting to see it unfold..........I'd prefer other circumstances though.

[SkinnerChickenDinner]

DeCocks blog says it will be ladd with cullen and nolan.

[TarheelMike]

DeCocks blog says it will be ladd with cullen and nolan.

If anybody right now can get production out of Ladders, it's Cullen. I know people will complain about Cullen being stuck on the 3rd line, but I think pairing him with Ladd and Nolan speaks VOLUMES about what Lavi thinks of Cullen's playmaking abilities.

[katy]

If anybody right now can get production out of Ladders, it's Cullen. I know people will complain about Cullen being stuck on the 3rd line, but I think pairing him with Ladd and Nolan speaks VOLUMES about what Lavi thinks of Cullen's playmaking abilities.

I think this is going to be a really good line for all three of them.

[fightinmad]

6 months, huh. Man that sucks.

And this is the second time he's torn his ACL, so that REALLY sucks.

[goeb]

If anybody right now can get production out of Ladders, it's Cullen. I know people will complain about Cullen being stuck on the 3rd line, but I think pairing him with Ladd and Nolan speaks VOLUMES about what Lavi thinks of Cullen's playmaking abilities.

That's true. But again, haven't seen Nolan play ever, so I'll wait and see. this is where Lavi makes his $$ as the coach.

I am just worried if we cna get much worse without Williams, we have no one to trade for , or a rental we can get right now. I'm just hoping this won't be another excuse for a bad month of hockey, it just won't be accepted by me this time.

[kingofminneapolis]

Wonder who will step up and get Justins playing time, maybe Ladd or Cullen but right now we really need somebody to do it.

[fallen_apostle]

This franchise is constantly haunted by injuries...heaven forbid we EVER have a season without many injuries or any major ones...once again the team resolve will be tested. Best of luck in your recovery, Justin.

[caniacmaniacm]

the more i see the replay...the more i get ticked off....im just gonna let it go till we play the kats again. i am aware its part of the game...but i personally think some gloves will be dropped at the next game against the kats

[slim-1]

i'm having a problem believing he's going to be out 6 months.

granted i don't know the severity of the tear (partial or complete, if partial what the grade is), but a lot of times a pro athlete can come back from a torn acl in about 3 months. so he'd be back at the end of the season. i took sports medicine for 3 years, i have worked with athletes who aren't even CLOSE to having the capability of healing as quickly as jwillie can, and they have been able to come back quickly from an acl tear.

if he's not back at the end of the season, i'd be pretty damn concerned that something isn't going on right.

[katy]

i'm having a problem believing he's going to be out 6 months.

granted i don't know the severity of the tear (partial or complete, if partial what the grade is), but a lot of times a pro athlete can come back from a torn acl in about 3 months. so he'd be back at the end of the season. i took sports medicine for 3 years, i have worked with athletes who aren't even CLOSE to having the capability of healing as quickly as jwillie can, and they have been able to come back quickly from an acl tear.

if he's not back at the end of the season, i'd be pretty damn concerned that something isn't going on right.

Remember that this will be the 2nd time he has done it, so they may want to be more cautious with it.

[Guest]

i'm having a problem believing he's going to be out 6 months.

granted i don't know the severity of the tear (partial or complete, if partial what the grade is), but a lot of times a pro athlete can come back from a torn acl in about 3 months. so he'd be back at the end of the season. i took sports medicine for 3 years, i have worked with athletes who aren't even CLOSE to having the capability of healing as quickly as jwillie can, and they have been able to come back quickly from an acl tear.

if he's not back at the end of the season, i'd be pretty damn concerned that something isn't going on right.

I have some knowledge in sports medicine too and I think the 6 months is a conservative number. The average person comes back from a torn ACL in approx. six months with surgery, rehab and PT. Willie is far from the average person and elite athletes tend to come back much quicker. That being said, we don't know the grade of the tear and if the MCL was also involved, add to the fact that he's done this before to the same knee....and you get the conservative 6 months. We probably won't get much more info till the surgeon actually goes in for the repair and sees first hand what it looks like.

[Guest]

i'm having a problem believing he's going to be out 6 months.

granted i don't know the severity of the tear (partial or complete, if partial what the grade is), but a lot of times a pro athlete can come back from a torn acl in about 3 months. so he'd be back at the end of the season. i took sports medicine for 3 years, i have worked with athletes who aren't even CLOSE to having the capability of healing as quickly as jwillie can, and they have been able to come back quickly from an acl tear.

if he's not back at the end of the season, i'd be pretty damn concerned that something isn't going on right.

I have some knowledge in sports medicine too and I think the 6 months is a conservative number. The average person comes back from a torn ACL in approx. six months with surgery, rehab and PT. Willie is far from the average person and elite athletes tend to come back much quicker. That being said, we don't know the grade of the tear and if the MCL was also involved, add to the fact that he's done this before to the same knee....and you get the conservative 6 months. We probably won't get much more info till the surgeon actually goes in for the repair and sees first hand what it looks like.

[dmonk]

Remember that this will be the 2nd time he has done it, so they may want to be more cautious with it.

He had different ligament teared last time.

I also found this on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_cruciate_ligament''>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_cruciate_ligament' target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_cruciate_ligament[/post]

[fightinmad]

If it's close to what happened the first time, here's all the information from that one. Initially they said 2-4 months, because on the MRI the tear in his ACL didn't look as bad. When they actually went in for the surgery, the tear in his ACL was much more serious than they thought, and he had also partially torn his MCL, which upped the estimation to 4-8 months. He was back in about 3 1/2 months, with 6 days a week of rehab/pt/whatevertheheckyouwanttocallit.

This is the same knee, thus the same reconstructed ligaments are involved. Which is lovely. [/sarcasm] I'd say that there's a good chance they're going to want him to take his time, which is probably a factor in the 6 months estimate.

What I'll be curious to see is if he has the same doctor up here do it this time.

[hockeybaby]

Poor Justin!! That really sucks. That puts him out of action all season and any playoffs pretty much.

Confident about the playoffs then?

[dogbutler]

Confident about the playoffs then?

Sure

[katy]

Confident about the playoffs then?

Well, I am confident that they won't be the same without Jwill jumping up along the boards

[ecuhockeyguy-sb1]

If anybody right now can get production out of Ladders, it's Cullen. I know people will complain about Cullen being stuck on the 3rd line, but I think pairing him with Ladd and Nolan speaks VOLUMES about what Lavi thinks of Cullen's playmaking abilities.

yes i greatly agree. i used to think he should get more playing time on a higher line, but lavi is saying, "you play very well and are a great set-up man....here, take these 2 youngsters and give them goals" lol however, I have a feeling Cullen wont get many goals....but we will see....

I am so excited to see Nolan. i sure hope he is everything he has been hyped to be

williams....crap.....well, 4-6 months sucks....I sure hope he gets well. ACL is bad and porb hurt like a mofo (lol)......good luck JWillie getting better.

[hctimo787]

If anybody right now can get production out of Ladders, it's Cullen. I know people will complain about Cullen being stuck on the 3rd line, but I think pairing him with Ladd and Nolan speaks VOLUMES about what Lavi thinks of Cullen's playmaking abilities.

Agreed. Cullen has definitely been bucking for 'best playmaker on the team' bragging rights all season. He's the human equivalent of a universal adapter. I hope Nolan makes the most of this opportunity!!

Willie: That sucks! As much as the team, the fans, and I will miss him and his great 2-way play on the ice, I care much less about the impact his loss will have on the team's success (which is a huge impact) and care more about his probability to come back in 6 months (or whenever) and have the same capacity as he does now and did last season, especially when you consider the same ligament has been torn before. I just hope for his sake that he can make a FULL recovery. On the bright side, he could use this time to 'hit the books' and analyze games more in depth than he normally has time to do during the season, although there will still be plenty of work for him to do when he starts PT.

/me says a prayer...

[acaniac]

Bets of luck to you Justin... 2nd time around is tough.. Been there done that... If they want to do the patellar graft go for it buddy... I wish I had...

[one-timer]

I have some knowledge in sports medicine too and I think the 6 months is a conservative number. The average person comes back from a torn ACL in approx. six months with surgery, rehab and PT. Willie is far from the average person and elite athletes tend to come back much quicker. That being said, we don't know the grade of the tear and if the MCL was also involved, add to the fact that he's done this before to the same knee....and you get the conservative 6 months. We probably won't get much more info till the surgeon actually goes in for the repair and sees first hand what it looks like.

I was thinking this as well.

It first occured to me with the quick estimated date for reconstructive surgery that it might in part be timed to give him a chance to come back for the playoffs. The swelling alone wont really go down for 10-12 days.

As much credit as JWillie gets, I still think he is our most underrated player. It'll be tough losing a guy that'll go in the corners for a puck and play good defense.