Calgary Flames centre Olli Jokinen recovers from abdominal surgery as uncertain future awaits him
The Calgary Flames seem to be done with centre, Olli Jokinen, leaving the possibility of him becoming an unrestricted free agent from July 01, 2012, quite wide open.
Jokinen reportedly had a surgery recently to treat an abdominal problem that had been lingering on since later part of the 2011-12 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season.
It is very rare for a team to make public details of any player’s medical procedure and Flames’ disclosure of Jokinen’s procedure has created doubts on the mind of some of commentators about the player’s stay in Calgary beyond expiry of his contract in July.
The player was reported to have informed the team about his injury in March, when it affected his form to a considerable level.
Still, he continued playing with the problem and had the procedure done in the offseason.
Given the amount of privacy needed in the recovery and rehab, teams do not release details of any player’s procedure to avoid influx of messages from fans, apparently bothering the player at the time when he needs rest.
As the amount of uncertainty about Jokinen’s return to Flames increases with every day, his agent, Ian Pulver, has been making efforts to protect his client from negativity.
He said:
“He has played with some significant mid-body injuries to try doing the best he could for the team. Olli is somewhat of an ironman. He hasn’t missed a game, and he should be applauded.”
It is certainly difficult to comment on his chances of moving elsewhere in the league and attracting a solid offer as the problems like injuries are not going to come as an excuse as far as his performance is concerned.
Owing to the injury, Jokinen went down in his form remarkably. Yet he refrained from giving details around his injury, especially how it occurred.
He had said:
“I don’t want to comment. I never comment on my status in the media, and I won’t do that today. The only thing I can say is everybody plays through injuries. Everybody is hurt.”
He now hopes for earliest possible recovery and fitness without a firm timetable.
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