Jordan Staal comeback hits another roadblock
The Pittsburgh Penguins were eagerly anticipating the return of their 22-year-old center, Jordan Staal, who has yet to play this season. Unfortunately, his return has once again been put in doubt after suffering an upper-body injury at Penguins practice
on Monday, 1 November.
Staal, who started practice at center on the team's number two line was forced to leave 45 minutes early with an injury which has effectively put his comeback attempt on hold.
After practice head coach Dan Bylsma told reporters that Staal's latest injury was being evaluated, he added, "It's disappointing on a couple levels. But mostly it's personal for Jordan, because he’s had a difficult off-season and training camp. And then
to get to the point where you're looking to coming back to play and possibly having to deal with another injury is disappointing."
Staal had missed the entire pre-season, and entire first month of the regular season, recovering from a foot injury he sustained in last season's play-off series against the Montreal Canadiens.
Staal suffered a severed tendon in his foot after being struck by the skate of Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban. After receiving surgery on the foot, Staal returned to close out the series, but required a second surgery to repair the foot during the off-season.
Staal had not missed a single regular season game in the last three seasons for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but has now missed the team's first 12 games as the Penguins have gone 6-5-1 to start the season.
The Penguins currently sit just behind their Pennsylvania rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, in the Atlantic Division, and are fifth in the conference with 13 points.
Staal had a career high 49 points last season and was a plus-19 rating. There's no indication yet how long this most recent injury is expected to set him back.
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