Lower-body injury ends season for New York Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov-NHL News
The 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) season seems to be well over for New York Islanders’ goaltender, Evgeni Nabokov, who has recently been out of the squad with a lower-body injury.
Islanders looked to have come to the terms of his absence for rest of the season and landed a deal to his replacement, the veteran, John Grahame.
Even though there is no official confirmation about the possible longer ousting of Nabokov from the team, the management has confirmed to have given the contract to 36-year-old, Grahame.
Neither of the parties, the team and the player, have disclosed the terms of the deal including its tenure and value.
Some commentators have noted the team’s move of signing the new goaltender indicates that Nabokov will not be returning to the squad this season. He has already sat out of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, March 27,
2012.
The player has been going through some groin problems lately, and the issue has affected his form and now curtailing his game participation chances.
In any case, even if the netminder’s exit from the rest of the season is confirmed officially, it is less likely to affect Islanders since they have already been eliminated from the playoff contention.
The team has also recalled, Kevin Poulin, from their junior team in the American Hockey League (AHL) as an emergency arrangement. He was placed at the backup position behind, Al Montoya, for Thursday’s game.
Nabokov, also a 36-year-old player, has recently signed a year’s extension of worth $2.75 million.
His latest injury scare comes after his absence from the team on multiple occasions earlier in the season due to the lingering groin injury.
He is again on the risk of facing a longer departure, but since the season is almost over for the team, he will have substantial amount of time to work on his recovery and rehabilitation.
So far, there is no word on the timeline for his recovery from the injury. Both, the team management and the player himself, are silent over the chances of his recovery and possible come back.
The New York Islanders with 77 points are at third last position on the league’s points table, just ahead of confirmed playoff failures, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. It is for the fifth straight season that the team
has not qualified for the playoffs.
Islanders have five more games to play in the regular season.
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