Sami Salo: Testicular Fortitude
I suppose this was bound to happen. It seemed like a matter of time before Sami Salo, who had recently put in a decent stretch of games with the Canucks without injury, would return to the injury list.
The good news is, Sami Salo, according to a tweet from Jason Botchford, did not rupture a testicle.
The bad news is, a 100 mph shot in that, ummm, area, still hurts like a bitch.
Remember last year when he joked around with the media after another injury?
Sami Salo arrived in Chicago, practiced on Wednesday morning, and then faced a media horde that wanted to know what it was that kept him out of most of Game 2, and all of Game 3.
What was his injury? An ankle? A groin?
“Maybe,” he said, “It’s just a burning sensation when you pee. You never know.”
Somehow I don’t think Salo thinks it’s funny now.
From Iain MacIntyre (Vancouver Sun):
The Vancouver Canucks aren’t giggling because there is nothing funny about the testicular injury Sami Salo suffered Sunday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Struck by Duncan Keith’s point shot just before the first-period horn, Salo barely made it off the ice with the help of trainers and teammates and was later transported to a Chicago hospital.
The team issued no statement on Salo’s condition and coach Alain Vigneault promised to know more today.
It’s almost inconceivable the Finnish defenceman will play Tuesday, when Vancouver must win again to force a seventh game in its first-round NHL playoff series.
From Jim Jamieson (Vancouver Province):
Leading 2-0 on goals by blueliners Christian Ehrhoff and Kevin Bieksa, the Canucks were killing a penalty in the final seconds of the first period when key D-man Sami Salo was hit in front of the net by a Duncan Keith slapshot in the spot that most males would cringe at the thought of.
Salo lay on the ice writhing in agony for several minutes after the period ended and had to be helped to the Canucks’ dressing room by Vancouver trainers still hunched over. He didn’t return and it was reported that he was taken to Northwestern Hospital with a suspected ruptured testicle. If Salo can’t play in Tuesday’s Game 6, it’ll be up to Aaron Rome, now healthy, to fill in.
While losing Salo – a key shutdown defenceman and penalty killer – will certainly hurt the Canucks if he misses Game 6 in Vancouver, the rest of the defence corps did yeoman work coping without him.
[Update: 05/10/2010, 9:11 AM]
It seems like somebody has already created a “Sami Salo: History Will Be Made” parody.
That didn’t take long.
[Update: 05/10/2010, 9:14 AM]
Here’s the latest courtesy of a Dan Murphy tweet:
Sami Salo is walking gingerly to the Canucks charter. AV will give an update during media avail in Vancouver later today.
