In what I’m going to describe as “News to keep an eye on but not necessarily worry about,” Team Sweden has announced that Robin Lehner is pulling out of the World Cup of Hockey to focus on getting ready for the upcoming season. He will be replaced by Jhonas Enroth.
Lehner, who is recovering from an ankle injury late last season, was expected to back up Sweden’s other goalie, Henrik Lundqvist. According to The Buffalo News and others, representatives from Team Sweden have said that Lehner’s ankle is still not 100%.
For Sabres fans, this news is potentially troubling considering how much time Lehner missed last season. Of course, there’s still over a month left before the start of the 2016-17 season, but you’d like to go into the year with a fully-functional starting goaltender rather than having to constantly worry about having to play Anders Nilsson.
Here’s the statement that Sabres GM Tim Murray issued today:
“As Robin continues to progress during the offseason in his rehab from last season’s ankle injury, he felt that it was best to withdraw from Team Sweden for the upcoming World Cup. Robin felt it was important to continue his rehab in Buffalo to prepare for training camp. He has been working out both on and off the ice and we look forward to seeing him on the ice with our team next month.”
And for those still worried, here’s some video of Lehner working out at HarborCenter yesterday.
Here’s video a goalie dad friend sent me of Lehner working @HARBORCTR yesterday. In case ‘injured’ scared you. pic.twitter.com/Jk49plLqpf
— Christopher Parker (@Bulldogwgr) August 26, 2016