The Buffalo Sabres 2010-2011 season is over, so all the tricky injury double-speak from Lindy Ruff and his players can finally come an end. During the team’s locker clean out today, several updates on previously vague injuries have begun to clear up a few loose ends.
The biggest reveal today is that Ryan Miller sustained a concussion earlier this year, during the time he missed for an undisclosed head/collarbone injury. Miller said he received the concussion due to the consecutive damage of four pucks to the head within a week, including shots from Dion Phaneuf and Brian Rolston. The collarbone injury many of us speculated on was a bad bruise, but would not have kept Miller out of any action.
It was also revealed that Patrick Kaleta did indeed break his hand during Game Six, thus forcing him to miss Game Seven. Kaleta’s broken hand is yet another injury in a long line of injuries for a guy who plays such a physical style of hockey.
Andrej Sekera joined the injury update list when he revealed that he was taking injections prior to Game Seven for a strained abdomen. Meanwhile, the Sabres previously stated that Jason Pominville‘s lacerated leg tendon (not the Achilles) will require 4-6 months to heal.
And on a slightly less serious injury note, Tyler Myers turned down an invitation to play for Canada in the World Championships because he’s having his wisdom teeth taken out.
We’ll update this post with any new injury updates as they are revealed.
Update #1: While Tim Connolly was present at locker clean-out today, he apparently blew off the media rather tan talk about his injury and the playoffs. While nothing is set in stone, that might be a fitting last moment as a Buffalo Sabre.
Update #2: The former winger-turned-free-agent Mike Grier doesn’t know what the future holds for him, but said that if he does play another season, he would only play for Buffalo.
Update #3: Thomas Vanek revealed on his blog (thanks to Scott at buffalo74 for the find) that he’d been playing with an injured finger for months, and that it was bad enough for him to have to learn a new grip on his stick. The injury also cost him the opportunity to appear in the All-Star Game this year and the upcoming World Championships as a member (and only NHLer) of Team Austria. Makes what he did during the run to the playoffs even more impressive.