It’s been a frustrating and long-winding road for Jordan Staal in the last 7+ months. Aside from the foot tendon surgery and several subsequent procedures to fight the infection that stubbornly clung to it, Staal battled back and was about to make his 2010-11 season debut in early November.
↵Then, in a freak occurrence in practice, a puck happened to strike him in the hand, breaking it. Staal was believed to be out six weeks, putting his return at mid-December.
↵And that was looking good - Staal started skating before the team practice about a week ago, and his injured hand wasn’t in a hockey glove, so but at least he was back on the ice and making some progress, right?
↵Not so fast. Staal hasn’t skated in a few days, which is a warning sign that something negative has set him back. Further, last night unconfirmed internet reports said Staal’s hand was shown to still be fractured during a recent trip to the doctor. Fuel to the fire has been added by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review beat reporter Rob Rossi, who tweeted earlier today:
↵↵↵Cannot get anybody of importance to DENY report that Staal has another broken bone in right hand.
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The Penguins, a notoriously mum organization when it comes to injuries, haven’t confirmed or denied anything. However, coach Dan Bylsma did say Staal was “not close” just two days ago.
↵It’s not hard to do the math, either. Staal was diagnosed with a six-week injury over five weeks ago on November first. If he’s “not close” at this point, and the fact he is not skating on his own (let alone practicing with the team) it seems clear that the forward has suffered yet another agonizing setback in what has to be a truly frustrating and seemingly never-ending process.