Al Stalock to miss majority of season recovering from injury
by Matthew_Taylor on Aug 3, 2011 9:52 AM PDT
in Worcester Watch
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PrintAlthough many were still holding out hope that Sharks' goaltending prospect Al Stalock would miss only minimal time as the result of a leg injury he suffered last season, it seems those hopes have been dashed significantly.
According to a recent interview with the Duluth News Tribune, Stalock's doctors have informed him that he will not be able to begin on-ice training until February of 2012 at the earliest, a year after his surgery date.
Stalock had nerve repair surgery completed on his left leg on February 14th of 2011 to repair nerve damage suffered when the skate of an opponent cut a nerve near his knee during a game played February 4th.
If the one-year timetable is correct, then Stalock will not be able to return to practice until February 14th, leaving little time left in the season for him to receive any game time in the AHL. Even if he returns to action March 1st, only about 20 AHL games remain after that date. In that extremely optimistic scenario, Stalock's season will be shortened significantly.
Even worse, it's unknown how the injury will affect Stalock, a goalie who relies heavily on the speed and reflex game, long term. Although it's too early to predict anything, it will be something to watch going forward.
Stalock signed a one-year deal in June and will still be an RFA after his contract expires, so the goalie remains under the Sharks control for at least the next two seasons. Thomas Greiss, who signed a two-year deal this offseason, will likely take over the starter's role in Worcester this upcoming year. Greiss is familiar with the role, having played in Worcester and as a backup in San Jose.
The injury to Stalock does not completely kill the team's future in net. Aside from Stalock, the Sharks are actually quite wealthy with goaltending talent. Harri Sateri might make the jump to the AHL this year after playing in Europe, while Tyson Sexsmith, J.P. Anderson and others have all shown potential. Playing time for Sexsmith is a bit of a question mark headed into 2011-2012, but Anderson will return to the OHL where he posted a .911 save percentage last year.
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Not surprising
Dude’s nerves were severed. Completely different ball game then a muscle tear.
On a side note, Greiss is on a two year deal. :-)
I thought Greiss signed a 2 year deal, two-way year 1, one-way year 2.
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by Matthew_Taylor on Aug 3, 2011 10:02 AM PDT up reply actions
I just said a quick "Our Stalock"
Hope he recovers quick!
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by idunno723 on Aug 3, 2011 10:02 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Still pretty close to the recovery I was originally expecting.
I was hoping it’d go a little faster with how quickly he was up and walking, but in things like this, it’s probably better to take the conservative approach. If he got on the ice in November and destroyed the muscle/nerve he’d never come back. Yes, it looks like this has been a major setback for his career, but at least there’s still hope of him playing. Just another reminder that the Sharks (and the whole NHL) should start requiring cut-resistant socks and sleeves like Demers wears.
In the meantime, we’ve got Griess and this’ll give Sateri and Sexsmith a chance to show what they’ve got.
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requiring cut-resistant socks and sleeves
I wonder how that would affect Nemo’s game with his tendency to go bare-legged.
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awww Al
I’m an optimist no matter what, though, and believe Al will come back strong. He’s a young guy, yes it’s a terrible injury, but it’s remarkable what people can overcome with the proper care and mindset. I’ve seen lots of evidence of it.
Recover well Al!
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STALOCK GET A ROBOT LEG OR SOMETHING AND COME BACK~WE NEED SOME LOCK STOCK STALOCK HERE!!
by YeahTommyB4ZGermansGetThere on Aug 3, 2011 10:09 AM PDT reply actions
... making the Greiss deal
even all the more important. Good job DW.
Best wishes to Stalock.
Darn
Greats news on Monday about Burns signing a 5 yr deal. Not great news about Stalock today, sure hope the kid stays positive. Good thing we have Greiss in the mix..
Go Big or Go Home
This is going to sound awfully pedantic, but…
Stalock had nerve repair surgery completed on his left leg on February 14th of last year
I know you mean February 2011, but ‘last year’ says February 2010 to me. Might I suggest an edit to ‘last season’ or similar to avoid confusion?
Like I said, sorry to be pedantic (feel free to ban me for this cheeky reply) but I’ve clearly got my sub-editor’s hat on today….
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Agreed. Thanks.
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by Matthew_Taylor on Aug 3, 2011 11:32 AM PDT up reply actions
Hmm, I agree as well
shallow and pedantic.
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by PNK on Aug 3, 2011 5:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Guilty on both fronts…
And you think you live in a non-traditional hockey market...
Randy Hahn: "That is one angry Swedish person."
"I flew 5,000 miles for this?"
And if you want more of this kind of thing, I'm spouting nonsense on Twitter too...
Looks like another depth move
He’s slow, but he fills up the defensive stat sheet. Good for 100+ hits and 100+ blocks his whole career.
This sucks
I didn’t expect to see him this year anyway, but hopefully he gets healthy enough to challenge for a roster spot for the 12-13 season.
I was looking forward to seeing him play sometime soon. That’s such a bummer.
by Dermal Denticles on Aug 3, 2011 4:01 PM PDT reply actions
This sucks, but I hope he fully recovers
At the current schedule, he’s still slated to get a few starts. More importantly, I’m hoping he doesn’t rush anything. After all, he’s the future of this world team.
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Why?
Why did we rush Niittymaki back so early? Stalock was so awesome here! You know, in his one half of a game.
Stalock got hurt like... immediately, didn't he?
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I want to say he went down his first game back with the baby sharks
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Correct.
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by Noctro on Aug 4, 2011 11:01 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
He went down 2 days after his NHL debut.
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This makes me
so very sad…..sigh….
Al Stalock, his reflexes are so good, he can smell a fart before someone even lays one."
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Get well soon, Al...
…TealTown misses you…
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@TheFourthPeriod How intense with the #Bruins #Habs PO series be? || @Noctro Like K-Y Jelly lit on fire. || @TheFourthPeriod Wow. Best. Answer. Ever.
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by Noctro on Aug 4, 2011 11:02 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
I was suprised Stalock was sent back to Worcester so soon after his debut game; even more so that he didn’t START the next game since it was the day after. Nitty was still injured, and he didn’t see any ice time until the middle of March (almost a month and a half after Stalock’s debut); after all he was put on IR not once, but twice.
I am also suprised that he wasn’t wearing cut-proof leg sleeves. Aside from that, doesn’t the NHL and/or AHL have some sort of provision in their rules regarding player equipment regulations that states the skate hollow/bite angle may not exceed a certain radius? Because the sharper the skate is, the more penetrating it is; the league should have some sort of regulation about that. Did anything even happen to the player that sliced Alex’s leg?
I hope Alex gets better soon. I know we have plenty of goalies in our system but I see something really special in him specifically. But it’s not all about his physical game that will make him the future of Sharks home-grown goaltending; it’s about his mental game and attitude just as much, if not more.
I don’t think anything happened to the player because it was deemed unintentional. Stalock himself said he didn’t think it was on purpose, so I tend to believe that story of it. The descriptions I’ve seen of it all describe a big scrum with guys all trying not to fall, which is pretty consistent with it being an accident.
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Don't worry
He has an entire flock of doves around him at all times to lift his spirits.
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