What an amazing soap opera this has been. Perhaps we'll now get some closure in the Marian Gaborik story.We've gone from trade rumors to an injury to more trade rumors to a comeback to another injury to trade rumors, and now we have a knife involved.
The knife in question belongs to Dr. Marc Philippon of Vail, Colorado. Monday, Philippon will operate on the left hip of Gaborik. Successful surgery and recovery will keep Gaborik out of the lineup for 10-14 weeks. That means the best-case scenario has Gaborik returning to the team sometime around March 16. Worst-case? April 13, which would be during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Apparently unwilling to let the drama go, the Wild are making it abundantly clear that they aren't fully supportive of Gaborik undergoing this surgery. I'm not sure why, as Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says this hip injury includes a torn labrum and bad cartilage. The belief is that the hip problems have been at the root of Gaborik's long-standing groin issues. It's thought to be worse than the right hip was before Philippon operated on it in 2008.
More from Russo:
The surgery will address a deficiency in his hip that has caused chronic left groin pain. The surgeon has apprised the team that a return to play from this surgery is as soon as ten weeks, with the player able to begin skating after six weeks.I'm trying to avoid taking sides here. But it's hard not to criticize the way the Wild have handled this. Gaborik has tried to play through non-stop pain in his groin. The team sends him to see a surgeon in Colorado, and that surgeon not only recommends this surgery, but if you read Russo's blog, he also tells Gaborik that he could make matters worse by trying to play through it.
That's from the team. What it left out is the rest of the timetable, according to Gaborik, which is 10-14 weeks. That'll take it past the March 4 trade deadline obviously, and almost to the end of the season if it goes the hefty side of those numbers.
One Doug Risebrough quote said everything you need to know about how about much the Wild supports Gaborik's decision to have surgery: "I'm disappointed that he won't be here with us for this point in the season. But, you know, this is the choice that Marian has made. So I have no other comment."
This isn't a guy playing through an injury that he isn't going to make worse. If that were the case, it would be all about pain tolerance. It would be absolutely defensible to play through it. Instead, you have a 26-year-old who is told by a respected doctor that he risks further damage by continuing to play without getting the surgery done.
I don't care if Gaborik's in the first year of a huge contract or in a walk year. It's a no-brainer.
The Wild want to talk about how tough Owen Nolan is for playing through the pain. But his situation is not equal to Gaborik's, and trying to treat it as such is absolutely wrong.
The team is in a real mess now. Without Gaborik, and with no one scoring, the Wild are going to have to lean on their defense and goaltending more than ever. If they somehow are in the playoff mix when (if?) Gaborik returns, it could be the best coaching job Jacques Lemaire has ever done.
Could Gaborik have handled this better? Sure. But in the end, someone should have gotten him on a plane to see Philippon the second he felt pain in October. Not only would he already be close to his return (if not already back), but the Wild could have avoided almost all of this ridiculous, high-school drama.
