It's not quite a "nearly catastrophic testicle injury," but Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar had his own set of problems during the Stanley Cup playoffs. After being involved in a knee-to-knee collision with Washington's Alex Ovechkin in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Penguins' No. 1 defenseman suffered a partially torn MCL that sidelined him for just two games. Had the same injury occurred in, say, November, it probably would have kept him out of the lineup for a couple of months. It's the second major injury of the season for the 35-year-old Gonchar, as he missed the first four-and-a-half months of the season due to a shoulder injury suffered in a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After missing Games 5 and 6 against the Capitals, Gonchar returned to the lineup for Pittsburgh's decisive 6-2 win in Game 7, and even recorded an assist in the first period. It was pretty obvious, however, that he was playing through a great deal of pain and was far from 100 percent. He still managed to lead the Penguins in ice-time during eight of their final 11 playoff games, including a game-high 24 minutes on Friday night, while essentially playing on one leg.
Here's what he had to say about his quick return to the lineup. From the AP:
"I told the guys they were realizing how important it is now, in the playoffs, it's that time of the year when you have the chance to make your dream come true," Gonchar said. "That's why you're playing through everything, just to get it. It's not only me, everybody sacrificed somehow to get it."For Gonchar, this is his first Stanley Cup win after coming up short in 1998 (as a member of the Washington Capitals) and 2008 (as a member of the Penguins). All three trips to the finals resulted in matchups against the Red Wings.
In the coming days I'm sure more injuries will start to leak out. The Canadian Press, for example, dropped in a line about how Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was also suffering from an undisclosed "significant injury" during the playoffs.
