http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/r ... /29359563/Quote:
The Detroit Red Wings may have to start next season without their most dynamic player.
Pavel Datsyuk underwent ankle surgery for ruptured tendons Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina, general manager Ken Holland told the Free Press Friday afternoon. The surgery was performed by the same surgeon, Dr. Robert Andersen, who operated on Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera.
"Pav will be in a cast or walking boot 4-6 weeks," Holland said, adding that the surgeon wants to evaluate Datsyuk again in three months. That would be Sept. 26, in the midst of the Wings' exhibition season. They open up 2015-16 by hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 9.
Datsyuk had been bothered by the ankle as the season closed, but hopes had been that rest would do the trick. It didn't. Team trainer Piet van Zant talked to Datsyuk last Saturday, after Datsyuk had returned from vacation.
"Pav said his ankle wasn't getting any better," Holland said, "so we put this together for him to come over, see the doctor, and the decision was made today to have surgery, so he had surgery."
The injury stems from a shot Datsyuk blocked in the last month of the season. "His ankle kept bothering him," Holland said. "We gave him the odd game off, we weren't sure. At the end of the season, after we lost to Tampa, the doctor looked at him, felt there were two ways to go - go in with exploratory surgery, or take six weeks off, see if it healed. We decided to do the conservative route, and the ankle didn't heal."
Datsyuk turns 37 in July. He had 65 points in 63 regular season games last season, and five points in seven playoff games.