Bobby Ryan done for season after hernia surgery
Bobby Ryan’s first year with the Ottawa Senators will come to an end 10 games before the finish line, as the forward will undergo surgery to correct an injury he’s had since November.
The Ottawa Senators announced today that right wing Bobby Ryan will undergo surgery to repair a sports hernia today in Montreal. The procedure will force Ryan to miss the remainder of the 2013-14 National Hockey League season.
“Bobby has been dealing with the discomfort of this injury since it was sustained in November,” said Senators general manager Bryan Murray. “Both Bobby and our medical staff were hopeful that we could hold off from having surgery until the completion of the season, but he aggravated the condition last Saturday in Dallas to the point that surgery is now the only option.”
“Bobby has worked hard to play through this injury to help his team and his teammates, and had yet to miss a game this season prior to the injury progressing to this point, so we’re obviously disappointed that we won’t have him available to us for the rest of the season. We’re confident that he’ll recover in time to have a full summer of training that will allow him to be back in our lineup and help this team be successful next season.”
OK, so maybe there was more to Ryan’s decreasing stats this season than that infamous Olympic snub from USA Hockey.
In October and November, Ryan posted 25 points in 26 games, including 13 goals. From January through March, after The Snub, Ryan had 12 points in 28 games, including 5 goals.
His 23 goals are still good enough to lead the Senators this season, which says more about their sputtering offense than anything else. Kyle Turris and Clarke MacArthur are right there with 22, while Erik Karlsson has 20.
Ryan averaged 0.69 points per game this season, which is right in line with the last 82-game season in the NHL when he averaged 0.70 with the Ducks. Which is around the time when people started calling him distracted and underwhelming.
We imagine he’ll happily big farewell to the 2013-14 season, which was a perfect crap storm of injury, indignity and an inferior season from what many saw as a playoff team.
Shut’er down and rest up, Bobby Ryan. You’ve got a contract to play for next season! (Paul Holmgren’s ears are ringing.) And now, finally, you can start on those spelling lessons.
