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Will Steven Stamkos return for Game 2?
- Updated: April 28, 2016
5:36 PM ET
TAMPA, Fla. — The question was a simple one: Will you be ready for Game 2?
“I wish,” Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said Thursday.
Stamkos, 26, had surgery on April 4 to remove a blood clot near his collarbone, known as vascular thoracic outlet syndrome. The original prognosis was that Stamkos would miss one to three months, but he’s been skating for “a little bit” now and he’s motivated to return to the lineup, especially after his team lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference second-round series to the New York Islanders 5-3 on Wednesday night at Amalie Arena.
Stamkos has skated with the team the last three days while wearing a red no-contact sweater. He said he’s close to being in game shape but he has no idea when he’ll be able to play. He called it a waiting game and said there’s no timetable for his return.
“It could be weeks. It could be months,” Stamkos said. “That’s the tough part.”
Dr. Karl Illig, director of vascular surgery at the University of South Florida, performed the surgery on Stamkos. Dr. Dean Donahue, a vascular surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, does not know the specifics of Stamkos’ surgery or rehab, but he has operated on other professional hockey and baseball players. He also collaborated on a textbook with Illig.
Donahue believes if there’s any athlete who can return to game action sooner than expected, it’s a hockey player.
“I’m always amazed at how incredibly tough hockey players are and the amount of pain they can tolerate,” Donahue said. “I see some tough guys who can gut it, out but [hockey players] are almost inhuman in terms of what they can tolerate. The risk of damaging a blood vessel or a nerve would be my main concern.”
It’s amazing to think Stamkos is on the ice and could be close to returning just weeks after having a rib removed and the muscles cut around the area where the clot formed.
“I’m always amazed at how incredibly tough hockey players are and the amount of pain they can tolerate. I see some tough guys who can gut it, out but [hockey players] are almost inhuman in terms of what they can …
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