TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston Shares Interesting Updates on Tavares, Knies, Hakanpaa
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TSN's Chris Johnston has provided a few key injury updates for a trio of Maple Leafs, including John Tavares, Matthew Knies, and Jani Hakanpaa.
Knies left Wednesday's game in the second period after awkwardly falling following the completion of a hit on young Blue Jackets star Kirill Marchenko.
The 22-year-old Knies did not return to the game, but fans will breathe a sigh of relief following Johnston's update on his injury status on Thursday's 'Insider Trading'.
"In this case it's good news for the Maple Leafs... The early word on Matthew Knies -- and there was concern when he left the game with an upper-body injury on Wednesday against Columbus -- this is going to be a matter of days, not weeks for him."
However, Johnston's update on Tavares, who left a practice last week after getting tangled up with Chris Tanev along the boards during a power-play drill, was not as positive.
"As for John Tavares, who last week, left the Leafs' lineup suffering a lower-body injury in practice, has not resumed skating. There is still a lack of clarity around exactly when he will be back. He's said to be progressing well, but until he's back on the ice with teammates he's aways off of playing again soon."
Initial reports indicated that he would be out for at least two weeks, but given that he has yet to resume skating, a longer absence from the Leafs' lineup appears probable.
At the end of December, Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided a frustrating update on defenseman Jani Hakanpaa, who played in two games for the Leafs in November before undergoing another knee operation.
Berube noted at the time that he was still 'a ways away' and although he has been skating with the Leafs more consistently over the past month, he has yet to be cleared to return to the lineup.
Johnston's update on Hakanpaa will frustrate fans even further, given that Hakanpaa appears to be putting playiny in the 4 Nations Face-Off for his native Finland ahead of the Leafs.
"He intends to be there at the tournament. He's hoping he might get a couple games beforehand, but as of right now he is intending to play."
Despite the Leafs working with Hakanpaa since July to get him back to the NHL and then signing him to a 1-year deal, the hulking blueliner skated in two games in mid-November and appears to be placing more emphasis on playing for Finland than helping the Leafs prepare for a deep playoff run.
Given the concerns around his knee since July, if Hakanpaa were to play at the 4 Nations Face-Off and injure it again, he may have already played in his last game as a Leaf.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 24 | 2260 ANSWERS TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston Shares Interesting Updates on Tavares, Knies, Hakanpaa Which update are you more frustrated by? | ||
| Tavares | 1336 | 59.1 % |
| Hakanpaa | 924 | 40.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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