Red Wings' Ville Husso Injured in Warmups During Grand Rapids Conditioning Stint

Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso reinjured his lower body during warmups of his conditioning stint with Grand Rapids, a significant setback for his recovery.

Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso was supposed to start for Grand Rapids last night in a conditioning stint meant as a step toward getting him in game shape. Instead, Husso took a step back.

In warmups ahead of a game against Rockford, Husso tweaked an injury and had to leave the game before he had played a minute. Husso first hurt his lower body against Anaheim on Dec. 18, leaving that game in the first period, He injured himself again in his comeback game against Edmonton on Feb. 13 and has been out since then.

Husso said last Saturday that the injuries were "different stuff," but the repeated injuries to his lower body can't be good. Friday's injury marks the third time he's been set back by a lower body injury this season, and now Husso faces an even tougher road back to game shape.

"A little setback, a little tweak in warmups there yesterday," Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said Saturday. "He was all set to start, so he was unavailable for them. It's unfortunate."

Husso, 29, has played in 19 games with Detroit this season with a 9-5-2 record, 3.55 goals against average and .892 save percentage. He began the season as the Red Wings' starter, but personal leave and injuries made him a backup to Alex Lyon and James Reimer. Now, it's likely that this injury will end Husso's season given the short runway left for him.

The Red Wings have Husso under contract for next season at $4.75 million, a deal he signed before last season in a sign-and-trade with the St. Louis Blues. How this injury factors into Husso's long-term future is unknown, but the repeated injury trouble isn't an encouraging sign. 

Husso opened up about his injury last week, including how the training staff took caution with his recovery to make sure he was ready to come back without risking reinjury.

"Our staff wanted to make sure that it won't happen [for the] third time," Husso said last Saturday of the deliberate recovery process. "At that point, training hard and been skating for a bit now. That's a good sign, and like I said, I feel good now."

Instead, Husso has injured himself again. It's a bad beat for a goaltender who has had such an arduous season, and a significant setback in his road to full recovery. While a long offseason might help him recover fully for the future, such an extended timeline is hardly what Husso or the Red Wings wanted.

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