A Chabot return from a forearm injury and surgery appears to be way ahead of schedule.
Over the past month, as they’ve battled for NHL playoff positioning, the Ottawa Senators have had almost historically bad luck in the injury department.
Because of that, 12 different defencemen have suited up for the club during that stretch, but lately, the news has started to turn.
After the return of their number-one defenseman, Jake Sanderson, last week, there was another encouraging development on Tuesday. Thomas Chabot was back on the ice, skating with the team at its morning skate ahead of a massive game at Canadian Tire Centre against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Chabot underwent surgery after taking a cross-check to the forearm from J.T. Miller of the New York Rangers on March 23. At the time, Chabot was expected to miss four to eight weeks, so seeing him on the ice barely two weeks later comes as something of a surprise.
"Nice to see him on the ice," head coach Travis Green said. "Anytime a guy gets out there in a morning skate, you know he's not far off. And hopefully he's back soon."
But will he back back sooner than Green anticipates?
"It's definitely going to be sooner, whenever it is," Green said.
Chabot isn’t known as a particularly physical player, and he’s certainly not a fighter, but that doesn’t mean he lacks toughness. Getting back on the ice this quickly says plenty about his willingness to push through for his team at a critical time.
"He's one of the toughest players that I've coached or played with when it comes to playing through injuries," Green said. "It's quite amazing to be honest."
Chabot has certainly had practice, playing through a wrist injury for two seasons and change before finally getting it fixed surgically once and for all.
Sens defenseman Dennis Gilbert, who would also represent an upgrade in the Sens' bottom pairing, returned to practice Monday, and Green said he's getting close to returning as well. But then there's this...
TSN 1200 on TwitterDespite that end-of-practice note, Green didn't mention any change in Gilbert's return-to-play status.
One other player to watch will be Tim Stutzle, who was in obvious pain and having his left shoulder worked on during Sunday's game.
With just five games remaining in the regular season, the Senators are clinging to the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 90 points. They sit one point ahead of the New York Islanders, with a game in hand, while both the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets are just two points back.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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