With Taylor Hall suffering a concussion as the season wound down, many suggested that he be shut down for the season to prevent any further injury. Today, those people got their wish, but in an unlikely manner.
The Edmonton Oilers have announced that Taylor Hall will not return this season; instead he’ll have surgery on his left shoulder.
Here’s what the Oilers’ official Twitter feed had to say, along with the prognosis directly from general manager Steve Tambellini:
Hall (labral shoulder surgery) will not return to the #Oilers lineup this season, according to GM Tambellini
"Recovery time will be between five and six months, so our hope is that Taylor will be ready for the start of next season." – Tambellini
Going for a midpoint between five and six months puts Hall’s return at some point early in September, likely just prior to the start of training camp.
For those wondering when this injury occurred, the Oilers’ feed also included a quote from Hall on the length of time since the injury occurred:
"Four years now … I injured it in junior and it’s been wearing away." – Taylor Hall when asked when he first injured his shoulder
It seems highly plausible that the Ryan Wilson hit shown above – a hit that cost Hall seven games back in December – exacerbated the situation.
Naturally, the question now will turn to why Hall was allowed to play this year with an injury, but I’m not at all sure that things are so clear-cut. The simple fact of the matter is that NHL players play through pain, and they play through injury. To know whether Hall’s specific injury should have been dealt with via surgery immediately, one would need to know what the risk of injuring it worse was. We don’t have that information. Without that information, it seems only fair to assume that the Oilers were doing what every other team does whenever possible: delaying surgery until the off-season. At this point, I’m not close to ready to criticize the medical staff; there simply isn’t enough information here to have an opinion one way or the other.
And while this isn’t good news, it could be far worse. Hall’s getting a nagging problem looked at, and he should be ready to return to the Oilers next season. This will cost him his chance to represent Canada at the World Championships, but it’s probably the best decision.
Related Posts at Oilers Nation
- Hall out again? (on this same, nagging, injury)
- Did the Oilers ignore NHL concussion rules when they allowed Theo Peckham to continue playing?
- Did the Oilers have bad injury luck last year?
- Taylor Hall: The silver lining
- The durable and the injury-prone
I am going to throw out an optimistic post here assuming that no one else has voiced a similar opinion. If Taylor played the way he has the past two seasons with a dinged up wing, then wow am I eager to see the results of a Completely healthy Hall. I wonder how much a torn labrum has effected his shot, yikes.
OK, the comment 2 above you #106 says that exact thing.
Okay, but the comment 2 above yours #108 says that it was assumed that no one else said the same thing, basically adding the disclaimer that I hadn’t bothered to read any of the previous posts. I’ll have my legal team assemble some small print for next time.
You guys need to watch this NOW!
http://youtu.be/na8aLoZEF_k
#NugeForCalder
That was awesome.
Torn labrum 5 to 6 months ? Try up to 2 years before it gets hopefully back to normal.Talked to a shoulder expert yesterday.The problem is not just the tear it is all the muscles surrounding the labrum.I had the same problem after a year and a half my shoulder is at 80%.Surgery is not always the answer