this is a hip condition that many goaltenders play with for years, waiting another 5-6 months is likely not going to make it any worse.
I wouldn't mind having him ready for the start of next year. Hopefully they just get this out of the way since he's already missing time because of it.
Don't see why not. Ortio needs to get into a groove again by playing lots of games, it's kind of a down year for everyone, ELC slides (right?), no pressure to rush Gillies into the NHL. It sucks that he loses development time but I think the surgery pays off.
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But the idea of watching hockey from while rehabbing from hip surgery on his couch in South Portland, Maine?
Nope. Couldn’t do it.
“I mean … I wouldn’t turn it off,” Gillies was saying the other day between treatments at the Saddledome. “But I wouldn’t go out of my way like I usually do to watch it.
“I don’t usually get frustrated … but it’s hard to watch the game when you literally can’t play.”
He tried to play. Many times.
The 21-year-old Calgary Flames prospect had been dealing with hip pain on his left side since his sophomore NCAA season with the Providence Friars. But he managed it. Tension bands to strengthen the muscles around his hip helped.
Then when his left leg went numb during an off-ice workout in the summer of 2014, he underwent an MRI which revealed he had suffered an anterior labrum tear and an impingement.
“The first time I got checked out, it wouldn’t have mattered if I played hockey or not,” Gillies said. “I would have had the same problem. It was just the way my hip-joint was set up, and I was going to have to have the bone shaved down anyway.
“Because I play the position I do and the sport I do, it accelerated the process a lot.”
Gillies, taking his first crack at professional hockey, posted two shutouts in his first three starts for the Flames AHL-affiliate, the Stockton Heat. His stat-line for the season was 2-3-1 with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.
But then came the final tweak of his hip Nov. 6 during an AHL game against the Bakersfield Condors.
The Flames made the decision that Gillies would undergo surgery.
“It’s your first year pro,” Gillies said.” You want to make a good first impression.You don’t want to be the person that comes in and then, seven games later, you need surgery. That was kind of a tough pill to swallow. I was very adamant about playing until I was told I wasn’t going to play anymore.
“I did the best I could … eventually the decision was made.”
The recovery is tedious, Gillies says, with a lot of re-strengthening work to be done.
But, at the moment, he’s doing it in Calgary and has become immersed in life at the Dome.
Which helps.
Last edited by sureLoss; 02-13-2016 at 06:12 PM.
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