With less than three weeks to go before the start of the men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics in Milan, several of the top contenders have significant injury questions.
One of those looked to be answered Friday as Canada’s Bo Horvat was back practising after missing 14 of the New York Islanders’ past 18 games. Horvat, who was out with a lower-body injury, had been sidelined for nine in a row but the entire time was tracking toward being healed up by February.
“There’s always that little — not doubt — but it’s in your mind, right, that hopefully it’s not too bad,” Horvat said. “We knew that it wasn’t too serious, that I’ll be good to go and ready to get back for the Olympics. I was pretty confident in that.”
Horvat produced at a nearly point-a-game pace from the start of the season until the roster deadline on Dec. 31 to earn one of the final forward spots. The 30-year-old scoring center is one of just a few players picked who didn’t take part in the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, and Hockey Canada general manager Doug Armstrong was kept well apprised of his status in recent weeks.
“[Islanders GM Mathieu Darche] has been in contact with Doug and their staff and just kind of keeping them updated,” Horvat said. “That’s all you can ask for. I was hoping to be back as soon as possible and get some games in before the break and to go over to Milan. I’m happy to be back in this good a time, get some games in and be ready to go.”
Much like Horvat, goaltender Darcy Kuemper returned from an injury scare well ahead of the time his availability would have been in jeopardy.
Playmaker Brayden Point, one of the first six players Canada named for the Olympics, has not played for the Tampa Bay Lightning since his right leg bent awkwardly during a game at Philadelphia on Jan. 12.
Jon Cooper, the Lightning and Canada’s coach, told reporters in Pittsburgh the following day of Point they “avoided the worst-case scenario (as) his season is not over.”
Point is considered week to week, and the two-time Stanley Cup champion’s status could go right down to the wire. Charter flights are set to take off from New York on Feb. 7, and replacements can be made to the 25-player roster up until the first game on Feb. 11.
Sam Bennett, Wyatt Johnston and Connor Bedard figure to be among the most likely options if Point cannot go.
Seth Jones, who helped Florida win the Stanley Cup last season after being picked up before the trade deadline, earlier this week became the first injured player replaced on an Olympic roster when USA Hockey announced Jackson LaCombe would take his place.
“A very fluid, active defenceman, always in the rush,” said forward Tage Thompson, who played with LaCombe at the world championships last year when the U.S. won the tournament for the first time since 1933. “Great shot and sees the ice really well. He’s just a smooth skater, and I think it makes the game really easy for him because he’s got a lot of hockey smarts, too.”
LaCombe and Thompson are among the five players from that team heading to Milan, along with Zach Werenski, Clayton Keller and Jeremy Swayman.
“We had such great chemistry and such a good team over there,” Thompson said after Buffalo Sabres practice Friday. “Obviously we won and it was a lot of fun, so it’s nice to be going through this new opportunity and experience with some familiar faces.”
Leo Carlsson was in line to be Sweden’s No. 1 center, and Jonas Brodin was supposed to play a big role on the blue line. Instead, each has been ruled out of the Olympics because of long-term injuries. The Minnesota Wild said Thursday that Brodin underwent surgery on a lingering injury.
Fellow defenceman Victor Hedman is recovering from mid-December elbow surgery. The Lightning at the time said their captain should be back to play for Sweden at the Olympics.
Questions persist about the availability of Gabriel Landeskog, who has been out since getting hurt Jan. 4, along with fellow forward William Nylander and defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Colorado said Landeskog has an upper-body injury, so it’s not the same chronic knee problem that caused him to miss two full seasons before returning in the playoffs last spring.
