Montreal Canadiens: Will Shea Weber be ready for the start of the season?
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens announced that Shea Weber will require a six-month recovery after having surgery which may push back his return next season.
There’s finally an end to the Shea Weber foot injury arc for the Montreal Canadiens. The 32-year-old underwent successful surgery to repair tendons on his left foot yesterday. That’s great news for Weber considering how long the injury has lasted. The not so nice news about it is that it will take six months for him to recover for it.
Fans are still a little frustrated on how the injury was handled, and it’s definitely warranted. Weber initially sustained the injury during the first game of the season but continued to play through it. The Habs continued to monitor, and according to Sportsnet‘s Eric Engels, surgery was an avenue they wanted to avoid. Unfortunately, Weber wasn’t responding properly to the treatments, and the procedure was the only option.
The delay between the decision to shut down Weber for the year and the actual surgery was because the Habs were waiting for the availability of Dr. Robert Anderson.
After gathering info on Shea Weber--surgery was last option here. Habs doctors assessed him, hope was that he would heal. When progress wasn't made, Weber was sent to see Dr. Anderson in Green Bay. It was decided Anderson would perform surgery as a leading specialist.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) March 14, 2018
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Now that the surgery is over and done with, the next step is to rest and go through the appropriate rehab to get Weber back to 100%. Assuming nothing goes wrong in the recovery, the veteran defenceman should be ready for around September 13th. Again according to Engels, the Habs believe that Weber will be ready for training camp.
We can’t discount the fact that Weber’s summer training may be greatly impacted by this. Although he may be ready for training camp, it’s hard not to weigh the option of him not being ready for the start of the season. That’s the more pessimistic way of breaking things down, but it could be an option the Montreal Canadiens try to implement for Weber moving forward.
If he is returning to the team, then it has to be healthy. The Habs can’t afford any circumstance where Weber comes back to the team early even if it’s a week or even a day. If that means starting the season without him, then that should a decision management is okay with. Then again, that’s one to weigh out six months from now.
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Do you think Weber will be ready for next season? Should the Habs be patient with him if there’s a chance he isn’t? Let us know your thoughts down below.