Leafs netminder injured during practice
After a couple of lackluster pre-season games, all eyes in Leafs nation are currently on Ilya Samsonov. The 26-year-old Russian netminder had a strong season last year, but was unable to finish out the playoffs due to injury. Joseph Woll was tasked with leading the Leafs to the promised land and played well, but couldn't get the Leafs past the Cinderella story of the playoffs in the Florida Panthers.
Samsonov's erratic play during Thursday Night's matchup against the Detroit Red Wings was concerning, but didn't indicate any sort of injury. He appeared to be moving well, aside from a little bit of rust. He played all 60 minutes as well as overtime and showed no signs of discomfort. Today at practice, however, Samsonov wound up leaving early after taking a shot up high.
Now, the fact that it appears to be an upper body issue is actually a good thing. It's likely that a puck found a soft spot in his padding. While it doesn't feel good, and will likely turn a few shades of purple, it's much better than having a pulled muscle or damaged ligament in the lower body. As of right now there is no official word on the severity of Samsonov's injury, but there's no reason (yet) to expect him to miss time because of this. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 6 | 256 ANSWERS Leafs netminder injured during practice If Samsonov is hurt to start the season, would you opt to start Joseph Woll or Martin Jones on Wednesday's home opener? | ||
| Woll | 145 | 56.6 % |
| Jones | 93 | 36.3 % |
| I'm not worried about that. Sammy's fine | 18 | 7 % |
| List of polls | ||
