Montreal Canadiens forward David Desharnais has a broken foot and will be sidelined for the next three weeks, the team announced Friday morning via Twitter.
Desharnais, 29, was injured while blocking a shot with his foot in Monday’s 6-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes and underwent X-rays after the game. He was seen in a walking boot shortly after, and has not practiced since.
At first glance, this diagnosis actually seems very fortuitous for Desharnais, who has nine goals and 17 assists in 57 games this season, as similar foot injuries typically sideline players for upwards of six weeks.
Dr. Ian S. Goldbaum, a podiatric physician and surgeon with over 30 years of experience, has treated numerous fractures of the foot and ankle at his office in Delray Beach, Fla., and although not much information is known at this time, can offer insight into what exactly Desharnais’ treatment and recovery could entail.
“It sounds like he has a non-displaced fracture since they won’t have to perform any surgery,” said Dr. Goldbaum. “After a few weeks, they’ll X-ray it to make sure there’s bone granulation, which is the formation of the bone callus that acts bridge of woven bone between the fracture fragments.”
Dr. Goldbaum was also quick to point out that, even though he may only be sidelined for a few weeks, it’s unlikely that Desharnais’ injury will be fully healed in that time frame.
“It takes six weeks for bone to mend,” said Dr. Goldbaum. “They might utilize a bone stimulator, which sends an electrical charge into the bone to bring the two ends of the bone together and speed up the healing process, but I’d still put his minimum recovery time around six weeks to be safe.”
With this in mind, Dr. Goldbaum believes that the key for Desharnais to remain healthy for the remainder of the season will involve offloading the pressure on his injured foot.
“They’re going to relocate his gait — how he’s walking, how he’s running, how he’s skating,” said Dr. Goldbaum. “They need to do this so that the injury can still heal without separating. That’s when the training staff becomes really important, because they know how to do just that.”
Luckily for Montreal, despite losing an important player for a few weeks, the fact the Desharnais won’t need surgery certainly bodes well for his future on the ice.
“I’d say it’s a good sign,” Dr. Goldbaum said. “It means that the injury did not occur on an area where the bone is being pulled by a muscle. The fracture is there, it just needs to come back together. If there was something pulling on it, they’d immediately need to go in and insert a screw or other form fixation device.”
Montreal (28-27-5) is currently in sixth place in the Atlantic Division.
Similar Foot Injuries
Paul Stastny: The St. Louis Blues forward was injured while blocking a shot in the second period of a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 16. Stastny, 30, returned to the lineup on Nov. 23 after missing 16 games with a broken right foot.
James Van Riemsdyk: The Toronto Maple leafs forward sustained a non-displaced fracture in his left foot in January. His projected recovery time was set at 6-to-8 weeks, but he may be out even longer than that based on recent reports. Van Riemsdyk, 26, was leading the team in scoring when he suffered his injury, and at this point there’s no clear time frame on his return.
Alexander Ovechkin: The Washington Capitals’ captain sustained a hairline fracture while blocking a shot in Game 6 of the 2013 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the New York Rangers. He did not miss any time, playing in Game 7 the next night and then at the IIHF World Championship days later. He waited until after playing for Russia in Stockholm to have an MRI.
It’s unclear exactly how much time Ovechkin would have missed had the injury occurred during the regular season. But roughly one month after hanging up his skates for the season, he told the Washington Post that he was “walking fine.”
Nathan MacKinnon: The Colorado Avalanche forward missed the final month of the 2014-15 regular season after taking a puck to the foot on two separate occasions down the home stretch. The initial foot injury occurred when he blocked a shot on Feb. 22 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, he would continue to play for a few more weeks before a second MRI revealed a fracture.
MacKinnon’s recovery time was set at 6-8 weeks.
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