Connor Zary’s injury suffered in the Calgary Flames’ win over the Anaheim Ducks earlier in the week may not be as bad as many feared.
During the second period, Zary came bursting into the Ducks zone with a burst of speed. The 22-year-old attempted to make a move to the inside, resulting in defenceman Drew Helleson trying to adjust last second to prevent him from doing so.
Drew Helleson has been assessed a five minute major game misconduct for kneeing Connor Zary, who was helped to the locker room pic.twitter.com/2MByTJdVNE
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 8, 2025
Despite the five-minute major, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety chose not to suspend or fine Helleson for the hit.
It was clear immediately that Zary was in writhing pain. He spent several minutes down on the ice before being helped down the tunnel. Many Flames fans speculated that it could be a season-ending injury, but based on a recent report from Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, that may not be the case.
Update: Bit of good news on #Flames forward Connor Zary as sources say initial imaging on Thursday indicated no damage to ACL or MCL in his left knee.
Still assessing injury and more medical opinion(s) required to determine exact timeline, but a couple major bullets dodged.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 10, 2025
Shortly after his tweet, Seravalli made an appearance on Sportsnet 960’s Big Show with Rusic & Rose, where he elaborated further on the Flames forward.
“Initial imaging took place yesterday when the Flames got home from their road trip, and sources say that the initial imaging indicated no damage to both the ACL and the MCL in that left knee,” Seravalli said.
“There’s still some work to do. They’re still assessing this injury and they need some more medical opinions to determine an exact timeline. Not all of it’s completely out of the woods. They’re still looking at things like the meniscus, but in terms of major ligaments, it certainly seems like a couple bullets have been dodged to start.”
🚨 CONNOR ZARY INJURY UPDATE: @frank_seravalli joined the guys on the Big Show with the latest.
🎧⤵️https://t.co/460wP0D94T pic.twitter.com/ACKxkPgtbY
— Sportsnet 960 (@Sportsnet960) January 10, 2025
This doesn’t mean that Zary won’t miss some time, though it appears that the worst-case scenario was avoided. That’s fantastic news for the Flames, who are very much in the playoff race with nearly half the season completed.
Though Zary has been a bit snake-bitten this season, he’s still been one of the Flames’ more productive players with 10 goals and 22 points through 40 games. Both of those totals rank third amongst forwards for team scoring.
As Flames fans know, Zary is far more than just an offensive weapon. Since entering the NHL as a rookie a season ago, he’s been extremely responsible defensively. He’s also recently been playing down the middle of the ice, which has been a big boost for a Flames team that is limited in terms of centre-ice depth.
The Flames are set to practice today at 10:30 am, where a further update on Zary’s condition is expected to be provided.
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