Tampa Bay Lightning F Ryan Callahan Looking For A Mid-November Return

If things go according to plan, Tampa Bay Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan is hoping for a mid-November return.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the off-season don’t seem to be very friendly with one another. It seems a pattern is beginning to form where key players to the Lightning’s success sustain some sort of injury prior to the start of the season causing them to miss a considerable amount of time.

Last season, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was diagnosed with a blood clot near his collarbone which required vascular surgery to remove. This would cause him to miss the whole of the preseason and the first month of the regular season.

Oddly enough, this was almost the exact same medical condition that sidelines Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos for almost two months right before the start of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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At the end of June, the Tampa Bay Lightning and their fans found out that Lightning alternate captain would have to undergo surgery to repair a labral tear in Callahan’s right hip. Callahan’s injury was like a double-edged blade to the heart of the Lightning alternate captain.

Not only would he be unable to join some of his teammates and represent his country at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, which is set to kick off on September 17th and run through October 1st, but Callahan would be forced to miss the whole of the preseason as well as the start of the 2016-17 regular season.

According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, if all goes according to plan, the 31-year-old Lightning right wing is looking at a mid-November return. The one thing Callahan couldn’t guarantee Smith was an exact return date.

As anyone who has watched hockey for almost any period of time knows, there are so many variables that come into play with an injury like this one. Callahan may very well heal like Superman and be ready in early-November, or on the downside, something could go wrong that pushes his return back.

You can probably imagine Callahan is rather disappointed about having to miss something as special as the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. To be honored in such a way is not something that comes around every day.

“It’s really tough,” Callahan told Smith. “It’s definitely disappointing that I’m going to miss that. Anytime you get to represent your country, it’s something special. And to be in the World Cup is something I’ve never experienced before.”

While we concur that it’s incredibly disappointing to miss such an honor as representing your native country at an event like the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, we’re pretty sure the Lightning fans are slightly more occupied with their alternate captain being ready to help the Bolts fight for another chance to play for the Stanley Cup.

As we said before, there is no definite return date at this point and time. The good news is that Callahan’s progress seems to be coming along nicely and if everything goes according to plan, he’ll miss minimal time away from the ice in the 2016-17 season. Here’s hoping all goes well for the veteran forward.