Welcome back to another year of the Capilano Rehab Injury report! The Injury Report has been going strong for three seasons, and I’m looking forward to the fourth. In case you missed it, the 2015-16 Injury report brought extremely bad luck to the team and fans, giving us a broken McCollar bone, numerous other injuries, and an extremely low spot in the standings. The 2016-17 Injury Report brought us playoffs, hopes, dreams, and smiles. The 2017-18 report had a very little effect on the team in my opinion. I think the Oilers did that to themselves, and the Injury Report had nothing to do with where they fell in the standings. What kind of effect will the 2018-19 Injury Report have on the team? We get to find out together. 

There’s only been one game played this season for the Oilers but we’ve still got some things to talk about. There were a few guys in and out of the lineup during the preseason due to minor injuries. Those guys include Kris Russell and Adam Larsson. Larsson suffered some sort of back injury during a Battle Of Alberta preseason game and missed some practices and a game. We’re not sure EXACTLY what was wrong with his back, but if I had to guess it was something to do with his C7 vertebrae (you know how those vertebrae’s can act up sometimes). As we all know, the C7 vertebrae is part of the cervical portion of your spine and is near the top of your back and neck. Are you learning something? Good, that’s what I’m here for.

Whatever was hurting him doesn’t matter now. Larsson is back in the lineup and there’s nothing to worry about. Kris Russell was also injured in preseason and was placed on the IR temporarily. The Oilers said Kris Russell was banged up with a lower-body injury. Again this could have meant anything. Did he block a shot with his ankle? Did he stub his toe? Did he have a staph infection? Did he have athletes foot? Oilers pls! As you know, Russell is back in the lineup and hasn’t missed any regular season games. All is well with our boy Kris!

Andrej Sekera is the only REAL injury at the moment for the team. If you remember, Reggie tore his Achilles tendon in the middle of August while off-season training back home. I should add that this was impeccable timing as the Oilers hype was at an all-time high in August. It came to a crashing halt when we all heard about the Sekera news.

The way this news broke out was hilarious as well. It was broken from a guy on HF Boards who saw Sekera in a walking boot at the Edmonton International Airport. (Sekera had to travel back to Edmonton in order to get surgery). We sat on the news for a little bit cause no one knew how trustworthy this source was but soon enough the Edmonton Oilers confirmed it on Twitter. I salute that random guy who broke the news on HF Boards. Has anything like that ever happened before? Not that I know of.

The ONLY bright side there is to the Sekera injury is the new cap space available after he was placed on the LTIR. Peter Chiarelli now has a bit of space to make a trade or signing if he wants to. I truly feel bad for Reggie as he spent a lot of last season on the Injury Reserve. He’s not a young chap anymore, so it’s going to be that much harder for him to bounce back from this one. His timeline for his return right now is “indefinitely.” so my guess is February-March-ish if all goes well. That’is IF he even returns at all.

Don’t know a lot about Achilles injuries? Well, Dr Gordeyko is here to educate you:

The Achilles tendon is the thiccest tendon in the body. It’s connected with the calf muscle and shin bone in order to make the foot work. (or something like that). An Achilles tendon rupture is probably my most feared injury. There’s no way it can feel good, and seeing and feeling your tendon snap and shoot up your leg is terrifying to me. If you’re feeling brave I recommend googling an Achilles rupture. It gives me chills.

The number one reason an Achilles can break is from a lack of stretching. Did Reggie not do his stretching before? I’d like to hope he did. It scares me even more how Andrej Sekera, likely in the best shape of his life, can still snap his Achilles tendon. I wouldn’t wish that upon anybody.

If you’re in some need of some good, friendly physiotherapy services you can call them at (780) 466-1104 or visit their website!