Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty has had some bad injury luck in his young career, but he’s starting to develop a reputation for remarkably quick recoveries.*
The 24-year-old winger was supposed to miss about a month after undergoing an emergency appendectomy on Jan. 26. Instead, Michel Therrien told RDS’ Renaud Lavoie that Pacioretty could be back as soon as Sunday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.
That would represent a remarkable eight-day turnaround.
(It’s probably about time to insert a “paging Dr. Recchi” joke. Go ahead.)
The American-born forward was on the receiving end of an infamous Zdeno Chara hit on March 8, 2011. Some wondered if he’d ever be the same, yet he bounced back with a 33-goal, 65-point breakout campaign last season. He also had four assists in his first three contests in 2013 before undergoing that emergency procedure.
At this point, it’s tough to count him out, whether he returns Sunday or some other time in the near future.
* - Some total nerds might even want to call him “Wolverine.”