Taylor Hall’s first two seasons have been riddled with injuries. He dealt with a high ankle sprain that ended his rookie campaign and his sophomore season ended prematurely due to a combination of a concussion and his shoulder injury.
Still, based on an Edmonton Sun report, four months after his shoulder surgery, he’s skating and seems to be optimistic about the future.
“The surgery was tough. They didn’t just do it arthroscopically, they cut me open and moved the bone around. I have a three-inch scar on my shoulder,” Hall said. He later added, “But now it feels like I have a brand new shoulder. It’s exciting for me because I haven’t really had that in the last two years.”
Hall said there were some games last season where the pain would be enough to “hamper” him a little bit.
“Sometimes when I went into the boards I would have to lose the battle because I knew if I put my shoulder a certain way it would kind of pop out,” Hall said. “Now I won’t have that.”
All the same, Hall resisted having the surgery earlier because he wanted to finish the season. He wasn’t able to complete the 2011-12 campaign anyways, but he thinks he will be available for the start of 2012-13.
Maybe his third season will finally be his first full campaign. That might be enough to push the questions about his durability aside.