Following Winnipeg’s sweep at the hands of Anaheim on Wednesday, head coach Paul Maurice said the club was dealing with as many as eight significant injuries during the playoffs.
Turns out Jacob Trouba had one of them.
Trouba broke his left hand in Game 2 of the opening-round series, per the Winnipeg Sun. The injury will require surgery and sideline the young d-man for approximately 6-8 weeks, ruling him out of potential participation with Team USA at the upcoming World Hockey Championships (May 1-17 in the Czech Republic.)
The 21-year-old struggled over the final three games of the series, so it’s not entirely surprising to hear he was hurt. That said, the nature of the injury is fairly significant -- trying to play D with a broken hand? -- and Trouba deserves plenty of credit for gutting it out and logging the minutes he did. He skated over 20 in Games 2 and 3 before seeing just 16:15 in the deciding Game 4.Trouba broke a bone in his left hand and said he could only grip his stick with two fingers #NHLJets
— Ken Wiebe (@WiebeSunSports) April 24, 2015
This could partially explain why Trouba was danced around on Emerson Etem’s outrageous solo effort in Wednesday’s loss.During today’s locker clear-out, captain Andrew Ladd also revealed he’s been playing with a sports hernia. Oh, and here are the rest of the injuries, per head coach Paul Maurice...
Jets injuries: Little & Byfuglien-dislocated ribs. Perreault- ankle sprain (reg season) & tore ligaments in hand when sent in to goal post
— Sara Orlesky (@saraorlesky) April 24, 2015