Penguins Post Update on Whitney

Ryan Whitney is beginning the long process of recovery. He will start the season hanging out in the press box like every other injured / recovering player before him. He will be missing pre-season and the start of the regular season playing in Stockholm, Sweden.

However, he must continue to keep in mind that the long-term benefits greatly outweigh what he'll have to miss during recovery and that there are plenty of good years left for him to enjoy in his career.

“and I can only imagine what it’s going to be like in the arena on that night – so it’s going to be a little frustrating sitting in the press box.” [referring to the home opener on October 11th against the New Jersey Devils]

As I had discussed in yesterday's post, Whitney was hesitant to commit to surgery before exhausting all other options because it's such a major thing. And before he and his doctors ultimately reached the conclusion that there was no other option, Whitney depended a great deal on the Penguins trainers and equipment managers to work any magic they may have had up their sleeves; and finally tried orthotics for a month before the surgery - all of which was unsuccessful in providing him any relief.

“You can’t just jump into surgery – it’s a big decision – but I had four highly-recommended foot specialists telling me they believe this is really going to help me,” he said. “Because of the way my foot was shaped, along with taking some slapshots off my foot the year before, it has lost some stability. This was what we had to do.”

“Those guys were incredible, and I can’t say enough about them,” Whitney said. “Dana and Paulie did an unbelievable job sharpening my skates in different ways. Stew and Scotty tried different stretching techniques, tried to tape it. They tried verything to help me."

“Without those guys … well, basically, I was a headache to them all year, but they helped me get through the season.”

I'm sure it will be tough for Whitney to get through recovery during the first half of the season and he'll be itching to get back on the ice, but he'll have to be patient. At least he'll be in good company with the rest of us until that time comes.

[article based on information taken from the Pittsburgh Penguins webpage]