Hockey Canada provides an update on injured superstar Alexis Lafreniere.

Update on Lafreniere.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Hockey Canada provides an update on injured superstar Alexis Lafreniere.

If you are a Canadian hockey fan and you tuned into the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Championship tournament on Saturday then you probably walked away from your television set, or whatever device you were watching on, more than a little upset. The Canadiens were embarrassed by a score of 6 - 0 by the Russians and that was followed by Barrett Hayton, Team Canada's captain at the tournament, disrespecting the Russian national anthem. 

As if that were not bad enough though the big talking point following the game surrounded the health of superstar forward Alexis Lafreniere, the player projected to go #1 at the upcoming 2020 National Hockey League Entry Draft. Lafreniere was injured during the game when he attempted to drive the Russian net, twisting his leg awkwardly in the process. The young forward was in obvious pain on the ice and had to be helped off of the playing surface by a pair of teammates who effectively carried him off the ice. There were concerns that Lafreniere had suffered a serious injury, but thanks to an update today it sounds like the future National Hockey League star in the making has avoided the worst of it. 

According to Team Canada assistant coach Andre Tourigny the MRIs that have been performed on Lafreniere thus far have come back negative which would appear to indicate that there has been no serious damage done.

“We have nothing firm,” Tourigny said as per TSN. “We don’t know yet, but he’s walking right now so that’s positive. The doc[tor] said it’s positive news that we’ve gotten so far.”

Touringy did inform reporters however that Lafreniere would be held out of Team Canada's upcoming matchup against the German squad, but that does not mean that he has been ruled out of the tournament just yet. Touringy was asked this very question directly and he made it clear that the medical staff has not ruled out the possibility of Lafreniere returning at some point during the tournament. 

“Not yet he’s not,” Tourigny said. “As a coach, you try to know if he will play and they didn’t say he will play. But they didn’t say he won’t. So the sun came up and ‘Laf’ is not [ruled] out.”

Obviously there are a lot of things to consider here including Lafreniere's long term health as well as his long term career path. A World Junior Championship is a big deal no doubt, but with a future as bright as his you have to wonder if taking the safe route here may not be the wisest course of action. 

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