Ilya Mikheyev responds to criticism surrounding his injury.

On Saturday, the Vancouver Canucks announced that forward Ilya Mikheyev would be shut down for the remainder of the 2022-23 National Hockey League regular season in order to repair his injured knee.

While injuries, even serious ones, are often par for the course in a sport as physical as hockey, the announcement of Mikheyev's injury was met with a great deal of criticism. This was due in part to two main factors, the first is the poor public sentiment that the Canucks organization has cultivated this season and the second was the revelation that Mikheyev had been playing through the injury for 4 months.

Much to his credit however, Mikheyev was quick to defend his team on Saturday when that criticism began to come their way, making it exceedingly clear that every step of this process had been in his control. Mikheyev took to social media and issued a series of short tweets that left no doubt about how his injury was handled, and dispelled any notion that the Canucks may have mishandled it.

From Mikheyev.

I understand there is a lot of debate about my decision to play with an ACL injury. Here are the facts: when I was injured in the preseason, I went through several tests and realized I could play without causing any more damage. That’s what I wanted to do. Twice per week, we consulted with team doctors about how things were progressing. Never did I feel pressure, never did I feel worse. It was my decision. Finally it reached a point where I wanted to be ready on time for next year. If I continued to play, I wouldn’t be ready for training camp. I appreciate everyone’s concern, but I have no complaints with the way this was handled.

The timetable that Mikheyev has set for himself will allow him to return, healthy, in time for next season and, considering the position the Canucks find themselves in, there's little doubt that this was the correct choice at this point in the season.