Insider reveals grisly details of Mathieu Perreault's eye injury.

The Montreal Canadiens will be without the services of veteran forward Mathieu Perreault for the next several weeks, and now we have more details on why that is the case.

On Saturday the Canadiens reported that Perreault would miss anywhere from two to three weeks due to an eye injury, but we didn't have much to go on at the time. Now Canadiens insider Eric Engels has shed some light on exactly what happened to Perreault, and unfortunately it sounds like something entirely out of anyone's control.

The problem started as simple double vision for Perreault but it wasn't long after those symptoms popped up that doctors realized his retina had become detached. That in and of itself would be a cause for concern, but as it turns out this was a result of an undiscovered condition that Perreault has unknowingly had since he was a child. That condition is known as Lattice Retinal Degeneration and it is one that involves abnormal thinning of the peripheral retina, which is the tissue that lines the back wall of the eye. Vision is of tremendous importance to professional hockey players, and the peripheral retina is critical to maintaining good vision.

The good news for Perreault here is that it sounds like the procedure to correct the problem was a relatively minor one. According to Engels Perreault underwent what he describes as a "small laser procedure" and is already on his road to recovery. Given the relatively short time frame of two to three weeks, it sounds like Perreault is expected to make a full recovery in spite of the grisly nature of his injury.

There's an additional silver lining here and that is that Perreault is now aware of a condition that has impacted him since birth, one that may have never been discovered had this problem not arose. 

Prior to the injury, Perreault made 8 appearances for the Canadiens this season and recorded 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points over that stretch. He has 4 penalty minutes on the season so far and currently boasts a plus minus rating of +3.