Rangers announce Micheal Haley has suffered a serious injury.

The New York Rangers have just lost arguably the grittiest member of their roster and it sounds like he may be out for a considerable length of time.

According to an official announcement from the New York Rangers, veteran forward Micheal Haley has been sidelined by what now appears to be a very serious injury. The Rangers are describing this as a "bilateral core muscle injury" and additionally have announced that Haley will need to undergo surgery in order to repair the damage. There does not appear to be any kind of timeframe for Haley's return here, the Rangers have simply announced that he will be out "indefinitely," and with the Rangers set to miss the playoffs this season you have to wonder if this may not spell the end of the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League season for Haley. 

The news only serves to make what was already a bad situation for Haley all that much worse. The veteran forward was having arguably the worst season of his professional career, seeing only very limited use and even then only in very limited situations. Haley had appeared in only 22 games for the Rangers this season prior to being shut down due to injury and was averaging just over 5:30 of ice time per game during that stretch of play. Haley of course has always been known for his physical play and willingness to drop the gloves more than anything, but the need for players like him has gradually diminished over the years.

That being said Haley remains one of the toughest customers in the league and has always shown a willingness to take on all comers in spite of the fact that he himself is not a particularly large man. In spite of almost always being outmatched in terms of both size and weight Haley never hesitated to drop the gloves when he felt the situation warranted such a solution. At 33 years of age however, he will be 34 in March, it is difficult to see how Haley could make a road back to the NHL for himself given his limited skill set, but we will be rooting for him to make a full recovery and beat the odds.