Olli Määttä out for the season

[Reign Nateo]

Tough blow, hopefully he gets this bad luck out of the way this year. One of the best young defencemen in the NHL.

 

[The Macho King]

Is it the same shoulder as the one from last season?

 

[BobCole]

no they're not. Those 4 are bunch of scrubs, maatta is easily our best defenseman and one of the top 5 d-man in the league.

Holy exaggeration, Batman!

 

[613Leafer]

No they're not. Those 4 are bunch of scrubs, Maatta is easily our best defenseman and one of the top 5 d-man in the league.

I wouldn't call them scrubs (and I also wouldn't call Maatta a top 5 dman...), but yea, I think that blueline is a major weakness right now when comparing it to most contenders around the league.

Not to mention MAF, despite his success this season, has struggled significantly during the majority of the past 5 years of playoff series that he's been in.

 

[Frederick Stanley]

No they're not. Those 4 are bunch of scrubs, Maatta is easily our best defenseman and one of the top 5 d-man in the league.

Hyperbole FTW

 

[Frederick Stanley]

Is it the same shoulder as the one from last season?

Yes.

 

[Deutschland Dangler]

Is it the same shoulder as the one from last season?

Apparently, yes. Rumor has it that the surgery was screwed up/didn't go as planned.

 

[The Macho King]

Damn... that's got to be a concern. Hope he recovers alright. Nothing sucks more than when a promising career is derailed by injuries.

 

[TrillMike]

Bad luck this season.

 

[EK47]

That is just awful.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Big blow for the Pens. Hopefully whomever they have do the surgery doesn't **** it up this time. Apparently the reason it's taken so long since Maatta's been out is he kept on wanting to look for 2nd opinions/options since he didn't want to believe his season was over.

 

[aemoreira1981]

A tri-fecta that no one wants. What hockey gods did Maatta tick off to deserve this?

 

[FinPanda]

Big blow for the Pens. Hopefully whomever they have do the surgery doesn't **** it up this time. Apparently the reason it's taken so long since Maatta's been out is he kept on wanting to look for 2nd opinions/options since he didn't want to believe his season was over.

Yeah he really wanted to play. I've heard a lot good about him and how he has trained.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Atrocious luck for the kid. Such a great attitude about everything, though. He'll bounce back better than ever next year.

 

[BobCole]

The Pens' star players have a knack for battling career threatening injuries way too early in their careers.

• Crosby may be the world's best player, but it's fair to wonder whether losing a year to concussions derailed him from the dominant trail he was blazing beginning in 2010.

• Malkin, IMHO, despite being a beast, lost a dimension of his game thanks to recurring shoulder problems. That's not even mentioning his ACL/MCL.

• Letang is an injury nightmare, with the concussion history probably being the most troubling.

Our would be "next generation" of stars isn't any luckier:

• Maatta is facing a second major shoulder surgery in 12 months, not to mention combating a cancerous tumor. Oh yeah, he's 20.

• Bennett's career hasn't gotten off the ground thanks to a litany of the world's most obscure injuries.

Key veteran pieces haven't been any safer, either:

• Hornqvist, after being a virtual iron man his entire career, has suddenly battled both concussions and broken bones in his first 60 days as a Penguin.

• Vokoun had to hang them up thanks to a career ending blood clot

• Dupuis is likely on the same path.

You know what was also fun? Losing half a dozen players to the mumps. How messed up is it that I would breathe a sigh of relief if one of our star players went down to a broken leg, if for no other reason than it would be a "better" injury than 90% of the ones that have befallen the team lately.

 

[HanSolo]

Really feel sorry for him. One of my favorite young players in the league.

 

[Bluebos]

Really unfortunate for him and the Pens...kid is a stud.

 

[MattMartin]

As much as I hate Pittsburgh, very sorry to hear this.

 

[ForumNamePending]

If 'fortune' typically evens out over time then I fully expect Maatta to 'good furtune' his way to a Norris trophy next year.

 

[Beaunett]

If 'fortune' typically evens out over time then I fully expect Maatta to 'good furtune' his way to a Norris trophy next year.

That wouldn't be bad.

 

[iamjs]

Guy just can't catch a break.

Don't say that. He'll find a way to break his arm in rehab.

 

[Stjonnypopo]

I see this more of a blessing in disguise, he can focus on recovering from his cancer all year now, proper care.

Good point.

Also, I think he's just getting all his major injuries and ailments out of the way at the beginning of his career. After this season he'll become an ironman.