The Dallas Stars have been dealing with a litany of injury issues early this season. One of them was to forward Ales Hemsky, who had been battling a hip ailment sustained at the World Cup of Hockey. Though Hemsky tried to play through the injury, appearing in one game this season, the team expects him to miss an extended period of time now.
The Stars announced Monday that Hemsky underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum. The expected recovery timeline is five to six months.
Hemsky's one game this season came on Oct. 22. He played over 15 minutes and took 25 shifts in the game, but has not been back since.
The veteran forward has been a solid source of scoring depth for one of the league's most productive teams over the past two seasons. He had 13 goals and 39 points last season. Meanwhile, the Stars' overall roster depth has been tested mightily during the early goings of the season.
Top-six winger Patrick Sharp has been dealing with concussion issues for the past two weeks, center Cody Eakin went down with a knee injury and promising young forward Mattias Janmark suffered a knee injury in the preseason that will keep him out five to six months as well.
It has been difficult for the Stars as they haven't been able to play with their full complement of forwards yet this season. It's no wonder the team is struggling to score. They are averaging just 2.25 goals per game, which ranks 26th in the NHL. Making matters worse, the Stars are allowing an average of 3.25 goals per game with their goaltenders carrying an .893 save percentage.
Dallas is still keeping things close in the standings with a 3-4-1 record through eight games, so the hole that they're in isn't all that deep. But these hits just keep coming and they're not getting enough from their top players to offset these losses. It's definitely been a tough-luck start to the year for an otherwise really talented team.
