Jani Hakanpaa's latest comments prove he might be on the verge of making a huge mistake
Jani Hakanpaa recently signed a two-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which was an interesting move given he had missed the NHL Playoffs with a knee injury.
Hakanpaa, who was playing for the Dallas Stars at the time, was in a lot of pain and reports suggested his knee was bone on bone. Overall, this is an absolutely horrible injury that is extremely difficult to come back from. When Hakanpaa was seen in public with a Stars jersey on a couple of weeks ago, many were convinced that his career was actually over, and his Leafs contract null and void.
Well, that seems to not be the case. According to Chris Johnston, Hakanpaa is adamant about playing again. However, there seems to be quite a bit of pushback on whether or not a comeback is actually tenable. Instead, he might just be in for a very rough ride given the current state of his knee. Essentially, if he makes the injury worse, his life outside of the rink could be severely affected. It is one of those injuries that could severely impact his quality of life.
''He believes he can play on his knee. But I don't know that there's unanimity in that opinion from those that are looking at his medical file and just concerns that, essentially, he's got bone-on-bone. It's not a situation that could be terribly comfortable. I think it really comes down to the medical opinion, how much risk the organization is willing to take. But Hakanpaa certainly seems intent on continuing his career, feels that maybe he needs some time off but will be able to play, ultimately, on that knee.''
"What's interesting about medical-related issues is some players do manage to play through certain things that others can't. I mean, everyone's bodies are different, pain tolerance, what have you. I guess the X-rays themselves are black and white, but sometimes the information isn't black and white."'
"What's interesting about medical-related issues is some players do manage to play through certain things that others can't. I mean, everyone's bodies are different, pain tolerance, what have you. I guess the X-rays themselves are black and white, but sometimes the information isn't black and white."'
For the Leafs, this is an awful situation. They must now make a decision that could affect the quality of Hakanpaa's life and that is certainly not an easy line to tow. However, if he insists on playing, there might not be much else that they can do. Only time will tell how this all shakes out.
Do you believe that Jani Hakanpaa is done in the NHL? Let us know in the poll down below and stay tuned to Hockey Unplugged for the latest news and updates from around the hockey world.
| POLL | ||
Is Jani Hakanpaa actually going to play again? | ||
| YES | 17 | 27 % |
| NO | 46 | 73 % |
| List of polls | ||
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