So, Cal...

Amazing to think this time last season, Clutter was just revealing himself (not in a streaker way, but in a hockey way) to the Minnesotans. I was holding my breath wondering both how his game would translate up there and how the sometimes-stuffy (oh, just accept it, you are!) Minnesota hockey fans would accept his edgy style of play.

Well, it didn't take long to breathe regular again because he couldn't have approached his entry into the NHL with any more poise and intelligence.

Anyway, he seems to continue to constantly raise the expectation level and make bigger, better paid, more lauded NHLers look like candyasses. This time he's doing it with the dreaded high ankle sprain, which lays most guys out for weeks on end, and even then, they take a long time to get back to where they were before the injury.

I actually wasn't quite sure what a high ankle sprain was exactly. I mean, the ankle isn't that big, but apparently there's enough of it to have a high and a low. Here's some info on it. Note that even for a "stable" sprain, it's 3-6 weeks in a cast.

But of course, Cal is back on the ice already, trying to get back in game shape and shake off the tentativeness that comes with recovering from an injury.

Of course, whenever you have something injured, you compensate with other parts of your body, which can throw your whole body out of whack. Hopefully they're guarding against that, or at least treating with that phenomenon in mind. Otherwise, you end up straining the opposing muscles, jacking up your back, etc. Got the t-shirt on that one.

Anyway, I think it's interesting that they're letting him go full bore already. Given my experience with soft tissue injuries, it does make some sense. It will be interesting to see if the approach works to get him going sooner with this particular injury though. I've never seen anyone not just wait it out, though I know a few guys have in playoff situations.

I'm not typically one for medical stuff, but sports medicine is pretty interesting to me, mainly because I've spent a stupid amount of time and money being hurt, misdiagnosed, mistreated, etc. so I've had to do a lot of research on my own to get the right treatment.

Luckily I haven't hurt anything yet playing hockey that hasn't mostly gotten better on its own or with a visit to the chiro or massage therapist. Knock on wood. Though I am getting a lot of pucks to the head lately. I'm hoping it makes me smarter.