Hypothetical Question

[Corp000085]

He's a pro athelete, out of shape, working with a pro strength and conditoning coach and program... If he is indeed completely free of his head/neck problems here's the hypothetical situation... How long does it take someone working in that situation to get into game shape? Couple weeks tops... What would happen if he was a suprise starter/4th line center/PP specialist for next week's games against the flyers or senators? Not to start any rumors or to get false hopes up, but talk about a friggin coup. And while I'm on the Connolly subject, isn't his misdiagnosis/treatment treading in lawsuit territory? The guy was put out of work for 8 months because of that.

 

Back to the original question... Imagine the PA announcer at the HSBC before the sens game: "And starting at center, number 19, TIM CONNOLLY!" Even if he wasn't 100% in game shape, the dude could pull 5-10 minutes of regular ice time. hell, teppo pulls 20 minutes, and he's older than Jesus.

[topshelfcookies]

While I couldn't help but break into a huge smile just thinking about Connolly in the lineup again, I don't think we'll be seeing him for at least another month. I've heard a couple reports from WGR and one from a friend who waited on Timmy two nights ago at a restaraunt downtown that he's visibly out of shape and slightly pudgy.

 

While yes, I'm sure he'll get back into shape relatively quickly I'm not expecting to see him in the lineup for at least 3 weeks or so. I think the encouraging thing about all this Connolly news is that it sounds as if they're actually figuring out a way to help him "heal" from his concussion, rather than just waiting for it to all go away on it's own.

 

As for the misdiagnosis...there really wasn't any misdiagnosis. He did have a massive concussion, and the club seemed to be treating it appropriately and following established protocol. Don't forget that what the Sabres, Connolly and the MD's up at UB are trying is truly ground breaking.

 

You can't sue someone for misdiagnosis/treatment if you have cancer if while they're working on you they suddenly find a cure.

 

Finally, remember that I think the big picture here is for Connolly to be ready for 1- the playoffs and 2-next season and beyond. These last 25 regular season games are even more meaningless for Connolly than they are for the club. The only purpose they can really serve Timmy is as extended conditioning sessions, to get his legs back for the playoffs. In his interview on WGR yesterday Connolly mentioned how the skill work came back right away...it's his quickness and stamina that isn't there. Remember too that the playoffs are a different beast, with playing every other night. You need to be able to recover quickly.