Jamie Benn narrowly claimed the Art Ross Trophy – an award given to the NHL’s leading scorer – after recording four points in the final game of the Dallas Stars’ season. While that feat was impressive enough as is, it turns out Benn played through a nagging injury all season long.
Benn’s scoring title might go overlooked in NHL history due to the fact his 87-point total is the lowest non-lockout year point total since 1967-68 when Stan Mikita also posted 87 points. However, his late dramatics to secure the crown and the apparent injury make things more interesting.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Benn was dealing with pain in both hips all season. As a result, he’s going to need surgery and will be sidelined for four to five months.
Stars GM Jim Nill discussed the injury:
“He’ll be getting hip surgery. There were a lot of nights when we thought he wouldn’t be playing, but he came to us and said, ‘No, I’m a player.’ That’s Jamie Benn,’ We didn’t hear about it all season. That’s Jamie Benn. To gut it out the way he did shows we’ve got a great leader on this team.
…
It’s a four to five months rehab. It’s a major surgery, but he’ll bounce back from it and probably be a better player than he is now.”
The article reports that the doctors will examine both of Benn’s hips and decide what to do from there. Though the exact details haven’t been released yet, the four to five month recovery time still stands. Interestingly enough, he won’t be the only Stars forward going through this treatment. Ales Hemsky will reportedly have a similar procedure.
Benn should be ready to go in time for training camp assuming there aren’t any hiccups or setbacks during his recovery.
