Antero Niittymaki Injury Leaves San Jose Sharks Vulnerable in Net

September 23rd, 2011 by MJ Kasprzak Leave a reply »
San Jose Sharks backup goalie Antero Niittymaki has undergone surgery to fix a lower-body injury that occurred in February of this past season. He will miss 12 weeks in recovery, as reported on Thursday.

This leaves an otherwise solid net situation vulnerable. But another injury will actually be helpful in finding out just how much.

Starter Antti Niemi had surgery to remove a cyst and is all but certain to be ready for the start of the season. That means other goalies will get the playing time in the remaining five games of the preseason (the Sharks won the opener in Anaheim, 6-1).

Unfortunately, while ahead on his rehabilitation, Alex Stalock has not recovered from the nerve damage of a skate slash he suffered last February. Thus, while the official team training camp roster shows seven goaltenders, only four are healthy.

Of those, only Thomas Greiss has any NHL experience. The team will see if he can be a backup in the extensive play he will see.

After saying he plans for Greiss to see a lot of action and play full games, coach Todd McLellan commented (in the same NHL.com report) about this weekend's three consecutive games. ...

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