The IIHF 2024 men’s World Championships are officially over after Team Czechia defeated Team Switzerland in the gold medal game and Team Sweden defeated Team Canada in the bronze medal match. Andrew Mangiapane finished without a medal, but before these games commenced, part of the focus was on the young Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil and the severity of his injury.

It was a short appearance for Pospisil on the international stage, as he suffered an injury to his shoulder during the team’s preliminary game against the eventual bronze medal-winning Sweden squad. All it took was an awkward crash into the boards to send the 24-year-old back to the trainer’s room with the hope that the injury would not keep him out long-term.

Fortunately, though, as the tournament went on with no clear timeline, everything became much more clear after Flames general manager Craig Conroy went on Sportsnet 960 on Flames Talk with Pat Steinberg and Wes Gilbertson on May 24 to deliver the good news that this was not a serious injury one would likely classify as something “week-to-week”:

Posipsil was a major part of the Flames this past season, breaking into the lineup and finding a consistent spot with Nazem Kadri and Connor Zary as his linemates. He was the “bruiser” of the line, but go to the Saddledome for a home game or tune in for an away game on television, and one would likely find him using that physicality while combining it with an underrated playmaking ability. He finished with 24 points in 63 games, which may not seem like a lot at a glance, but the way he earned those points certainly made a difference in how his line operated. There were multiple times throughout the season in which he would debut a sweet toe-drag backhand pass across a dangerous area or find an open man on the other side of the ice.

That’s hard to replace, especially for two players like Kadri and Zary.

Needless to say, losing Pospisil for an extended period of time would be a brutal blow, and there were times through 2023-24 in which he was out due to injury, and the hole that he left was tangible. It’s hard to replace his kind of frame and especially his mindset. But, thankfully, a tough hit into the boards will not put Pospisil at risk of missing any events of importance next season. His off-season training will likely look a bit different, but as long as he’s still ready and raring to go for training camp and preseason, that’s what matters.

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