The Colorado Avalanche had to play without defenseman Cale Makar in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, and his absence was extremely evident. They just were not up to the challenge in the first game of the series. Now, unfortunately, while we could see Makar play at some point, it’s possible we don’t get to see him at his best.
The founder of Avalanche sponsor Ramos Law, Joseph Ramos, made an appearance on 104.3 Denver with Zach Bye recently, and he talked about what Makar might be going through, based off of a hit that he took against the Calgary Flames in March.
"This all stems back to, I guess, that late-March (expletive) when he got run into the boards by that huge guy from Calgary… This is clearly an AC joint separation."Dr. Joseph Ramos
Ramos continued on and pointed out that Makar “literally has a floating clavical in his chest.”
Well, that doesn’t sound good at all. Will Makar be able to return to the ice this postseason? Ramos said that Makar would still be able to play, but he won’t be able to take slap shots to the net. That makes a lot of sense.
Makar’s injury is one of the worst things we could probably imagine as Avalanche fans. When he is not out there on the ice, it shows. Even having him in as a decoy would be ideal, though we don’t want him to suffer any additional damage to his shoulder.
The Avalanche have got to learn to play without their top defenseman. Well, that is unless head coach Jared Bednar, Makar and team doctors say it’s okay for him to be out there. That’s probably not the smartest thing to do, but I’m not a doctor.
Ramos also said that Makar’s injury is probably an offseason surgery type of thing.
The Avalanche and Golden Knights meet again on Friday for Game 2. It will be interesting to see if Makar is out there at all or if Bednar is going to take the cautious route.
Either way, an AC joint injury isn’t something to mess with a whole lot. It’s likely extremely painful. I personally would not be surprised if Makar sits out again, but we shall see.
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