Despite speculation Calgary Flames forward Sean Monahan is dealing with an injury, both the player and head coach Bob Hartley say he’s fine.
Monahan missed some practice time earlier in the week and struggled in the faceoff circle in the Flames’ Game 1 win over the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday, leading some to surmise he was playing through a shoulder injury.
“I’ve heard a lot of things lately that were wrong with me, but I’m perfectly fine,” Monahan told the Flames website Thursday. “I was sick for a little bit there, but I’m good to go. I got a lot of texts before the game asking if my shoulder was ok and stuff like that, but I wasn’t really sure what they were talking about. A lot of people can speculate things, but I’m 100 percent.”
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Although he was disappointed in his performance, finishing with no points and a minus-1 rating, he actually led all Flames forwards in ice time with 20:09.
“I’d like to clarify once and for all: We didn’t ask the B.C. Lions for Travis Lulay’s shoulder pads. Sean Monahan has no shoulder injuries,” Hartley said. “I’ve had so many texts and emails from fans from Calgary because they got this somewhere that Monahan has a shoulder injury. We had a plan with him. This kid has played 22, 23 minutes the last month of the season. We were making a push to make the playoffs and I felt that in many games, he was our best player. When you want to win the big games, your best players need to be on the ice.
“I sat with him and he wanted to keep playing, but I shut him down. I shut him down because we want to be in this for the long haul and obviously we’re going to need all of our injuries. Sean Monahan is not injured.”
Game 2 takes place Friday at Rogers Arena.
