Eberle's Ankle

The new Captain Canada, a worthy successor to Smytty

Jordan Eberle is one of the three (four? let's ask Omark) star rookies on the team and one of the better two-way players we have.  After the injuries to Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Whitney, the loss of Eberle was terribly demoralizing to myself as a fan.  Fortunately, there may be good news.  Dan Tencer is tweeting that Jordan is out of the boot cast and that "the ankle feels great".

I don't see anyone from the AHL being able to replace Eberle.  Omark may have the offensive talents - indeed more than Eberle - but nobody plays that kind of two-way game.  Jordan is an uncanny player.

I remember watching him at the World Juniors of course, but in particular he stood out at rookie camp this year. He had this knack of being in the right place at the right time.  There were many moments where the play would come to Jordan Eberle, rather than the opposite.  I called it Gretzky-lite and I stand by it.

What I didn't see at the Juniors or at training camp was Eberle's speed.  He was clearly faster at camp than he was in the WHL, but he is now a quick player by NHL standards and capable of keeping up with Taylor Hall and Magnus Pajaarvi.

Update:

There's been some delay in arranging the MRI.