Sean Monahan is the kind of player the Flames want on the ice even when he isn't at 100 percent.
It's a burden Monahan has willingly beared for months despite playing through two significant injuries, but Calgary finally shut down its star center on Friday.
With the Flames' playoff hopes fading out of reach--Calgary currently trails Anaheim by eight points for the second wild card spot with seven games remaining--the team announced that Monahan's season will end prematurely.
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Very little was disclosed about top line center's injuries but one of the two will require surgery. Prior to the announcement, coach Glen Gulutzan expressed his concern over Monahan's status after practice.
“He’s been playing through two significant injuries here," Gulutzan said. "He’s been gutting it out. He’s been injected in two places for the last three weeks, just to get him through the games. He hasn’t been practicing."
"It's been a challenge here for a couple months for him... He was willing to do whatever it takes to keep going so it certainly effected him. We knew that but we needed him here to try to push here in this last month. But it's had an effect on him, I think even psychological too. At the end of the day, we gotta do what's best for our players."
#Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan gave injury updates ahead of the team heading out to California. pic.twitter.com/mngHMIvg7Q
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 23, 2018
Monahan finished the season with a career-best 64 points and matched his personal high of 31 goals. It wasn't until recently that his injuries took a more serious toll on his performance, but the drop-off was obvious. Monahan recorded just two goals and four assists in his last 12 appearances.
On a banged up Flames team, Calgary's alternate captain was one of several key players pushing through ailments. Kris Versteeg, who returned to action last week after making a four-month recovery from hip surgery, was also shut down for the remainder of the season Friday.
On Versteeg, Gulutzan says he pushed hard to get back early to help with a playoff push.
— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) March 23, 2018
Where the team is now, no point in him continuing to push through it. #Flames
Neither Matthew Tkachuk nor TJ Brodie will travel with the team to San Jose for Calgary's upcoming two-game road trip. Both players have missed time since suffering upper-body injuries in March.
The remaining Flames will try to snap a four-game losing streak when they take on the Sharks Saturday afternoon.