The Everett Silvertips were resigned to the likelihood of losing captain Ryan Murray for the remainder of the Western Hockey League season.
On Tuesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets made it official.
Murray’s NHL team announced Tuesday that the 19-year-old defenseman will undergo surgery to repair the torn labrum in his shoulder. Murray, who traveled to Columbus on Sunday for further evaluation, will undergo the surgery in the next two to three weeks. The recovery time is expected to be six months, which ends both his Silvertips and WHL careers.
“It’s been really disappointing,” Murray told BlueJackets.com, Columbus’ official website. “It’s not the kind of news you want to hear, and it’s going to be a long recovery time. But this surgery pretty much has to be done.
“But you gotta do what you gotta do, and I’m just going to rehab it, do the best job I can in the process and get it back to 100 percent as quickly as possible.”
Murray suffered the injury Nov. 16 in Victoria, when he fell awkwardly on the ice after delivering a hit. Murray’s shoulder was dislocated on the play. An MRI performed in Everett revealed the labrum tear.
Murray is one of the greatest players in Silvertips history. Selected ninth overall in the 2008 bantam draft, he spent three-plus seasons with the Tips, becoming the youngest captain in the franchise’s 10-season history and twice being named the team’s Most Valuable Player. In June he was taken second overall in the NHL draft by the Blue Jackets. He also became one of the youngest players ever to represent Canada at the senior level when he played at the men’s World Championships in May at the age of 18.
Murray finished his Everett career with 22 goals and 99 assists in 191 regular-season games, along with six goals and 10 assists in 20 playoff games.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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