TSN has now released details covering the Forsberg situation.
According to the Globe and Mail, Forsberg left the ice at Sweden’s national team practice on Monday after an hour, saying his ankle wasn’t holding up.
“It’s extremely tough and I know that everyone can understand how I feel,” he told a Swedish television station.
“It doesn’t feel good, I always try to stay positive, but today is a very dark day.”
Forsberg was skating with the team and hoped to play in the Karjala Cup - a four-team international tournament. The former Hart Trophy winner was going to use the event as a measuring stick to see if his ankle would be able to withstand the rigors of an NHL season.
‘’I will have to go back to one of the doctors to see if there’s something I can do.'’ Forsberg added. ‘’I'm not going to play if it’s not working. I might as well retire.'’
The 13-year NHL veteran had been reluctant to talk about his plans to return, but was every emotional after leaving the ice.
‘’I've never been so close to the end of my career,” he said. “I’m not going to retire today, I’m going to check with the doctors to see one more time what can be done. They should be able to fix it. I don’t want it to be any major procedures, if it’s a small thing they can fix, I’ll be okay, if not I think I’ll let it be. It’s looking pretty dark.”
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There are probably a handful of teams who are hesitant to even give Forsberg a glance, especially considering he was seeking a two to three year term on his next contract. A lot of teams aren’t willing to throw $4M+ at a guy who is basically hanging under a dark cloud.
That being said, there are probably a handful of teams who’d like to take a gamble on Foppa for a one-year, one-shot term. Forsberg has and always will be a dominant force in the hockey world but right now he is useless until he completely recovers from this latest setback. The fact he even said he “might as well retire” concerns me.
