The Nashville Predators released a positive update on the health of franchise goaltender Pekka Rinne this afternoon, saying that he “has been cleared to begin weight-bearing exercises”, a milestone in his recovery from a hip infection which flared up back in October.
There is still no estimate on when he’ll be ready to carry the weight of the team on his shoulders, however.
Given the months of inactivity it will presumably take Rinne several weeks to get back into game shape, assuming of course that there are no setbacks on the infection front. With the NHL taking a break for the Winter Olympics from February 8-26, probably the best that Predators fans could hope for would be to see Rinne play at some point during the final quarter of the season.
As has been said many times before, timetables are exceedingly uncertain in this unique situation, so the onus remains on Marek Mazanec and Carter Hutton to hold down the fort.
