Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice announced on Apr. 15 that forward Tomas Nosek suffered a broken leg during Monday’s 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers.
The announcement comes as the Panthers, who are back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, have faced a season filled with injuries, surpassing 500 man-games lost. With just one game left in their regular season, the team continues to manage an extensive list of sidelined players.
Maurice said that Head Athletic Trainer Dave DiNapoli has delivered injury updates numerous times this year. “Dave DiNapoli has walked into the coach’s office, as he does, and said ‘you’re not going to believe this’ about 25 times this year,” Maurice said. “When he told me how terrible this has gotten, I felt terrible for Nose (Nosek), but my next question was ‘anybody else?’ I expected two guys.”
This is Nosek’s second major injury of the season; he missed the first 60 games after knee surgery in the offseason. Despite these setbacks, Maurice shared a positive moment: “The beautiful part about it is when I see him, he’s got a boot on, and he said, ‘Well, at least it’s my other leg.’” In his return to play over 21 games this season, Nosek recorded four points and contributed defensively with blocked shots and hits. He scored twice in a recent win against Toronto.
Reflecting on his challenging year after scoring against Toronto on April 11, Nosek said: “It’s been a roller coaster season and tough times sometimes. It was a long time without the games. You’re wondering what’s going to happen when you come back, and I’m just happy I did it before the end of the season.”
The Panthers will also be without Gustav Forsling for their final game due to a back injury; Forsling played in 80 games and tallied 28 points this season. Maurice commented on his team’s struggles by saying: “Outside of the real world, playing for the Panthers has been the most dangerous job in pro sports.”
Despite these challenges and an extensive injured list—now up to fifteen players missing—the organization remains hopeful that an extended offseason will help players recover ahead of another championship run next year.
Forward Sam Reinhart concluded: “We’ve been through a lot. The silver lining is we’ve got a good chunk of time to get ourselves in a better spot coming into camp next year.”
