Apple’s return to the NHL – hope for April
Latvian hockey forward Rodrigo Ābols could return to the field at the end of this National Hockey League (NHL) season after a severe ankle injury. Although initial predictions were pessimistic, there is hope that the player could return before the end of the regular season. The NHL regular season ends on April 14, and predictions suggest that Apple’s return could take place in late March or early April.
Conditions and prognosis of injury
Abol suffered a broken right ankle on January 17 in an NHL game against the New York Rangers. “Flyers” head coach Rick Tocket initially assessed the seriousness of the injury as high, stating that Abols will be out for several months. However, hope was later expressed that the season would not be over for Abol after all. Hockey columnist Kevin Kurtz predicts Apple has a fractured right ankle, but there’s a real chance he could return in the final month of the NHL regular season. Due to the injury, Ābols will not be able to help the Latvian national team in the upcoming Milan and Cortina Olympic Games, Rihards Bukarts was included in his place.
Rodrigo Abola’s statistics this season
This season, Rodrigo Abols played in 42 games in the NHL, where he scored three goals and gave seven assists, accumulating a total of 10 points. He is one of the leading center fielders in Philadelphia’s unit. Before the injury, Abols was a solid player in the “Flyers” lineup, averaging 10:43 per game. Abols started his career in Latvia, but spent most of his professional hockey career in Sweden before signing a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.
The season of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Apple contract
With 55 points in 49 played games, the Philadelphia Flyers ranked tenth in the Eastern Conference standings. Abol is on a two-way contract with the Flyers that will expire after this season. Abols started his career in Latvia, but spent most of his professional hockey career in Sweden before signing a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Latvian NHL hockey players
Other Latvian hockey players are also playing in the NHL this season. Zemgus Girgensons represents the Tampa Bay Lightning, Elvis Merzlikin the Columbus Blue Jackets, Uvis Balinskis the Florida Panthers, and Teodors Blüger and Artur Shilov the Vancouver Canucks. Some of them, like Shilov and Abol, are between the NHL and the AHL, while Balinsky is the seventh defenseman in Florida. In previous seasons, Abols also played in the AHL, as part of the Allentown “Lehigh Valley Phantoms”, where he was effective, scoring 12 goals and 15 assists in 44 games.
