Brodeur's surgery "100 percent successful"

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said the doctors told him that goaltender Martin Brodeur's surgery this morning to repair his torn distal biceps tendon in his left elbow was "100 percent successful."

"Everything went as expected," Lamoriello just told me. "There were no surprises. The timetable for his return is the same -- three to four months."

Brodeur's tendon was torn completely from the bone in his left elbow and had to be reattached. He is expected to make a full recovery and be back in time for the end of the regular season.

The procedure was performed early this morning by orthapedic surgeon Dr. Steven Beldner of Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. Team orthapedist Dr. Barry Fisher was also on hand. Lamoriello said he was at the hospital this morning as the surgery was being done.

***

Brian Rolston (high right ankle sprain) skated again today for the third day in a row, but Lamoriello said he "didn't want to say" if he expected Rolston to be cleared to practice with the team next week because he doesn't want to jump the gun. "He skated again today," Lamoriello said. "He's progressing."

Lamoriello also said Bobby Holik (broken right pinky) is "progressing too", but would not say if he has been cleared to begin physical activity.

***
The NHL (with Elias' Sports Bureau's help) provided some stats today on the Devils' win Wednesday night without Brodeur. In addition to the stat I supplied after the game that Kevin Weekes was just the second Devils goaltender other than Brodeur to win a shootout (Scott Clemmensen  was the first, when he won the team's first shootout ever on Oct. 29, 2005 in Boston), they came up with these two:

**The Devils' victory Wednesday night was just their third when Brodeur was not dressed since 1993-94, his first full NHL season. The two previous wins occurred on Oct. 28 and 29, 2005, Scott Clemmensen defeated Buffalo and Boston, respectively.

**Prior to his injury Saturday, Brodeur had suited up for 1,114 of New Jersey's 1,126 regular-season games since 1993-94. In the 12 full contests Brodeur had missed, the Devils’ record had been 2-6-4. With one victory and one loss in the two full games since Brodeur’s injury, Weekes has improved the figure to 3-7-4.

Comments

[RG]

:whew:

Now - no infections and no 2nd procedures please!

[BishopQ]

Thanks TG. Here's to hoping it's a 3-4 month recovery. Everything I've read about a torn distal biceps is it could even be 6 months.

[Ali-P]

I find it classy that Lou showed at the hospital. Not sure if that is common for GM's but it shows how much he supports Marty.

I believe Rolston will be back sooner than we think.

[in lou i trust]

i can imagine lou pacing back and forth like a concerned father would during the surgery

[JoeDevil]

I'm glad the surgury went well.

Get well soon Marty.

[jules]

Thanks for the details, especially the name of the surgeon...so I guess we'll know who to blame if we find out that someone left some gauze in Marty's elbow.

[HF]

thanks for update...

[BF]

Get well soon Marty, Hang in there and take your time recovering. We will help Weekes hold down the fort.

I think all the fans are doing a great job supporting Weekes so far. Anytime the puck gets near the crease everyone is yelling his nam. We just have to remember that when he has an off night we have to stick with him!

[bobo]

Here's the surgeon's resume if you wish to check him out. And he takes my insurance.

http://www.handsurgerynyc.com/pdf/steven_beldner_cv.pdf

Wishing Marty a quick recovery.

[McJags]

Is there any truth to the rumor that Brodeur's arm could only come back to 80% at best? There was a report in Canada that this could be the case...

[SportInLife]

Doc's a Seton Hall guy, Marty's in good hands! Go Pirates!

[jules]

Tom, where should we send the fruit baskets and get well cards?

[TG]

I don't know where that rumor is coming from. All I can go by is what Brodeur and Lamoriello said the doctors told them and that's that he will make a full recovery.

Weekes has had no trouble with his arm so far -- though his was different because his tendon wasn't completely torn from the bone.

[njhilbilly]

McJags: I'm not a doctor, but, everything I have been told (by an orthopedist) or read indicates that the surgery method of repair, combined with proper rehabilitation, will return the arm to 100% as long as the surgery is performed quickly enough, before the tendon retracts. The loss of strength is usually associated with non-surgical treatment.

[Jeff]

Godspeed Marty Godspeed!

[Jennings]

Brodeur's site has some articles posted with insight from specialists in arm surgery. One of them said it's an injury that commonly happens in 20-30 year olds and the one doctor feels that Brodeur will be on the lower end of the recovery timeframe because he's a professional athlete. It's all speculation though. There was no mention of the possibility that he won't recover fully.

[RG9]

great to hear everything went well, especially with our luck, maybe from hear everything will start going up hill instead of down

[Mcjags]

Thanks for the info TG and njhilbilly. Didn't think that rumor made sense but though maybe I had missed something.

I've got tickets to see the Devs in Chicago on March 27th and hope to see Marty then.

[Pearl Jammed(RJ Arditti)]

Get Well Soon Marty!

And thanks for all the updates TG!

[Jeff]

"Prior to his injury Saturday, Brodeur had suited up for 1,114 of New Jersey's 1,126 regular-season games since 1993-94. In the 12 full contests Brodeur had missed, the Devils’ record had been 2-6-4."

TG, There is no way that is right. Maybe he missed 12 games due to injury since 1994, but he hasn't played in 1114 of 1126 games.

[mikeK]

By "missed" they mean has not appeared in the lineup. That means that nights he has off count toward that stat, as he's in the lineup as a backup goaltender.

[DevsFanInTX]

Jeff, it said he suited up, not played. He would have been the backup that night.

[titans04]

TG this is off topic but any word on what they're going to do with Tallackson, I know he was sent down to Lowell on a conditioning assignment but aren't those only good for 3 games? He played in his third last night. Just wondering if they now have to expose him to waivers if they want to keep him down there.

[CR]

I think by suited up he means Marty was at least dressed as the backup, not necessarily that he played.

[TG]

It means he was not in uniform for only 12 games. That total includes the games he dressed as the backup and didn't play.