Blair Betts had his chronic, dislocated right shoulder repaired again recetnly - third or 4th time by my count.
He is a transcript of an interview, courtesy of the Flyers:
Q: What have you been doing over the summer?
BB: “For the most part I have been coming to the Skate Zone and rehabbing my shoulder, continue to work out and get stronger in that area. I flew to Maui (Hawaii) for a few days to watch my older brother (Dan) get married and this past weekend I took my wife and two daughters down to the shore to celebrate my oldest daughter’s 3rd birthday.”
Q: Speaking of your shoulder how is that going?
BB: “We are a month into the rehab from the date of the surgery and the shoulder is feeling great. I think we might be ahead of schedule. The time line the doctor gave me was about four months from the day I had the surgery. If that is the case then I should be ready for the start of the regular season. Like I said, I think we are a little bit ahead of schedule.”
Q: Will you be ready by training camp?
BB: “I’m not sure if I will actually be ready to compete in training camp. That’s kind of up in the air right now. I will see the doctor again in about two weeks. I should be cleared to skate. But handling and shooting the puck is kind of up in the air. There obviously won’t be any physical contact or anything like that. Like I said, I should be ready to play at the beginning of the regular season. But as far as training camp, I’m not sure yet.”
Q: What do you think about the team’s recent off-season acquisitions?
BB: “I think Paul (Holmgren) has done a great job. We brought in several great defensemen. Paul has brought in a lot of size and experience in these players. Unfortunately a couple days ago we traded Simon Gagne to Tampa Bay in exchange for another big defenseman (Matt Walker), but that is part of the business. You hate to see a guy like Simon go. He’s been a great player for the organization for a long time. Obviously, he was a great player for us last year and we hope he does well in Tampa.”
Q: What are your personal expectations this upcoming season?
BB: “Individually speaking, my role will be the same. As a fourth line player I think I will be playing with some guys who can bring some offense as well as play good defense. I want to contribute as much offensively as I can but the most important part of my game it to play good defensively and killing penalties. As far as the team, the expectations are always the same at the start of the season and that is to win the Stanley Cup. We came up just short last season. With the moves and acquisitions that we made this summer I think we will be a better team and we should have a great chance to make another run for it.”
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