Flames' Markstrom indicates Vladar's been battling injury "last few years"

Calgary Flames fans were caught off guard yesterday when the team announced that Dan Vladar will be undergoing season-ending hip surgery. That news may not have been as surprising to his teammates, however.

“[We] see a lot more stuff that doesn’t come out to you guys or the public and fans that guys go through,” Markstrom told reporters after yesterday’s practice. “You want to see those guys succeed and play good.”

The 26-year-old Vladar has struggled in each of the past two seasons, failing to post a save percentage (SV%) above .900. A big factor in those struggles could be his health, as Markstrom indicated during that same scrum that his goaltending partner has been dealing with his hip issue for a long stretch of time.

“He’s a warrior,” Markstrom said. “He’s been battling this for quite some while. It’s out now that he’s going to get some work done and fix this problem he has. Seeing what he’s been through the last few years, he never complains. He’s always happy and practicing hard. Big picture, this is a good thing, and hopefully, he gets some time to recover and feel great when everything is said and done. ”

Markstrom’s comments serve as a great reminder for the public as to why certain players may be struggling. It seemed that nobody had any idea Vladar had been playing hurt the last few weeks, let alone the last few seasons. It seems with the playoffs being nearly out of reach at this point, management and training staff decided it was time to shut him down and get him the surgery needed to fix this issue.

The Flames announced in a statement that Vladar is undergoing the operation now to ensure he has the proper rehab time to be ready for the 2024-25 season. Hip surgeries are never an easy recovery, especially for a goalie given all the unique body movements they need to make. These types of operations used to spell trouble for goalies in the past, but that is seemingly becoming less and less of an issue in recent years, which gives reason to be optimistic that Vladar will be back and better than ever next season.

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