Photo by Ex13 via Wikimedia Commons licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution

The fellows at The Pipeline Show brought Oil Kings and Oilers fans some bad news on Travis Ewanyk last night via Oil Kings coach Derek Laxdal:

"Travis has a bit of a nagging injury.  He came in to camp and skated with us, he then went to the Oilers camp to get ready for Penticton and through the physicals they came across the nagging injury, which we knew about, and basically what they are going to do now is get consulting with an orthopedic surgeon just to see what they can do."

Laxdal went on to say that if Ewanyk does have surgery, he would likely miss four to five months.

He would follow in the grand tradition of many who have come before him.

I've written previously about injuries and how they derailed Doug Lynch's career, and how they might affect Theo Peckham's career.  Lowetide has written at length about the extent injuries have played in thwarting the development of prospects like Dan Baum, Jesse Niinimaki, JF Dufort, Marc Pouliot, J.F. Jacques, Mikhail Zoukov, and Alex Plante.  While fans thought Oscar Klefbom was going to be the 2011 draft choice to follow in a deep and rich legacy, it turns out that Travis Ewanyk might carry the mantle.

Laxdal's quote does bring up a point though.  If the Oil Kings were aware of Ewanyk's nagging injury, why weren't they actively seeking an orthopedist prior to sending him to camp?  Further, the Oil Kings and Oilers are owned by the same people, why weren't the Oilers alerted to the injury prior to his physical?  The Oilers have struggled something fierce with injury diagnosis, with disclosure and even moreso with treatment, and it's a bit of a letdown to see that same shortcoming perpetuating itself into the lower levels of the organization.