Backstrom Nursing Ankle Injury Will Stay In Minnesota For Now

Call it a false alarm, but Niklas Backstrom isn’t heading to Belarus to play in the KHL after all.  At least not yet anyway.  Backstom communicated via text message that he will be staying in Minnesota for the time being to recover from an ankle injury, unrelated to the one he had surgery on after the 2011-12 season.

This injury is on the other ankle and according to Backstrom the nagging wound is thought to have been sustained when he and other NHLers were skating in St. Louis over the past couple of weeks in an attempt to stay in shape should the lockout end and training camps begin.

The injury is said to be minor despite no timeline given as to how long Backstrom will be off the practice ice.  The 34-year old did have a VISA lined up to go join the Dynamo Minsk in the Kontinental Hockey League, a trend that is becoming ever more popular with the locked out group of players. Now Backstrom is forced to sit and wait while his ankle mends and the lockout continues.