A light at the end of the tunnel for Brown?

Published 12:30 pm Tuesday, December 16, 2008

I talked to GM Doug Soetaert today, and among the things we discussed he shed some light on the injury situation with defenseman Shayne Brown. Brown, acquired in a preseason trade, hasn’t played since mid-October because of a hip-flexor injury. He’s been listed as out indefinitely for some time now.

Well, I got some specifics today. It turns out Brown has a muscle tear near where the muscle attaches to the hip socket. The original outlook was that he would need surgery. However, he went to see a specialist, who determined that the muscle tear is actually an old injury, and what’s causing the pain now is a bone bruise inside the socket. That’s something that just requires a lengthy rest, and surgery can wait until the offseason.

Apparently Brown has been making good progress in recent weeks, and the Tips are hopeful they’ll get him back sometime this season. They’ll take a look at where he’s at in another three or four weeks and make the determination then.

Also, defenseman Trevor Bauer (shoulder) will be ready to go following the break, though the Tips don’t actually know what he’s capable of yet, so we’ll see how long it is before he gets into a game.

So it’s possible that the Tips, who have been operating with a barebones defense, will be back to full strength on the blue line shortly after the break.