Absolutely unreal the luck we have with injuries. Stingley, Boutte, and now Smith all had season ending injuries in their sophomore seasons.
I hate it for any player, but especially one that has put in the hard work during the offseason and was headed for a huge season. I have no doubt he's going to put in the hard work and come back next year ready to show out!
ACL injuries really suck. I tore mine TWICE in 1986, which led to a total knee replacement in May of this year. In short, once an ACL is torn, it is seriously compromised. After all these years, I finally have a strong left knee again...but only because it's artificial.
Modern surgical and rehabilitation techniques have advanced significantly since then. Now people come back full strength in less than a year. Players return as good as new. I can’t say what the long term impact will be, but he can return at full strength next season.
