Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Crazy Train is Set to Roll Again

I got some great news yesterday, Jean Francois Jacques is set to return to the ice as early as next week. Jacques has been sidelined with a back injury that required surgery. He hasn't played a pro game in more than a year. The injury occurred in a fight on January 21st 2008 against former Worcester Sharks defenseman Brennan Evans.

Ironically the game that he could be returning in on Friday is against the same Worcester Sharks. Brennan Evans has since moved on to Anaheim's farm team the Iowa Chops, and one would have to anticipate that Jacques will slowly work himself back into the physical game to see how his surgically repaired back holds up.

The Falcons could certainly use a healthy Jacques in the lineup as outside of Guillaume Lefebvre they don't have any big and physical forwards that can really terrorize opposing d-men. I would also like to see Jacques in front of the net on the PP. The Falcons PP is a putrid 15% and change and sits in the bottom 6 in the entire AHL.

The game on Friday will be a huge one for the Falcons of they expect to gain any traction heading forward as a potential playoff contender. The Falcons dropped a heartbreaker to Worcester on Friday after giving up the tying goal late and then the GWG in OT while short handed.

I would assume that Jacques is on a 2 week conditioning stint although it might make the most sense for the Oilers to waive him to send him down right now as a team might be more hesitant to pick up a guy that's been out with a major injury for over a year than a guy that was out over a year and looks good after a 2 week conditioning stint.

Either way it is a great time for JF Jacques and for the Falcons to get one of their best players back from last year. Best of luck to the big guy, and may he feel healthy again and continue his quest to reach the NHL on a fulltime basis.

5 comments:

Traktor said...

Awesome news. I still have high hopes for JFJ.

Bryanbryoil said...

Hy nice to see you man, I miss your contributions to HF, why did you leave? I also have high hopes for him although I don't see him as being anymore than a 3rd liner tops, however his mix of size and speed makes him an intriguing prospect.

Traktor said...

I'm still kicking on HF - just under a different name.

I'm not sure if I forgot my password or if I was banned (I didn't have many infractions so it's doubtful) but for whatever reason I couldn't log in. I sent a message to the admin but I never heard back.

Bryanbryoil said...

What name are you under???

Bryanbryoil said...

Send me a PM on HF if you don't want to say your name here.