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Salo: Karlsson’s Achilles will be stronger than ever

2012 NHL Awards - Portraits

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 20: Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators poses after winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy during the 2012 NHL Awards at the Encore Theater at the Wynn Las Vegas on June 20, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

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Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Sami Salo has gone through his own Achilles’ tendon recovery, so he has some firsthand experience on the issue and doesn’t foresee a problem with Ottawa Senators blueliner Erik Karlsson’s recovery.

In fact, if anything, Salo thinks the 2012 Norris Trophy winner will come back stronger than ever.

“Speaking to the specialist who operated on mine — he actually did (soccer star David) Beckham’s Achilles, too — he said it’s actually stronger than your other (tendon),” said Salo, according to the Ottawa Citizen. “It shouldn’t be susceptible to any more (injuries), but when you do explosive training, anything’s possible, with all the torque and power you put into different training.

“I’ve met a few track-and-field triple jumpers who had Achilles (surgery) before and they returned to form and jumped longer than before, so (Karlsson’s recovery) shouldn’t be a problem.”

Of course, the Senators don’t really need Karlsson to come back better than he was. They’d gladly settle for getting the old version back.

Karlsson resumed skating less than two months after getting his tendon sliced. The typical recovery time takes six months and Salo was in that range, although Salo’s injury was more severe.

“When mine happened, it sounded like somebody shot a shotgun in the area, with the tendon exploding,” Salo explained. Plus Salo was 36 at the time while Karlsson has the advantage of being only 22 years old.

Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson doesn’t think it’d be far-fetched to see Karlsson return before the end of the regular season. However, the Senators haven’t provided a timetable for his return.