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Bishop to undergo wrist surgery, should be ready for Lightning camp

Ben Bishop

Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop (30) during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday, April 11, 2013, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

AP

After a season filled with nagging injuries, Ben Bishop is going under the knife.

On Thursday, the Tampa Bay goalie said he’d be undergoing offseason wrist surgery to repair ligament damage, a procedure that will keep him in a cast for six weeks with a 3-4 month rehabilitation timeframe.

“My golf game is going to suffer,” Bishop joked, per the Tampa Bay Times.

The wrist ailment doesn’t appear to be related to the elbow dislocation that knocked Bishop out of Tampa’s opening-round playoff sweep to Montreal. The NHL’s tallest netminder was dealing with a wrist problem back in February but played through the pain, according to the Tampa Tribune.

“(The wrist) hasn’t been great,” Bishop said, coming out of the Olympic break."But I just want to give the team a chance to win every night, even if I’m not 100 percent.’’

Today, Bishop told the Times he’s “100 percent” confident he’ll be ready for training camp in the fall.

That’s important, because next year promises to be a huge one for both Bishop and the Bolts. He put forth a Vezina-caliber effort this year, going 37-14-7 (4th in the NHL in wins) with a 2.23 GAA (7th), .924 save percentage (7th) and five shutouts (5th). Looking ahead, it’ll be interesting to see if Bishop is named one of the three Vezina finalists, and if he can build on this year’s success — next year, he’s in the last of his two-year, $4.6 million deal with Tampa Bay.