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Painful finger injury won't keep O'Sullivan down
Winger is expected to play Friday
By
DEREK VAN DIEST, Edmonton Sun
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Patrick O’Sullivan is itching to get back in the lineup, even if he’s missing a fingernail to scratch with.
The Oilers winger is expected to get the call Friday with the Anaheim Ducks in town.
It would be O’Sullivan’s first game back since having the nail on his left ring finger completely ripped off in a game against the Ottawa Senators on March, 9.
“It’s hard, but either I play or I don’t. It’s not going to get any better unless I stop playing altogether,” he said. “But it’s OK to play and I want to play. It’s either that or shut it down for the season and I don’t want to do that. It’s manageable enough to play. I guess we’ll see what happens the first time I get hit.”
O’Sullivan lost the nail after getting slashed by Senators defenceman Chris Phillips. He needed to have a metal plate inserted in its place — wedged down into his figure in order to stabilize it.
“It’s one of those things where it’s gong to need time to heal and playing hockey is not the best way to heal it,” he said. “But I just have to get through the next couple of weeks, then we’ll be done and it’ll be fine.”
In order to protect his finger, O’Sullivan will wear a plastic sleeve over it, which restricts his mobility.
“It’s supposed to protect my finger, although it really doesn’t do much,” he said. “The more protection I have on it, the less movement I have. Then you get to the point where you’re hampering your mobility too much. So it has to be somewhere in the middle, where I’m able to use it the way I need to. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow, but I think I’ll be OK.”
derek.vandiest@sunmedia.ca
