Snake Bitten

If you're watching tonight's game, you just saw a familiar sight. It was Carlo Colaiacovo being helped off the ice with a knee injury. He also missed the Maple Leafs' first 37 games of the season with a knee injury.

Colaiacovo hasn't yet turned 25 and may still meet our lofty expectations, but he's got awful luck. From his wiki page...

On January 23, 2006, Colaiacovo missed a hipcheck on Vaclav Varada in a game against the Ottawa Senators, smashing head-first into the boards. He was taken off the ice in a stretcher. The injury was a major concussion, and missed the end of the 2005-06 NHL season.

Colaiacovo recovered fully from his concussion, but later injured his hand in his first game back into the Toronto Marlies lineup. On December 4, the Maple Leafs recalled Colaiacovo from the Marlies and on December 16, he scored his first goal of the season against the New York Rangers. Colaiacovo underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on April 29, 2007.

I really hope his knee is okay. When he does manage to stay healthy for a period of time, there are glimpses of greatness. He's a great puck handler and is extremely mobile, and he ain't bad defensively either. Cross your fingers, the poor guy's snake bitten.