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So, we are all aware of Pekka Rinne’s infection in his surgically-repaired hip, but no one was prepared to hear exactly what type of infection it was.

An Escherichia coli (or E.Coli as it is affectionately called) infection. Yikes.

Though rare, infections in repaired hips are nothing to toy with and can cause serious damage or worse (we won’t go into those details). Luckily, Pekka’s symptoms were caught early and we don’t suspect his team of doctors will let it go unmonitored, so his expected recovery time is 6-8 weeks… just in time for Christmas/New Year’s.

Now, that’s just a rough estimate; his condition could worsen or get better depending on how his body reacts to antibiotics and other methods of recovery, just like any other type of infection. When the infection was intially discovered, Rinne did undergo a hip scope to clean out the infection.
However, do not get your hopes up for a speedy recovery. Just like any other serious infection, no one is going to be pushing Rinne back into the net any time soon, even if he’s the one claiming better health. I suspect we will begin hearing leaks of his recovery around the 6-8 week time frame, but I do not think he’ll be ready until he has been deemed completely back to 100%. No jumping back into the ice ahead of time for this guy!

So, that leaves Carter Hutton to man the goal posts until late December at the minimum. His confidence has me thinking he’ll be fine; a good stand-in until Peks can get back to his former self. When games go South for Nashville, all the blame cannot be bestowed upon Hutton, though he’s an easy target. Hutton’s had some outstanding, heart-stopping saves, but he has also had some blunders that would make kids in the juniors blush. But hey, you live and you learn, right?

The Predators are in Denver tonight to take on the 12-1-0 (yay) Avalanche, a team that defeated Nashville last month in their first meeting of the 2013-14 season. The Avalanche are hot, but Nashville’s known for their pesky determination and have pulled some wins out of nowhere. Let’s do that.