Don’t know where to put it but I thought a lot of you might be interested. I know there was a lot of speculation what happened to Francouz during playoffs. Today there is an interview on Czech news web and he explains it in quiet a detail. I tried to translated to the best of my knowledge, but there are couple of thinks I am not sure I got correct.
In addition to the longing, you were also bothered by an injury in the playoffs, which appeared at the worst possible moment.
Well, right! One imagines that there will be a time when you can help the team to get somewhere. Unfortunately, it didn't happen to me, but to Chudobin. Of course, I was happy for him to be able to take Dallas as far as he did as a backup, but let me be honest: I wanted to experience this.
Why it didn't work?
Maybe it all started with my left knee, where I had a swelling. I received an injection that relieved the pain a little, but I was probably relieving the knee while overloading my hip. Already in a group match, I was hit by an opposite player when I had my leg clenched while doing split. It stabbed me in the hip, the place hardened after the match.
That wasn't that bad yet.
No. There was one back to back match in the 1st round of the playoffs. We agreed whit the doctors they would prepare me so I was able to play one match in the series. I didn't train much, I just strengthened and I managed it.
What happened next?
After Arizona, we went to Dallas, where we wanted to follow the same plan. But in the middle of the first match, Gruby fell to the ice after one safe and I knew right away that it is bad.
That’s when it got worse?
I went into the gate cold, which didn't help my hip at all, and it took me. Inflammation developed that limited me. My game was not what I would have imagined.
Is it in the goalie’s head?
I tried not to think about it. You don't feel pain in enthusiasm, I've played a lot of matches with it. But what was worse, the joint lost momentum and I couldn't stretch or bounce properly. It was really a big mental test.
A terrible feeling?
More like helplessness. The matches went quickly and the injury worsened sharply. At the same time, I knew that no one else was behind me. I don't want it to sound bad on other goalkeepers, but I felt like we managed the whole season with me and Grubauer, but after his injury I was left alone.
Source:
Je mu třicet, tělo se ozývá. Přesto si Francouz vychytal v NHL slibnou pozici - iDNES.cz