Hip surgery likely for captain Taylor

Lightning captain Tim Taylor said an attempt to rehab his degenerative right hip is not going well and he might have major surgery in August.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published July 3, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Dirk Shadd] At least six months of recovery from hip surgery means Tim Taylor would not return until February at the earliest or his 12-year career could end.

Lightning captain Tim Taylor said an attempt to rehab his degenerative right hip is not going well and he might have major surgery in August.

Taylor said he will give his hip until then to improve, but admitted Monday, "All signs are showing that I need the surgery. It's getting worse as it goes along. I'm obviously disappointed I can't get back to where I want to be."

Taylor, 38, played through the pain last season with two cortisone shots. He hoped exercise and further injections would delay surgery until after next season, the last on his contract.

Instead Taylor is mentally preparing for a procedure that will smooth the top of his right femur and fit it into a metal socket to ease movement. At least six months of recovery means Taylor would not return until February at the earliest or his 12-year career could end.

The news, and Sunday's loss of forward Eric Perrin to Atlanta in free agency, leaves the Lightning with a fourth-line depth problem.

To help fix it, the team signed free-agent forwards Craig MacDonald and Mathieu Darche to one-year, two-way contracts at the league minimum $475, 000.

MacDonald, 30, captained AHL Norfolk last season and played 25 games for the Blackhawks with three goals, five points and 14 penalty minutes. He has eight goals, 22 points and 75 penalty minutes in 160 NHL games.

"We honestly think he can center our fourth line, " general manager Jay Feaster said.

Rookie Blair Jones might have something to say about that, and Feaster said, "This is good. This is competition. We'll see where it goes."

Darche, 30, with 35 goals, 80 points and 72 penalty minutes in 76 games last season for AHL Worcester, also will be in camp but is likely headed for Norfolk.

Taylor seems headed into the unknown. Feaster said the team has yet to find an example of a pro hockey player returning from this kind of surgery.

"But we're not going to rule out that Tim Taylor can be the first, " he said. "If he can, adding a fresh and rested body in February, March or April or whenever it is will be a good thing."

Feaster said Taylor will rehab in Tampa and remain captain.

Taylor had a goal and six points in 71 games last season and won a whopping 56.2 percent of his faceoffs. He averaged 7:55 of ice time in the regular season but 12:01 in the playoffs when buoyed by a cortisone shot.

He said he is not considering a forced retirement.

"That gives you an out, and I don't think you ever want to close any doors, " he said. "I'm going to get this thing done and give myself a chance to play."

PRATT, TEAM STILL APART: Feaster said there has been no movement in negotiations with defenseman Nolan Pratt.

"He disagrees with us in terms of what he should be paid and what his role should be vis-a-vis the other guys, " Feaster said."

Pratt, 31, an unrestricted free agent, made $625, 000 last season and had a goal, eight points and an even plus-minus in 81 games in which he averaged 15:47 of ice time.

"We have a limited amount of money, " Feaster said. "We have to make decisions we believe are in the best interests of the hockey club. We still have the door open. Pratter knows that. At the same time, we're not prepared to step up to the level he wants us to go."

ODDS AND ENDS: The Lightning is expected to unveil this summer a "modernization" of its logo. The changes are not expected to be major. ... Right wing Marty St. Louis and San Jose's Joe Thornton were in Toronto recently to shoot three instructional street-hockey DVDs. The kid-friendly discs will be distributed in the fall in cereal boxes in Canada.

Damian Cristodero can be reached at cristodero@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 3, 2007, 00:12:37]