Daymond Langkow Shut Down, Career Over?

  Unfortunate news has trickled through the Calgary Flames camp as GM Darryl Sutter has announced veteran forward Daymond Langkow has been shut down for the year, possibly signaling the end of his career.

  Langkow suffered a neck injury last season from taking a slap shot in the neck awkwardly. The damage caused to his spinal cord sat him out the final 10 games of the regular season, all of training camp, and now the entire 2010-11 season. A Calgary official is said to have given Langkow a 50/50 chance of recovering enough to play in the NHL again.

  During recent exercise, Langkow reportedly felt numbness in his lower body, clear signs of not being anywhere close to playing shape. The red falg has been raised for his safety, as he has been shut down entirely.

"Zero progress then a step backwards," GM Darryl Sutter said of the decision to take Langkow off the ice and shut down all exercise last week.

"We'll try this, and your guess is as good as mine. We're eight months into it and here we are -- that's a concern."

  It is a serious blow for the offensively thinned out Flames squad, but a bigger blow for Daymond himself. At only age 34, Langkow is 14 years experienced split between Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Calgary. In 1,013 career games he is 259-382-641with a +82 rating and 533 penalty minutes.

  Last season Langkow set his lowest numbers since 1998-99 as he notched 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points with a +2 rating in 72 games.

  Langkow is a skilled, smart forward with solid leadership and gentlemanly play. Let us have high hopes of Langkow’s recovery, but extreme caution as the injury itself is a frightening one.

"Be thankful our centremen have done a good job for us," said Sutter, whose club has not made Langkow available to the media for some time as he quietly contemplates his future.

"This is not a hockey decision -- it's a life decision," added coach Brent Sutter.

  Langkow is the 4th highest paid player on the Flames at $4.5 million per-year, with two years remaining on his contract. While the Flames would much rather have Langkow healthy, the free cap space is greatly needed to the ceiling high Flames.

- Kendall Grubbs