Montreal Canadiens' Max Pacioretty Could Be Ready for the Playoffs

Yes, you read that right.

According to Habs bench boss Jacques Martin, Max Pacioretty could be ready for the start of the playoffs.

Unbelievable? Yes. Insane? Absolutely.

But Pacioretty is a player who has already shown a near-bionic ability to take and recover from severe injuries without batting an eyelash.

So while he did suffer a severe concussion and fractured vertebra in his neck—he still has the fracture—after being slammed into a stanchion by Zdeno Chara, he is apparently no longer suffering any concussion symptoms.

As such, the team is saying that he will be on strict bed rest until March 26 before resuming skating. He is scheduled to begin contact drills about five weeks from today.

Keep in mind that this is the kid who was taken to hospital on a stretcher after taking a James Wisniewski slap shot in the ribs at the beginning of the month. While rumours circulated about broken ribs and collapsed lungs, Patches didn't miss a shift and was at practice the next day.

Un-freaking-believable.

So what do you think about this kid and the comeback? Too much too soon, or is Patches really the rubber man that he seems to be?

Here are a bunch of news links about Pacioretty's apparent comeback:

Habs Inside/Out: Pacioretty could be ready for playoffs

RDS: De retour en séries?

TSN: MARTIN: PACIORETTY MAY RETURN IN TIME FOR PLAYOFFS

Kamal is a freelance Habs writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and Habs writer on TheFranchise.ca. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny on The Team 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 8-9 AM. Listen live at http://www.team990.com/

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