Rangers’ news was of an operation performed yesterday on Michael Del Zotto, not of a decision regarding the hiring of a head coach.
For as the Blueshirts went through their fourth day of organizational meetings in La Quinta, Calif., the 23-year-old defenseman underwent his second sports hernia surgery within 25 months, the procedure performed by Dr. William Meyers of the Riverview Surgical Center in Philadelphia just as it had been in May of 2011.
Del Zotto, who for the most part was abysmal in the five-game second-round defeat to the Bruins, is projected to have a recovery period of approximately one month.
The meetings, chaired by general manager Glen Sather, will conclude today. Mark Messier, a candidate for the coaching assignment, was en route yesterday to Chicago, where tonight he will present the Mark Messier Leadership Award to one of three finalists, including the Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews, the Kings’ Dustin Brown and the Senators’ Daniel Alfredsson.
The Masterton, Selke and Lady Byng will be among the other NHL postseason awards presented tonight, while the Hart, Norris, Calder and Vezina Trophy winners will be announced in Chicago tomorrow night prior to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
John Tavares of the Islanders is a finalist for the Hart with Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin while reigning winner Henrik Lundqvist is a finalist for the Vezina with Sergei Bobrovsky and Antti Niemi.