Remember James Reimer? Okay, it's been a while; his last game was on December 3, a 1-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
But it wasn't that long ago he was posting amazing goaltending performance after amazing goaltending performance. He put together some amazing back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back(-to-back?) games: a seven-game stretch in which his save percentage never dipped below .935, and five straight games of at least a .950. He was even the NHL's third star of the week during part of that stretch.
... But then he got hurt. And he got hurt again, and now the Maple Leafs would much rather take their time with him:
Mike Babcock says James Reimer won't be back "anytime soon". Leafs will be extra cautious after he returned too soon last time around.
— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) December 19, 2015 Babcock on Reimer: "We got to have him ready this time for sure. We can't have him back for a day and gone."
— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) December 19, 2015 The silver lining to all this? At least when Reimer is ready to return, he should be looking rather stylish, as he's got himself a new Optimus Reim mask:
It is, of course, awesome, as Optimus Reim himself is. Hopefully we'll be able to see it in action sometime in the new year.