Hernia Puts Stumpel Out 8-10 Weeks

Jozef Stumpel hit the wall Saturday afternoon.

Stumpel, a King center and their top assist man, opted to have surgery on his abdomen to repair a sports hernia doctors found in an MRI two days earlier.

The operation will be Monday, and Stumpel will be out from eight to 10 weeks and perhaps as many as 12. Rehabilitation begins in about three weeks.

“It’s hard to tell,” Stumpel said, concerning how and when he was injured. “The last couple of weeks it’s gotten worse and worse. It was in my groin and then went into my stomach lately.”

The injury could be an extension of one he suffered last season when he was cross-checked during an exhibition game at Bakersfield. Stumpel struggled with it through all of a subpar season, spent the summer rehabilitating and began training camp on a high note, reunited with his childhood teammate winger Ziggy Palffy.

Those two and Luc Robitaille combined to form the Kings’ top line and had 22 points through the first five games.

Robitaille also had an MRI on Thursday and the examination found he had a broken bone in his foot. He is out from two to six weeks.

Stumpel had been treating his injury with ice and massage and continued playing without complaining. He had an assist on the Kings’ only goal in a 1-1 tie on Wednesday in Detroit.

After the MRI, he practiced Friday, then participated in Saturday’s morning skate, all the while trying to stay in the lineup.

Before Saturday’s game, he decided he could play no longer.

Dave Taylor, the Kings’ senior vice president and general manager, said Saturday the club was considering moving up a center from the minor leagues, with the likely candidate being Len Barrie, who is playing for the Ice Dogs.