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Olli Maatta's second NHL season in Pittsburgh has been over since late December. -- GETTY[/caption]
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Roundup of a lot of randomness from a lot of time around our teams ...
• Don't worry about Olli Maatta. He certainly isn't.
Sure, the Penguins' terrific 20-year-old defenseman has endured a year you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy: He entered training camp struggling to be ready for the opener after offseason shoulder surgery. He achieved that, but he learned during a camp physical that he had, of all things, thyroid cancer and needed to have a lump removed. He beat that, too, and was back within a month, only to reinjure the shoulder. And shortly after he went out, presumably because none of that was enough, the mumps that set down a quarter of the roster, naturally, claimed him, as well.
All that was missing was an ACME anvil plopping on his head.
Finally, in mid-January, after pushing through all of the above, the shoulder was subject to a second surgery, and his season -- perhaps mercifully -- was done.
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