"He turned and got jammed up and put stress on the joint. What we're dealing with is a hip labrum issue."

"It's not something like he blocks a shot and you have a bruise there, or somebody hit him and that caused the problem.

"He'd had some history with the hip,'' explained Calgary Flames' GM Brad Treliving on Friday afternoon. "He tweaked it. He zigged when he should've zagged.

Right winger Kris Versteeg will fly to New York and undergo hip surgery on Monday.

The whispers, unfortunately, turned out to be true.

Versteeg suffered the injury on Nov. 24th at Dallas and has missed the past three games.

"We don't really know how long. We're not going to put a date on it," Treliving says.

"He'll be listed as month-to-month."

After signing on with the Flames as a free agent just prior to the 2016-2017 campaign opening, Versteeg, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, went on to contribute 37 points.

He re-upped on another one-year deal, worth $1.75 million over the summer and, shuttling between forward lines and working the powerplay, had eight points in 22 games this season.

"Any time you deal with an injury, it's a blow,'' said Treliving. "The cold reality of sports is: It happens. So it's next man up.

"You feel for Kris. He's a good man, an important part of our team. But that's just the business we're in.

"When it initially happened, you're hoping it's not serious. So you have it looked at, go through the process. Now it's determined there's something that needs to be taken care of.

"Let's take care of it and get him on the road to recovery."