It was October 22, 2016 when Ales Hemsky last skated competitively for the Dallas Stars. It was a 3-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, but there was a much worse loss that the Stars were set to experience.
In his first game of the season, Hemsky ended up further injuring a hip that had been giving him issues since the World Cup of Hockey. He would have surgery a couple of days later and was projected to be out 5-6 months.
When you do the math, Hemsky was not expected to be playing until late March, at the very earliest.