I can’t remember the last time that so many players in the NHL were suffering from injuries this early in the season. Seems like an epidemic that is going to be almost as bad as the H1 N1 virus, which in all seriousness I hope doesn”t get any worse.
Let’s take a look around the NHL at some of the major injuries, and how those injuries affect those teams.
Anaheim: JS. Giguere. Sidelined indefinitely with a groin injury. James Wisniewski. Out with a right shoulder in jury. Anaheim has struggled and losing these two for any time isn’t helping. Is Randy Carlyle on the hot seat?
Atlanta: Kari Lehtonen. Sidelined indefintely from back surgery. This guy can’t catch a break. Ilya Kovalchuk. Out for at least 4 weeks with a broken foot. This in jury hurts them the worst as he is their leader. While losing Lehtonen is something that they are used to, not having Kovalchuk is a problem and is going to hurt them while he’s out.
Boston: Milan Lucic. Out with a broken index finger and expected to miss another 3 weeks. Marc Savard will be out for 4-6 weeks with a broken foot. Losing these two is a definite problem. Lucic provides the muscle and grit, while Savard is their number one center and point getter. Can they overcome these two loses and still compete?
Buffalo: Nothing major, however a couple players, Gaustad and Kaleta are out with the flu.
Calgary: None
Carolina: Eric Staal. Upper body injury expected to miss a week. With the slide they are on, they can’t afford anyone to be missing. This team is in trouble and needs to get out of it right away, or changes are coming.
Chicago: Marion Hossa. Coming back soon from shoulder surgery. Jonathan Toews. Concussion symptoms is day to day. Adam Burish out with knee surgery. In spite of these injuries, the Hawks haven’t really missed a beat. When Hossa and Toews come back, watch out!
Colorado: Darcy Tucker. Concussion. Ruslan Salei is out indefintely from back surgery. Tom Preissing is out indefintely from knee surgery. Peter Budaj is out with the swine flu. This team has had a fast start, however they have lost 2 in a row recently. How long can they keep their winning ways?
Columbus: Frederik Modin. Out indefintely with a knee injury. Otherwise nothing else major.
Dallas: Mike Modano is out with a rib injury and Jere Lehtinen has a chest injury and now is day to day. Marty Turco missed a couple games with the flu and the Stars missed him. He is expected back wednesday night.
Detroit, or as us Chicago fans call them, SCUM: Johan Franzen out 4 months from knee surgery, Valtteri Filppula will be out 6-8 weeks with broken right wrist. Rafalski, Ericsson and Kronwall have missed games due to the flu. Is age and the amount of games these guys have played over the last two years catching up? I hope so.
Edmonton: Steve Staios and Sheldon Souray out with concussions. Comrie, Horcoff and Visnovsky out with the flu. Another team that can’t afford anything lingering.
Florida: David Booth is out with a concussion, and his timetable is unknown. Radek Dvorak is out 3-4 weeks from knee injury. Nick Tarnasky is out indefintely from facial surgery, and Dominic Moore who missed two games as well for facial surgery is expected back wednesday night against Carolina. The Weasel (Little Stevie, Stevie Wonder), has been suffering from a yeast infection, but continues to play along. This injury appears to have affected him since his debut in the NHL. (Read between the lines on this one).
Minnesota: Pierre Marc-Bouchard. Out indefinetely with head injuries and concussion symptoms. Kim Johnson has been out with an upper body injury and is expected back shortly. He’s needed as this team has had a terribly slow start.
Montreal: Andrei Markov. Out 4 months with a ankle tendon injury. A defenceman that is injured oin a Jacque Martin team. What will he do?
Nashville: Minor stuff to Jason Arnott, Jordan Tootoo, and Martin Erat.
New Jersey: Paul Martin. Out 4-6 weeks with a broken arm. Jay Pandolfo out 4-6 weeks with a separated right shoulder. They will miss Martin as he’s one of their better defencemen.
New York Islanders: Rick Dipetro. Out indefintely from knee surgery. Trent Hunter will miss 2-4 weeks with a torn pectoral muscle. Goaltending not an issue as Roloson and Biron will carry the load.
Ottawa: Anton Volchenkov out till late November with dislocated right elbow. Jason Spezza is day to day with an upper body injury. As long as these aren’t prolonged situations, Ottawa shold be able to hang on.
Philadelphia: Simon Gagne out for 6-8 weeks with hernia surgery. Ryan Parent out for a week with a groin injury and Danny Briere is day to day also with a groin injury. Philly has enough fire power to cover these bumps.
Phoenix: Kurt Sauer is day to day with headaches.
Pittsbugh: Maxime Talbot is out indefintely with shoulder surgery. Sergei Gonchar will also miss another 4 weeks from a broken left wrist. Evgeni Malkin is out for 3 weeks with a strained right shoulder. Again another team with enough depth to cover these injuries. Unfortunately.
San Jose: Torrey Mitchell is out indefintely with left knee tendinitis. Joe Pavelski is day to day with a foot problem, and Devin Setgouchi is day to day with a leg injury. Nothing major here.
St. Louis: Barret Jackman is coming back Thursday after being out with a sprained left ankle. Alex Steen is out 6-8 weeks with a broken wrist. DJ King is out 8-10 weeks with surgery on his right hand. Carlo Colaiacovo and Andy McDonald have the flu but are probable for a return this week. This team is struggling since their return from Europe. Can Andy Murray keep from blowing up?
Tampa Bay: Paul Ranger is out indefintely for personal reasons. Can’t find anything on this.
Toronto: Besides a team wide bruised ego, Phil Kessel returns this week. Mike Van Ryn is out for the year with left knee surgery. Poor guy, has had such bad luck. Not sure what is going to help this team, although if Kessel doesn’t make a difference, look for some moves to be made.
Vancouver: Roberto Solongo is out at least a week with a rib injury. Pavel Demitra is out indefinitely with shoulder surgery. Daniel Sedin is out for 4-6 weeks with a broken foot. What is his sister Henrietta gonna do? Kyle Wellwood is out with a broken big toe. Keep him away from the buffet table. Ryan Johnson is out indefintely with a concussion. Goaltending is now in the hands of Andrew Raycroft. Enough said.
Washington: Alex the great is day to day with an upper body injury. Boyd Gordon is out indefintely with back surgery. John Erskine is out indefintely with a hand injury. Eric Fehr is day to day with a rib injury.
Wow! That’s one hell of a list. Who is affected the most? I think the top 2 teams who are going to have trouble are Scum and Vancouver. Perfect if you’re in the west, and for Chicago fans it’s great news.
In the East, while Philly and the Penshits have some big players out, they will probably not miss a beat.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers!