Monday Injury Analysis , November 17
By Ray Calder, HockeyObserver.com
Goalies:
Atlanta continues to be without Kari Lehtonen, who's day to day back issue has him out for much longer than first thought . With Atlanta playing only 2 games, and given his past history - do the conservative thing and leave him out this week ...Columbus got Pascal Leclaire back this past week from an ankle injury . Right now they are carrying three goals , Leclaire, Steve Mason, and Fredrik Norrena . Look for the first two to get most of the playing time and the team was thrilled with the way Mason stepped in and performed when Leclaire went down ...Florida's Tomas Vokoun was injured in practice this week and had to see a chiropractor for a back issue . The injury isn't believed to be serious (he backed up Friday against Detroit and was summoned into the game), but the team is comfortable going with backup Craig Anderson so looking at your other options in the short term might be wise ...San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov has a lower body injury believed to be a knee (injured at the end of a shootout last week ) . The team is starting Brian Boucher, and still has Thomas Greiss around . With only 2 games on the schedule, leave Nabokov out for the week and roll with someone else ...Washington's Brent Johnson suffered a slight hip injury, but has been healthy enough to back up Jose Theodore at weeks end . He was badly outplaying Theodore so look for him to get back in the net soon .
Forwards:
Buffalo's Ales Kotalik has a fairly serious hamstring injury which could cause him to miss significant time . His icetime will likely go to Clarke MacArthur in the short term, but a Nathan Gerbe callup is possible if both Kotalik and Tim Connolly are out weeks rather than days ...Carolina's Patrick Eaves has been out of the lineup with a shoulder injury - leave him on your bench this week ...Chicago's Martin Havlat has a minor groin injury according to the Chicago Tribune . Those who have drafted Havlat in past years know there is no such thing as a minor injury to the veteran forward . Watch this one carefully ...Colorado's Joe Sakic has missed the last couple of games with a back injury . An MRI revealed no structural damage, but the team will be cautious with him . He should be out of your lineups unless you have no other options ...Dallas Jere Lehtinen returned this past Tuesday from a groin injury which had caused him to miss the season's first 5 weeks ...Detroit's Daniel Cleary will miss the next 2-3 weeks with an eye infection . The club did get Johan Franzen back this past week from an early season knee injury ...Florida's Nathan Horton has been dealing with the flu . He should remain in your lineup but it's something to keep an eye on as he has lost some weight with the bug ...Minnesota's Marian Gaborik is still not close to returning from his lower body injury . I can't imagine anyone surrendering a large chunk of their franchise via a trade to add a guy who has been day to day since October 14th ...New Jersey's Brian Rolston had a setback with his high ankle sprain and will not be back this week and could be out a couple more ...The Islander's Mike Comrie has been dealing with some pain in his hip which was previously operated on. He's day to day for now and you should definitely hold him out when he does return for 2-3 games to ensure he doesn't backslide ...The Rangers Scott Gomez has missed the last 2 games with a painful ankle injury . He's listed as day to day but with the team playing well expect them to give him plenty of time to heal ...Ottawa's Ryan Shannon has been shelved with a serious concussion after taking a Tomas Pock (Islanders) elbow to the head . He will not be back any time soon, and Pock was suspended for his head shot ...Philadelphia's Daniel Briere has a groin injury that sidelined him this past weekend and will hold him out until Friday against Buffalo (as a best case scenario). Adjust your expectations if you start Briere this week as these injuries tend to linger, and even desire to play against one's former mates does not guarantee a productive game on the stats sheet ...The Blues Paul Kariya remains sidelined with a foot injury which he claims is improving . I'd probably leave him out this week with the Blues playing only 2 games . Sunday evening the team suffered a more devestating injury when Andy McDonald broke a bone in his lower leg against the Canadiens . The team will update this Monday, but there is a possibility we are looking at months and not weeks with this injury ....San Jose's Jonathan Cheechoo returned Sunday evening after missing 4 games with an upper body injury . The Sharks only play 2 this week, but he should be safe to activate ....Vancouver's Pavol Demitra returned from his fractured rib Saturday against Toronto, and set up three of the clubs 4 goals . Start him with confidence if you need him ...Washington's Alexander Semin has a shoulder injury which has him sidelined on a day to day basis . He missed the game Saturday against Jersey but the team says it's not serious . Also for the Caps, Sergei Fedorov remains out with an ankle injury . I'd look elsewhere on your roster this week rather than relying on Fedorov .
Defensemen :
A mess of injuries on the blueline this week some with long term consequences ...Anaheim's Francois Beauchemin is likely done for the season (6 months anyway) after tearing the ACL ligament in his left knee late last week . The team recalled Brett Festerling from their AHL affiliate in Iowa, and he figures to be given first opportunity to fill Beauchemin's spot . He made his debut Sunday evening in the Ducks shutoout win over the Kings ...Atlanta's Mathieu Schneider is out on a day to day basis with a hip strain ...Boston's Andrew Ference will miss the next 6 weeks after suffering a broken tibia this past Thursday ...Calgary's Jim Vandermeer broke his ankle this week in practice and is out for at the least the next 6 weeks ...Columbus' Rostislav Klesla had missed time with a wrist injury which is proving chronic . He returned this past week and promptly hurt an ankle . Bench him for this coming week until we sort out how he's going to be able to play through two problems ...The Kings Jack Johnson got some good news on the shoulder injury which has sidelined him for almost all of this season . He should be back earlier than first thought, and the new prognosis says possibly an early January return ...Montreal's Mike Komisarek has missed the last 2 games with a strained shoulder. He was out last night against St Louis so leave him on your bench this week ...New Jersey's Paul Martin had been sidelined with a back injury . He stepped back into the Devils lineup Saturday against the Caps and logged 26 minutes of ice in his first action in weeks . Get him back in your lineups if you need him ...Pittsburgh's Ryan Whitney will be back on the ice at practice with his teammates at some point this week . He has been doing on ice workouts on his own for some time and is nearing a return . He won't be back this week, but ten days from now it's a possibility if he has no setbacks ...The Blues returned 2008 first rounder Alex Pietrangelo to his junior club Niagara (OHL) . While the team could no doubt use his production, he was getting beaten up pretty good physically in his initial pro trial, and the team made the prudent step of sending him back to Junior where he can dominate and continue to develop with an eye towards the 09/10 season ...Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa broke a small bone in his foot and will be shelved for a minimum of 2 weeks ..