The Vancouver Canucks will have to be without another of their key players after defenceman, Sami Salo, sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.  He will be out of the lineup for up to six weeks.  Not good.

This comes after an MRI revealed that Daniel Sedin had fractured his foot and Pavel Demitra‘s recovery from a shoulder injury ended up being longer than originally anticipated.  The team is still waiting for Mathieu Schneider, who they acquired during the off-season, to be ready to join the lineup.  Overall, it’s a nightmare.
Of course, it’s still really early in the …read more

Pavel Datsyuk’s status for Game 3 of the 2009 Western Conference Finals remains in questions as he tries to recover from a sore foot.  The Detroit Red Wings star center missed practice today before the team headed to Chicago to get ready for tomorrow’s game.
He was injured after his foot was struck by a puck during Detroit’s 3-2 OT win on Tuesday night.
To be honest, despite the fact that Datsyuk is normally really essential in the lineup, he hasn’t been spectacular in the postseason (just one goal and two assists in the 13 playoff games).  It’s been a stark contrast …read more

Goaltender, Ryan Miller, suffered an ankle sprain on Saturday in a game against the New York Rangers.  The severity of the injury is not known yet but I’m sure the Buffalo Sabres are hoping their netminder will be back in action sooner than later.
Miller was injured when Scott Gomez took him down behind the net.  He wobbled over to the bench without putting pressure on the leg.  "It’s stiff and it’s tender," Miller said after the game. "These are things you have to kind of feel out. There’s no timetable, really. It’s your comfort level. Right now I just …read more

Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres suffered a fractured jaw and will need surgery to repair it.  The red-hot player is expected to be sidelined for three to four weeks.  He was injured when he was hit in the face by Anton Volchenkov’s (Ottawa Senators) slapshot.
"He was in a lot of pain," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. "The teeth got pushed up a little bit."
This comes at a particularly bad time with Vanek having an incredible year – he’s third in the league for goals scored (32) and his team needs him to help secure a …read more

Tomas Holmstrom of the Detroit Red Wings will be out of the lineup for at least 3-5 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a hernia. The winger and four-time Stanley Cup champion had hernia surgery just this past June but it was on the other side of his groin.
"We’ll see how big it is when they open me up," Holmstrom said. "Hopefully it’s a small tear. Last time they said it was a small tear and it turned out to be bigger than I thought. But if I do this, I can start skating in two to three weeks and …read more

The Columbus Blue Jackets are going to have to go on without goaltender, Pascal Leclaire for at least 10-12 weeks since he needs to have ankle surgery (it’s currently scheduled for Friday).
The netminder has only appeared in 12 games so far this season and has posted a paltry 4-6-1 record with a 3.83 goals-against average and .867 save percentage.
Hopefully, the surgery will help bring Leclaire back to the playing level that we know he’s capable of. 
image: TSN

Forever riddled with injury, Rick DiPietro is officially out for this season.  Just after Christmas, I blogged about the fact that, after returning for a single game, DiPietro somehow ended up on the injured reserve list again with a groin strain. 
Now, the New York Islanders have announced that the netminder will be sidelined for the remainder of the season to to post-surgical knee “issues.”  Wow… remember a couple years ago when this guy sat out of some crucial pre-playoff games with “general all over body achiness”?  Yeah….
Dude is in his third year of a $67.5 million, 15-year deal and, …read more

Buffalo Sabres defenceman, Teppo Numminen, underwent surgery yesterday to repair a fractured bone in his face.
Numminen was injured after Carolina Hurricanes d-man, Tom Gleason, hit him in the face during a game on Saturday.  Remarkably, he continued playing for another eight shifts but didn’t come back for the third period.
Numminen will be out of the lineup indefinitely.
image: TSN

Are the games between Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby overhyped?  Yes, but who cares? 
Last night, the Washington Capitals visited the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins and delivered quite the spanking.  Ovechkin picked up three points with two goals and an assist in the victory.  Crosby also made an effort and picked up two assists before leaving the game after colliding with David Steckel along the boards.
Even though Crosby later told reporters that he didn’t think the injury was serious, it hurt him enough that he limped off the ice and never returned to the game.  Let’s hope Sid is …read more

The Buffalo Sabres should be celebrating since their captain, Craig Rivet, is ready to rejoin the team but now they’ve got to deal with the fact that forward, Maxim Afinogenov, has been knocked out of the lineup indefinitely after suffering a groin injury when he was checked by Boston Bruins giant, Zdeno Chara, on Saturday (Sabres won 4-2).  He will undergo some tests to determine how serious the injury is.
Rivet had been out for almost a month with a shoulder injury in the 3-2 loss against the Montreal Canadiens on November 29, 2008 but could be playing tonight against …read more