The Panthers were without Box 17 forward Nathan Horton on Friday night, as he suffered an ankle injury this week. Horton, a Draft pick of Peter's, has 13 points in 21 games this season for Florida, which ranks him second on the team in pool scoring. Horton doesn't have an ETA on his return from injury, but as ankle injuries go, he'll likely be out for a week at the least.
The Coyotes learned before the weekend that their biggest free agent acquisition, Olli Jokinen, will be out of the line-up from anywhere from two to four weeks after sustaining a shoulder injury this week. Fortunately for Phoenix, the injury will not require surgery, which would have kept the centre out for at least twice as long as this diagnosis.
Jokinen, a Draft pick of Dennis, has had a decent start to the season, scoring 7 goals and adding 11 assists in the first 22 games of the season. As someone taken in the third round of the Draft, he has been performing a little below where he should be and the injury will hamper that sort of production.
It's been a bit of a busy finish to the week, couldn't quite get the news and notes put together, especially with the Waiver Draft underway. A little bit hectic around here. So, I thought I would catch up with a little bit of minor notes here and maybe some more major updates.
Well, we'll start in Ottawa, where on Thursday, they were without Box 23 forward, Dean McAmmond, because of a small bout of the flu. It's sure starting to be flu season in the NHL and players are starting to lose games because of the bug. I would imagine that he should be good to go here on Saturday against the Islanders. Stay tuned.
The Thrashers have finally started to get their legs underneath them, so now it's just little tweaks here and there in the line-up and Erik Christensen has been a casualty of performance. With only 8 points in 20 games for Atlanta this season, it is quickly becoming not enough. Christensen was brought in during the Marian Hossa deal to be an impact player and provide for the team offensively. It hasn't happened quite yet.
It looks as though Nathan Paetsch is back in the press box, as Henrik Tallinder has come back to the line-up in Buffalo. Paetsch has been given plenty of opportunities this season, but has yet to earn himself a full-time position. This season, the Box 30 defenseman has only 2 assists in 6 games this year.
The Penguins are also having a bit of trouble getting scoring from their depth this season. Ruslan Fedotenko, a Draft pick of Chris, hasn't panned out to be the offensive force that the team was hoping for when they signed him as a free agent. In 20 games this year, Fedotenko has 4 goals and 4 assists, which is a far cry from the rest of the team, especially with the offensive talent Fedotenko could play with.
| 2008-2009 Stats | 2009 | |||
| To Nashville | Age | GP | Points | Cap Hit |
| Wade Belak, D | 32 | 15 | 0 | $650,000 |
| --- | ||||
| To Florida | Age | GP | Points | Cap Hit |
| Nick Tarnasky, F | 24 | 11 | 1 | $525,000 |
The Hurricanes lost the services of forward Scott Walker to a lower body injury on Wednesday night. Walker was injured in the game against the Flyers and the team doesn't expect him to be ready for the team's next game this weekend. Walker is a Box 22 forward on the Sheet, but wasn't terribly popular.
Also leaving a game with injury last night was Canadiens forward, Alex Tanguay, who left with an undisclosed injury on Wednesday night against the Red Wings. Tanguay was not at practice for the Habs and is listed as questionable for the team's next game on Saturday against the Sabres.
The Penguins recalled forward Janne Pesonen from Wilkes-Barre Scranton in the AHL on Thursday. Pesonen has played 2 games already for the Penguins this season, not registering a point yet. In the AHL, Pesonen has 21 points in 19 games for the Baby Penguins, earning a quality chance with the big club.
Well, this isn't so much of a scratch as it is a news byte. Nikolai Khabibulin left the Blackhawks game against the Sharks with a lower body injury and didn't return to the game after the second period. There was no final word on how severe the injury is. Khabibulin is a popular pick among the Selection Sheet elite and is also a Draft pick of Jeremy, who has benefited greatly from his production. Stay tuned for more info, when it's available.
The Avalanche were without defenseman John-Michael Liles on Wednesday against the Blues, as he sat out with a touch of the flu. The flu will likely only keep Liles out of the line-up for this game, possibly another, but not terribly likely. On Wednesday, the Hurricanes did activate Frank Kaberle from the Injured Reserve, but they did not have him in the line-up against the Flyers. Kaberle is now close to returning from his broken foot and will be looking to improve on his good start to the season (prior to injury), where he had 3 assists in the first 5 games. Kaberle has been missed on the point of the Canes line-up and will be a welcome return.
Injuries in Columbus have forced the team to recall defenseman, Kris Russell, from Syracuse of the AHL to help fill in some of the gaps in the roster. Russell, a Box 14 defenseman, was sent down to the minors at the end of October after a lackluster opening month, only having 1 assist in 6 games. In 14 games with the Crunch, Russell has 3 goals and 5 assists, which ranks him third among the team's defensemen in points.The Phoenix Coyotes received some bad news on Wednesday night, as Olli Jokinen left the game against Columbus with a shoulder injury after being checked into the boards by Mark Methot. The team doesn't think Jokinen will continue his ironman streak of 397 games and that he'll be out of the line-up for a significant amount of time. Jokinen is a Draft pick of Dennis' and is a Box 2 forward on the Sheet, all will be holding their breath, waiting for the final word on Jokinen's injury.
The Ducks have announced today that they will be without the services of the number one keeper, J-S Giguere, for at least their game against the Blackhawks on Friday afternoon. Giguere has gone home to Montreal to take care of some family business and his status will be re-evaluated over the weekend. Giguere is the Ducks' Box 15 goalie and was taken in the Draft by Dale B..
It's been another bad season for Leafs' forward, Jason Blake. After seeing the press box as a healthy scratch a couple times this season, Blake has now suffered what is believed to be a concussion from a hit by Colby Armstrong. Blake is expected to miss the team's game against the Senators on Thursday night, as the team diagnoses the extent of the injury, but if it isn't deemed to be a concussion, he could be in the clear, sooner rather than later.
In 19 games this season, Blake has 3 goals and 7 assists. He is a Draft pick of Dennis', but is scheduled to be dropped on Monday, as he is going to be replaced on Dennis' team by Islanders centre, Doug Weight. Blake will remain on the Selection Sheet under Box 18.
The Capitals are running into all sorts of injury problems of late, so the call was made down to the AHL and their affiliate club in Hershey will now have to relinquish four players to the big club. The Capitals will bring up defensemen Karl Alzner and Sami Lepisto, and forwards Chris Bourque and Graham Mink.
The Kings scratched Box 10 defenseman, Tom Preissing, in their game against the Flames on Tuesday night, giving Peter Harrold a chance to figure into the line-up again. Pressing has found himself in the press box a few times already this season, which could lead to figuring into a trade later on in the year. Preissing was considered one of the better puck moving defensemen not very long ago, but has suffered since moving to Los Angeles. Currently, Preissing has only 3 goals and 3 assists in 15 games with the team, yet he has a cap hit for the next few seasons of $2.75 million. His value could be better suited elsewhere.
The Blues had an early game against the Predators on Tuesday, which didn't seem to give their new acquisitions, Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo time to get themselves into the line-up. However, it was reported that they both passed their physicals and they should be good to go tonight, when the Blues travel to Denver to take on the Avalanche.Box 7 forward, Darcy Tucker, was placed on the Injured Reserve on Tuesday, because he suffered a knee injury in the Avalanche's game against Anaheim on Monday night. Tucker will be sidelined for about 4 weeks with the injury. This season, Tucker has 7 points in 20 games with Colorado. His production, combined with his new injury, shouldn't qualify him for being picked up in the Waiver Draft and should likely be dropped from your Sheet team if you have him.Bad news for Panthers forward, Richard Zednik, this week, as he has suffered an arm injury after being hit by Hurricanes defenseman, Josef Melichar, in Monday's game. The injury is said to be quite severe and will keep him out of the line-up for a number of weeks, which we'll call 'out indefinitely.' This is Zednik's second season in a row with a long-term injury, as he was the player that suffered that nasty gash in at his throat by his teammate's skate. It's been a very unlucky couple of seasons for Zednik.
This season, he has only managed 8 points in the first 20 games of the season for Florida, which doesn't make him a candidate for this week's Waiver Draft at all. It will be some time before he becomes a solid fantasy player again.
The Canucks have recalled forward Alexandre Bolduc from the Manitoba Moose because they got word that Steve Bernier may miss Thursday's game against the Flames after suffering a bruised shoulder in Monday's game against the Red Wings.
Bernier, a Draft pick of John P., joins a list of injured Canucks, including Roberto Luongo. This season, Bernier has played in 22 games and has registered 5 goals and 4 assists. Bernier hasn't been the player everyone thought he would be in the pre-season, as he has lost his theoretical position with the Sedin twins. Nevertheless, he has been a contributing player and he shouldn't be out of the line-up for too long.
