The Morning of Valentine News

The Bruins had another injury problem surface on Friday night, as Chuck Kobasew sat out with a leg/upper body injury. Kobasew, a Draft pick of Grant's, hasn't been ruled out of today's game in Nashville, but I don't expect to see him play against a lesser Western Conference team. Instead, Kobasew will likely sit this one out and be expected to return to the line-up next week.

The Sabres have started to recover their blueline a little more each week and now Nathan Paetsch has found himself back in the press box after quite a long absence. Paetsch, the Box 30 defender, was a regular upstairs while the blueline was really healthy. The team struggled with injuries through the middle part of the season, but with Andrej Sekera and Teppo Numminen getting healthy again, Paetsch becomes the odd-man out.

On Wednesday night, Nikolai Khabibulin suffered a minor lower body injury and was scratched out of the line-up on Friday night. Khabibulin did skate on his own during the week, but the team felt it was best for him to take the night off. The team isn't ruling out a return for next week for Jeremy's Draft pick, which would help him carry on to the top of the standings.

The Canadiens decided to call up Box 25 forward, Kyle Chipchura, as Tomas Plekanec was out of the line-up due to a suspension. Chipchura will likely remain with the club until the suspension ends after Sunday's game. Chipchura was a scratch on Friday night when the Habs took on the Avalanche and three is no word on whether or not he'll dress against Vancouver on Sunday.

Well, it turns out that Phillipe Boucher wasn't so much of a healthy scratch as he was hurting. Boucher underwent surgery for his foot on Friday, which will now keep him out of the Penguins' line-up indefinitely. This means it's a good time for Sergei Gonchar to return to the line-up, which he is just about ready to do. This does mean that the Penguins could look for yet another defender for their stretch run as well.

For the first time this season, the Blues decided to scratch Box 13 defender, Jay McKee. McKee wasn't listed as an injured player when the team took on the Blackhawks on Friday night, I would wager that he'll figure back into the line-up next week, as the Blues have finished their playing schedule for the week already.

Click here to see an updated injury page.