Your Thursday Morning Notes

The Hurricanes decided to send Rod Brind'Amour home after their game against Vancouver on Tuesday, because he suffered a lower body injury in the game versus the Canucks and needed some more tests and treatment from the team's own doctors at their own facilities. He is expected to miss the remainder of the road trip, which probably doesn't sit well with Dale B. in the Draft.

The Wild were without Owen Nolan again on Wednesday night against the Ducks. Nolan sat out with an upper body injury and is considered out day-to-day. Nolan has missed a considerable amount of time already this year and has contributed 12 goals and 9 assists this year.

The flu bug has been running rampant through the Flyers dressing room this week, taking out Randy Jones and Braydon Coburn earlier in the week and last night taking out Mike Richards and Scottie Upshall from their game against the Bruins. Jones was able to return for the game last night, while Coburn was still out, so we'll have to see what the return rate is for the other two who contracted the bug.

The stint for Andrei Nikulin was quite short in Phoenix, but he did manage to figure into a game this week. Yesterday, however, he was sent back to the minors, as Daniel Winnik figured back into the line-up. The Coyotes have been struggling with consistency in their line-up, which should give them a reason to move a player or two at the deadline to try and get someone a little more stable.

When does the carousel stop? I think a few of the Penguins defenders would like to get off now. At home to the Lightning, Alex Goligoski figured out of the line-up as a scratch, in favour of Hal Gill, who came back in. I can only imagine the ride continuing and someone sitting all over again in their next game this weekend. Hooray for consistency.

Much like Nikulin above, Andy Wozniewski only figured into one game in his recall from the minors this week. The Blues are struggling to keep their heads above water with all of their injuries, so it was a little surprising to see someone get sent down here right away, but the must obviously have a plan.

As expected, with the start of Justin Pogge last night against Buffalo, it was Curtis Joseph who was sat as the healthy scratch, as Vesa Toskala took on the back-up duties for the night. The game was a 5-0 loss for the Leafs, which probably didn't give the management and coaching staff very many good things to say, let alone any confidence in Pogge at this point, but he should still be considered as one to watch in the future. It will be interesting to see how they approach going forward in their crease.

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