Sunday, March 11, 2012

Draft Player News (Mar. 11)

A hit from behind forced Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry out of Saturdaay night's game against the Dallas Stars and his status is still up in the air, as of Sunday morning. The team says that the injury may not be too bad, as X-rays had come back negative on his shoulder on Saturday night, but he'll remain on the list as out day-to-day for the time being.

Perry has 34 goals and 55 points this season for Anaheim and the team is now 8 points out of a playoff spot, so the loss of their top goal scorer, combined with the lack of time to make up these points, would suggest that the Ducks could be hooped here right away.

This also doesn't bode well for Derek W., who continues to fend off Darren S. to not be last place in the standings.  As of Sunday morning, Derek sits 6 points up on 22nd and this injury was a constant source of points, helping his cause.

The Calgary Flames are going into Minnesota on Sunday afternoon to play the Wild in a key playoff race game and they'll do so without the services of defenseman T.J. Brodie.  Brodie suffered an upper-body injury against the Jets on Friday night and didn't travel with the club to Minnesota, which means that Anton Babchuk will figure back in for Brodie, while the young defenseman goes on the injury list as out day-to-day.

The pool duo of Kristy and Don have continued to fall in the standings, now sitting in 16th place, going into Sunday's action, as their injury situation has become too great this season and their team hasn't been able to recover from the losses of major players in their line-up.  Brodie may not be one of them, exactly, but it certainly doesn't help.

The Phoenix Coyotes were without forward Martin Hanzal on Saturday night against the Sharks, but it didn't appear that they missed him much at all, as the dogs beat up on their divisional opponents, 3-0, in the process.  Hanzal is reportedly out day-to-day with a wrist injury, which he suffered on Thursday night.  There are very few details at the moment, but it doesn't sound too serious and the Coyotes would likely have him back before too long.

With the Coyotes settled in the playoff race, I don't think they would be in a huge rush to get him back into the line-up, but if they are going to challenge for the Pacific Division title, they will likely need him down the stretch.

As for the draft, Hanzal belongs to Ryan M., who sits comfortably in 12th place with a 9-point gap between himself and 11th and then a 15-point space between himself and 13th.  He won't be going anywhere any time soon.

No comments: