Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 11)

In what sounds like some bizarre events on Tuesday night, San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic left the game against the Edmonton Oilers in the 2nd period, having just left the bench and didn't return to the game.  The nature of the injury was not disclosed and there appears to be a chance that Vlasic will play on Thursday night, home to the Wild.  If Vlasic cannot go on Thursday night, he will be considered to be day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, until further notice.

More bad luck for Benson, who can't seem to catch a break this year.  He's not off to a good start in the second segment, only picking up 4 points in the first three nights of action and he now sits 9 points out of 22nd place.  If he begins to miss Vlasic, that is just another body missed and an extended lead for the Jordan.

It sounds like Zdeno Chara is ready to come back to the Boston lineup after missing the last month and a bit to a knee injury.  Chara's injury post on the blog was up a week before Halloween, which means he has been out nearly seven weeks, so he should be rested and primed up for the middle segment of the season.

This will be a boost for Ryan's team, which is currently in the mix for the Basement Dweller nod for Week Ten, not exactly where you want to be after a Waiver Draft.  Ryan's team gets an extra couple games on his projected games total for the week and will start earning points on the worst total for defenseman points in the pool, to date.

It cannot be confirmed that a return is imminent, but Calgary's Joe Colborne has been on the ice with his teammates for practice and it does look like he is close to returning very soon.  The Flames are in Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Thursday night and Colborne remains questionable to play, despite practicing in full contact drills.  I suppose I would lean towards a return tonight, given the nature of the opponent and the drive to continue picking up points in the standings.

Colborne has been dealing with a wrist injury over the last few weeks, but that didn't sour Troy from picking him in the Waiver Draft last week. Troy, in need of some points from his forwards, made the move to pick up the play-making pivot for the Flames, who had 8 assists in 11 games before his injury.  We'll see if the move pays off for him.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.