Morning Player Notes (Oct 7)

The Anaheim Ducks are surely holding their breath, as they await further word on a lower-body injury that their captain Ryan Getzlaf had suffered on Saturday night, in their 1-0 win over the Coyotes.  The Ducks have already suffered more than their fair share of injuries, to key veterans no less, and adding Getzlaf to the list would be a huge blow.  The reports out of the game are suggesting that he suffered a leg injury of some sort, but there was no update after the game, so we wait and see.

The reigning pool champ, Stuart, is having his troubles with injury to start the season as well, with this now being his third name on the list, one of them he picked injured.  His team will start Sunday in 16th place, 12 points out of 1st and with only a couple of projected games to cap off the week.

An unfortunate turn of events for the Florida Panthers on their opening night of the season, as Roberto Luongo, their 1A goaltender for the coming season, suffered a lower-body injury, when teammate Frank Vatrano fell on top of his right leg in a crease scrum and that forced the veteran keeper from the game, midway through.  Luongo was seen leaving the building under his own power after the game, so there is some reasonable hope that the injury is not serious, but we will have to wait and see.  The Panthers schedule is still rather light, not playing again until Thursday, so there could be time for a speedy recovery.

For John P., his team has been right at (or near) the top of the standings in the better part of Week One and he still really didn't get much of any action from Luongo.  This could be some good news, in one way, but he certainly doesn't want his goalie to be out for very long at all.  His team has dropped down to 9th, 10 points out of 1st after Saturday.

The return of Dan Hamhuis to the Nashville Predators organization was definitely a move for some more solid depth in the off-season, but the depth for Nashville was already pretty solid, up and down, so it may not come as a terrible surprise to see the 35-year old come out as a healthy scratch from time to time.  On Saturday evening, the veteran came out of the lineup for the game in Brooklyn and will be a day-to-day decision moving forward.

Pool newcomer Jesse used his last pick in the draft to snag Hamhuis, which wasn't a bad bet, considering the strength of the Predators blueline and how productive they can be.  It will be a question of just how many minutes Hamhuis will get moving forward, if Jesse's 8th place team is going to find more points from him.

Another returning player to a former team makes the news post this morning, as James Van Riemsdyk suffered a lower-body injury, presumably to his knee, in Saturday night's contest between the Flyers and Avalanche.  Van Riemsdyk suffered the injury in the 1st period of the game, tested it out shortly after, but retreated to the locker room and his night was done.  There was no update on his condition immediately after the game, but the Flyers do return home after a short stint on the road in Week One, so he will get checked out by team doctors upon his return.

Eric's team is off to a good start on the standings page, 7th place, 8 points out of 1st, but losing a player, like Van Riemsdyk, for any extended period of time, will certainly hinder his progress.  Eric took the power forward in the 7th round of the draft, looking to capitalize on a return to an already offensively-minded team and get a bargain.  We'll see how that plays out here right away.