Concern in Montreal

The Montreal Canadiens have already clinched their playoff spot and are looking towards to clinching the Northeast Division and quite possibly, the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, the team has plenty of injuries to contend with and it's to key players as well.

On Saturday night against the Leafs, the Habs were without Saku Koivu (Jeff) and Mark Streit (Dale B.) because of foot injuries suffered in their game against the Sabres on Thursday night. Both players found themselves blocking shots with their feet and both shots were bad enough to keep them out of the line-up on Saturday.

The real concern, however, is that there are rumours circulating that Koivu could be out of action throughout the playoffs. A huge blow to the Habs, who have enjoyed Koivu's leadership all year, not to mention his production through the season. I would imagine that Koivu will sit for the bulk of the final week to rest his foot, but it will be even more curious to see if the Habs make a formal announcement about how serious his injury is. They certainly won't want a 'day-to-day' status hanging over the team as a distraction, so if it's day-to-day, he'll probably be testing it on a daily basis.

In Streit's case, there wasn't much indication on whether or not the injury was severe. Of course, unlike Koivu, he doesn't carry as much controversy with him whether or not he's in the line-up, but he has been one of the better blueliners for the team all year.