The injuries have just been piling up for the Detroit Red Wings through the dog days of the season, but they have found enough resolve to go 6-3-2 since Pavel Datsyuk went down with his upper-body injury. On Friday night, the injury bug continued to bite, as both Jimmy Howard and Tomas Holmstrom each left the game against the Blue Jackets and didn't return. Howard took a puck off the inside of his knee, where he wasn't protected by his leg pads and the initial diagnosis is that he has a bruised knee, unlikely to start on Saturday. Holmstrom suffered his broken hand late in the 3rd period of the game, details about how he suffered the injury are not available, but he is expected to miss the next month with the injury.
The good news for Howard is that the injury is just a bruise, since X-rays showed no structural damage to his knee, but the swelling is definitely there. He has been lights out for the Red Wings for the better part of the season, especially in this recent run of injuries, really keeping his team in most games, allowing them to pick up the wins. In 34 appearances for Detroit this season, Howard has a 22-7-3 record with 2 shutouts and 1 assist, giving him 49 points this season in the hockey pool. That is good enough for 12th in pool scoring, 5th among goalies, through Friday night's action. They are some very good numbers this year.
Holmstrom just continues to do what he does for the Red Wings, since that's what he's there to do. His job of getting into the gritty areas of the offensive zone and playing a fairly physical game will take it's toll on a player and injuries are almost certain to follow. I don't think the news of him suffering a broken hand should come as a shock to anyone, unless it was shock that he made it past the halfway point of the season before getting injured. In 44 games played, Holmstrom has picked up 11 goals and 11 assists, ranking him 191st in pool scoring, at a rate of half a point per game. His scoring rate is remarkably down from the past couple seasons, but you could argue that the injuries that surround him in the line-up, has had a negative effect on him, personally.
The biggest impact, although for the short-term, in the pool will definitely come from Howard being out of the line-up, as Dale B. has one of the best goaltending duos in the draft this season, ranking 1st in total wins (40) and 2nd in goalie points (90), with Howard in the line-up. Unfortunately, that hasn't quite translated into pool success, as Dale finished Friday night's action in 12th spot, 49 points out of the money. The longer term impact of missing out on Holmstrom for the next month will fall upon Peter H. in the draft, who picked the Red Wings forward in the 13th round, 243rd overall. Despite the downturn in production this season, Peter was still getting Holmstrom at a very reasonable bargain this year. Nevertheless, Peter has not found a great deal of success in the pool either, trailing Dale by 3 points in 13th spot.
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