Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Abdominal Surgery Sidelines Coyotes' Smith



Big news from the desert on Tuesday afternoon, as the Arizona Coyotes have announced that their number one goalie, Mike Smith, has undergone some abdominal surgery to repair some core muscle problems and it will now cost the veteran keeper between 8-to-10 weeks, thus ending his participation in the second segment in the regular season.

Smith has been bouncing back quite well from a poor 2015 season, to which he has 10 wins, 1 shutout and 1 assist for 23 points this year, ranking him 68th and having already missed a game to this injury.

The Coyotes are 2nd in the Pacific Division, heading into Tuesday night's action and could easily fall out of the playoff picture without their top guy in the crease.

This will put some extra stress on Dale B.'s team, which opens Tuesday night in 3rd place, 7 points out of 1st and only 2 points up on 4th & 5th.  With how well Smith has done for him, this injury will compound fairly quickly for him.

It will also put some stress on Jaroslav Halak of the Islanders, who is the only left to keep Dale in the survivor pool going forward.  Halak will have to stay healthy and consistent, in order for Dale to have a chance at collecting money against the other four teams still in the contention.

Click here for the updated injury/news page on the website

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