Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 14)

We'll start with the Hurricanes this morning, as they played back-to-back nights, Friday and Saturday and did so without their All-Star defenseman Justin Faulk, who was missing due to a leg injury.  The injury doesn't sound too serious and there are some reports out there that suggest that he should be okay to be back some time next week, so we shall see.

In the game on Saturday, home to the Islanders, Cam Ward suffered a lower-body injury of some sort, forcing him from the start in the 2nd period, but he was in for the eventual winning goal, so he got his 2 points in the end.  Haven't seen many reports yet on the injury, but it's something we're keeping an eye on.

Without Faulk and/or Ward, the Hurricanes don't really have much to speak of, in terms of consistency on their roster at the moment.  For the pool, both Stuart and Neil, respectively, were really making good things happen with these two Canes. Both teams finished Saturday night with 417 points and are 16 points back of 3rd place, so they need their Carolina contingency to make sure they close the gap.

Another goalie that couldn't finish their game on Saturday night was Anaheim's John Gibson, but he wasn't fortunate enough to be in for the winning goal, as the game between the Ducks and Blackhawks ended up going to overtime, where Anaheim pulled one out of the fire.  Gibson suffered an upper-body injury after a collision with Chicago's Richard Panik, but there has been no update on his status on Sunday morning, another wait-and-see situation.

Through Saturday's action, Gibson was the 4th best pick in the Week Nine Waiver Draft, having picked up 21 points since he was activated, but this injury could hit that pretty hard, as Clayton needed those points in the standings, to finish a little more respectively.  Don't think there's much money left in his hopes and if this is a long-term injury, his season is done.

The Boston Bruins were without forward Patrice Bergeron on Saturday night for their game against the Wild, as he is dealing with an undisclosed injury of some kind.  There is no indication about how or when the injury happened, only speculation.  The only thing that Rotoworld is saying is that Bergeron may have been hurt in a fight earlier in the week, but there was nothing to confirm or deny that.  The Bruins have been known to be rather guarded with their injuries, so it's hard to say if we'll even find out.

It doesn't sound like good news for Neil, who is already down a goalie, earlier in this post, and now he has a big injury to one of his top forwards.  Bergeron has been his 2nd-best player this year, making up 11.3% of his total points this year, with 47 on the season.

A couple of notes from the Chicago Blackhawks, first the scratch and then the injury.  Defenseman Erik Gustafsson was a healthy scratch for the Blackhawks, as he was a mid-season call-up and has been seeing the odd night in the press box, as Chicago tries to find some consistency in their lineup these days.  The cap-strapped team has been relying a lot on foot soldiers to fill in the gaps and Gustafsson has been one of those guys, in-and-out of the lineup.

One of the reasons why they're cap-strapped is a guy like Marian Hossa, who fell to injury last night against the Ducks.  Hossa is believed to have suffered a leg injury, taken from a hip check from Hampus Lindholm in the game, and the coaching staff is suggesting that he will miss some time, but it is unclear how much.  Usually, a hip check would garner a charley horse of some sort, which could cost Hossa a game, maybe two, so we'll see.

Gustafsson was a Week Eighteen gamble for John S., who needed some help on the blueline in the past couple weeks, but opted for a semi-regular player on a high-scoring team.  No points in two games, since his activation though.  Hossa is one of the players that Derek & Dan need to start scoring, if they're going to finish respectably in the standings.  With only 28 points in 54 games, he just isn't popping off the points that he used to.

A nasty spill into the boards against the Blue Jackets last night, might cost Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki a while on the shelf, as there was some significant contact with his head against those hard walls.  The early reports from the coaching staff suggest he's doing fine, but I would imagine he'll end up going through the concussion protocol and would likely be out a week, but these NHL teams are getting sneakier and sneakier with these concussion issues and if it isn't reported properly, he could be back in no time.

Sooner, rather than later, would be great for Wes, because this is one of his Week Eighteen hired goons for this PIM pool run and he will be feeling the heat down the stretch without him, as the race got significantly closer in the last week.  The PIM pool numbers are unofficial on Sunday morning, so don't count them as gospel today.

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