Noon Player Notes (Dec 7)

Minnesota Wild forward Mikko Koivu only played in three shifts in the 3rd period last night against the Calgary Flames, before leaving with an undisclosed injury.  After the game, there was no update on the Finnish forward's condition and as of Friday morning, there still hadn't been any update.  The Wild are finishing up a road trip tonight in Edmonton, so there should be an update on his condition ahead of the game, but for now, this is just a placeholder, suggesting that we are waiting for more word on this situation.

Dale C.'s team hasn't had the greatest starts to the new segment, having only 13 points before the start of play tonight and this injury could be concerning.  Koivu has 21 points in 27 games this season and has certainly been one of Dale's more consistent scorers this season.  This one could sting a bit.

More Hurricanes news for us all today... goaltender Curtis McElhinney left Thursday's practice prematurely due to a lower-body injury and on Friday morning, the team announced that they recalled Alex Nedeljkovic from the AHL, which is a sign that the veteran keeper won't be good to dress tonight in Anaheim.  McElhinney won a job with the team after being picked up on waivers just ahead of the regular season start and has been solid in net for the Canes, but this injury has to be a bit concerning.  For now, he will be listed as out day-to-day.

Wilton traded one injured goalie for a healthy goalie, but that healthy goalie only made it into one game for his pool team before this injury struck.  McElhinney didn't even register a win in that game, so he'll be sitting with a zero for a little while longer, by the look of things.

It sounds like Carter Hutton is going to get an injury-imposed day off on Saturday, as he is dealing with a minor upper-body issue, according to the coaching staff. The team is just being cautious and don't want to push him, so we should expect to see Linus Ullmark in the net for their game against Philadelphia in the afternoon matinee.  We'll consider Hutton day-to-day and questionable for Tuesday's game, at home to the Kings.

Given how the schedule is laid out for the Sabres these days, this could be considered to be a missed start for Wes and one of his top goalies.  Thankfully for his team, its still in the goalie survivor game and already qualified for Week Eleven.  Hutton has been good with 12 wins and 24 points this season already.