Morning Player Notes (Jan 11)

The Nashville Predators had to make an emergency recall of goaltender Troy Grosenick before their game against the Blue Jackets on Thursday night, as the lead up to the game, we didn't know which goalie wasn't able to dress, let alone start.  As it turned out, it was the projected starter for the game, Juuse Saros, who was the one that sat out, due to an illness, which forced Pekka Rinne to make back-to-back starts, losing in overtime to Columbus in the process.  It doesn't sound like anything to concerning for Saros, just bad timing.

I would certainly consider this a missed start for Eric's team, which is rather unfortunate.  With Nashville playing in back-to-backs and having their backup, you'd think you'd get the one rare start out of the deal.  Sadly, it wasn't the case, but Eric's team has been doing okay this week, 16 points and up to 20th, so it's not all doom and gloom.

Ottawa Senators rookie forward Colin White left last night's game against the Los Angeles Kings with a shoulder injury, departing the game in the 1st period, not to return.  There wasn't any more detail on the injury or any comments in my Twitter feeds to elaborate further on the injury, so we'll have to wait and see what comes of it before the team's next game, Saturday night in San Jose.  He will be day-to-day, until otherwise informed.

White is a part of the rookie movement that Derek B. has put together in the first Waiver Draft, one of five rookie forwards on his team and the only one really doing anything to help his team along to that mini-game money.  Derek's team is still 19 points behind Clayton's in the mini-game and if this injury is significant, it may be a much tougher ride to the end.

It's been a rocky season for Pittsburgh's Patric Hornqvist, as he just can't seem to catch many breaks this year.  On Thursday afternoon, he was diagnosed with a concussion, after he was hit in the face with a puck on Tuesday night against Florida.  Hornqvist was added to the Injury Prone List this past summer and with incidents such as this, you can definitely see why you may not want him in your lineup.  The reward for his healthy play is pretty good, 26 points in 34 games, but this is already his second reported concussion this season and he missed time to an undisclosed upper-body injury as well.

Someone will always be betting on guys like Hornqvist in the draft, but if you do, the trick is not to pick him too high.  Chelsea took a shot at him in the 5th round, 124th overall, and his current ranking, after Thursday night's action is 144th, so it hasn't been a bad return, but that rank will drop, due to more time being missed.

It was a return to the press box for the sophomore defenseman Mikhail Sergachev of the Lightning on Thursday night, as his play has not been up to the standards of the Tampa coaching staff in recent weeks.  I'm sure most people would agree that the kid has a boatload of talent, but there just is something about that second year in the league, which some players do struggle in.  This is all part of the eventual learning curve and he'll be a big part of the Lightning's future success.

Future success doesn't exactly help Stuart's hockey pool team right now though.  Not that it needs a great deal of help at the moment, holding a 6-point lead, heading into Friday's action.  Sergachev has 16 points in 41 games this season and 2 points this week, but that just wasn't enough to find his way upstairs last night.