Bruins' Daniel Paille "feeling great"; not concussed and listed day-to-day

Not everyone who gets knocked cold has a concussion, just ask Daniel Paille.

The left winger on the Boston Bruins' fabled Merlot Line absorbed a brutal - but clean - hit from Buffalo Sabres' defenseman Jake McCabe during Boston's President's Trophy clinching win over Buffalo on Saturday afternoon - the 29-year-old so wobbly on his skates that he needed assistance to the room for evaluation...

...but Bruins' coach Claude Julien reported on Sunday morning that Paille was doing much better than when we last saw him doing the rubber chicken dance after McCabe flattened him.

Coach says Paille is "doing great" and is day to day ^JI
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 13, 2014

“We got some good news today,” Julien told beat writers. “He's feeling great, so it's just about going at it day-to-day here, but certainly real positive news.”


Perhaps "amazing news" would have been a more prudent way to put it, regardless, the news is welcome in that the Bruins' normally roll with four lines - their third and fourth lines are widely considered the best in the National Hockey League - but one would figure that a fourth line without one of it's main contributors would be cause for Julien to reduce it's ice time in the post-season.

Paille is an essential cog to the fourth line, averaging 12 minutes of ice time per game, matching his goals production with nine dimes and earning a plus-nine rating for the season.

Blues' Patrik Berglund joins half a dozen teammates on the shelf

Boy, when the St. Louis Blues fall apart, they don't screw around.

Losers of five straight, the Blues have also lost David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Vladimir Tarasenko, Derek Roy, Brenden Morrow and Vladimir Sobotka - and now they can add centerman Patrik Berglund to the growing list, as the second-line dish man left Friday night's loss to the Dallas Stars in the third period with an upper-body injury.

Of course, the Blues are being cryptic with the injury, but sources suspect either a shoulder or collarbone could be the issue.

It's sounding as if Berglund's injury is serious, and the #stlblues will be without seven of their top 12 forwards Sunday.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) April 12, 2014

The 25-year-old has played in 78 games for the Blues this season, earning a plus-ten rating and scoring 32 points on 14 goals and 18 dimes while averaging 16:10 of ice time.  The injury means that Berglund almost certainly will not play in Sunday's season finale against Detroit, and may not be ready for the start of the post-season.

The Blues were until very recently considered the class of the Western Conference and were the favorites to win the President's Trophy, but now may not even win the Central Division title if the Colorado Avalanche beat the Ducks in Anaheim on Sunday - a tall task considering the Ducks must take at least one point to clinch the top seed in the West.

Should Colorado win in Anaheim, the surprising Avalanche will take the top seed - not bad for a team that many thought would be lucky to just make the playoffs when the season began.

Caps' Marcus Johansson's season ends with UBI

As if barely missing out on the playoffs wasn't painful enough, the Washington Capitals now have to endure injury added to insult.

Centerman Marcus Johansson left The Capitals' win over the coasting Chicago Blackhawks in the second period on Friday night, the result of taking a Nicklas Backstrom drive off of his left hand during a Caps' power play and did not return.

Playing in all but one match thus far in the season, the durable Johansson potted eight goals and laid down 36 dimes for 44 points which, unfortunately for the Caps. rated fourth highest on the team behind Alex Ovechkin, Backstrom and Joel Ward - and that's how his season will end, as Johansson has already been ruled out for Washington's season finale:

Marcus Johansson will miss Sunday’s season finale, Oates said.
— Katie Carrera (@kcarrera) April 12, 2014

Washington's first round pick in the 2009 entry draft, Johansson averaged 18:32 of ice time per game while earning an abysmal minus-twenty one rating.  Not as offensively minded as some on the team, the knock on Johansson all season has been his hestiancy to shoot the puck, putting just over a hundred on net for the season.

Johansson's status has not been updated since leaving the game.

Blues' David Backes day-to-day with LBI

The St. Louis Blues are in quite a spot.

Not only have they lost three consecutive games - giving up four goals in each - but now they may have to try and pull out of their late-season funk without team captain David Backes, whom the team lists as day-to-day with an unspecified lower body injury.

The centerman was injured when he took an Alexander Steen drive off of his foot during Tuesday night's 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, taking one more shift after suffering the injury, then departing for the room for evaluation and treatment.

No further word has emerged from the Blues regarding Backes' condition.

Though they are aided by the fact that their next opponent - the Minnesota Wild - has no motivation to do anything but prepare for their first round playoff opponent (and probably have no interest in trying to secure a higher seed that would cause them to match up with the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks), their last two opponents of the regular season have plenty still on the line and will be desperate.

After the Blues visit Minnesota, they travel to Dallas to face a Stars' who hold a precarious two-point lead over the Phoenix Coyotes for the final playoff spot in the west, then return home to find a Detroit Red Wings team that will be looking to move up to the sixth seed in the east - possibly even the fifth - to take on either the Canadiens or Lightning as opposed to remaining the seventh seed and having to deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

If the Blues can't manage some points out of their last three contests, they will surely miss out on the President's Trophy - which they probably would anyway given that the Boston Bruins have a three point lead with three games to go - but even worse, they could be overtaken by Anaheim or the surging Avalanche and be forced to face a scrappy Minnesota team or Los Angles in the first round.

Of course, missing Backes and his 27 goals and 57 points aren't a deal breaker in respect to holding onto the top spot in the Western Conference, but breaking the current losing funk they are in is imperative if they want to make noise in the playoffs - and they have only three games to find a cure.

Flyers' Zac Rinaldo receives four-game suspension for cheap shot

The National Hockey League got it right.

Buffalo Sabres' coach Ted Nolan announced on Monday that defenseman Chad Ruhwedel was done for the rest of the season after suffering a concussion, courtesy of an elbow to the jaw from Philadelphia Flyers' centerman Zac Rinaldo - so the league decided that the punishment should fit the crime.

Rinaldo's obvious targeting of the defenseless Ruhwedel's head earned him the same playing status as Buffalo's rookie blue liner, as the league handed down a four-game suspension, which means that Rinaldo is also done for the regular season.

"Rinaldo takes a poor angle of approach and does not make full body contact. Instead, he launches into Ruhwedel with force, picking his head and making it the main point of contact." - Statement from NHL Department of Player Safety

Rinaldo's suspension is without pay, meaning that the $15,384.60 that he would have earned in the four games now goes directly the the league's player emergency fund.

While the suspension is far from a landmark decision by the department, it is appropriate in terms of justice and in setting of precedence, wherein the suspension equals the amount of time lost by Ruhwedel - a policy for which is long overdue for a league that considers itself serious about the safety of it's players.

Of course, there has to be limits and the league should adopt a structure in which there are clear sentencing guidelines where intent is obvious, so as to both help the players remain safe on the ice as well as prevent any manipulation by the victim and his team to cause unjust punishment...

...which is perhaps a pipe dream due to a litany of factors contained in the latest CBA, so league discipline czar Brenden Shanahan's hands are tied somewhat, and it may never be a perfect system, but in this one particular case, the punishment does indeed fit the crime.

The Flyers can clinch a playoff berth on Tuesday night with a win over the Florida Panthers, but they hardly have the sixth seed locked up in the Eastern Conference playoffs, with Detroit and Columbus right on their tail - and their schedule is doing them no favors, with trips to Tampa and Pittsburgh on the docket later this week...

...and if the Flyers drop to the seventh or even eighth seed, they would have to face either Pittsburgh or Boston in the first round, which almost surely would mean a quick exit from the post-season.

But while Rinaldo isn't a deal breaker for Philadelphia making the playoffs, his absence could make the difference in whom they play, and maybe that would be enough of a punishment to make him think twice next time he sees an opening to cheap shot someone...

Sabres' Chad Ruhwedel likely done for year with concussion

Buffalo Sabres' defenseman Chad Ruhwedel has suffered a concussion at the hands - rather - the elbow of Philadelphia Flyers' centerman Zac Rinaldo and is probably done for the season - but to hear Rinaldo tell it, it makes one wonder who he thinks the victim actually is.

"That always happens with me. I get on a good streak and then something bad always happens." Rinaldo lamented to beat writers following Sunday night's blowout win over Buffalo. "I try not to think about it too much."

Well, Zac, the guys that make up the NHL's Department of Player Safety have been thinking about it, and the only way to deal with your obvious cheap shot - and the way in which it should be dealt with - is to suspend you for Philadelphia's final four games of the season.

It's only fair, right?  Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

To his due, Rinaldo did acknowledge guilt in the incident at the same time as trying to incite sympathy, something that may or may not help him when having his little chat with Brenden Shanahan on Monday afternoon.

"I had a lot of speed going at him. I put my shoulder down, and as he shot the puck my shoulder hit him clearly," Rinaldo admitted. "Proof is in the pudding right there. I shouldn't have done it. There's no need for it. We're up 4-0, but it's part of the game."

Well, maybe it would have helped him had he not said that delivering a cheap shot to a defenseless player's head is part of the game.

Ruhwedel was helped to the room after the incident early in the third period and coach Ted Nolan told writers after the game that his rookie defenseman had suffered a concussion - and given the league's mandate on concussion protocol that a player be symptom free for a week before resuming play, it goes to figure that Ruhwedel's season is over with just 4 games left to play.

The 23-year-old Ruhwedel has played well in his 21 games with the Sabres this season, logging nearly 19 minutes per game and has one assist and a minus-three rating in his role as a stay-at-home blue liner.

Flyers' Zac Rinaldo tossed from Sunday night's match with Sabres

They don't call them the "Broad Street Bullies" for nothing, but the head shot laid on Buffalo Sabres' Chad Ruhwedel on Sunday night by Philadelphia's Zac Rinaldo went beyond even the Flyers' sordid days of infamy.

Rinaldo initiated contact with Ruhwedel at the four and a half minute mark of the third period of Philadelphia's 5-2 win over Buffalo, launching himself at the Sabres' defenseman who was playing a puck from the high point, catching Buffalo's rookie with an elbow to the jaw.

Rinaldo was assessed an intent-to-injure match penalty and immediately escorted from the ice by the officials while Ruhwedel was helped to the bench and then to the room, suffering from a concussion.


Replays clearly show Rinaldo's blades leaving the ice in an obvious attempt to target the defenseless Ruhwedel, drawing the ire of Sabres' bench boss Ted Nolan.

"Those are the type of hits that we have to get rid of.  Those are not only dangerous hits but you're also putting a fellow player in jeopardy of his career." Nolan said to reporters after the game. "Head injuries, concussions, we all know how serious they are and we still have guys with flying elbows going directly to the head."

Rinaldo is scheduled for a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Monday afternoon, and can most likely expect to have a few games off without pay for his goonish transgression, given that he's been called to the desk before, a fine for slew-footing and a suspension for charging within an eight-day period in 2012.

Luckily for Rinaldo and the Flyers - who with the two points gained by beating Buffalo is now just a point away from clinching a playoff berth - this infraction falls just outside of the 18 month period that would label Rinaldo a repeat offender within the scope of the NHL's safety rules - but those incidents will be taken into account when determining the length of the impending suspension.

Devils' Jonathan Merrill takes puck to the face

If New Jersey Devils' defenseman Jon Merrill doesn't do something to protect his face, the handsome rookie is going to end up looking like Chuck Wepner.

Known as "The Bayonne Bleeder", the New Jersey native and Sylvester Stallone's inspiration for his character in the classic "Rocky" film series, Wepner was known for blocking his opponent's punches with his face, in one fight against Sonny Liston taking so much punishment that it took 72 stitches to stop the leaking - Merrill is earning the same reputation, only on the ice.

In his NHL debut in early November, Merrill was on the ice for just 1:16 against the Minnesota Wild before he stumbled and slid face-first into the dashers, earning a concussion and several stitches in his face, prompting fellow blue liner Andy Greene to lament, "I saw him between periods and he had quite a few stitches and whatnot, but hopefully he's all right, Hopefully, he gets another go of it. You don't want it to be your first NHL game."

Well, he got another go of it and actually went 46 games between incidents, but on Saturday night the 22-year-old deflected a Travis Hamonic drive with just over seven minutes left in the Devils' overtime loss to the New York Islanders, the puck riding up and striking Merrill right in the mug.

Merrill was able to skate off the ice, but left a trail of blood as he departed, taking several stitches from the team's cut man.  A team spokesman issued a statement that Merrill was scheduled to see a doctor and a dentist and that his condition would be updated after the consultations and treatment.

Isles' Lubomir Visnovsky probably to end season on IR; Okposo day-to-day

After missing more than three months with a concussion, the New York Islanders' defenseman is back on the league's mandated protocol with a recurrence of symptoms.

The National Hockey League has very strict guidelines for teams to follow and criteria for players to meet before they are allowed to participate in game action following a concussion, and given that it took Visnovsky from the middle of October until late January to return from his last occurrence with the ailment, it is probably safe to assume the oft-injured blue liner is done for the year.

Visnovsky's injury was originally reported by the team as an upper-body ailment, suffered last Tuesday in the Islanders' 6-0 punking at the hands of the Minnesota Wild, and though a concussion is always suspected with such an ambiguous public diagnosis - particularly with Visnovsky - it wasn't confirmed until Monday.

The Islanders are merely playing out the string of this most disappointing season, their 63 points rendering them 17 points behind current seventh and eighth seeded Detroit and Toronto, respectively with just ten games left to play - and while that doesn't mathematically eliminate them from contention, it appears that the team has accepted their fate.

"It takes me longer to read the injury report now than anything else," Isles' coach Jack Capuano lamented. "It's extremely frustrating."

Capuano not only has Visnovsky on the skids, but also top line right winger Kyle Okposo who played through a lower-body injury in Sunday's 2-0 win over Columbus but missed Monday's practice with the ailment.  The team's leading scorer was injured in practice on Friday and made the trip with the team to North Carolina for Tuesday's game against the Hurricanes.

Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows latest Canucks on the shelf

Catch up hockey is losing hockey, never has a more true axiom ever been spoken - and for the Vancouver Canucks, they'll have to try to catch up to the Western Conference's final playoff spot without two key contributors.

In fact, Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows represents two-thirds of the Canucks' top line - rather, they did before Sedin left Sunday night's win over the Buffalo Sabres with a leg injury, preceded by Burrows, who took a nasty slash to his left hand courtesy of Nashville Predators' defenseman Shea Weber last Wednesday.

Just when the Canucks thought they would finally be healthy to make a perhaps ill-fated run at a playoff spot, their 76 points just three shy of the current eighth seeded Phoenix Coyotes - though the Desert Dogs have a game in hand and the Dallas Stars, who are also chasing the Coyotes and are one point up on the Canucks, have two games in hand.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin celebrate a goal with Alex Burrows (r)

Vancouver has a couple of things in their favor, however.

First, their schedule is a mixture of elite, playoff bound teams and doormats - and while they still have Cup hopefuls Anaheim and Colorado on their itinerary twice and the Los Angeles Kings once - four of the five games are on the Canucks' home ice, leaving games with Minnesota, the Avalanche and Edmonton on the road.

Secondly the Canucks have Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler back from injury - Daniel set to take his twin brother's spot on the top line and Kesler returning to his normal spot centering the second line.

Henrik's leg injury looked to be not much of anything initially as he got tangled up with Buffalo's Tyler Ennis between the red line and the end boards, then was shaking his leg as if there was a pebble in his skate as he glided off on one blade, but seemed to nearly collapse when he reached the bench with just over five minutes left in the second period.

He didn't return from the room for the final frame and now joins Burrows in the press box on a day-to-day basis - though Burrows ought to consider just staying in the press box for the final nine games for the sake of his own health.

Previous to this latest injury, Burrows has missed a total of 32 games with a broken foot, broken jaw and a sprained hand in this most forgettable of seasons for the veteran right winger.

Jets' Ondrej Pavelec day-to-day with LBI

Time is running out for the Winnipeg Jets to make a move to qualify for the playoffs.  So late in fact, that they've been forced to pull their goalie.

Starting netminder Ondrej Pavelec was absolutely porous in his last four starts before suffering what the Jets are calling a lower-body injury, and his goals against average and save percentage both flirting with mediocrity at 2.97 and .902 respectively. 

Al Montoya has been holding down the fort while Pavelec has been on the mend and sporting vastly superior numbers all the way across the board - but predictably, the results in the standings have been mixed as Montoya is 2-2-0 since he took over top billing after Pavelec left in the first period of the Jets' 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers on March 14th.

Overall, the Jets' haven't done themselves any favors down the stretch thus far, seemingly falling further out of the race with a 2-5-3 record in the month of March, including an 0-3-3 skid in the six games before Pavelec went down, and now are six points behind the Phoenix Coyotes for eighth seed in the Western Conference with just 10 games to play.

Needless to say, times are desperate for the Jets - even more so considering that their final ten games may be the toughest in the league with seven of those on the road and all but one against teams that currently qualify for the post season.

Pavelec will not play Monday night in Dallas, which is the first stop on a five game roadie that will go a long ways in deciding the Jets' playoff fate - with the California gauntlet of San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim next in succession before a date with the Coyotes in Phoenix, coach Paul Maurcie hoping that he's healthy enough for Thursday night's clash against the Kings.

Inching forward," Maurice said to reporters on Sunday of Pavelec's recovery. "He’s not playing tomorrow."

Leafs' Jonathan Bernier still day-to-day with groin strain

A low-grade groin strain doesn't sound like much, like maybe a day or two on the couch armed with a universal remote and a wide variety of technology to keep yourself entertained, at least three different brands of breakfast cereal and a fully stocked mini-fridge featuring a variety of snackage and a gallon of milk...

...but for anyone who's ever experienced a groin strain, they know that it's anything but a weekend in a bachelor pad, and if you happen to be a goaltender for a professional hockey team - well - let's just say that it takes more than just a couple of days on the coach before you can snap down into a butterfly without the unique pain compelling you to throw up.

Toronto Maples Leafs' goaltender Jonathan Bernier is experiencing this joyful ailment and has been since suffering the injury in the first period of a 3-2 win over the Kings in Los Angeles 10 days ago - and although he has been skating the past three days, the team left him behind when they traveled to New Jersey for Sunday night's faceoff against the Devils.

Reimer (r) has lost four straight since Bernier (l) has been on the shelf

"He's been skating but he still has some issues as far as he's not 100%, so until he's 100% he's not available to us," coach Randy Carlyle said on Saturday.

In his stead, the hard-luck James Reimer has been stationed between the pipes, allowing three goals or more in all four games since taking over for Bernier which, predictably, have been all losses - the Leafs falling to the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race with four teams withing two points of overtaking them.

By the same token, if the Leafs pull out of their funk, they are but two points shy of the New York Rangers for the sixth seed, and three behind Philadelphia for the fifth - so obviously it is not time to panic, but the first step in trying to ensure a post-season berth is to find a way to start winning games again, with or without their number one netminder.

Flames' Dennis Wideman lost for the season

The Calgary Flames made an effort to recover from a disastrous mid-season stretch to try to get back into the Western Conference playoff race, but now that their fate for an early start to their summer is all but set, they are setting things up for the offseason - which includes having veteran defenseman Dennis Wideman shutdown from his rehab for an upper-body injury.

Wideman suffered the mysterious ailment against the Ottawa Senators on March 5th - leaving the game after his first shift of the final frame - and hasn't seen the ice since.

All coach Bob Hartley has revealed is the aforementioned upper-body injury, and then on Thursday briefly addressed his blue liner's status going forward by telling reporters that Wideman “is shut down right now. It doesn’t very good for Wides until the end of the season.”

Originally projected to miss just a couple of games, Wideman's rehab has not produced the desired affect - so to shut down the rehab efforts in favor of rest and perhaps some sort of advanced treatment is in order, though because of the ambiguity displayed by the Flames, no one but Wideman and team doctors really know for sure.

Hartley says Wideman is a "long shot" to return before the end of the season.
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 20, 2014

Playing in just 46 games on the season - same as last year's lockout shortened campaign - Wideman has four goals and 17 helpers while producing an abysmal minus-17 rating.

Wild's Jason Zucker out for season with Quad injury

After trying to work through a "fluky" knee injury for more than two months, the Minnesota Wild have shut down left winger Jason Zucker for the season.

Zucker took a puck just above the knee of the stick of Phoenix Coyotes' Shane Doan on January 9th and bounced between the press box and the ice until the Olympic break, when he went in for what was termed a "minor procedure" on the knee, but it turned out to be a quad injury instead.

“Honestly, it’s a fluky injury, one I’ve never heard of,” Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher said. “When they initially went in, it was worse than they thought. They fixed it, but he re-aggravated it while training.”

Quadriceps refer to a group of four muscles in the thigh that cover the femur from the front and sides, each of the muscles attached in some manner to the hip and ranging down to the knee cap. The injury is most likely related to the tendon on the femoris muscle, which takes the brunt of work to extend and straightening the knee.  It attaches to the kneecap from the top and works in conjunction to the Patella tendon attached to the kneecap from the tibia.

Fletcher noted that Zucker will need additional surgery to repair the tendon.

“It’s a setback, but he should be fine for next season,” Fletcher told reporters. “It’s frustrating it came to all this. I feel badly for the kid.”

The Wild are on course to make the playoffs despite sporting just a 3-2-4 record in the month of March, their 83 points good enough for the seventh seed in the Western Conference, four points better than current eighth seed Phoenix and eight points better than outside-looking-in Dallas Stars with 12 games to go.

Canucks' Chris Tanev to miss rest of season

This was supposed to be Vancouver Canucks' defenseman Chris Tanev's break out season, not broken season.

The 24-year-old blue liner had digits broken on his right hand for the second time this season on Monday in Tampa, taking a Steven Stamkos shot flush on the hand - and with the time table for his return set at three-to-four weeks, he may as well clean out his locker for the summer.

Tanev missed nearly all of the NHL's abbreviated February schedule due to a broken thumb and returned for a brief 10-game stand before the latest injury, but has still managed six goals and 11 helpers in 64 games this season as part of Vancouver's top defensive pairing and a solid presence on their penalty kill.

Regardless of the hard-luck injuries, the restricted free agent has most likely earned a pay raise on his current $1.5 million one-year deal as coach John Tortorella has demonstrated confidence in Tanev by lining him up against the league's top offensive threats, earning a plus-12 rating.

Were the Canucks to make the post-season, a highly doubtful occurrence given that they stand five games behind Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 10 games to play and the Coyotes with two games in hand, it is possible that Tanev would be able to return...

...but a disastrous stretch that saw the Canucks' go 1-10-1 between late January and early march mandated that they fall out of contention - and even though they have stabilized and are playing better of late, they would have to win almost every game and have Phoenix fall of the planet to get into the playoffs.

Trio of Oilers doubtful for match with Buffalo Thursday night

Jordan Eberle is a hockey player.

Seriously, he is a hockey player, and a damned good one for the Minnesota Wild, as is Matt Hendricks - unfortunately both of them took lower body injuries for the team in Tuesday night's 5-1 rout of the Nashville Predators, Hendricks injured stepping in the path of a Shea Weber blue line rocket and Eberle blindsided by Ryan Ellis.

Neither is expected to play on Thursday night after their run-ins with the Predators' defensemen.

“I know our penalty killers," coach Dallas Eakins said after Wednesday morning's optional skate. "and this is right across the league, that if you’re playing Nashville, you’re telling your killer up there that he (Weber) can’t get the puck,”

“And if he does, you have to be that first layer of defense, you have to block the shot. And there are guys looking at us, saying, ‘Can’t the guy in the net stop it? He’s got all the pads on.’ But those are sacrifices that are extremely important and are extremely important for our team, where we’re at as a team and how we’re trying to grow.”

Sacrifice?  If you are stepping in front of a Weber shot, a blindfold and a cigarette should be standard issue.

The veteran centerman tried to continue, but the pain in the leg was just too much to overcome - not that Eakins is complaining. “Weber hit Hendy awfully hard,” Eakins said. “That shows Hendy’s mettle. He’s going to lay it on the line.”

And while Hendricks was forced to leave in the opening frame, Eberle managed to finish the game, potting two goals in the final frame playing on a bad right knee that he was seen walking around with an icepack attached to on Wednesday morning.  There were reports that the Oilers' second-leading scorer would be having an MRI, but that plan has been nixed by the team for now.

"We don't feel there's a need for one now," Eakins told reporters. "Not saying it's never, but the misinformation in the twitter world is always quite amazing. But he tweaked his knee, there's no MRI scheduled and we're hopeful he won't be out very long."

Eberle and Hendricks join the notoriously flaky Nail Yakupov on the shelf at least for Thursday night, Yakupov dealing with an ankle injury that has had him in and out of the lineup for the past three weeks after taking some friendly fire off of the stick of teammate Justin Schultz.

Stars' Rich Peverley has heart surgery; NHL career still in doubt

Dallas Stars' forward Rich Peverley will miss the rest of the season, at minimum, after undergoing heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic on Tuesday morning.

"Rich Peverley underwent successful surgery to correct an abnormal heart rhythm at the Cleveland Clinic on Tuesday, March 18.  He is currently in normal sinus rhythm.  He was released from the Cleveland Clinic today and is expected to return to Dallas tomorrow.  He will be monitored closely and may require further treatment.  There is no decision being made at this time on his ability to return to hockey participation.” - Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill

Peverly was given CPR and hit with defibrillator paddles in the hallway of American Airlines Center in Dallas after he collapsed on the Stars' bench after finishing a shift six minutes into a match with the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 10th.  The game was postponed as the players and coaching staff were too shaken to continue.

It was revealed by emergency personnel that the paddles were not used to restore a regular heart rhythm after he collapsed, but to revive him after a quick triage on the bench revealed the veteran winger had no pulse at all.

Peverley has become somewhat of a poster child for the toughness of hockey players in the weeks since the "Cardiac Event", as the treating physician recanted to reporters that when Peverley regained consciousness he asked coach Lindy Ruff if the game was still in the first period and that he wanted to return to finish the game.

"First thing Rich asked me when I spoke to him – ‘How much time left in the period’ – you know, typical athlete,” said Ruff.

Peverley declined surgery in the offseason after a routine physical revealed an irregular heartbeat and opted for drug therapy instead - but the issue manifested during a game at Buffalo on March 3rd and missed the Stars' match the following night in Columbus.

He played in two games after that episode before the issue arose the night of the 10th.  Peverley spend two days in the hospital in Dallas before being released and attended a Stars' practice and a game before he traveled to Cleveland for his ablation procedure.

Red Wings' Jonathan Ericsson out rest of regular season with broken finger

The Detroit Red Wings' season of pain had another chapter written this morning as Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson underwent surgery to stabilize a broken finger and is expected to be out of the lineup for four-to-six weeks.

UPDATE: Jonathan Ericsson has undergone successful surgery. He's expected to miss 4-6 weeks #RedWings
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 19, 2014

"We get somebody hurt every day, and they never come back," coach Mike Babcock lamented on Wednesday.

Babcock is being pitifully sarcastic, but given the number of injuries the Red Wings have suffered this season, things probably seem that bad.  Already dealing with life without Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Joakim Andersson, Stephen Weiss and Tomas Jurko, the Wings have nevertheless been relatively healthy on the blue line - But Ericsson's injury breaks that streak.

Ericsson was injured in the second period of Detroit's 3-2 win over Toronto on Tuesday night - a victory that has become is important in Hockeytown these days with all of the injuries, and it should be considered a minor miracle that the Red Wings are just one point out of the Eastern Conference's second wild card entry, hanging tough with a 5-4-1 record since the Olympic Break.

 Ericsson isn't much on the offensive end, sporting just one goal and 10 helpers in 48 games, but he eats a significant number of minutes on the blue line.

"It's tough; he's one of our top D-men," goaltender Jimmy Howard said after the win. "You kind of shake your head; hopefully we don't lose another guy because now it's just getting to be mind-boggling."

It was mind-boggling before, Jimmy - now it's bordering on ridiculous.

Ducks purposely capricious about Cam Fowler's lower body injury

The Anaheim Ducks blue line has been without it's top blue liner since the second period of Friday night's win at Colorado, and may be without him for a while longer, pending the results of an MRI on his leg scheduled for Tuesday...

...or not.  The Ducks are being ultra-secretive regarding Fowler's injury - either that or no one really cares because not even the closest of beat writers have a clue what's happening with the 22-year-old.

Cam Fowler left Friday night's game with a designation of day-to-day with a lower body injury, missing Saturday's win over the Los Angeles Kings and Tuesday's loss to the Capitals, and was spotted wearing a knee brace - but no mention of whether he was seen with Elvis or Jimmy Hoffa.

In all seriousness, the floundering Ducks have plenty to worry about these days, their 3-3-2 record since returning from the Olympic break includes the sudden and disturbing loss of their previously invincible home ice advantage - as their 4-7-2 home record since losing their first home game to the Winnipeg Jets on January 21st indicates.

Why the change in fortune?  Perhaps the constant shuffling of defensemen by coach Bruce Boudreau since Luca Sbisa came off of the IR, particularly where the blue collar Mark Fistric and rookie sensation Sami Vatenen are concerned.

Fortunately just four of their final 12 games are against teams headed for the playoffs and should be able to hold on to one of the top three seeds in the Western Conference playoff race, but may not be able to hold off the surging San Jose Sharks for the Pacific Division title.

What does this have to do with Cam Fowler?  Nothing really, they just miss him being on the ice - but they went into their funk long before Fowler's unspecified lower body injury occurred.

Bruins' Johnny Boychuk to miss second straight game

Johnny Rocket has been scrubbed from one mission, and perhaps will be grounded for another on Tuesday.  But don't count him out for very long.

Boston Bruins' defenseman Johnny Boychuk left Saturday's afternoon matinee after being guided into the end boards by the Hurricane's Patrick Dwyer - blades first - striking awkwardly, then lay prone on the ice while absorbing the initial wave of pain before skating off gingerly, as it were...

...only to return for more punishment, as on the very next shift, the Rocket took a puck off the same foot and again hit the ice in agony before limping off, using his stick an an impromptu cane.

“I mean, after you get hit with a slap shot it’s more laughter I guess," Boychuk said after the game. "because it’s just you can’t really do anything but laugh because you get it on the same side that it hurts so bad. You just have to laugh at it.”

Once the adrenalin from the game wore off, it's pretty certain that Boychuk wasn't in the laughing mood, nor was he on Monday morning when he showed up for the team's skate and couldn't go.

"He didn't skate this morning because he can't," bench boss Claude Julien said on Monday morning. "Right now he's too sore, so he's day-to-day. It's from obviously the incident, and so he couldn't skate this morning. He came in early and we tried to see if he could and he couldn't."

There is no reported structural damage to the foot, and he was seen walking around the locker room in New Jersey on Tuesday afternoon without a noticeable limp, but Julien will hold him out at least once more game.

No Johnny Boychuk tonight, per Claude Julien. Still having discomfort putting his foot in skating boot. Maybe later in the wk #BruinsTalk
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) March 18, 2014

Boychuk should still be considered day-to-day, because he is a hockey player, after all, and he laughs at pain.

Stars' Rich Peverley done for season, perhaps for career

"His season is over." those words coming from Dr. Robert J. Dimeff, primary care sports medicine director at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, of Dallas Stars' forward Rich Peverley.

The news comes as no surprise to anyone at all, nor does word that Peverley will be traveling to Cleveland in the next day or two to have a surgery to help regulate his heart rate - a procedure that was originally scheduled for the offseason, but is now being bumped up a few months in light of recent events.

The announcement that Peverley's season is over is the result of the horrifying drama that took place on Monday night at Bank of America Arena in Dallas where Peverley lost consciousness and collapsed - an episode which required the use of CPR and a defibrillator to save the 31-year-old's life.

Stars' coach Lindy Ruff listens as Rich Peverley speaks on Wednesday

"On behalf of my wife, all of my family and myself I'd like to thank the number of people who saved my life," Peverley said, looking as if nothing ever happened. "They all attended to me once I passed out and they saved my life and I will forever be grateful."  He then shook hands with all of the doctors and left the presser.

The game was suspended from the point of the episode just over six minutes into the match, and the league has yet to decide when and if the game will be rescheduled - and will only be rescheduled should it have any ramifications on playoff seeding.

Peverley was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat during a preseason physical, where Dimeff recanted that ha and his staff consulted with the team and Peverley and discussed his options going forward He played in 62 games this season, with seven goals and 23 assists.

"It likely would keep him out for two, three months, maybe longer, depending," Dimeff recalled from the consultation. "And so he said, 'I'm new to the team. It's a new coach, a new general manager. I only have a two-year contract. They've got to know that I can play this game,' and that sort of thing. So we went back and forth.

"That was a joint decision, an informed decision on his part, again in consultation with the cardiology department here and our other consultants." Dimeff continued.


The team doctors insisted that Peverley wear a heart monitor during practice and to have his pulse checked at several intervals during physical activity, plus he wears a device that will alert him if he experiences and break from normal heart rhythm, and Peverley has stated that he knows when it's happening just from the way he feels.

But none of those things were in play on Monday night, which gives pause to every member of the organization, the medical team and Peverley himself - but when Dimeff was posed with the question as to whether Peverley could continue his career, he declined discussion.

Stars' Alex Chiasson "Doing good"; should return to action following anxiety attack

Sometimes it the wounds that you can't see that take the most toll.

An emergency situation brings out as many different responses as there are human beings - some panic, some freak, some withdraw and no two people are alike - so Dallas Stars' winger Alex Chiasson, who witnessed the "Cardiac Event" of teammate Rich Peverley on the bench during their game with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night, can be excused if the episode left him a wreck.

Truthfully, everyone in that arena was shaken up.  It's not every day that an athlete goes into cardiac arrest while participating in a sporting event - it has happened, but it is rare.  So shaken by what the athletes and coaching staff witnessed in the bench area - their friend and colleague unanimated and unresponsive, clinging to the cusp of life - that the National Hockey League postponed the game.

Chiasson (12) sits with somber teammates after Peverley collapsed

“No chance,” long-time friend and teammate Tyler Seguin said about the prospect of continuing the game “I went in and took off my equipment right away. There was no way I was going to be able to play. I was right beside him when it happened.”

Peverley had just come off the ice when he collapsed, and his horrified teammates and coach Lindy Ruff feverishly screamed for medical personnel and for the officials to stop the game - and when it was over and Peverley was conscious and on his way to the hospital, that's when Ruff noticed that the episode had claimed an victim on an emotional level.

“He was shaken by the whole event; emotionally shaken,” Ruff said of Chiasson. “He wasn't doing very well, so we thought it best to get him under some care. There was a lot of anxiety associated with it.”

Chiasson experienced what doctors are calling an anxiety attack in response to the stressors, but recovered quickly - though not in time to join his teammates as they flew off to St. Louis immediately following the episode.

He skated Wednesday and is expected to play Friday against Calgary.

“I talked to Alex this morning. He skated, he’s doing good,” Ruff said. “He’ll be back, in all likelihood, for our next game. The thing that made him feel a lot better was seeing Rich the next morning. That put a smile on his face. It was good to see the smile on Alex’s face.”

Probably not as good as Chiasson seeing Peverley upright and smiling...

Back spasms shelve Avs' Paul Stastny; considered day-to-day

When Colorado Avalanche centerman Paul Stastny left the bench area after his first shift against St. Louis on Saturday night, it was suspected that he was suffering from back spasms, an issue that has arisen more than once this season for the 28-year-old...

...and that is exactly what is happening, as Stastny missed Monday night's match with the Winnipeg Jets after conferring with team physicians.

With 47 points in 58 games played, Stastny is one of the Avalanche's top offensive threats for a team that is comfortably in fourth place in the Western Conference playoff race and just five points off the pace for the best record in the league - but with winger P.A. Parenteau out for the rest of the regular season with a torn MCL, the need for Stastny to be in the lineup is clear.

Particularly in light of Colordao's stretch schedule, which is absolutely brutal with 13 of their final 18 games against teams that currently hold qualifying seeds for the post-season, including matches against Western Conference leaders St. Louis Blues, the Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks (twice),  plus games against four of the top five seeds in the Eastern Conference.

The top line centerman was selected 44th overall by the Avalanche in the 2005 NHL entry draft and is a regular participant for the United States in international play, including last month's winter Olympic Games - and is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, though he would obviously prefer to stay put.

Avs' coach Patrick Roy expects Stastny to be back in the lineup on Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks, but for now he's considered day-to-day.

Blue Jackets' Ryan Murray could be back for playoffs

The Columbus Blue Jackets hope to see rookie defenseman Ryan Murray back on the ice this season, but the only way that's going to happen is if the Jackets' make the playoffs and get to the second round.

Murray had his knee scoped on Friday, and the team announced that the number two overall pick in 2012 will miss four-to-six weeks, a time frame that puts his potential return anywhere from the final week of the season to the Eastern Conference semi-final series - either way, it's a huge blow to the Blue Jackets.

Already missing veteran blue liner Fedor Tyutin courtesy of an ankle injury suffered in the Sochi Olympic games, Columbus has nevertheless overtaken the Detroit Red Wings for the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but the loss of Murray makes holding onto it just that much more difficult.

“It’s so disappointing, for him and for us,” right wing R.J. Umberger said. “I know he wants to be a part of this. For us, he was just such a constant back there. You never had to worry about him."

“I’m sure there have been guys at that age come into the league with that much poise, but me, personally, I haven’t seen it." Umberger continued. "He could handle anything on the ice, and the way he handles the criticism and coaching behind the scenes - he just handled it all.”

Murray impressed not only teammates, but also his coaches, who have done a tremendous job of getting the Blue Jackets in position to make the post-season despite a plague of injuries.

"He's a young kid, so it’s something he’ll be able to get over. He still has a long career ahead of him,” coach Todd Richards said. “The impact right now … it’s a big impact. He was a real, real bright spot for us all
year.”

Though the Blue Jackets are clinging to that eighth seed - being chased by four teams that are within four points of Columbus - the Jackets' are only three points shy of gaining as high as a fifth seed, as eight teams slug it out down the stretch.

Quick action from medical staff on Stars' Rich Peverley impressive amid chaos

As frightening as the scene was in American Airlines Arena on Monday night when Dallas Stars' winger Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench early in the first period of the Star's match with the Columbus Blue Jackets, that's how impressive team medical personnel were in their speed and professionalism in treating the stricken 31-year-old.

Just seconds after Peverley had suffered what team physician Gil Salazar called a "cardiac event", Stars' staff were carrying Peverley back into the hallway leading to the rooms, placing him on the floor and immediately performed chest compressions and zapped him with a defibrillator, restoring a normal rhythm to his heart on the first attempt.

“We provided oxygen for him. We started an IV. We did chest compressions on him and defibrillated him, provided some electricity to bring a rhythm back to his heart, and that was successful with one attempt, which is very reassuring.” - Salazar

Reassuring indeed, and a testament to the dedication of first responders and emergency personnel and, as if one is needed, a justification and reward for the endless hours of training to prepare for just such an occasion.

Coach Lindy Ruff gets the attention of medical personnel in Dallas

"We train for episodes like this with the hopes that they never arise," said Dr. William Robertson, chief of sports medicine at UT Southwestern, whose crew reacted swiftly to the episode. "but our ability to act today quickly for Rich is a testament to the training staff and the team approach to how we prepare for these events.”

The "event", related to a previously diagnosed irregular heartbeat brought on by arterial defibrillation, follows a pattern that the team and physicians have been closely monitoring since the offseason, when Peverley had a procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat and forced him to miss the preseason schedule and the team's season opener...

...and which arose again last week when Peverley told staff that he didn't feel right after a game against Buffalo, with coach Lindy Ruff acknowledging to beat writers that Peverley was adjusting to medication related to his heart condition - missing one game at Columbus but playing twice this past weekend before Monday's scare, something that Ruff said he never wants to witness again.

“As soon as he came off the ice, he collapsed,” an obviously shaken and emotional Ruff said. “I instantly stood on the bench and started screaming up in the crowd for a doctor.  I was just screaming to let the doctors know we needed somebody ASAP, and they were there ASAP. I can tell you firsthand, it was an absolute marvel what they went through.”

All in a day's work for the folks at UT Southwestern.

“We have a specialized team that’s implemented that trains preseason with the training staff who did a fantastic job today," Robinson said on Monday evening. "and that team is made up of internal medicine doctors, orthopedic surgeons, trauma surgeons, trauma doctors, airway specialists, they’re all here to respond to incidents like this along with the Dallas Fire and Rescue paramedic staff,” 

There have been no updates since the team released word that Peverley was in stable condition, but thanks to the medical personnel on the scene, Peverley has a condition to update - and that's the best news of all.

Sabres' Chris Stewart on shelf for at least a week with bum knee

Chris Stewart, once part of the juggernaut St. Louis Blues' vaunted "S" Line with Vladamir Sabotka and Alexander Steen, is now part of the Buffalo Sabres' sunken ship - and now, adding injury to insult, Stewart is on the shelf after taking a knee-to-knee hit from Tampa Bay goalie Andres Lindback.

The 26-year-old winger went to Buffalo from St. Louis as part of the deal that sent goaltender Ryan Miller to the Blues, which has to be very discouraging given the fact that St. Louis has taken control of the Central Division and just one point shy of the best record in the National Hockey League and Buffalo is far and away the worst team in the league...

...so while his former teammates in St. Louis have the opportunity to gain home ice advantage for the playoffs, Stewart will be relegated to the status of a spectator in the post-season - a status that he is mired in now, as the team announced that he is part of a trio of players that will miss at least a week.

Girgensons, Mitchell, Stewart all out for at least a week, #Sabres Interim Coach Ted Nolan says.
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) March 9, 2014

A knee injury is the speculation, which would be considered a given with the point of contact, but the team isn't saying at this point.

Stewart is a bit of an enigma in that he is a capable scorer but tends to go long stretches without point - and during those time periods he tends to collect penalty minutes in bunches - so it's no surprise that in 60 games played this season that Stewart has just 26 points on 15 goals and 11 helpers, but also a whopping 116 penalty minutes.

With St. Louis for three full years and most of 2013/14, and in Colorado for two season before that, Stewart's best seasons were 2009/10 and 2010/11 when he went for 64 and 53 points respectively while potting 28 goals in each campaign.

Leafs' coach impatient for Dave Bolland's return

Patience.  That's what Toronto Maple Leafs' forward Dave Bolland needs from the organization, but one gets the feeling that Leafs' coach Randy Carlyle is running out of the invisible commodity.

The type of injury that Bolland suffered - the severing of a tendon in his ankle - isn't something that you can tape an aspirin to and call it good, yet Carlyle appears to have the air of a man who is long-accustomed to quick service, and from the way he talks Bolland isn't healing fast enough.

“It’s up to him now to tell us when he’s ready,”

In fact, Carlyle has been impatient with the entire process, particularly since Bolland hit the 10 week point in his recovery, which is the amount of time that it took Ottawa's Eric Karlsson to return from a partially severed Achilles tendon - and judging from the timing of his remarks, that's the recovery precedent that he expected from Bolland's injury.

"There is a push going to be taking place for him to take the necessary steps to get back," Carlyle said on January 18th, ten weeks to the day after Bolland had surgery to repair the severed tendon, then launching into an update on his skater.

"He looks better than he did the first time on the ice." Carlyle continued. "Everything else we have done with him, from running, from bounding, from walking steps, his ability to get better every day has gone in leaps and bounds in a very short period of time. But I can't give you a possible return date yet."

Bolland was hit by Vancouver Canucks' goon right wing Zack Kassian in Canucks' 4-0 drubbing of the Leafs on November 2nd, raising his skate blade in what some feel was a definite kicking motion, cutting Bolland's leg. He laid on the ice for some time afterwards and need help off the ice from teammates.

Maple Leafs' general manager Dave Nonis seems to be willing to ride out the rehab process, in contrast to his bench boss.  “He’s pushing it as hard as he can,” Nonis said. “I’ve got no problem with his effort to try and get back.”

Nor does his agent, Anton Thun, who stands to benefit greatly when Bolland hits the free agent market this summer and wants him back out on the ice to show potential suitors that his client is healthy and worthy of a hefty contract, but also understand that if he returns before he's 100% that his lack of overall mobility will hurt his chances at said pay raise...

...not to mention what would happen if he blew out his ankle again - and to get back out in a competitive situation at this point, Bolland would not be able to fully protect himself, though the injury is healing.

"The whole ankle structure has a ways to go. It’s all interconnected,” Thun said, “It’s not a day-to-day type of thing. He’s just not ready. There’s two things that need to take place: one is the healing process, and then he needs to get his strength up again.”

If all goes well, Bolland could be back for the playoffs.

Red Wings shut down Datsyuk; hope it's not for rest of the season

The Detroit Red Wings' top line has taken some big hits this season - hell, it seems the entire roster has been on their injured reserved list at one point or another - but the latest, and cruelest, hit of all could end Detroit's run of 22 consecutive playoff appearances.

Pavel Datsyuk, he of the wounded knee that caused an Olympic-sized soap opera when he skated on it in the Sochi games as captain of the Russian team, has been shut down by team physicians for a period of three weeks - similar to when he was on the IR in January, but this time the team wants him to just stay off of the limb.

"We're going to re-address this thing in three weeks," General Manager Ken Holland said on Wednesday. "It doesn't mean he will be back. It allows, in his own mind, that his body has a period of time to rest."

"Let's see if we can wake up in three weeks and the inflammation that's not allowing him to do the things he wants to do - let's see if this is the answer." Holland continued during a lengthy press conference that has a distinctly state-of-the-nation feel to it. "If it's not the answer, then we'll look at what's next. We're hoping in three-to-four weeks, Pav is out here zipping around and we're having conversations about when he's coming back."

"If it doesn't work, then obviously we can have a conversation in the offseason or six weeks from now about maybe having some type of surgery," Holland said. "Right now, we're hoping this plan of attack is [going to] allow us to wake up in three weeks, three or four weeks, and have [him] practicing and thinking about getting back in our lineup."

"The last thing you want is surgery.  Hoping these things heal on their own."

The Red Wings are already missing captain Henrik Zetterberg, centermen Stephen Weiss and Darren Helm and forwards Daniel Cleary and Mikael Samuelsson - but picked up reinforcements in veteran pivot David Legwand from the Nashville Predators in a trade deadline deal, and Holland expects that the Hockeytown native will step right onto the top line, centering Gustav Nyquist and Johan Franzen.

Legwand is a consistent playmaker, dishing out 30 dimes thus far in the season to go along with ten goals, so Holland feels they got just what they needed once they committed to finding a center before the deadline

"We think we found the perfect fit." Holland beamed.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/red-wings-shut-down-datsyuk-hope-its.html

Bruins' Loui Eriksson back in lineup after treatment for infection

So the Boston Bruins do have to deal with an Olympic injury after all.

When Bruins' forward Loui Eriksson missed Tuesday night's blowout of the Florida Panthers, speculation ran rampant that either he was on the trading block, or that his replacement on the third line, rookie Jordan Caron, was being showcased for the same reason.

As it turns out, when coach Claude Julien addressed questions about Eriksson's status on Tuesday, he was being completely straight forward when he called the absence a "minor issue", particularly when compared to Eriksson's previous injuries this season - concussions that forced him to miss 20 games - for his heel had become infected from a cut that he suffered during the Sochi Games.

Eriksson says he cut his foot in the cold tub in Sochi and it became infected. He is playing tonight.
— Joe McDonald (@ESPNJoeyMac) March 6, 2014

The infection caused considerable discomfort in the three games that he had skated in before Tuesday, so team Docs had the winger start an antibiotics regimen and get some rest and allow the medicine to do it's job.

I got a cut in Russia, when I actually went into the cold tub," Eriksson told reporters on Thursday morning. "I got a cut on my heel. So it started to get infected here the last couple of days. I’m on antibiotics right now, so I think it will be healing pretty good."

Eriksson indicated that a decision was made after Sunday's loss to the New York Rangers to get the team physicians involved, as the pain was excruciating until the adrenalin took over about 10 minutes into the game, but returned with a vengeance after the match.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/bruins-loui-eriksson-back-in-lineup.html#.UxkSmIUcq58

Jets' lose Mark Scheifele to MCL; could be back for playoffs

The Winnipeg Jets have come out of nowhere to within one point of the Dallas Stars for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff seed, but if they're going to get over the hump and make the post-season tournament, it's going to have to be without second-line centerman Mark Scheifele.

Scheifele collided with New York Islanders' defenseman Calvin de Hann midway through the Jets' loss to the Isles on Tuesday night, and coach Paul Maurice, who has been the architect of the Jets 11-3-2 record since assuming the reigns from Claude Noel in mid-January is forthcoming with information, though he seems to be just as much in the dark about a return timetable as anyone else.

"It's all in how this thing heals. You can check back with me in two or three weeks, and I'll give you a general idea of where we think it's at," Maurice said Wednesday. "There is a wide spectrum of in terms of when players come back from these injuries, but it's never in three or four weeks, so you don't need to check back too soon."

It is assumed that Olli Jokinen will replace Scheifele on the second line, but there is a dropoff in talent from there, so Maurice's tactical planning and coaching abilities will be tested - particularly in light of the Jets' imposing schedule down the stretch.

Of their 19 remaining games, starting Thursday night as they host the Los Angeles Kings, 16 are against teams that currently qualify for the playoffs, including two against the Stars and a brutal month-end five game roadie that starts in Dallas and takes them through the California gauntlet, a Murderer's Row of Anaheim, the Kings and San Jose.

Needless to say, the Jets will either find a way and play their best hockey, or they will be golfing on Easter - and it would have been so whether Scheifele and his 13 goals and 21 dimes was healthy or not.

 "I've got to find somebody to play center ice and shave some minutes at the number that Scheifele was at, so there is going to be some movement in positions," Maurice said. "There will be opportunities for players and how you handle it and how you handle your emotions is a critical piece in this stretch and is true in the playoffs, as well."

The prognosis is for a full recovery in six to eight weeks, so if the Jets' find a way into the tournament, Scheifele should be ready to lend a hand.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/jets-lose-mark-scheifele-to-mcl-could.html#.UxkR2YUcq58

Niklas Backstrom done, "Breezy" in for Wild

Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom is likely done for the season according to the team's general Manager Chuck Fletcher.

The news isn't particularly of the "breaking news" variety, as Backstrom has been struggling with his return from off season sports hernia surgery and has been effective only in brief bursts throughout the season, as qualified by a dismal stat line.

In 21 games played, the 35-year-old Backstrom sports a record of 5-11-2 with a .899 save percentage and a 3.02 goals against average - a far cry from his career numbers .916 and 2.46.

Obviously, the soreness that Backstrom has been dealing with was affecting his performance, and after consulting with the surgeon that performed his hernia surgery, the team decided the best thing for everyone was to just shut him down.

"Our goal for Nik is to get him healthy for next year," Fletcher said on Thursday. "Needless to say, he's disappointed."

Of course, the Wild knew this was coming, but were already in the market for a rental with both Backstrom and Josh Harding on the shelf - finding that value in a trade deadline deal for Edmonton Oiler backup Ilya Bryzgalov, who has fared just as poorly between the pipes for Edmonton, but comes relatively healthy and with an expiring contract.

"Breezy", who earned the nickname not just from his surname but also from his flighty personality that rubbed the Philadelphia Flyers so raw that they bought him out of his contract last summer rather than deal with his quirky behavior, will back up Darcy Kuemper, who has been the bell cow in net for Minnesota, going 11-3-2 and posting an impressive stat line of .924/2.19.

"We’re going to keep giving him the opportunity to get out there and show what he’s done." Coach Mike Yeo said Friday morning. "We’re in large part where we are right now because of the job that he’s done.”

Speculation is that Backstrom will have to have another surgery, though it's not quite certain how invasive the procedure will end up being.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/rangers-mats-zuccarello-hobbit-returns.html#.UxkQQIUcq58

Rangers' Mats Zuccarello: The Hobbit Returns

The New York Rangers are a better team than they were before 3:00pm on Wednesday, and if the news coming out of Madison Square Garden is true, they will be even better on Friday night.

With professional pest Derek Dorsett returning from a broken leg earlier in the week and the trade deadline acquisition of scoring machine Martin St. Louis from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, the Rangers were already exponentially better for their stretch run towards the playoffs...

...and now with word that winger Mats Zuccarello is scheduled to return to the lineup on Friday, they suddenly look deep and talented enough to make a deep run in the post-season.

Zuccarello suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left hand in the Olympics, the Norweigian taking a puck off the hand in the 3-1 win over Austria in the preliminary round of the tournament - but now it's just a matter of pain management and the Rangers' leading scorer is back in action.

“I think he’s day-to-day now,” Rangers' coach Alain Vigneault offered on Wednesday “ but it’s just a pain thing. As soon as he’s able to handle the pain taking a pass, and as you can see, he can shoot the puck right now. So as soon as he can handle the pain, he’ll be able to go. It should not be long.”

Conditioning won't be an issue with the man that Rangers' fans have dubbed " The Hobbit", due to his demure stature, as he has been skating for a week-and-a-half.

"I just want to skate so I don't lose everything," Zuccarello said upon returning to the ice,"There's going to be a lot of practices like this. Not much but you get excited when you're out there. It's gotten better than it was."

With the return of Dorsett and the acquisition of St. Louis, it is uncertain where Zuccarello will fit in when he returns, given the firepower on the roster - which is a problem that many teams wish they had.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/rangers-mats-zuccarello-hobbit-returns.html#.UxkQQIUcq58

Bruins' rule out Loui Erikkson vs. Panthers; insists absence isn't trade related

Without stating the nature of the absence, the Boston Bruins have ruled out forward Loui Eriksson for Tuesday night's match against the Florida Panthers.

While no details were given, Bruins' bench boss Claude Julien assured beat reporters that Erikkson's absence was a minor issue and that Eriksson would be back in the lineup on Thursday - but with the trade deadline looming on Wednesday, he said nothing to dispel the inevitable rumors that it may be another team's lineup.

A source close to the team told WEEI.com that his absence has nothing to do with an imminent deal, and with a very manageable cap number coupled with him rounding into form after injuries derailed his season early, there's no reason to believe that Eriksson is headed to a new area code...

...Jordan Caron, his replacement in the lineup may be a different story is another story.

Caron a speedy yet seldom used young winger may be in the offing and being displayed for potential suitors who could accommodate the Bruins' need for a rugged defenseman to solidify their blue line for a Cup run.  Caron has played in 25 games for Boston this season - mostly in relief of Eriksson while he dealt with concussion issues - and has but one goal while averaging 12 minutes of ice time.

On the other hand, Eriksson, who was dealt to Boston from Dallas in the Tyler Seguin deal, has come on of late, scoring six goals and dishing 16 dimes in 40 games played - struggling with his new environment and dealing twice with concussions before he really got untracked.

Regardless, the rumors swirling around the Bruins seems to be trending around the Columbus Blue Jackets' defenseman Jack Johnson and, to a lesser extent, forward Marian Gaborik, as several reporters have mentioned spotting scouts from both teams at the others' arenas in the past week.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/bruins-rule-out-loui-erikkson-vs.html#.UxkPgYUcq58

Flames' David Jones injures shoulder; possibly done for season

The Calgary Flames' season was over months ago, figuratively speaking, and now David Jones season may be done, literally.

The Flames right winger suffered a shoulder injury in the loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday night, and though no specifics were released on the exact nature of the ailment, the team has announced that he will be on the shelf for a minimum of three to four weeks, perhaps effectively ending his season.

Jones played the past six seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, but after a train wreck of a 2012/13 season was dealt to the Flames with Shane O'Brien in exchange for Alex Tanguay and Cory Sarich - and although limited by injury this season, Jones managed nine goals and eight assists while earning a plus-one rating.

The 27-year-old tallied 20-plus goal seasons before last year's three goal abomination, and seemed well on his way to regaining form, but an undisclosed upper-body injury in October caused him to miss four games, then an eye injury in January cost him eight more - and now the shoulder injury likely closes the door on this season.

The Flames have 53 points on the season, which is five more than Edmonton for dead last in the Western Conference and nine more than streaking Buffalo for the title bottom feeders for the entire league.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/flames-david-jones-injures-shoulder.html#.UxkPKYUcq58

Canucks' Daniel Sedin has MRI on leg; team recalls Archibald

The Vancouver Canucks' season is over.

Just ask their fans and the Vancouver media who have been lamenting the season since it began, what with imperialist John Tortorella taking the reigns on the bench mixed with a myriad of injury that currently has the Canucks on the outside looking in as far as the eight seeds in the Western Conference playoff race.

It's only by two points, mind you, but it may as be a hundred as forward Daniel Sedin has gone down with what was first classified as a hamstring tweak, but now is believed to be more serious as the winger was scheduled for an MRI on Monday.

Sedin was slammed into the end boards on a clean check by defenseman Mark Methot in Sunday's bad loss to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday and left the playing surface favoring his left leg - Vancouver eventually dropping the 4-2 decision while blowing a 2-0 advantage.

It is feared that Sedin's injury will have him out for three weeks, or may even be done for the regular season, though since he has been mired in a horrible scoring slump, many will tell you that his season was already over.

Scoring no goals in 22 consecutive games and helping on just five in the same span is cause for concern when a player is projected to be a scoring leader on the team, and has many wondering if he had been limited by an injury already.  Regardless, speculation of a more serious injury has arisen since the Canucks' recalled Darren Archibald from AHL Utica to take his spot on the roster.

The results of the MRI were not immediately available.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/canucks-daniel-sedin-has-mri-on-leg.html#.UxkOv4Ucq58

Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk out again; seeking yet another opinion on injured knee

Clinging precariously to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the last thing the Detroit Red Wings needed was more bad injury news - but that's exactly what they got on Monday when they learned that star forward Pavel Datsyuk is on the shelf yet again.

At issue, the bothersome knee that has been the point of conjecture and controversy for two months, a knee that's not getting better, a knee that may ultimately require surgery to repair.

Three doctors have previously told Datsyuk and his employers that surgery is not required and that rest and treatment is indicated for whatever is ailing the joint, but Datsyuk will visit a fourth physician on Wednesday, missing the team's Tuesday night faceoff at New Jersey and being listed day-to-day...for now.

“Just rest and treatment,” Datsyuk said on Monday. “Every day, hoping.”

Datsyuk has been dealing with the knee since the beginning of the New Year, missing 14 games before returning for two matches before heading to Sochi to captain the Russian team in the Olympic Games, hobbling through the tournament in which his home country finished out of medal contention...

...an issue that may gain more steam if Datsyuk is forced to miss more time for a team already beset by injuries and missing it's captain, Henrik Zetterberg, who was forced from the Sochi Games himself with a flareup of a bulging disc, for which he had season-ending surgery for two weeks ago.

On top of that, winger Stephen Weiss suffered a setback from his recovery from sports hernia surgery and is being evaluated on Tuesday after having what general manager Ken Holland called "A bad day for him." on Monday - and forward Daniel Cleary suffered a knee injury of his own that will have him out of the lineup for at least a week.

But the focus is on Datsyuk's knee that forced him to repair to the room after just two periods against Ottawa last Thursday.

“It just won’t go away,” Holland said of the injury. “When Pav is healthy and he can help us win, he’ll be in the lineup.”

If the Red Wings could ever get healthy, they have the talent to go deep into the playoffs - but if they lose Datsyuk and don't get healthy anywhere else, they'll have a tough time even making the post-season as there are five teams within three points of each other in the race for the final seed.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/red-wings-pavel-datsyuk-out-again.html#.UxkOSYUcq58

Preds' Pekka Rinne set to face Penguins after successful conditioning stint

After two warmups in the American Hockey League, the Nashville Predators are going to throw netminder Pekka Rinne right into the fire.

“Yeah, we’re just throwing him in there against the leading scorer in the league,” coach Barry Trotz said about his plan to start Rinne on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the top scoring team in the Eastern Conference “It’s not easy, but we’re not going to pick and choose games. We’re going to have to find out, and it will be a great challenge.”

And why not?  He's only been out of action for the past five months, recovering from an infections stemming from offseason hip surgery, and only started practicing when the Predators started gearing up for action after the Olympic break...

...and now just a few days removed from stopping 33 of 35 shots in two games for the Milwaukee Admirals, Sidney Crosby and his band of snipers from the steel city are his welcoming back committee.

Rinne couldn't be happier.

“It’s been a really long time waiting,” Rinne said on Monday. “I’m just glad to be back playing and feeling good. That’s the main thing. I feel very excited.”

With 21 games left to be played, the team will pick and choose Rinne's game action, but Trotz believes that his return could mean to difference between the Predators' challenging for a playoff spot - Nashville is six points behind Dallas for the final berth in the Western Conference - and playing golf.

“Psychologically, it’s good for the franchise, the coaches, management and the fans to know Pekka Rinne has kind of come full circle, even though he’s still got a ways to go,” Trotz stated. “We know the type of player he is and type of person he is and what he can mean to our team.”

Be that as it may, Trotz is preaching caution at the same time.

“He’s a game-changer. I try to temper it a little bit, but it’s exciting to have him back in the fold.” Trotz said, adding, “He’s moving and he’s having fun, he’s smiling and he’s competing. Everything that makes Pekka great, he’s doing, (but) you can’t just throw a guy in there and expect him to be the savior.”

In truth, it might take more than Rinne returning to secure a spot in the playoffs - a brutal stretch schedule awaits them, including the roadie through Canada and the California gauntlet, but his presence can do nothing but help.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/preds-pekka-rinne-set-to-face-penguins.html#.UxkN04Ucq58

Rangers' Derek Dorsett scratched after one game back from broken leg

Derek Dorsett's triumphant return from a broke fibula lasted all of one game - well, make that 8:42 plus two minutes in the clink.

No, he didn't re-injure the leg in his first game back against the Philadelphia Flyers, he's just been on the shelf for so long that he needs more practice time to get in sync with his linemates - but his two minutes for high-sticking that cost his team the Flyers winning goal in a 4-2 victory may have had something to do with it as well.

It's no secret that Dorsett spends so much time in the penalty box - 105 minutes in 38 games - that he has standing reservations, perhaps even a preferred, worn spot on the bench, but his penalty that provided the Flyers the man advantage and Wayne Simmonds' gamer prompted coach Alain Vigneault to scratch Dorsett from the Sunday match against the Boston Bruins.

“Back-to-back games, and Dors needs to practice a little more and work on his timing," Vigneault said on Sunday. "so we have a couple of days this week, and we’ll go from there,”

When pressed, the Rangers' bench boss answered questions in regard to the 27-year-olds' conditioning, which was speculated by the media to contribute to the bad penalty. “He’s fine. It’s just a question of timing right now. I think conditioning-wise he’s pretty close. It’s going to take him a couple of games.”

Dorsett doesn't contribute a whole lot on the offensive end, as his five points will attest, but he is a first-class pest that often succeeds in getting under the skin of his opponent, dropping gloves nine times against some pretty skilled fighters, so his value to the team is unquestioned, he just apparently needs some conditioning and to get his timing back...

...but he needs to do it quickly, as the Rangers' slow start out of the Olympic break has them clinging to the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race by one point over both Detroit and Columbus.  The good news is that their schedule is less-then-imposing down the stretch, and a healthy pest could make a lot of difference for the blue shirts.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/rangers-derek-dorsett-scratched-after.html

Devils' Bryce Salvador considers bruised collarbone "Lucky"

It takes a bit of bad luck to take a puck off of your collarbone, so New Jersey Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador has to be wondering what karmic entity he managed to defy.

Actually he doesn't have to look very far, as Columbus Blue Jackets' defenseman Jack Johnson appears to be his otherworldly nemesis - a Johnson one-timer breaking Salvador's foot in late October that sidelined him for two months and now a rising sniper job that caught him flush on the collarbone that has had him watching from the press box for the last two games.

“It was just a freak situation. The puck just rolled on him at the last second. What do you do?” Salvador asked, shaking his head sadly. “He’s definitely got my number that guy. He’s the guy that broke my foot. I have to buy him a couple of beers or something over the summer. Change that karma we’ve got going on."

In all seriousness, the veteran blue liner has been around long enough to know how fortunate he actually is, as an inch or two higher or lower could have made the injury much, much worse.

"I guess, all in all, nothing broke and it didn’t hit my face. It’s painful but I got pretty lucky.  If it hit me in the heart, I might not be here.” the 38-year-old laughed. “It was up on the collarbone. I would have liked it lower, that’s for sure. We had X-rays, so nothing is broken. I take that as a positive. Just a bruise."

Playing with pain is one thing, but the area is swollen and is limiting his movement, so it would be dangerous to his health to let him go back out on the ice before he's one hundred percent.

"What we’re dealing with right now is making sure I can get full range of movement so I can protect myself on the ice instead of putting myself in a vulnerable position where I can’t raise my arm."

Salvador's next shot at making it back to the ice is on Tuesday when the Devils host the Detroit Red Wings in the first leg of a home-and-home series - the same Red Wings team that New Jersey is chasing for the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race - and as they are but three points behind, sweeping the series would go a long ways to overtaking Detroit for the playoff spot.

The second leg of the home-and-home is on Friday in Detroit.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/03/devils-bryce-salvador-considers-bruised.html#.UxUd4IUcq58