Predators' Shea Weber set to return, Rinne slated for MRI

When last we heard a status on Nashville defenseman Shea Weber, the Predators' leading point scorer was restless and considering wearing a helmet visor for the first time in his NHL career when he was able to return to the ice following taking a puck to the face late last week.

"He’s just bored, sitting there and staring at the TV and sleeping in a recliner, that’s pretty well it..” - Predators' coach Barry Trotz

He's had plenty of time to mull over his self-perception regarding the visor while recovering from the eye injury suffered from the rouge puck and is expected to return to practice on Friday - and the team announced on Thursday that the gritty veteran blue liner will indeed sport the visor to protect the eye.

Meanwhile, netminder Pekka Rinne's nightmare of a season may be about to get a little less scary.

The Nashville Tennessean is reporting that the Finnish goalie will have the long delayed MRI on his hip on Thursday that will tell them if the E. Coli infection in the joint has been eradicated by the antibiotics regimen he's been on since October.

Rinne's prognosis was that he was to be out until late December.  Results of the MRI will be one of the determining factors in that time table.

Also of note, defenseman Kevin Klein returned to active roster on Thursday night and logged nearly 19 minutes of ice time in Nashville's 5-2 loss to Carolina.  Despite the loss, Klein's return far ahead of what was originally thought to be mid-December due to an upper-body injury is a boon for the struggling club.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/predators-shea-weber-set-to-return.html

Predators' Shea Weber on shelf after taking a puck to the face

It's not a very common occurrence when a defenseman leads a hockey team in goals - but when it does happen, that hockey team is usually in big trouble...

...and are in even bigger trouble when they lose that player to injury.

The Nashville Predators are that team, and Shea Weber is that defenseman.  The Predators did not have Weber on the ice on Tuesday night, the result of taking a puck to the face on Thursday night - nor did they have fellow blue liner Kevin Klein, who is out indefinitely with a foot injury.

Nashville has a record of 13-11-3 on the season heading into Tuesday's action, good for just 29 points as the Predators are obviously having difficulty generating much offense.  They stand at 15 points behind the Western Conference leading Chicago Blackhawks by 15 points and just one point ahead of Central Division door mat Dallas.

Weber, the Predators' captain, rose quickly from the ice and was leaking freely, repairing to the room - and has not hit the ice since.  In the interim, several people in Weber's inner circle have privately urged him to consider wearing a visor, including his agent.

"We've spoken that he would think about it for sure," said Jarrett Bousquet to Josh Cooper of the Nashville Tennessean, of his client wearing the protective shield.

At issue, of course, is the old argument of a visor impacting their sight when someone snows them or condensation builds up and also Weber is old-time tough and may feel it a matter of perception more than anything else.

Regardless, it seems that if his agent is involved in pressuring Weber, the club - which also has a lot of capital invested in their star defenseman - may be insisting on the visor to help protect their investment.

Weber is listed as day-to-day, but has yet to practice, so it's within the prism of possibility that his availability for Thursday night's face off with the Carolina Hurricanes may be in jeopardy as well, as no updates have been given on his condition, other than he has not resumed exercising.

He’s just bored, sitting there and staring at the TV and sleeping in a recliner,” coach Barry Trotz said when asked for an update on Weber, “That’s pretty well it.”.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/predators-shea-weber-on-shelf-after.html

Bruins' Johnny Boychuck cleared to fly home, to be evaluated on Monday

Boston Bruins' coach Claude Julien confirmed multiple reports that defenseman Johnny Boychuk was cleared by Montreal doctors to accompany the team on their flight back to Boston on Thursday night after suffering what is believed to be a back injury.

He was cleared to fly back with us, he’s still obviously injured. We don’t know the severity of it and I don’t know all the details, but it was an injury serious enough to bring him to the hospital. - Boston coach Claude Julien

Boychuk was slammed into the dashers by Montreal forward Max Pacioretty to the left of the Montreal goal just wide of the trapezoid and stayed on ice for several minutes before being strapped to a backboard by emergency personnel and transported to a Montreal hospital.

WEEI.com reports that Pacioretty felt terrible after the hit, and that they Bruins didn't feel that there was malicious intent with the hit.

I don’t think there was any intent. I’m almost positive. He’s a clean player, and it’s unfortunate things happen, and things happen quickly so sometimes you put yourself in those positions. It’s hard to stop yourself from the momentum you have going into the play there. - Bruins' center Gregory Campbell

Julien didn't care to divulge what the initial diagnosis was from the doctors, but told reporters that Boychuk will be evaluated by Bruins' doctors and a decision on his availability will be made then, though he mentioned that he pretty sure that his veteran blue liner will be "out for a while".

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/bruins-johnny-boychuck-cleared-to-fly.html

Bruins' Johnny Boychuk family tweets that he's ok

The brothers of injured Bruins' defenseman Johnny Boychuk are tweeting that Boychuk is ok, but experiencing back spasms as a result of being boarded in the first period of the Bruins' game at Montreal.

Sounds like a jarred lower back sounds like spasms scary
— Sam Boychuk (@SaBoych) December 6, 2013

And his another brother...

JB55 just called the folks on route to hospital Told em he'd be ok will update soon @saboych & I put worse beatings on him #Bruins #Boychuk
— D.B. (@daboych) December 6, 2013

If the family is joking around, it could be that Boychuk has dodged a bullet.

Bruins' Boychuk taken off ice on stretcher

Boston Bruins' defenseman Johnny Boychuk was taken off the ice at the Bell Centre in Montreal after suffering what appeared to be an upper body injury.

With just five minutes gone in Thursday night's contest between bitter rivals Montreal Canadiens' left wing  Max Pacioretty boarded Boychuk into the dashers just outside the trapezoid to the left of the Canadiens' goal, trapping his arm at an odd angle above his head, but also seeming to go face-first into the boards.

It is difficult to decipher exactly what part of the body was impacted, but when medical personnel reached the six year NHL Veteran, he was on all fours and either experiencing tremors or difficulty breathing, so the fist went up from the Boston trainer and emergency personnel rushed the ice.

The first responders strapped Boychuk to a backboard and had his neck stabilized, then with the assistance of team captain Zdeno Chara and forward Milan Lucic the emergency personnel lifted the board onto the rolling stretcher and Boychuk was loaded in an ambulance and taken to a Montreal hospital.

We will update Boychuk's condition as information becomes available.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/bruins-johnny-boychuk-taken-off-ice-on.html

Leafs' Tyler Bozak day-to-day with upper-body injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs are losers of five straight and facing the prospect of going into this weekend's games without four of their top scorers.

A full quarter of the Maple Leafs' offensive output is sitting on the shelf due to one ailment or another, and now comes word that center Tyler Bozak has suffered yet another injury and is considered day-to-day.

The nature of Bozak's injury has not been commented on publicly - other than it the upper-body variety - but the 6' 1", 195 pound center was just returning from a hamstring problem that has limited him to just 16 games for Toronto.  He skated off about midway through the contest with the San Jose Sharks and repaired to the room...

...but after he came back out and took a couple of shifts to try and play through the issues, coach Randy Carlyle shut him down for the night.  Bozak had an MRI on Wednesday, but the results of the test were not revealed.

When he went back out, he tried it. It wasn't able to go, that was probably about the 12-minute mark of the second period, so for half the game almost we were short. We had three centres. We're taxing a lot of people here right now. - Maple Leafs' Coach Randy Carlyle

If Bozak can not go, the Maple Leafs will have to the Dallas Stars without him, right wing Joffrey Lupul (8 goals), center Dave Bolland (6) and defenseman Cody Franzen (13 helpers) - and if the issue spills into the weekend, the Leafs will have to fly to Ottawa for a Saturday night game before returning home for a Sunday night grudge match with the hated Boston Bruins without much of it's offensive firepower.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/leafs-tyler-bozak-day-to-day-with-upper.html

Lightning's Ryan Malone joins crowded IR list

The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Malone has suffered a non-displaced fracture to his ankle and will be on the shelf for three to four weeks.

Malone took a  puck to the ankle blocking a shot against the Anaheim Ducks two weeks ago, coach Jon Cooper and General Manager Steve Yzerman breaking out their cloak and dagger routine in regard to Malone's injury - that is until Tuesday, when Yzerman went public with the diagnosis.

The 34 year old veteran left wing has recorded three goals and six helpers in 23 games played and has a plus-one rating on the season.

The time frame that Yzerman is anticipating for Malone - and also the capricious nature of the injury - is consistent with the diagnosis.  Originally thought to be a sprain, then perhaps a chipped bone in the ankle before further tests detected a fracture.

The Malone injury is just the latest in harsh blows to a Tampa Bay roster expected to contend for a title. Of course the cruelest injury was to leading scorer Steven Stamkos, who broke his tibia three weeks ago in Boston, but center Tom Pyatt and defenseman Brian Lee have essentially been out all season while left wing Pierre-Cedric Labrie has played in just 12 games.

The good news is that Labrie is skating and should be able to return from his elbow injury this weekend, while tough guy Radko Gudas has the same time table expectation.  Pyatt has been skating as well, but he's still looking at another two to four weeks for a slow-healing broken collarbone.

Stamkos is on the fast track to return and has targeted a February 6th return date.

 http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2013/12/lightnings-ryan-malone-joins-crowded-ir.html