McKee Out 2-4 Weeks, Eaton Leaves Practice Early
Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins
Nov 18, 01:47 PM | Hype this story!
According to Jason Seidling of the Penguins’ web site, defenseman Jay McKee is out two to four weeks with a finger infection.
There is no word yet on the origin of the infection.
As for Mark Eaton, the same report notes that the defenseman left this morning’s practice early, though no information was provided.
We’ll have more information as it becomes available.
Good News
It’s sad when the news has been so bad that a “Good News” sub-headline is doable.
Anyway, defensemen Brooks Orpik and Kris Letang returned to the ice today, Letang earing the red no-contact jersey and Orpik wearing a normal black jersey.
The timeline for both players is assumed to be the same as listed on FF’s Injury Chart.
Comments
bag o' pucks
Nov 18, 01:52 PM
WTF?!?!? Time to start watching the waiver wire as callups are getting thin. Looks like Chris Lee’s next up.
At least in the practice pics, Orpik isn’t wearing a red no-contact jersey. Maybe he’ll be back sooner than expected.
bag o' pucks
Nov 18, 01:53 PM
Simultaneous post re Orpik, har har.
Dan
Nov 18, 02:07 PM
Pens are up against the cap now so they can’t even afford to call anyone up
Pens1967
Nov 18, 02:10 PM
I know a finger infection sounds silly, but those infections can get in the bone and then are very hard to clear up. It’s really not that big a step to a life-threatening staph/MRSA infection.
Matt Bodenschatz
Nov 18, 02:11 PM
This is why letting Bissonnette go and replacing him with Bourque made zero sense.
DaBich
Nov 18, 02:19 PM
Sonofabooger…this sucks big time. Who do ya call now? Matt, get dressed and hit the ice, man. lol
I have to laugh, cuz otherwise I’ll cry.
I wonder what HCDB is thinking now? Poor guy…
The Biss for Bourque is really gonna hurt someones’s butt now…
Chris A
Nov 18, 02:37 PM
Orpik and Gonchar are both practicing without the red jersey. Hopefully they will be ready to go soon.
I seem to remember a quote from Gonchar saying that all he needed to do was get the strength back up in his wrist. I’d much rather have Gonch with a weak wrist than whoever is the next call up.
Chris A
Nov 18, 02:42 PM
@ Dan, the Pens should not be up against the cap because Gonchar can be put on LTIR retroactively. He’s missed more than the required 24 days/10 games.
The salaries of all the called up dmen could be covered by Gonch’s LTIR.
Mike Adams
Nov 18, 02:43 PM
I am assuming that Eaton left practice early so they could put him in a bubble until tomorrow night.
My guess is they might just go with five D until somebody returns, because if a guy like Lee is the next able body, is that really even an option? Hey, they could always bring Depres in, right?
Jesse Marshall
Nov 18, 02:52 PM
Somewhere in the world Hans Jonsson just fell and broke his leg.
Ray aka WildcatRay
Nov 18, 03:14 PM
We need some Terrible Towel mojo.
BTW-Did you see this:
http://mondesishouse.blogspot.com/2009/11/big-mistake.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mondesishousecom+%28Mondesishouse.com%29
will
Nov 18, 03:30 PM
@Jesse… Hilarious!
Pens1967
Nov 18, 05:07 PM
The Pens do have a couple emergency options on defense. Dupuis started life as a defenseman and, iirc, didn’t convert until fairly late in his career. Fedo has also played some defense.
Matt Bodenschatz
Nov 18, 05:08 PM
Looks like Gonchar will be playing…
Bobby
Nov 18, 07:13 PM
Anyone know how the Pen’s injury situation regarding starting players compares around the league?
It seems like we are averaging the loss of about a starter every other game.
DaBich
Nov 18, 08:05 PM
Ray, what goes around comes around, and wll burn their butts! lol
Well, what is the serious word on Eaton????
Matt Bodenschatz
Nov 18, 11:20 PM
@Bobby, I don’t have a specific list to compare one team to another, but James Mirtle hinted that he might put together a man-games lost to injury list. He also used the Penguins as his example of how hard the league is getting hit by the injury bug.
Obviously, this doesn’t guarantee the Penguins are in the worst injury shape, but it does indicate that members of the mainstream media have taken notice of the Penguins’ string of bad luck.
@Dabich, I have no idea what is up with him. I half wonder — jokingly, of course — if he wasn’t taken off for precautionary reasons. If he’s not on the ice, he can’t get hurt, right?
Seriously, though, my guess is it’s nothing major, as we’re seeing nothing about it in the papers…
c
Nov 18, 11:59 PM
Jesse, you made the right call, just the wrong defenseman. Watching the Kings-Flies game, turns out Scuderi just went out of the Kings lineup with a lower body situation.
Chris A
Nov 19, 09:58 AM
I don’t know about other teams but I believe the Oilers’ injury/illness losses have been worse than the Pens’.
A week or so ago an Oilers’ commentator said they had lost over 100 man-games to injury and illness this season. I don’t think the Pens are at that level yet.
Matt Bodenschatz
Nov 19, 10:38 AM
@C, I heard about that. Also heard — but have not taken the time to confirm (this is the comments section, not a researched story..haha) that Hal Gill also is sidelined at the moment. Some sort of Cup curse or something.
@Chris, while the Pens may not have the most man games lost to injury, I wonder if any team has lost as many man games from such crucial players.
Kennedy – was one of the team’s leading scorers upon injury and is a sparkplug/heart and soul guy
Malkin – no need for explanation
Gonchar – no need for explanation
Talbot – sparkplug/heart and soul guy
Kunitz – top-line winger
Goligoski – top-scoring defenseman
Letang – Gonchar’s power play replacement and a solid all-around defender
Orpik – top-pairing, hard-nosed defender
And I’m sure I’m missing some. That’s a tough group to lose if only one at a time. But they’re all out together. Wow.
Chris
Nov 19, 11:52 AM
@ Matt, great point. I doubt any team has lost such crucial players but partly because not many teams have players of the same calibre as Malkin and Gonchar.
I can confirm that according to TSN, the Oilers lead the NHL in man games lost so far this season and they have included key players like Visnovsky, Souray, Hemsky, Horcoff, and Staios.
In fact, only 5 guys on the Oilers have played every game this season and only one of those guys (Penner) is a top line player so all their other key players have missed at least some time.
Compare that to the Pens where 10 players have played every game.
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