Even though the latest NHL lockout required 113 days to solve, several
players will not be ready to join their teammates when training camps
open most likely on Sunday.
Some players have not completely
healed from off-season surgeries or lingering ailments sustained last
year and some suffered injuries playing in Europe.
Even though the latest NHL lockout required 113 days to solve, several players will not be ready to join their teammates when training camps open most likely on Sunday.
Some players have not completely healed from offseason surgeries or lingering ailments sustained last year and some suffered injuries playing in Europe.
Technically, teams could suspend players who are not ready to start the season because of injuries incurred while competing in Europe. But it's a sure bet that the Philadelphia Flyers would not want to take to task Danny Briere at this point. Ditto for the Los Angeles Kings with Anze Kopitar.
Others like 39-year-old Tomas Holmstrom will retire prior to the shortened season getting under way.
Part of the unknown will be whether Ilya Kovalchuk returns to the New Jersey Devils and Lubomir Visnovsky joins the New York Islanders, who obtained the veteran defenceman in a trade last summer.
The NHL expects Kovalchuk and Visnovsky back because there now is an agreement in place in which KHL players have to honour their NHL contracts. But we'll see what happens with the two truant athletes in the next few days.
Two players who needed the four-month labour dispute to recover from injuries and have been cleared were
Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa (concussion) and
Minnesota Wild centre Pierre-Marc Bouchard (concussion).
But others were not quite as fortunate.
Boston Bruins - Adam McQuaid (blood clot in arm) questionable
- Jordan Caron (upper body) out three weeks
Buffalo Sabres - Nathan Gerbe (back surgery) questionable
Calgary Flames - Roman Cervenka (blood clot) out indefinitely
Carolina Hurricanes - Tuomo Ruutu (hip surgery) out indefinitely
Detroit Red Wings- Carlo Colaiacovo (shoulder) 2-4 weeks
- Patrick Eaves (concussion) out indefinitely
Edmonton Oilers- Ryan Jones (eye) out indefinitely
- Nikolai Khabibulin (hip surgery) could be cleared before start of the season
Los Angeles Kings - Anze Kopitar (knee) out 2-3 weeks
- Willie Mitchell (knee) questionable
Montreal Canadiens - Tomas Plekanec (ribs) likely ready for training camp
Nashville Predators - Gabriel Bourque (lower body) questionable
New Jersey Devils - Adam Henrique (thumb) out indefinitely
N.Y. Islanders - Travis Hamonic (concussion) questionable
N.Y. Rangers - Mike Sauer (concussion) out indefinitely
Ottawa Senators - Jared Cowen (hip surgery) out for season
- Mike Lundin (broken finger) questionable
Philadelphia Flyers - Danny Briere (wrist) will miss first week of season
- Chris Pronger (concussion) out indefinitely
- Andrej Meszaros (Achilles) questionable
Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks - Brent Burns (groin surgery)
- Jason Demers (fractured wrist) out at least two more weeks
- Justin Braun (hand) out indefinitely
Toronto Maple Leafs - Jake Gardiner (concussion) out indefinitely
Vancouver Canucks - Ryan Kesler (wrist and shoulder surgeries) out indefinitely
Winnipeg Jets - Zach Bogosian (wrist surgery) out indefinitely
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Los Angeles Kings star forward Anze Kopitar will miss the start of the shortened NHL season due to a wrist injury. (Matej Leskovsek/Associated Press)
Tim Wharnsby
Tim's worked the sports beat at The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Sun, specializing in Canada's one true sporting obsession - hockey. He knows the players, the coaches, the backroom boys and most importantly, the fans. That's what he brings to his stories. Knowledge, fairness and understanding are trademarks of a Wharnsby story. That's what you will get here as he writes for CBCSports.ca.
