While the man with the goriest injury to hit the Dallas Stars in a while will play in Friday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, the team might be without one of its top six forwards despite the time off.
Steve Ott missed Tuesday’s practice with a hip injury he suffered in a recent loss to the Los Angeles Kings, and even though he was able to fight through it Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, the team might shelve him for a few games to make sure it doesn’t become a chronic problem.
His center, Jamie Benn, also missed practice after receiving an injection in his wrist (no information as to exactly what the shot was, but I’d bet money it was coritsone or something like that).
“(Ott’s) hip is bugging him. Like I said after the game on Saturday, he bucked up for us to play and took a couple shots to get through the game,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “We can’t keep doing that, so he needs to let it heal up for a bit. He’s questionable for Friday.”
Apparently the lines weren’t really apparent in Tuesday’s practice, so we’ll have to see today or tomorrow how they address it if he’s out.
After the jump, a full update on that gory injury to Nicklas Grossman, lots of people give their take on where the Stars are this season and Jaromir Jagr peanut butter. You want to clink on the jump just for that, I know it.
- I wish I could tell you more about this paywalled article by Mike Heika, but the headline and the free grafs just aren’t adding up for me. [DallasNews.com]
- There are several reasons the Stars have gotten off to such a good start this year. One is limiting shots from the dangerous areas of the ice. Another is blocking many of the shots that might come from those areas as well. [DallasStars.com]
- A full update on the face of Nicklas Grossman, who was cut by the skate of Dainius Zubrus in the New Jersey Devils game and had to receive 60 stitches. To the shock of no one, he will be wearing a full cage for the time being. [ESPN]
- Here’s a change – somebody who believes what both the Stars and Edmonton Oilers are doing is sustainable over the entire season. While I’m definitely encouraged by this Stars team’s play so far, I might do something drastic if they finish 60-22, like they’re on pace for at the moment. [The Rat Trick]
- Then we have this more bearish prediction on the performance of goalie Kari Lehtonen, at least from a fantasy standpoint. I understand what he’s getting at when he talks about unsustainable short-term stats, but I’m also unconvinced by any list that has Roberto Luongo at No. 3 after the way he’s started the season. [ESPN]
- A power rankings blurb that doesn’t mention the attendance? Good on you, CBC. [CBC.ca]
- While Brandon has done fantastic work with the Stars bankruptcy papers (all four million pages of them), Tyler Dellow did manage to dig up a few little nuggets too, including a chart estimating revenues for the start of this regular season. [mc79hockey.com]
- Goalie prospect Jack Campbell doesn’t want the NCAA’s money. And although this article doesn’t really bring up this point, it did make me wonder if the major junior leagues are really worried about this $2,000 per year steering some kids back to the college route. After all, the major junior kids don’t really make that much money when you get right down to it. [The Windsor Star]
- Meet the enemy: The Colorado Avalanche are also off to a sparkling start early this season, and rookie Gabriel Landeskog is one of the reasons why. [Denver Post]
- Around the Pacific Division: Sad news flash – Teemu Selanne is still really good, and he had two goals and an assist in the Anaheim Ducks game against the Washington Captials. Happy news flash – those very Ducks fell apart late and lost 5-4 in overtime behind some interesting goaltending from Jonas Hiller. [Yahoo]
- Before we get to the featured video, here is another one you should definitely watch. Hint: It features Jaromir Jagr peanut butter and the Philadelphia Flyers. What else could you want? [Courier-Post Online]
- I know, I know, it’s not Halloween anymore, but seriously, Grossman’s face. Also, if you’re looking for something else to watch, go to the multimedia section of the Stars website and look at Tuesday’s Lehtonen interview. I don’t know how the man gets his hair to stand up that straight.