I have possible good news and possible bad news for you. The problem is, I don’t know which of the two is true.
There are conflicting reports out there on the seriousness of the groin pull that Kari Lehtonen suffered last night as the Dallas Stars lost to the Phoenix Coyotes.
Dallas Morning News beat writer Mike Heika was taking the cautious road when he posted this on his DMN blog early Sunday.
The Stars don’t know for sure until they get an MRI on Kari Lehtonen’s groin, but I fear it could be a long-term injury.
Lehtonen has a history with groin injuries. He missed 35 games in 2005-06 with a groin injury and then missed 16 games in 2007-08 with what was called a different groin injury.
But Bob Sturm, Ticket radio host and occasional Stars color fill-in, had this cryptic-yet-hopeful tidbit on his Twitter feed.
Looks like perhaps the Stars may have dodged a bullet with Kari Lehtonen. Know more tomorrow. Hoping just a week for groin.
Um, okay. I guess prepare for the worst, hope for the best, right?
After the jump, more on the Stars loss to the Coyotes, wild and wacky rumors now that new owner Tom Gaglardi is in place and goalie fights that sadly don’t involve Ray Emery.
- Didn’t get enough of worrying about injuries already? Heika takes you back there with some paywalled about how the loss of Lehtonen, Vernon Fiddler and Trevor Daley could impact this team over the next few weeks. [DallasNews.com]
- All the cranky post-game quotes you can stand from Mark Stepneski. [ESPN Dallas]
- Other things that are hurting for the Stars include the power play, which defenseman Sheldon Souray says he is taking personally. At least somebody is. [DallasNews.com]
- If there’s one thing the Coyotes excel at this year, it’s responding to a loss. They’re now 8-1-1 following a loss after Saturday’s win. [Arizona Republic]
- Get ready for a lot of these stories as the Canadian media realizes all the ties Tom Gaglardi has to veterans around the league. Today’s flavor of the day is a Jarome Iginla will be traded to Dallas wild rumor from Bruce Garrioch. [Toronto Sun]
- Less tiresome are fun stories like this one where we get to know our new owner and savior better. Most of it is swiped from the recent stories about his introductory news conference, but hey, I like that it’s getting national play, honestly. [CSN Philly]
- Around the Pacific Division: Well if the Stars couldn’t pick up any points, at least the rest of the division other than Phoenix couldn’t either. The San Jose Sharks never led the Vancouver Canucks in a 3-2 loss, and Jonathan Toews scored the game-winner late in the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. [San Jose Mercury News/Chicago Sun-Times]
- Puck Daddy takes on Stars’ fans panic about the Lehtonen injury, while making the very good point that it could always be Rick DiPietro …. er, worse. Sorry, New York Islanders fans. [Puck Daddy]
- A much more fun story involving one of the best things in hockey – goalie fights. God bless the wacky KHL. [Puck Daddy]
- Andrew Raycroft talks the loss, Lehtonen’s injury and why he believe he might play better in the starting role. Not that he was the biggest part of the problem last night, but I sure hope he can live up to that.