In a move that surprises no one who listened to Lindy Ruff’s comments after the Colorado Avalanche game on Thursday, the Dallas Stars have placed Jason Spezza on injured reserve with an unspecified upper body injury.
Mark Stepneski was the first with the news of the move and Spezza’s replacement:
Dallas Stars place center Jason Spezza (upper body) on injured reserve, recall center Radek Faksa from the Texas Stars (AHL).
— Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) February 5, 2016
Spezza was injured on a bad check from Francois Beauchemin, which can be seen about 2:40 into the Stars Rewind video. The hit went unpenalized because last night’s game just rolled like that, but it was classic boarding/hitting from behind and will now cost Spezza at least a week off.
Use your medical dictionaries to parse what exactly you think Spezza hurt on that play. It was originally called a lower body injury, but Ruff said after the game it was upper body in nature. Spezza did get himself off the ice without assistance.
The loss is definitely a significant one. Spezza is third on the team with 18 goals and tied for fourth in points. The Stars are likely hoping the recent resurgence of Ales Hemsky can help fill some of the production gap.
Faksa has played well in his two injury recalls to Dallas this season, though he was a little more scrambly (along with the rest of the team) when they headed on that disastrous New York City trip to start 2016. He has also been tearing things up offensively with the Texas Stars of the AHL recently, which should only help his confidence.
To make room for Faksa, someone had to go on IR. Colton Sceviour missed last night’s game with an upper body injury, but Ruff has said it’s not serious and not a concussion, so he may be available as soon as tomorrow’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Here is the release on the moves:
Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the club has recalled forward Radek Faksa from the Texas Stars, Dallas’ top development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). The team has also placed forward Jason Spezza on injured reserve, retroactive to the game on Feb. 4 at Colorado.
Faksa, 22, is currently tied for second on Texas with 15 goals and has registered 26 points (15-11=26) and a +12 plus/minus rating in 28 games this season. The forward made his NHL debut earlier this season and has skated in 18 games and recorded three points (1-2=3) with Dallas.
The 6-foot-3, 210 pound native of Vitkov, Czech Republic was selected by Dallas in the first round (13th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft.
Spezza, 32, ranks third on the Stars with 18 goals and is tied for fourth with 40 points (18-22=40) in 52 games this season. The forward is currently tied for 12th in the NHL and shares first on Dallas with five game-winning goals so far during the 2015-16 campaign.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound native of Toronto, Ont. was originally selected by Ottawa in the first round (2nd overall) of the 2001 NHL Draft and was acquired by Dallas via trade on July 1, 2014 along with Ludwig Karlsson in exchange for Alex Chiasson, Nicholas Paul, Alex Guptill and a second-round selection in the 2015 NHL Draft.