Monday, October 26, 2009

Devils Lose Two to Injury

The Devils took a double blow to their line-up as they have lost both forward Jay Pandolfo and defenseman Paul Martin to long-term injuries. Pandolfo suffered a shoulder injury after being boarded in the game versus Pittsburgh on Saturday night, while Martin suffered a fractured arm in the same game. Both players are uncertain about having surgery on their respective injuries, but they are both expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks regardless of that decision.

Both Pandolfo and Martin not only suffered injuries on the same night, but after nine games, they both have two points this season. Pandolfo has one goal and one assist, while Martin has a pair of assists to his name. Pandolfo is considered more of a checking line centre, so he wasn't expected to put many points up on the board, while Martin is in a lot of cases considered the top pairing blueliner that should manufacture many of the points from the back end.

ImplicationsPandolfo is not a part of either pool this season, being the checking centre that he is, but Martin, on the other hand, is front and centre in both. Martin was a Draft pick of Wayne's, who took him in the last round, 228th overall. Being picked as the last defenseman should indicate that he wasn't too important to the overall picture, but you never want to lose out on the potential of points during the year. Martin is in the top Eastern Conference defenseman box, Box 26, but wasn't taken due to the fact that there are a number of other defenders that would be better choices.

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