Thursday, December 30, 2010

Finnish Injuries in Carolina

The Carolina Hurricanes made a recall of a pair of players on Wednesday to help battle some injury problems that are now running through their locker room this week.  Forward Jon Matsumoto and defenseman Bryan Rodney were called up to take the places of Jussi Jokinen and Joni Pitkanen for the game against the Senators and it was like the team didn't miss a beat without their two regulars, beating Ottawa 4-0 in their building.  Jokinen and Pitkanen both suffered injuries in Tuesday's game against the Maple Leafs, Jokinen an upper-body injury and Pitkanen suffered a lower-body injury.  Both are currently considered to be out day-to-day.

Jokinen has been playing fairly well for the Hurricanes, despite their poor-ish record, still managing to pick up points this season.  In 35 games this season, Jokinen has 6 goals and 20 assists, which is 4th on the team in pool scoring, 87th in the league.  His pace is slightly slower than the 2010 season, but not by too much, so his presence in the line-up is considered to be rather important.

Pitkanen is currently 6th on the team in pool scoring this season with 2 goals and 16 assists in 33 games, which is good enough for 30th in pool scoring among all defensemen in the league.  His presence on the team is also thought to be rather important, even if they shutout the Senators last night without him.  Pitkanen's scoring pace is also down a shade from the 2010 season, but as a whole, I think Carolina isn't quite as offensive as they were a season ago.

ImplicationsAt the moment, these injuries shouldn't mean too much to the pool, since neither are suspected to be out of the line-up for very long.  Jokinen is held by Larry D. in the draft, who is in the middle of a tough battle in the middle of the standings, 9th place, 26 points out of 4th, while Pitkanen belongs to Derek, who is trying to fight his way out of the basement in the standings, sitting in 20th spot, 5 points out of 19th.  Obviously, one player means more to the money race than the other.

Link to the Injury/News Page

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