Seriously, when I saw the release from Carolina on Wednesday, I thought it was a bad joke.
Justin Williams gone four to six months?
The first-line winger tore his right Achilles tendon in an off-ice workout. A huge blow for a team that has been consistently hammered by injuries since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. They've been the Hard-Luck Hurricanes ever since.
Steve Babineau/Getty Images
Some good news for the Hurricanes: Rod Brind'Amour should be in the lineup at the start of the season.
"Yeah, I don't know. It certainly doesn't seem to go our way," GM Jim Rutherford told ESPN.com on Thursday. "It seems like every year we have a lot of injuries and a lot of key injuries. And to start the season with one, you certainly begin to wonder."
Rutherford is trying to stay positive.
"Hopefully, it's four months and he'll be playing 30 games at the end of the year and it'll be like getting a free player at the trading deadline," said the veteran GM. "In the meantime, it gives other players an opportunity. It certainly opens the door wider for Jeff O'Neill [on a free-agent tryout] if he has a good camp."
Patrick Eaves is another player who might benefit, maybe getting more ice time as a top-six forward.
Rutherford said he didn't feel the urgent need to pick up the phone and make a trade for a forward.
"No, not at this time," Rutherford said. "We have been looking at moving a defenseman [rumored to be Frantisek Kaberle] because we have extra ones. I guess if there was some kind of a deal out there that made sense, a defenseman for a forward, that might be something we look at. But that really wasn't our intent when we decided we were going to try and move a defenseman; it was more about just cutting down in the number of players we had."
While the Williams news was dire, the news on captain Rod Brind'Amour wasn't. He had minor knee surgery this week, but he'll be fine.
"His was just to clean up the cartilage. He'll be ready to start the season. Totally different," Rutherford said.
Flyers name their captain
Well, a day after I urged the Flyers to name Mike Richards their captain, they did exactly that Wednesday. You see how powerful I am?!
As it turns out, of course, my timing was pure coincidence. The Flyers wanted him all along as their captain, but Richards himself had to mull it over before accepting it.
Great choice. He won't disappoint.
Pierre LeBrun
