Preseason hockey doesn't hold a lot of merit in my book, but bad things can certainly happen in those meaningless contests.
Just ask the Pittsburgh Penguins. They saw star defenseman Sergei Gonchar go down with a shoulder injury early in their exhibition opener against Tampa Bay on Saturday night, courtesy of a borderline hit from tough guy David Koci.
Jason Bridge/US Presswire
Sergei Gonchar is expected to have an MRI later this week.
There's still no official word on how long Gonchar will be out -- that should be known within the next few days -- but a source close to the situation told me it looked like he would be out "awhile." That's only speculation, though, until an MRI is done.
But at this point, it appears the Stanley Cup finalists will be without their top two offensive blueliners at the start of the season. Ryan Whitney is out until December while he recovers from foot surgery. That's $9 million in defensemen sitting on injured reserve before the puck is even dropped. Nice.
GM Ray Shero deserves better, juggling a number of situations this offseason; and while he lost Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone, I thought he did great job locking up more of his core, notably goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, defenseman Brooks Orpik and star center Evgeni Malkin. He also found cheap add-ons in wingers Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko.
Then, it went bad. First, Whitney needed surgery. Then, his top defenseman, arguably the best one in the Eastern Conference not named Zdeno Chara, goes down in a preseason affair. Ouch.
So now what? The Penguins need to find bodies for the point on the power play. Veteran Darryl Sydor, sophomore Kris Letang and AHL standout Alex Goligoski are the three candidates. Although it's worth noting Malkin has played the point numerous times, as well.
For Sydor, the possibility of being needed in such a prominent role is somewhat ironic after he dressed for only four playoff games last season. Perhaps we'll see a rebirth of what has been a solid NHL career.
The Penguins were already up against it by starting the season overseas in Sweden. Now, with the injuries to their top two blueliners, they're really facing some adversity.
Another case of a Stanley Cup finals hangover? Hello, Carolina, Edmonton, Ottawa and Anaheim?
Pierre LeBrun
