Injured Canes close to returning
One day, the Hurricanes may be back to full strength. One day.
The Canes keep adding and subtracting. While Matt Cullen, Joni Pitkanen and Brandon Sutter are close to returning and could play soon, forward Patrick Eaves now is out indefinitely.
"We could have some guys rolling back," Canes coach Peter Laviolette said today.
UPDATE: The Canes have reassigned Michael Ryan back to the Albany River Rats (AHL). Ryan was called up last week and played in two games.
Eaves and the Canes' Wade Brookbank collided along the boards last Thursday in the 3-2 loss at Washington. Eaves has missed the last two games and was not at the RBC Center today.
"He's a ways away," Laviolette said. "He's still got some problems relative to the hit. He hasn't made it in here to be tested to possibly get cleared, so that tells me he's still a ways away."
The nature of Eaves' injury has not been disclosed.
Sutter and Pitkanen both were injured in the New York Islanders game Oct. 25 -- Sutter suffering a concussion and Pitkanen a knee injury. Both have returned to practice, and defenseman Frantisek Kaberle (foot fracture) also has been able to skate.
Sutter said today that he also suffered a partial tear in a lung on the big collision with the Islanders' Doug Weight.
Chip Alexander
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is in his second season as the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at chip.alexander@newsobserver.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @ice_chip.
Comments
If they are ready....
Tue, 11/11/2008 - 09:56 — HockeydogIf Cullen is ready I'd like to see him take over a top line. Brind'Amour is just not playing that well right now and the coaching staff should move him to a checking line role until he's back to his better self. Respecting players is great but at some point they need to produce or be moved to a role more suited to their current level.
happy but...
Mon, 11/10/2008 - 17:14 — caniacgirl30I just hope that they aren't being "rushed back" because of a poor showing or two. It would be worse to have them come back and get reinjured than to wait a little bit longer. Fingers crossed that all goes well.
Clearly an addition
Mon, 11/10/2008 - 17:01 — ccuffPitkanen, Sutter, and Cullen is a huge addition, hopefully Kaberle is close too. We can't expect to be stay competitive with having to dress Melichar and 2-3 River Rats every night. While their contributions have been significant, they are in no way sustainable replacements for our regulars. I like our chances against anyone in the NHL with a healthy lineup.