Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009

Injuries begin piling up in early going for Blues

ST. LOUIS -- On a positive note, injured St. Louis Blues defenseman Eric Brewer is moving closer to a potential return.

But the rest of the injury news this season coming out of Blues country has been increasingly negative. That means relying heavily on improved organizational depth to fill holes created by the latest calamities.

Currently out of the lineup are defensemen Brewer and Barret Jackman (ankle sprain) and forwards Alex Steen (fractured wrist), T.J. Oshie (emergency appendectomy) and winger D.J. King.

King suffered a fractured right hand Saturday night while pounding out a one-sided decision in a fight with Dallas' Krys Barch.

He is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks and will have surgery Wednesday to place a metal pin in his hand to aid the healing process.

"I think the shock and awe of it all is we're used to it compared to a year ago," said Blues President John Davidson, whose team withstood a similar run on hospital visits last season and rebounded with a strong second half that got the team into the playoffs.

Uncertain of Brewer's status since he hasn't played since last December, the Blues signed veteran defenseman Darryl Sydor. They added more depth by signing veteran forward Derek Armstrong.

"We all have insurance on our cars, don't we? Insurance on our homes?" Davidson said. "You have to try to protect yourself as best you can when you're allowed a 23-man roster. Imagine if we didn't have Sydor; we'd be awfully young back there."

Erik Johnson, Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald, Brewer and King also missed significant chunks of last season with injuries.

"This group played with a lot of heart last year to overcome all those," Davidson said. "It seemed like last year every game it was somebody. There was like a two-week period there where every game the doctors would come in after the game with x-rays in their hands.

"You'd just go 'Oh my God, now what?'''

King, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in his first game last season, lasted only four seconds into his first shift on Saturday.

This was after he had just completed a rehabilitation assignment to Peoria for a dislocated thumb.

"The poor guy ... we all really feel for him," Davidson said. "He's a hell of a guy and a team guy, he's worked his tail off in all areas. He got a bad shake on it."

Davidson said Brewer, who has undergone two back surgeries and arthroscopic knee surgery, must be cleared by his physician in Los Angeles before a return is imminent.

"He's certainly getting close," Davidson said. "What's good about him is he's not had a setback all the way through this, over quite some time since that original setback.

"He's obviously followed the (recovery) road map pretty well."

Blues coach Andy Murray has been impressed by Brewer's practice work.

"His physical strength is almost 90 percent, which is amazing considering the amount (of time) he was out," Murray said. "He's one of those guys that can get it back real quick."

The Blues nearly lost two more players to injury Saturday on a pair of questionable hits by Dallas' Steve Ott.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Ott is scheduled to meet with NHL officials to discuss the low hip check that dumped defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo.

The Blues were equally displeased with Ott's knee-on-knee hit on B.J. Crombeen late in the game. Crombeen was sent flying, then quickly climbed back to his skates and went after Ott, drawing an instigator penalty in the process.

Because the fracas took place in the final five minutes, Murray was subject to a $10,000 fine by the NHL that he said Monday had been removed.

"Crombeen's situation was even more dangerous," Murray said. "At that point it's a 4-1 game, it's an ex-teammate. What are you thinking?

"There's no way that Crombeen went out there to start a fight, so there's no way that they should have called that."