Hockey clubs have forever tried to hide the news of injuries surrounding a player; that's no secret. In fact, during Sidney Crosby's rookie season the training staff, in one particular case, said Sid suffered a lower-body injury when in fact it was his shoulder. But here's why: even when clubs got word of that fake injury, Sid admitted that they would give an extra hack, cheap shot or kick to the ankle/leg that was allegedly injured.
So now that teams don't have to disclose a single word about a players injury, we get those same-old vague reports of "lower-body" and "upper-body."
That's the case with Matt Cooke, who has been plagued with an "upper-body injury," with general emphasis on his rib cage. If I had to guess I'd say a few bruised ribs, but I'm just speculating based on already existed cloudy facts. Japers Rink didn't seem surprised Cooke was questionable for the game against the Caps. I'm assuming we'll have to get used to this as well.