That's the word from the club itself. Sergei Gonchar suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first preseason game against the Tampa Bay Lightning when David Koci sent him into the boards. From the look of the video (available here), there was no question - it was his shoulder or his neck. But I guess the good news is that it's not his neck, and at least it's only a dislocated shoulder. For now at least.
The medical staff is still going to keep a watchful eye over Gonch, and let's just hope he didn't tear anything and dislocate. That would easily mark the end of his season with the Pens if he were to have anything like rotator cuff surgery.
But hey, maybe I'm just getting ahead of myself. For all intents and purposes, Gonchar could be back in the lineup by the end of October.
Looks like Goligoski is a lock for the roster now, huh?