Hooks noted yesterday that three Penguins, Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz and Tyler Kennedy, were all absent from practice. Injuries? Days off? Hard to say right now, but rest assured the Penguins aren't the only team working through injuries.
- The Devils will be without Paul Martin and Jay Pandolfo for at least four weeks. Martin suffered a fractured arm after Bill Guerin used it for target practice in Saturday's loss to the Devils, while Pandolfo dislocated his shoulder during a hit from former Devil Mike Rupp. [Fire & Ice]
- J.S. Giguere re-injured his groin in the 6-4 loss to Columbus on Saturday. It likely won't keep him on the shelf for too long, but sometimes those lower-body injuries aren't rushed back nearly as much for a goalie as they would be for another skater. [SBNation]
- Ilya Kovalchuk was off to an intense start for the Thrasers (9g, 1a in 8 games). Hell, even the Thrashers are off to a strong start. Kovi suffered a broken foot after taking a shot off the skate Saturday night against the Sharks. Atlanta will have to try and work around that for the next 4 weeks, at the least. [Bird Watcher's Anonymous]
- Aaron Lerner of SBNation tossed together an article on headshots in the NHL, stating "something needs to change." The recent injuries to Florida's David Booth and Colorado's Darcy Tucker really has a lot of people hoping the NHL does something about these hits. [SBNation]
- And finally, to steer away from the injuries a bit, some news has landed earlier than anticipated, as the league still has no plans to officially announce that the 2010 NHL Entry Draft will take place in Los Angeles. I guess, as noted in this post, that they are still considering a venue. [SBN]