TSN reports that Vancouver D Ed Jovanovski will undergo abdominal surgery this week and shall be out of the Canucks’ lineup for the next 6 weeks, thus rendering him unavailable for Team Canada.
After Steve Yzerman scored his 200th career power play goal against the Wild tonight, Robert Lang’s 14th of the season at 14:58 marked the first even strength goal for the Red Wings in their past 5 games.
Carolina, currently holding the NHL’s best record, acquired St. Louis’ leading scorer (11 goals, 33 assists) C Doug Weight and LW Erkki Rajamaki in exchange for right-winger Jesse Boulerice, centre Mike Zigomanis and the rights to unsigned draft pick Magnus Kahnberg, along with first-round and fourth-round draft picks in 2006 and a fourth-round pick in 2007. SI/CNN’s Allan Muir’s review of the deal :
As nice an addition as Weight is, this move feels like it was as much about Carolina keeping him away from Ottawa, Philadelphia and maybe Atlanta as it was about shoring up the ‘Canes’ depth. Considering that Weight was the premier trade deadline target of those teams, and how tight the East could be down the stretch, that makes this deal a two-fer for Carolina.
For its part, St. Louis did pretty well in the deal. The three bodies the Blues acquired — Mike Zigomanis, Jesse Boulerice and Magnus Kahnberg — won’t make anyone forget Weight (or replace one-third of his offense combined), but they’ll help fill out the roster as the team makes other moves in the next few weeks.
I hesitate to ascribe this to blatant East Coast bias, but Ed Jovanovski plays for the Vancouver Canucks. Contrary to Bobby Clarke’s grumblings, not every injured player is a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, although perhaps trade rumors may start between the two teams.
indeed. thanks to all who privately and publicly noticed the inexcuseable error.