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Injuries in Dallas - What now? & More. 3:54 pm

December 5, 2011, 8:02 AM ET [ Comments]
Dee Karl
New York Islanders Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
NOTICE: (with luck) Al Montoya will be our guest tonight at 6:00 pm on NHLWeekly on www.sportstalknetwork.com.

4:21 pm: Well, seems I was wrong, Art Staple just tweeted the Isles will bring up Kevin Poulin and a forward such as Justin DiBenedetto or Tim Wallace. um... okay.

3:54 pm: Andrew MacDonald has been placed on IR retroactive to Wed 11/30. That would mean that he is expected to miss another 2 - 3 weeks. Just great.

I am guessing those who were hoping we'd get to see Calvin deHaan may get their wish!


1:38 pm: Well, good news that Michael Grabner is day-to-day followed with good news that Evgeni Nabokov practiced today in full gear for the first time.

Obviously, there will be call-ups from Bridgeport, but I'm guessing one of them WON'T be a goalie. If Nabokov is healthy, he will take the back-up spot to Al Montoya while RDP rests his groin.

Michael Haley was skating with the team today on a line with Bailey and Ullstrom. Amac also did not practice.

Tomorrow should be interesting.

Congrats Matt Moulson on being named the NHL's 1st star of the week. Well deserved for lots of reasons.

10:59 am: Yes, Yes, YES!!! I knew it would be TSN's Bob Mckenzie to get me the info first on Twitter but Jordan Too Too absolutely has an NHL hearing for his hit on Miller and Mark Fistric is "expected to have a disciplinary hearing." GOOD!! Renewed my faith in the NHL!

10:42 am: Well, add another to the IR list as Jay Pandolfo has been added to the IR retroactive to 11/26/11 which was the Devils game.

So what’s the deal? Was the hit by Dallas Stars D Mark Fistric a clean hit or not? Do we know if Brendan Shanahan has called the Stars to discuss the hit? Has he seen the video from the various angles that are available?

Is that a head hit? Is it suspendable? Personally, I would think so.


But what does the NHL think? Was this a case of a “Welcome to the NHL Kid” sort of hit? Seems a little brutal. Especially since Nino then looked like a wounded Giselle trying to get up out of the way as Matt Martin immediately went after Fistric while Nino was laying on the ice wondering what day it was.

Could it have been Karma? If you remember, I got a little upset with our own ElNino when he went after Buffalo’s Nathan Gerbe. The size difference didn’t help, but Nino too left his feet on the hit. A distinct No-No. Will the NHL look the other way because of that?

Nino was diagnosed with concussion symptoms in the quiet room and didn’t return to the game. He was then seen by a neurologist yesterday and confirmed to have a concussion. He didn’t make it to the Team Store signing. David Ullstrom took his place after having returned to NY from Dallas in the middle of the night. Ullstrom was a great substitution for the fans at the signing, but the problem is a team that was starting to click ended up with THREE injuries in one game.

Is there something about playing in Dallas that is just ultra dangerous for the Islanders? Someone on Twitter reminded me that John Tavares suffered his concussion last season at the hands of Dallas’ Adam Burish. Nino wasn’t the only one who couldn’t finish the game and who could possibly miss the next few. Both Michael Grabner and Rick DiPietro will be evaluated today for groin injuries.

And here we go again. Will this be another season of devastating injuries? Just when we were starting to think “Hey! Maybe they can salvage this season!”

Andrew MacDonald may be available for Tuesday’s game. We’ll know more about that today too. Anyone else???
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