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Andy Sutton expected to miss 6-8 weeks with fractured right thumb

Andy Sutton, Peter Schaefer

Vancouver Canucks’ Tanner Glass, left, and Anaheim Ducks’ Andy Sutton fight during the first period of a preseason NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press Darryl Dyck)

AP

Bad news for the miserable Anaheim Ducks: the team announced that big, tough defenseman Andy Sutton will miss six to eight weeks. Sutton needed surgery after fracturing his right thumb Friday against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Ducks won’t be able to blame their problems on Sutton’s absence, but his large presence will be missed on a ravaged blue line. He played in 72 games with the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators last season, scoring 13 points while registering a -10 rating and 107 penalty minutes.

The team added Andreas Lilja to help out, but things are just downright ugly in Anaheim. You have to wonder if they might be better off sending 2010 first round pick Cam Fowler down to the minors rather than keeping him in a losing environment and burning one of his entry-level years.

I expect things to get better in Anaheim - almost by the law of averages that they can’t be this awful much longer - but things certainly look grim right now.