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Roman Polak plans to undergo wrist surgery, will be out indefinitely

Tough news for the St. Louis Blues: Roman Polak will need to undergo surgery on his surgery tomorrow thanks to an injury he suffered in the team’s 1-0 with against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Here is the announcement from a Blues’ press release.

St. Louis Blues Executive Vice President and General Manager, Doug Armstrong announced today that defenseman Roman Polak will undergo surgery to repair a severed tendon in his right wrist on Thursday, Oct. 28. The surgery will be performed by Orthopedic Hand Specialist Dr. Martin Boyer of Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Polak suffered the injury in the Blues’ 1-0 overtime win against Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 23 and will be sidelined indefinitely.

Polak’s impact cannot be measured in offensive numbers. He only had one goal in seven games played this season, but it was a game winner. The most important number is his time on ice per game: a bit more than 19, much like his 2009-10 season average.

B.J. Rains of Fox Sports Midwest reports that Tyson Strachan will act as the Blues’ sixth defenseman, an opportunity the young blueliner relishes.

The Blues have one of the top defensive units in the Western Conference, making it hard for Strachan to crack the six-man lineup. But his omission is not for a lack of skill, just a lack of spots, as Strachan would likely see more playing time on other teams in the league.

But with Polak out, Strachan will have a chance to show Blues coach Davis Payne what he can do. Instead of calling up a defenseman from Peoria, the Blues will instead insert Strachan into a defensive pairing with Carlo Colaiacovo.

His impact is usually pretty subtle, but losing Polak could be really tough on St. Louis. Then again, injuries can open up chances for worthy players, so Strachan has a golden opportunity to succeed in Polak’s absence.