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Thrashers place underrated defenseman Tobias Enstrom on IR

Dustin Byfuglien, Nik Antropov

Atlanta Thrashers defensemen Dustin Byfuglien, left, and Tobias Enstrom, right, celebrate the goal scored by teammate Nik Antropov during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

AP

Dustin Byfuglien gets a lot of the credit for the Atlanta Thrashers’ once-hot run, and rightly so. Still, one player who hasn’t gotten enough credit - both this year and seasons past - is offensive defenseman Tobias Enstrom.

He was going to get a nice chance for some rare recognition after becoming a selection to this year’s All-Star Game, but a broken finger derailed his hopes on January 22nd. NHL.com reports that the team placed him on the injured reserve retroactive to the day of that injury.

Enstrom scored 41 points (eight goals and 33 assists) in 50 games this season, so he will obviously be missed. The defenseman also had the longest streak of games played in Thrashers history before the injury, appearing in 296 games in a row from October 5, 2007 through January 22, 2010 (according to NHL.com).

Perhaps it’s not a mystery that Byfuglien’s numbers (and the Thrashers’ good fortunes) have sagged lately without Enstrom in the fold. We’ll keep you up to date regarding his injury status going forward.