Blue Jackets place two defensemen on IR as fun continues

By James O'BrienFeb 10, 2012, 10:05 PM EDT

Say what you will about another miserable season in Columbus; it’s not as if the Blue Jackets have received a lot of lucky breaks.

They’ve faced injuries and suspensions left and right, including issues for big off-season acquisitions Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski. The misery keeps building, however, as the team announced that defensemen Marc Methot and Brett Lebda have been placed on the injured reserve.

Not enough of a beating for you? The Blue Jackets also revealed that Curtis Sanford is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, forcing an emergency recall of netminder Allen York.

Defenseman Dalton Prout also received the emergency recall treatment to try to patch up one of the spots that has opened up.

Methot has seven points and averaged 20:03 minutes per game in 46 contests while Lebda scored a goal and zero assists while logging 20:16 minutes per contest in five appearances in the NHL this season.

Kings shuffle lineup, place Jarret Stoll on IR

By James O'BrienFeb 10, 2012, 8:50 PM EDT

Mike Richards’ arrival has made Jarret Stoll something of a square peg in a round hole, but the Los Angeles Kings would rather have him plugging away regardless. He won’t be able to do so for at least a week, however, as Rich Hammond reports that he’s been placed on the injured reserve.

Stoll told Hammond that he’s dealing with an injured abductor muscle (hip) from the Kings’ 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers last night.

Richards’ presence has occasionally pushed Stoll to the wing, nullifying one of Rachel Hunter’s ex-boyfriend’s greatest strengths: faceoff mastery.* Stoll’s offense hasn’t come very easily this season, either, as he has just five goals and 15 points after putting together a 20-goal, 43-point campaign in 2010-11.

Stoll’s injury (and perhaps the Panthers loss) prompted the Kings to shuffle the lineup a bit, as promising point-producing defenseman Slava Voynov was demoted to the minors (again). Forwards Dwight King and Jordan Nolan were called up in the two players’ places.

* – Well, on-ice strengths. Apparently he can pick up supermodels who age like fine wine, so that’s probably cooler than winning well over 50 percent of his draws.

Blues place Jason Arnott on IR

By James O'BrienFeb 10, 2012, 8:03 PM EDT
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A lot of things have gone right for the St. Louis Blues this season, but they’ve had to roll with some injury punches.

From Alex Steen to Andy McDonald and David Perron, the Blues have fought off adversity. Now it’s apparent that one of their pleasant (if subtle) free agent surprises will be on the shelf for at least a bit longer as Jason Arnott was placed on the injured reserve.

Arnott is dealing with an injured shoulder suffered thanks to a tumble into the boards on Feb. 3. There’s no word on how significant the issue is (aside from the fact that he’s on the IR, of course).

The Blues signed Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner to matching one-year, $2.5 million contracts this summer. Arnott’s been a nice fit with 12 goals and 24 points while Langenbrunner has a respectable 18 points.

St. Louis scores by committee, but it will miss Arnott’s experience – and most importantly – his hard shot and scoring touch.

Columbus activates Jeff Carter from IR

By James O'BrienFeb 2, 2012, 7:39 PM EDT
1 Comment

Jeff Carter can finally take at least a brief rest from responding to trade rumors by actually playing hockey again. The Columbus Blue Jackets activated him from the injured reserve while placing defenseman Nikita Nikitin on the IR.

Carter missed the last 10 games with a shoulder injury and also sat out 10 other ones earlier this season with a broken foot. In the 30 contests he actually played, Carter scored 10 goals and 17 points. Those figures are disappointing, although his 10 goals place him second on the Blue Jackets behind leader Rick Nash (who has 17).

The oft-critiqued sniper will get a chance to get things back on track/bolster his trade value (depending on how you look at it) starting Friday against the Anaheim Ducks.

Jeff Carter’s separated shoulder lands him on IR

By James O'BrienJan 13, 2012, 8:14 PM EDT
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With one playoff appearance and zero postseason wins in franchise history, the Columbus Blue Jackets have plenty of bad seasons to choose from. This current campaign has to rank up there, though, as spending/expectations were soaring high but the Jackets are falling flat on their faces.

Things somehow continue to get worse, though, as the Blue Jackets placed Jeff Carter on the injured reserve today. His separated shoulder leaves him at a dreaded week-to-week status.

Carter already missed 10 games with a broken foot, so this was a tough first season in Columbus even before the former Philadelphia Flyers sniper injured his shoulder. There’s really no reason to rush him back, either, being that the Blue Jackets are the NHL’s only team under the 30-point mark with 27 coming into Friday’s action.