Shea Weber will be out at least one week for the Montreal Canadiens after he was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury Thursday.
The defenseman was injured in a 5-4 shootout win at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. He played 24:50 and did not have a point.
Weber, Montreal's captain, has 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) and is plus-8 in 55 games this season.
"You're losing your captain," Julien said. "I can't tell you how disappointed I am, but at the same time we have to do something about what we have and we have to keep trying to [do to] win hockey games.
"It's going to demand a lot from a lot of players to step up and play their best hockey of the season for a lot of guys. And if we all do that, then we might be able to survive this."
Xavier Ouellet was recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League. The defenseman had three assists in 19 games for the Canadiens last season and has 26 points (five goals, 21 assists) in 160 NHL games with Montreal and the Detroit Red Wings.
But replacing Weber, who leads the Canadiens in average ice time and is 12th in the NHL at 24:18, won't be easy.
"He's our leader, he's a guy everyone looks up to, and not just on the ice, off the ice," forward Max Domi said. "But that being said, it's part of the game and we've got to find ways to make up for his absence. There's not going to be someone who can take his spot, but we have lots of guys here that can kind of step up, who savor the opportunity and are set for the challenge."
The Canadiens (25-23-7) play the Anaheim Ducks at Bell Centre on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, PRIME, NHL.TV).
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://almosthuman99.com
Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/babes/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/hunks/hunkofthemonth.html
No comments:
Post a Comment