HabsWorld.net --
Injuries have been an all too familiar occurance in the career of Sheldon Souray. And lucky for him, what is being diagnosed as a sprained knee will not keep him out for nearly as long as previous injuries have. The early report? The Canadiens announced that Big Sheldon will be gone at least one week, which would most likely see him out of the lineup for a trio of contests against Tampa Bay, Ottawa, and Atlanta.
Both RDS and the Team 990 had reported yesterday evening that there was a possibility that the All Star rearguard could be missing in action for up to six weeks with potential damage to his left ACL. Luckily for the Habs and us fans, that is obviously not the case. The injury appeared to occur when Souray got stuck in a rut along the boards near the end of last night’s 2-1 loss. On top of that, Florida forward Juraj Kolnik appeared to get his skate up on Souray’s knee, but that did not inflict a whole lot of damage.
With #44 out of action, who is on their way? Look no further than Craig Rivet. It appears that his foot has healed up to the point where it’s manageable during a game situation. Unfortunately, Rivet’s foot seemed to take much longer to heal than his relationship with winger Pierre Dagenais. It was, after all, Dags who’s cannot shot wrung off of Rivet which sent the two spiralling into a mini brawl during a practice last week.
With Rivet out of the lineup, Mike Komisarek was given an oppurtunity and played very well in the past two games. Komisarek should remain in the lineup thanks to the injury to Souray, even though they both play on the opposite sides of the rink. While Rivet is assured to return to the lineup (and rightfully so – he’s playing very well) alongside Andrei Markov, if Coach Claude decides that he would rather not mess around with Komisarek’s current confidence by playing him on the left side of the ice, than it’s possible we would see a call-up from Hamilton.
Beauchemin Up
Francis Beauchemin of the Bulldogs has been called up to replace Souray. Karl Dykhuis , Ron Hainsey , or Patrick Traverse all each could have gotten the call , but this time Beauchemin was choosen. It appears that this move sends an obvious message to Ron Hainsey. There’s no denying he has incredible talent, but Bob Gainey appears to have his heart set on rewarding the players that are working the hardest and giving it their all. That’s not a knock on Hainsey, as he has been excellent in Hamilton, but his wild attitude (hey, can you blame the guy!?!) may need to be cooled before he earns the full respect of his hard-nosed boss.
Bulldogs in Action
On the topic of the Bulldogs, the team is in action tonight against the St. John’s Maple Leafs. The Dogs sit in a tie for second with Brideport for the AHL points lead, while leading the North Division. After being sent down to the Dogs, Benoit Gratton enjoyed a two-point night against this same Leafs team. According to coach Doug Jarvis, tonight’s game will not only see the club be without Beauchemin, but expect them to be missing Karl Dykhuis, too, as he attends a funeral. Beauchemin had 23 points (4 + 19) in 52 games. Before his recall, only Dykhuis and Patrick Traverse had played as many games for Hamilton this season. Gordie Dwyer and Jimmie Olvestad will also miss tonight’s game.
