Injury updates on Griffith, Ristolainen, Panarin, Benn, Higgins, Hodgson and others…

Preseason might be a bunch of meaningless exhibition games, but that doesn’t mean players won’t be blocking shots, throwing hits, and getting into fights. Every one of those can lead to an unfortunate injury. Who drew fate’s short straw this week?

ARIZONA Nick Merkley – The ‘yotes will miss their first rounder selection (well, one of them at least) at training camp. Merkley is out with an injured collarbone.

BOSTON Seth Griffith – Just when it seemed like he was about to breakout, Griffith suffered an MCL sprain and will miss three-to-four weeks.

BOSTON Dennis Seidenberg – This Bruins defenseman suffered an upper body injury while training and will miss up to eight weeks. The injury has been diagnosed as a “lumbar spine disk herniation”, and he’s already had surgery for it.

BOSTON Adam McQuaid – Finally for the Bruins, McQuaid had minor surgery to allow him greater mobility. As a result, he was finally able to work out properly and has put on quite a bit of muscle heading into the season. Consider him 110%.

BUFFALO Rasmus Ristolainen – Ristolainen suffered an upper-body injury and will not take part in the first two weeks of training camp.

CALGARY TJ Brodie – Calgary’s scary blueline gets a little less deep. Brodie walk away from Monday’s action with a broken bone in his hand. Three to six weeks in his prognosis.

CHICAGO Patrick Kane – The Hawks’ superstar attended training camp and played in the preseason. So apparently Chicago’s as confident as Kane is that this legal situation will turn out in his favor and he won’t miss time. Today's news may result in another outcome…

CHICAGO Michal Rozsival – The Hawks signed Rozsival to a one-year deal, but he’s still recovering from the postseason, where he injured his ankle. He has started skating, though.

CHICAGO Artemi Panarin – This newcomer from the KHL will miss a few days with a non-serious upper body injury.

COLUMBUS Jack Johnson – Man, JJ can NOT catch a break. After his parents reportedly bankrupted him, lenders are alleging that Johnson had full knowledge and was actually complicit in the whole scheme. If convicted, he could face jail time.

DALLAS Jamie Benn – The Stars’ captain expects to be in the lineup when they hit the ice on opening night. You might even see him in an exhibition game or two beforehand.

DALLAS Ales Hemsky – Benn isn’t the only Star to injure his hips. Hemsky, ever the Band-Aid Boy, will also play on opening night. His recovery is going swimmingly as well.

DALLAS Brett Ritchie – Dallas’s right winger had surgery to repair a torn ligament on September 8^th, and will not return until December or January.

DETROIT Darren Helm – A scary moment at Red Wings’ training camp as Helm and forward Jerome Verrier collided, leaving Verrier with a broken leg and Helm with a separated shoulder and concussion symptoms. He’ll be out two-to-four weeks.

LOS ANGELES Slava Voynov – It looks like this saga’s over, as Voynov has begun to gather his things and head home to Russia. The Kings have released a statement alleging that they were going to terminate his deal anyways, but now we’ll never know.

LOS ANGELES Jordan Nolan – The Kings’ depth forward rolled his ankle and will miss part of training camp, but isn’t expected to miss any significant playing time.

NASHVILLE Cody Hodgson – Hodgson is dealing with an upper-body injury, but is only day-to-day.

NEW JERSEY PatriK Elias – Elias’s right knee has been troubling him for the past week, and as a result he was held out of practice. Consider him day-to-day for now.

ST. LOUIS Robert Bortuzzo – Bortuzzo got held out of the latter half of Blues’ practice with a lower body injury. No word on severity just yet.

ST. LOUIS Paul Stastny – No one hit the fire alarm because you didn’t see Statsny in practice. He was away on “personal time”. In fact, he was expecting the birth of a baby girl. No news since, but that was a few days ago, so hopefully all is well with him and his family.

OTTAWA Jared Cowen – Cowen told Ian Mendes on TSN Radio that he’s finally at 100%, for the first time in two years. Good news for the Sens’ defenseman.

TAMPA BAY Kristers Gudlevskis – Finally some good news for Tampa’s goalie situation. Gudlevskis is reportedly “close to 100%”, and was seen returning to practice after suffering an upper-body injury.

TAMPA BAY Tyler Johnson – Some more good news on the Tampa injury front: despite saying that his wrist still wasn’t fully healed last week, Johnson reports that he’s much better this week. He’s been taking shots, face-offs, and doesn’t feel limited by his wrist at all. Fantastic news for his owners.

PHILADELPHIA Dan Carcillo – Carcillo announced his retirement from professional hockey, and is instead moving towards helping former players transition into “civilian” life.

VANCOUVER Chris Higgins – The ‘nucks will miss this left winger as Higgins suffered a fractured foot after blocking a shot. He’ll miss at least 3 weeks, and will then be re-evaluated.

WASHINGTON Brooks Orpik – Orpik recently had surgery on his wrist, and is still in a splint. He isn’t risking aggravating it by playing in the preseason, so don’t expect to see him until at least the regular season. He still isn’t taking shots. Head coach Barry Trotz said he thinks Orpik could join the team next week.

WINNIPEG Grant Clitsome – Paul Maurice told reporters that Clitsome did not pass his physical and will not play this year.

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