It’s the Monday after a weekend back-to-back series, and you know what that means: a few more Sabres have joined the ranks of the walking wounded.
Paul Gaustad and Jochen Hecht didn’t survive the weekend, with both players suffering upper body injuries – Goose in the scrum with Jordin Tootoo and Hecht on the last shift of the game on Saturday. Gaustad’s timetable for return is uncertain at this point, but Jokin’ Jochen (nobody calls him that) could be back for the game against Philadelphia on Wednesday.
On a more positive note, Jordan Leopold was skating today (but isn’t fully ready to play) and Cody McCormick underwent post-concussion testing today, and he could be ready to go as early as Wednesday. Nathan Gerbe went straight to the interwebs to update his status, and he should be back on Wednesday even though his face looks a little different – check out the picture he Tweeted out here (be warned, it is slightly gross).
In other news, Jordin Tootoo was expected to talk with NHL discipline czar Brenden Shanahan over the phone today about his “accident” with Ryan Miller, though as of this writing the outcome of that conversation had not been made public. Here’s what Lindy Ruff was hoping for, courtesy of The Buffalo News:
“I understand with a phone hearing the max you’re going to get is [a five-game suspension]. In my eyes, is that a big message? It’s OK. I look at the NFL and I look at the Detroit Lion [Ndamukong Suh] that got two games for a 6-inch kick. He got kicked out of the game, and then that amounted to one-eighth of our season. That’s a 10-game suspension. I think they do it right. The message there is we’re not putting up with this stuff. I think we need a strong message. Is five strong enough? I don’t know.”
We’ll have an update for you later tonight if the decision comes in. Until then, continue praying to whatever forest gods you choose to get them to stop Buffalo’s injury curse.