After missing 4-5 months while dealing with a torn tendon on the top of his foot -- and the extremely stubborn infection which followed -- Penguins' Selke Trophy Finalist Jordan Staal had been practicing for the last 10-14 days and was poised to give Pittsburgh a big boost by returning to the lineup on Wednesday night against the Dallas Stars.
Now, after suffering what is preliminarily being reported as a fairly meaningful hand injury in practice today, it appears that Staal won't be making his season debut against Dallas after all and instead will be out "weeks" because of this latest problem.
There's no word yet on exactly how the injury occured; more on that may be revealed tomorrow.
What doesn't need to be revealed, however, is how discouraging this is -- not only for the team that was on the verge of having him battle with them in game action once again, but also for a player who was noticably frustrated with the many setbacks he had to overcome from his foot injury just to get to this point.
Staal's latest malady clearly makes it a bit more important that the Penguins get Evegni Malkin back in the lineup Wednesday, as well.
Malkin missed Saturday's 3-0 shutout victory at Carolina with a bruised knee and is regarded as day-to-day right now.
To go from the expectation that both of those guys would be in the lineup to possibly having neither is a difficult blow.
Another player who is questionable for Wednesday is Kris Letang, who also is dealing with an injured hand. Letang played some of the game against the Hurricanes, but couldn't finish.
On the bright side, it looks as if defenseman Zbynek Michalek will be able to return Wednesday. He's been on track for several days now and, unless the injury bug continues to bite the team, should see his first action since early in the season when he suffered his shoulder injury.
I hope to have more information on Staal tomorrow.
Stay tuned ....
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