Sergei Gonchar will miss the next 4 to 6 weeks with a broken bone in his wrist.
Dan Bylsma also said that no call ups were imminent based on the fact that they are comfortable with the insertion of Martin Skoula into the line-up.
I will have more from the presser when I get back to the office...
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Head Coach Dan Bylsma will provide an injury update on Sergei Gonchar at 12:30pm at Mellon Arena. I will be in attendance to bring you the update... stay tuned...
What is Ailing Sarge? Speculation Running Wild...
The Penguins lost Sergei Gonchar last night to an undisclosed injury that will keep him out for an undisclosed amount of time. The team did not elaborate on the situation, only saying that Gonchar would be evaluated today.
I don’t have an update. We’re going to evaluate again tomorrow morning. I saw when he got hit, but it was at the edge of the camera [screen] when it turns away, so we don’t have a good look at it. It looks like more of an awkward thing than a big hit. We’re going to see tomorrow morning.
It didn't take long for the Internet speculation to run rampant and some are saying that Gonchar might have a broken wrist. Is this possible? Yes... however, it is far from confirmed at this point.
It is worth looking at the post game comments of Dan Bylsma in trying to draw to some conclusion. Though the coach didn't get into the specifics of the injury, he did say that Martin Skoula would be playing come Friday night. Here are Bylsma's comments regarding Skoula and how fortunate the team is to be have such an experienced player waiting in the wings.
Right now, we’ve had the unfortunate circumstance of having to sit out a player who has played over 700 NHL games, and played 75+ games a season for a lot of seasons. It looks like most likely he’s going to get a chance to play in the next game anyway. That’s a fortunate thing to put in the lineup.
Bylsma did go on to discuss the possibility of losing such an important player and the impact that it could have on his line-up and the system that the team employs.
Our game, our execution, and how we play is not dedicated around one player. Certainly Sergei Gonchar is a very good player, but I think that even tonight you see the execution by guys like Jay McKee; they add to how we play, how fast we can play, and how our D join the rush. We’ll see what happens with Gonch; if we miss him, I think we’re still going to be able to play a similar style and in a similar style. I don’t think you can replace what he’s done for us and what he does on the power play. Luckily, we have guys like Letang and Goligoski who can play that power play position, if that’s the case.
As I mentioned last night, Bylsma seemed pretty low key about the injury, but that doesn't mean that something isn't going on. He just didn't look like a guy that had just heard that his top defenseman was going to be out for an extended amount of time. Though if anyone could find the silver lining in the the darkest of situations, it is Dan Bylsma.
I will say that the coach kept us waiting about 15 minutes longer than normal for his post game press conference. If one wanted to read into that, one definitely could...
If this injury proves to be legit, it would be heartbreaking for Gonchar, who lost most of last season after being crushed by David Koci in a pre-season game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
I will keep you all posted on the details of this situation as I get them.
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