Eric Fehr could miss at least a month with a lower-body injury, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan revealed today. The big forward’s legs folded awkwardly beneath him after he was checked by Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki during the second period of Tuesday’s victory over Ottawa. He exited the ice in visible pain and had to be helped to the locker room.
The announcement ended two days of speculation over the severity of the injury.
Skating mostly on the third and fourth lines, Fehr has struggled to produce as expected during his first season with the black and gold. Following a dramatic two-point debut on October 31, the Winkler, Manitoba native tallied just four goals over his past 38 games.
Still, the 11-year NHL veteran found ways to contribute. Putting his 6’4″ 212-pound frame to good use, Fehr was one of the Pens’ top defensive forwards and penalty killers. His versatility provided the coaching staff with plenty of options. And, in one of the season’s seminal moments, he fought the Blue Jackets’ Brandon Dubinsky to help the floundering Pens forge a new identity.
“He’s a huge, huge part of what we do,” said Matt Cullen, who’ll be called upon to pick up much of the slack in No. 16’s absence.
Fehr is the third Penguins forward to go on IR in recent weeks. Beau Bennett was activated on January 23 after missing five weeks and promptly reinjured his shoulder. Center Nick Bonino’s been out since January 13 nursing a hand injury. Left wing Chris Kunitz and defensemen Kris Letang and David Warsofsky have missed time as well.
Malkin Hurt
Center Evgeni Malkin will not make the trip to Florida for this weekend’s key conference matchups with the Lightning and the Panthers. Instead, he’ll remain in Pittsburgh and attempt to rehab what’s described as a “nagging lower-body injury.”
Malkin, who participated in the NHL All-Star Game last Sunday, leads the Pens with 23 goals and 26 assists. His 49 points rank sixth in the league scoring race heading into Thursday’s games.
Penguins Call Up Sundqvist
In the wake of the untimely injuries, the Penguins have summoned center Oskar Sundqvist from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
The club’s third-round pick in 2012, Sundqvist will get his first taste of NHL action. He tallied five goals and 16 points in 39 games with the Baby Pens while filling mostly a defensive role. The 21-year-old Swede has good size (6’3″ 209) and can play an abrasive game.
Hi Rick,
The Florida game sure proved me wrong.The AHL boys were certainly tested last night and Jeff Z. played very well, but they held it together and got the win. Sid also was playing with real passion and was rewarded with 3 points. Matt Cullen did a good job as well.Hard to replace # 71, but Cullen did a great impression. I hope this combative style of play continues,but come play off time we both know that the Pens will need to become much more defensive in nature if they hope to go far.You can not out score your opponents in the play offs unless you can play both ends of the rink well. All lines,not just the top six ! ( Look at the past 5 years to see the results.)
Mike Lang made a comment in praise of Florida’s just turned, 19 year old 6’4 Arron Ekblad last night comparing him to Nashville’s 6’5 Shea Weber and Tampa’s 6’6 Victor Hedman. Phil B. compared him to Chris Pronger in his prime.This kid has the complete package.(elite offensive and defensive skills with size and grit). That is why he was drafted so high last year.
I wish we had a d man like him. Compare him to Derrick Poulot and you see a “big” difference between them.
I am waiting for the New York Ranger game this week to see how well we do against them. It should be a good one. MAF will really need to be sharp !
Cheers.
Hi Rick,
Once again injuries have continued to plague the poor Pens. With Malkin, Bonino,and now Fehr all out for the next games in Florida,it makes winning almost impossible.Three of our four centers out. Also Malkin is 6’3, Bonino is 6’2 and Fehr is 6’4.They are the “big” guys on our team. Crosby is only 5’11.
We can put a brave face and say yes we will win but realistically, our AHL call up players are not ELITE prospects like many other teams have.We traded away many of them earlier in failed trades or simply we had no first and second round picks to resupply the farm system to begin with.
I wish the team well but the poor management of the Pens have put the team in a very difficult situation talent wise. Injuries are part of the game and many teams are facing the same situation as us,but because they have a much better talent pool in their minor system they can handle it better.
Final point. In defense of Crosby. I just got off the phone with a 20 year business friend who lives in Halifax.He coaches minor Hockey as a hobby.
I mentioned how nice it was to see Sid playing better recently.He corrected me quite forcefully !! He said that Sidney Crosby is the Captain of the Penguins and as such his job is not to complain to the media !! His job is to play the way the Coach tells him to ! My friend said,never once this year did Crosby complain about the Coach or his defensive system. Never. Crosby always said we had to execute better as a team.It is not the captains job to Coach the team my friend said.( Like some other super stars try to do.)
So his point was that he admired Sidney Crosby for playing the way his Coach wanted him to,giving 100% effort every night and taking all the abuse in the media for his lack of offensive production. He never complained.
Crosby put his team first as he always has done in the past and personal statistics mean nothing to him.That is what a true captain does my friend said.
Rick,I realized that my friend was 100 % right. He should know, he coached Sid as a kid. Crosby is a special player in more ways than we know. It is not always about the score sheet. It is about doing your job to the best of your ability as your Coach wants. Sidney Crosby does that for sure.
Cheers…
Hey Jim,
Always nice to hear from you.
It’s a shame the Pens have been hit so hard with injuries of late. They were really humming…and seemed to be close to the right mix of players. Heaven help us if Malkin’s injury is more serious than the team is letting on. We can’t afford to lose him…or any of our core players…if we’re to have a shot at a postseason run.
I agree with your assessment of our kids. I do think it’s important to have some youth in the lineup. Younger players provide an unpinning of energy and hunger that you don’t necessarily get with your veterans.
Overall, I’m happy with the way the call-ups have played. Rust is a legit bottom-six winger. He brings a lot of speed and tenacity. I wasn’t all that impressed with Wilson at first, but he’s been more involved the past couple of games and has shown good speed and instincts, along with a little sand. Sheary, likewise, has good speed and instincts, although his lack of size works against him. Kuhnhackl’s not great…but solid as advertised. Pouliot can really handle the puck and he’s got excellent vision. I tend to hold my breath whenever he’s on the ice, but so far he’s been okay defensively.
Pouliot aside, most of them are probably destined to be support players. With all the injuries, they’re being thrust into roles they’re probably not ready (or able) to fill. Still, it’s good that they’re at least getting their feet wet at the big-league level.
Thank you for passing along the insight on Sidney Crosby from your friend. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it’s pretty obvious now that Mike Johnston’s system was choking the life out of Sid’s game. Through it all, he never publicly uttered a peep that perhaps MJ’s defense-first approach wasn’t a good fit.
Heck, count me among those who thought he’d lost it to a degree. Crosby seemed to be experiencing a mid-career drop-off along the lines of Steve Yzerman, a great player of similar dimensions who played a similar style. My Lord, was I wrong. Sid’s been fantastic. He literally looks reborn as a player.
I’ve always marveled at the way he conducts himself in interviews. Win, lose or draw, Sid’s always poised, thoughtful and gracious. He answers the same questions over and over again, night after night, game after game, year after year. It sure would wear me down after a while. Yet he always handles things with the utmost grace and dignity.
A class (and character) guy through and through.