Sutter Discharged, Pitkanen Out, Helminen Coming

by Cory Lavalette on Oct 27, 2008 8:56 AM EDT

The good news: rookie center Brandon Sutter has been discharged from a Long Island hospital and iwill be returning to Raleigh to be further evaluated by the Hurricanes' medical staff.

The bad news: Joni Pitkanen's knee will require surgery and the Canes will lose him for three to four weeks.

And so it goes in Raleigh, where injuries have become the norm once the air chills and the leaves begin to turn color, be it at Carter-Finley Stadium or the RBC Center. Sutter is out indefinitely and joins forwards Scott Walker and Justin Williams in the trainers' room. Tuomo Ruutu missed three games before returning from a hip/groin injury Saturday. Pitkanen's loss — he has a torn meniscus and Dr. Marty Isbell will be performing the procedure this week, according to a Hurricanes release — will further thin the depth on the blueline, which is already missing a rejuventated Frank Kaberle. In the absence of Pitkanen, both Josef Melichar and Anton Babchuk should be dressed for the Canes' next game Tuesday at Montreal — the fifth of six straight road games.

Dwight Helminen will be recalled to fill Sutter's spot, according to a couple different sources. There has been no release from the team concerning any plans to recall anyone from Albany, but Helminen — a former University of Michigan product who was lost in the shuffle with the Rangers for a few seasons before playing in Finland last year — would be the logical choice since he's a natural center and a proven AHL scorer. I wouldn't count out Nicolas Blanchard — a defensive specialist in Albany who provides a little size at 6-3, although only 188 pounds — getting a chance if Sutter's out for an extended period and Helminen fails to impress.

It's hard to remember this much upheaval with the Canes only seven games into a season, but tuck this away and chew on it until Tuesday: Carolina's atop the Southeast (nine points, tied with Washington, but with a game in hand) and five of the team's games have been on the road. A split or better in the final two games of the road trip — Montreal on Tuesday, St. Louis on Thursday — has to be considered a huge success.

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Comments

Agreed about the wins so far. But I think you have to look at who we have played this month. Our wins have come against teams that are more disorganized than we are – the Islanders, Panthers, Tampa, and the Ducks. Although I am glad to have the W more times than not, I think it its more because of who we have played as opposed to HOW we have played.

by Parker on Oct 27, 2008 12:10 PM EDT reply actions

Parker

You took the words right out of my mouth…Ditto.

The real test begins now. Montreal is 5th in the East and St. Louis is 5th in the West, both are 2nd in their divisions. At weeks end we should know how our team will stand for now against top teams in each conference.

I just hope we don’t ride the injury excuse train, because all teams have players out with injuries. It’s pretty pathetic, this is hockey after all and look at the top players we have playing now on paper. I’m sure we have it worse than some, but that’s hockey. Over the weekend I heard a statement that the Pittsburgh Steeler’s coach said something to the effect of (paraphrasing…the good team is one who overcomes injuries and doesn’t use it as an excuse for losing.

As always, Go Canes!

by Caron on Oct 27, 2008 12:58 PM EDT reply actions