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Injuries Starting To Mount For Bolts

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Carter Gaddis/The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 15, 2007

TAMPA Whether the Lightning were winning the Stanley Cup or merely scrapping for all they were worth merely to make the playoffs, one thing remained a lucky constant over the past three seasons.

Serious injuries never became a big factor.

This year, their luck has taken a turn for the worse.

"Certainly, injuries are something that we've had the good fortune not to have to deal with on a large scale the last four years," Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said. "And now we are. Every team goes through it. It's not an excuse. You have to find a way to do it."

Already without defenseman Dan Boyle (wrist surgery), captain Tim Taylor (offseason hip surgery) and forward Ryan Craig (left knee injury), the Lightning learned Friday that they will be without right wing Michel Ouellet for tonight's game against Southeast Division opponent Washington at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Ouellet will miss four to six weeks after having his left shoulder dislocated on a hit Thursday by Calgary's Robyn Regehr during the second period of Tampa Bay's 9-6 loss. With Ouellet out, center Blair Jones was recalled from the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League.

Center Craig MacDonald, who has been a healthy scratch for seven consecutive games, is expected to be active tonight in Ouellet's place.

And the injury bug could bite even harder. There was a concern Friday that center Chris Gratton might not be available tonight, either.

Gratton had an undisclosed injury examined Friday, but the team did not release any information about the exam. If he is unable to play, Jones and MacDonald will be in the lineup.

For the first time in a while, the depth of the Lightning is being tested in a big way.

"Let's face it. When a Ryan Craig comes out of your lineup, that's fine, because now you can fill in with a Mathieu Darche, who's given us good minutes, and a MacDonald," Feaster said. "Now, you have Ouellet out. There's a Blair Jones. In an ideal situation, he'd still be getting experience playing in Norfolk.

"Again, we have some other guys down [in Norfolk] who, depending on how things shake out and how we want to look, we have a Kyle Wanvig who's playing well for us down there. We have a Norm Milley, who's had a cup of coffee with us before. But there's no question that the depth is being tested now."

Lightning players already have missed 56 games this season because of injuries. And that doesn't count the 32 games missed by Taylor, who underwent offseason hip surgery and is on the extended injury list.

Last year, the Lightning lost 127 games to injury. Of those, 82 were credited to Rob DiMaio, who missed the entire year after suffering a concussion in a preseason game against Montreal.

In 2005-06, they lost 58 games to injury. And in 2003-04, the year the team won the Cup, they lost only 34 games.

It started early this year, with Boyle's fluky falling skate mishap during training camp. His wrist was badly sliced and required two surgeries to repair, and he's expected to remain sidelined until late January at the earliest.

The emergence of young defensemen Paul Ranger, Shane O'Brien and Mike Lundin has helped mitigate Boyle's absence, to an extent; although few players in the NHL can lay claim to Boyle's combination of durability, puck-handling skill, offensive ability (especially as the quarterback of the power play) and defensive awareness.

But those three young players, in particular, serve as examples to what right wing Marty St. Louis considers the only bright side to losing important players to injury for an extended period of time.

"I think it gives a chance for other guys to get some good minutes, to get experience," St. Louis said. "If anything, it makes us better in the long run when guys are called upon to step up. Guys that are called upon have to step up and take care of business. And when those guys who are hurt come back, those other guys are better for it."

For Tampa Bay's healthy regulars, left wing Vinny Prospal said, it's simply a matter of staying focused - regardless of how many teammates have fallen by the wayside.

"Injuries happen in our game and in any sport," Prospal said. "You have to deal with that. We've been really fortunate in the past that not too many guys got hurt. It came at this point, so whoever is going to come in has to play as hard as they can."

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

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