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Craig Has Surgery, May Miss 6 Months

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

Updated: 12/18/2007 11:58 pm

ATLANTA - Lightning C Ryan Craig underwent successful surgery Tuesday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a torn meniscus in his left knee and is expected to be out for up to six months.

Craig will try to complete his rehabilitation in time to return for a potential playoff appearance, which would be a four- to five-month absence, rather than six.

He suffered the injury Nov. 24 during a game in Tampa against New Jersey. It was his seventh game played after missing the first 13 with a back injury.

The $850,000 Craig was awarded in arbitration this past summer will continue to count against the salary cap for the Lightning.

The surgery was performed by team medical director Ira Guttentag at Florida Medical Clinic in Tampa after a two-week attempt to rehab the knee and support it with a brace was deemed ineffective.

VINNY MOVING UP: Tampa Bay C Vinny Lecavalier moved past Ottawa RW Daniel Alfredsson into second place in fan voting for the Eastern Conference All-Star Team through Monday. Lecavalier had 168,782 votes to Alfredsson's 168,448 and trails only Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby (381,941 votes).

On-line voting ends Jan. 2, and the game will be played Jan. 27 in Atlanta. The top three vote-getters among forwards start the game, along with the top two defensemen and the top goalie.

Tampa Bay's Marty St. Louis is 21st and Brad Richards 33rd in votes among forwards. Lightning D Dan Boyle is 10th among defensemen.

RIKU REWARDED: G Riku Helenius, Tampa Bay's first-round draft pick in 2006, has been selected to play for the Finnish national team in the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic on Dec. 26-Jan. 5.

Helenius, 19, is playing for the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds in his first season of North American hockey. In 20 appearances for the Thunderbirds, he has a .911 save percentage and a 2.61 goals-against average.

Playing for Finland in the 2006 World Under-18 Championships, Helenius went 4-1-1 with a 1.83 goals-against average in six starts.

ANOTHER INJURY: D Brad Lukowich left the ice in the first period with a sore left shoulder and did not return. He will be evaluated today.

RW Andre Roy left briefly in the second period after being twisted to the ice. He returned before the end of the period.

Carter Gaddis

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