A fluke accident at practice has sidelined one of the Detroit Red Wings' best players this season.
Forward Kris Draper suffered a patially torn rotator cuff in practice Wednesday afternoon and will be out of the lineup for four weeks.
Draper was taking part in a shooting drill when his stick became entangled with Curtis Joseph's mask as the goaltender was skating by. Draper then left the ice and headed to the dressing room.
"His stick clipped my mask, and I think he tweaked his shoulder...strange," Joesph explained to reporters after the incident.
"I was skating in that direction, and I didn't think he was going to get another pass and he did. He one timed it, and I put on the brakes, I think. His stick clipped my mask and I think he came down funny on it."
The 32-year old is in the midst of his most successful NHL season in his 13-year career. Draper has 24 goals and 40 points with a plus-22 rating in 65 games.
OH NO! Say it aint so! And the grind-line was just racking up the points this year! Too bad, not only will they miss his goal scoring (when I say that, I mean that they will miss his recent hot handedness, because we all know he's no 40 goal scorer) but also his physical play and toughness, not to mention his speed. And of course, us fans will jsut miss him mostly because, well, he's Drapes... :(
we lost dandenault is out for 4 weeks too with a broken foot. two valuble guys injuried in the same day. draps will especially be missed on the power play and pk
just heard that datsyuk suffered a leg injury in yesterday's game against the flames. he was examined by the teams doctors today and their hasnt been any release on how long he will be out... not a good day for wings fans we lost the triple d; dandy, drapes, and datsyuk :evil:
What a shame this is, every team needs those low-scoring/high-energy type guys. My Sens just go Fisher back from injury, and despite recent results, have been flying since his return. Those type of guys are the glue which holds together great teams....... it'll be interesting to see how Detroit handles his loss. Hopefully they slow down just enough for my Sens to go on a run and win the Presidents Trophy for the second year in a row k:
I'm not too worried about it. Of course I'll miss those guys while they are gone, but as sson as they can play, just as soon as the doctro's say, "Well, maybe today you can go," they will be out there and playing, they're fighters. Also, we were plagued with injuries to 10 or more of our starters, and still, our guys from Grand Rapids got the job done for us.
Mowers did pretty good in Drape's place against the Flames. I wouldn't worry too much, the Wings have a lot of depth that goes back to their farm team in Grand Rapids.
Red Wings' Draper out four weeks
Red Wings' Draper out four weeks
k:
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