Injury Week in Review (February 6-13)

Hey all!

New long-form articles on the way soon, I promise! I've been absurdly busy lately. Meanwhile, I've decided to start posting some of my injury tracking on a weekly basis. These are newly announced injuries from the past week. If I missed any, let me know!

Team	Player	Injury	Placed on IR?	Date	Projected Return
Blue Jackets	James Wisniewski	Undisclosed lower body	No	Feb. 6	Day-to-day returns 2/13
Blue Jackets	Ryan Murray	High-ankle sprain	Yes	Feb. 6	4-6 weeks
Rangers	Henrik Lundqvist	Vascular injury in neck	Yes	Feb. 6	4-6 weeks
Wild	Matt Cooke	Sports Hernia Surgery	Yes	Feb. 6	5-6 weeks
Sabres	Evander Kane	Shoulder Surgery	Yes	Feb. 6	4 months (out for season)
Capitals	Mike Green	Undisclosed lower body	No	Feb. 6	Played Feb. 8th & 11th (Missed 1 game)
Lightning	Jason Garrison	Undisclosed lower body	No	Feb. 7	Played Feb. 10th and 12th (Missed 2 games)
Maple Leafs	Dion Phaneuf	Undisclosed upper body	Yes, retroactive to January 21	Feb. 7	No timetable
Predators	Colin Wilson	Undisclosed upper body	No	Feb. 7	Played Feb. 12th (Missed 2 games)
Rangers	Jesper Fast	Sprained knee	No	Feb. 7	2-3 weeks
Islanders	Cal Clutterbuck	Undisclosed upper body	No	Feb. 7	Played Feb. 12th (Missed 2 games)
Islanders	Michael Grabner	Undisclosed upper body	Yes	Feb. 7	No timetable
Oilers	Taylor Hall	Ankle	Yes	Feb. 8	6 weeks
Coyotes	Martin Hanzal	Back surgery	Yes	Feb. 8	Out for the season
Coyotes	Joe Vitale	Undisclosed upper body	Yes	Feb. 8	Probable for 2/14
Flyers	Steve Mason	Arthroscopic knee surgery	Yes	Feb. 8	2-3 weeks
Predators	Mattias Ekholm	Undisclosed upper body	No	Feb. 8	Day-to-day
Sharks	Marc-Edouard Vlasic	Undisclosed (Upper body? Illness?)	Yes	Feb. 8	Day-to-day
Kings	Alec Martinez	Concussion-life symptoms	No	Feb. 8	Day-to-day
Ducks	Frederik Andersen	Head injury	Yes	Feb. 8	No timetable/day-to-day
Blue Jackets	Dalton Prout	Undisclosed upper body	No	Feb. 9	Day-to-day (doubtful for 2/14)
Sharks	Daniil Tarasov	Undisclosed	Yes	Feb. 9	No timetable
Wild	Ryan Carter	Undisclosed upper body	Yes	Feb. 10	About a month
Wild	Jason Zucker	Broken clavicle	Yes	Feb. 10	3 months
Oilers	Ben Scrivens	Hamstring	No	Feb. 10	Indefinitely
Oilers	Benoit Pouliot	Foot	Yes, retroactive to February 2	Feb. 10	Probable for 2/14
Hurricanes	Ryan Murphy	Leg injury	Yes	Feb. 9	4 weeks
Lightning	Cedric Paquette	Undisclosed upper body	No	Feb. 10	Day-to-day
Panthers	Brandon Pirri	Shoulder	No	Feb. 10	2 weeks
Flyers	Luke Schenn	Undisclosed upper body	No	Feb. 11	Back 2/13. Missed 1 game
Blackhawks	Tim Erixon	Undisclosed lower body	No	Feb. 11	Day-to-day
Maple Leafs	Joffrey Lupul	Undisclosed lower body	No	Feb. 11	About a week
Blackhawks	Michal Rozsival	Undisclosed upper body	No	Feb. 13	Out tonight, probably 2/15 return

That's 33 injured players across 19 NHL teams.

Of note:

1. Ryan Murray - The oft-injured former second overall pick returns to the IR, a sore sight for Blue Jackets fans. He's expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain. He's only played 73 NHL games in his two years in the league. 
2. Henrik Lundqvist - I'll probably do a long-form piece on this just because it's so bizarre. On January 31st, Lundqvist took a shot to the neck against the Hurricanes. He stayed in the game and started the next game in net as well. On Wednesday, February 4th, Rangers coach Vigneault told the media he was being evaluated by doctors. On Friday, the 6th, it was released that he would be sidelined for at least 4 weeks with a neck injury and speculation begun (was it a concussion? was it nerve damage? a blood clot?). Then it was revealed that it was a vascular injury and every NHL writer began googling. So what's a vascular injury? Essentially, it's damage to the blood vessels in the neck (which are important because they supply blood [oxygen] to the brain). Then on February 8th, Lundqvist spoke to the media and said he "sprained a blood vessel" (seriously not a thing) and that he was risking a stroke had he continued to play. Lundqvist also said that he felt lightheaded, dizzy, and experienced headaches after taking the shot to the neck. SO WHY DID HE STAY IN AND PLAY THE NEXT GAME?! Anyway, big blow for the Rangers and a scary injury. 
3. Matt Cooke - Wild fans that want to know more about sports hernia injury and surgery can read my article on the topic here: http://undisclosedinjury.blogspot.com/2014/10/discussing-michael-grabners-injury-and.html 
4. Taylor Hall - After having a bone bruise, Taylor Hall tried to return and took a slash to the injured ankle. An MRI revealed a fracture and Hall is out 4-6 weeks. My only point here is that Hall's bone bruise didn't "morph" into a fracture. Either it was previously fractured and the imaging didn't show it, or it was a new injury after the slash.
5. Martin Hanzal - Back surgery isn't ever not serious, but it's good to see Hanzal electing to undergo surgery to fix a lingering issue. Hanzal has previously had back surgery to repair a herniated disc in 2008, this is probably the same. Coyotes fans can learn more about the injury and surgery by reading my article on the topic here: http://undisclosedinjury.blogspot.com/2014/02/henrik-zetterberg-spinal-disc-herniation.html
6. Alec Martinez & Frederik Andersen - Two [released] concussions this past week. While Andersen's injury hasn't been revealed as a concussion, it's the most likely scenario after getting hit in the head with the crossbar. 
7. Jason Zucker - Broken clavicle [collarbone]. That hurts.
8. Ryan Murphy - Underwent an MRI but supposedly doesn't need surgery for his leg injury right now.