Ian White's Injury a Concern?

Well, if you think that the Wings' list of injury couldn't get any worse, it just did. Ian White's injury could probably make it hard for a Detroit Red Wings squad that is already banged up with injuries and losses.

While skating around at Joe Louis Arena before the game against the Wild Friday, there was an ice bag wrapped around his left kneecap. He had just underwent surgery on Wednesday, which comes around 12 hours after he was cut by goaltender Jimmy Howard's skate during Tuesday's game against Dallas.

He had a picture on his cell phone to prove it too. This type of injury is definitely stomach-churning. There was a lot of blood shown in the photo and questioned reporters as to how strong their stomachs were while showing the photo. Even to me, that seems like a grueling picture to look at.

White will start skating in a week and should be expected back by mid-February. However, his absence will now make it harder for the Wings to have an option with a right-handed shot on their power play unit.

So now head coach Mike Babcock is playing his cards and deciding that White's minutes will now be dealt to either Brendan Smith or Jakub Kindl. This sounds like an opportunity for either of these young guys to get in the game and get some valuable minutes. However, Ian White's injury does set the Wings back a bit.

They have lost almost half of their roster to injuries and although most of their star players will return at anytime this season, it is a matter of how long the Red Wings can last and be able to win without their stars helping them out on the ice.

Honestly, I think this team will be fine. Jimmy Howard has been able to keep this team on its feet with his magnificent goaltending and his ability to stop hard shots on net. That will come in handy for the next few games. They host Minnesota at home then head to Chicago and home against Dallas again. They have to find a way to get these wins. They are 1-2-0 and still looking for a chance to get back into the mix. Hey, it's only Game 4. If you don't have it together by Game 10, you're in a problem. The Red Wings have time to sort it out. One game at a time is what this team needs to have. They can work together and Jimmy Howard can keep this team up. The question is: How long before the slipping really drags this team down? And can they recover if they do? Well, hopefully we will know. In the meantime, the Red Wings have a lot of work ahead of them.