Crushing Blow to the Sens

If you were watching tonight's Penguins-Senators game, chances are you saw that bad cut on Erik Karlsson's Achilles. And chances are you wish you never saw it.

But unfortunately it did.

Erik Karlsson will need surgery to repair his left Achilles after taking a cut by a skate blade late in the second period. The Norris Trophy winner last season for being the NHL's top defenseman, he was cut by Penguins forward Matt Cooke's skate blades as they were tangling along the boards.

Karlsson fell to the ice and was clearly in pain. He needed help to get back to the bench and his frustration let it lose, as he threw his sticks against the boards before disappearing down towards the locker rooms.

"You knew right away there was an issue," Senators goalie Craig Anderson said. "He's a player who is irreplaceable. It's unfortunate, but there are no words that can explain what we're feeling."

You may recall that Matt Cooke has been suspended several times for hits, a lot of them involving head shots that injured opposing players. Back in 2011, Cooke was suspended for the final 10 regular-season games and the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for elbowing the head of Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh. Since then, Cooke has worked on toning down his game since then.

This injury is just another major blow to an already-depleted Senators team. No. 1 center Jason Spezza was lost to back surgery earlier this season. Forward Milan Michalek did miss Wednesday's game with a lower-body injury and these type of injuries just prove to drag a team down. Earlier today, I told you about the Avs' injury problems. Well, let's just say the Senators are the Avalance of the Eastern Conference. They're having trouble keeping up because plenty of their players keep getting hurt. I don't expect Erik Karlsson to return anytime soon, so the Sens need to make patches in their defense just so that they compete with the other teams in the Eastern Conference. If not, they'll need to make a trade to shore up their defense. Without Erik Karlsson, however, I don't expect a whole lot of help for Craig Anderson on the defense. He'll need to come up big at times in order to keep the Sens in the game.

Thoughts and prayers go out to Erik Karlsson and we all hope that he has a quick recovery from his surgery and he is able to get back onto the ice. Because if you saw it, and I did, it didn't look good at all. And now the Sens will have to find out how they can improve their defense and be able to keep winning games.

New GM for the Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets dumped Scott Howson and brought in a guy they hope can turn this struggling team around.

John Davidson, the new CEO of the Blue Jackets, hired Jarmo Kekalainen as the new GM. His strength as a talented evaluator mixes well with Davidson's vision on how the team should be rebuilt.

Davidson is concentrated on building a team of quality prospects or using them as bargaining chips in trades with other teams. He believes Kekalainen can build a team around that fashion.

This strategy did help in rebuilding the St. Louis Blues. He helped the Blues rise up from the 30th team in the league to become a Stanley Cup contender. Didn't win it all, though, but still. Kekalainen also helped with the Blues as the team's draft guru. Look how far up that stock went for them.

Under Kekalainen's watch, Patrik Berglund, T.J. Oshie, David Perron, and Alex Pietrangelo have become star players for the Blues squad. Kekalainen also did stints as director of player personnel with the Ottawa Senators, where he drafted Marian Hossa and Jason Spezza and others. Now he is the first European-born general manager in the NHL.

I've never heard of this guy until now and based on information that I know about Kekalainen I believe he could be the right choice for this Jackets squad. But something's clear about the Jackets: This is a troubled team that can't seem to get out of the ditch no matter how well they played. They don't put the puck in the net often and their goaltenders have trouble just trying to keep the puck out. What the St. Louis Blues had was good players that worked well in the system. And they had a coach that helped with that. Todd Richards will have to adapt to this system. If he can't, he won't be there that long. I understand the move and I understand you're trying to do what you can to rebuild a team, but Columbus and St. Louis are two different things. It worked in St. Louis but who knows what'll happen in Columbus. I just hope they know what they are doing. I root for this team and hopefully Kekalainen can hopefully make them a contender, because this team is so horrible in recent memory that it's hard to root for them anymore.

Could the Absence of Erik Johnson Affect the Avs?

It looks like a injury-riddled season so far for the Colorado Avalanche. And in this lockout-shortened season, that might not be a great thing. Plus, the training room seems to be getting its fair share of new players for it.

Matt Hunwick is supposed to return to the ice from a torso injury but his partner on his defensive line, Erik Johnson, is now indefinitely after suffering a head injury in a game against the Coyotes earlier this week.

That's simply put for this struggling Avalanche team. They have dropped three straight and head to Minnesota Thursday night.

Gabriel Landeskog, their captain, is already out with a head injury and defenseman Ryan Wilson with an ankle. Also, Steve Downie, probably their best forward this season, is out for the season with a torn ACL.

This is unbelievable," said forward John Mitchell. He was out for Monday's game against the Coyotes because of the flu. "Hopefully, these aren't significant injuries and we can get over them relatively quickly."

Well, I wish I could say they're not significant injuries, but they are. Without Gabriel Landeskog to help out on the offense, especially on the power play, as well as Erik Johnson to shore up their defense, I don't really see this team going up. These players are some of the most important pieces of their team and without them, they virtually have nothing. I know Matt Duchene is still on the ice and still an impact for this team, but honestly, these other guys are still what brings this team together and helps them win games.

Loss of Johnson particularly stings since he was helpful in front of young goaltender Semyon Varlamov. But he took a hit in the Coyotes game and that's how he managed to be out.

Matt Hunwick will take his place against the Wild. Honestly, I still just don't think that will make much of a difference. This team is already struggling for offense and without Johnson, I think this defense could have a hard time overcoming adversity and taking a few games away from other teams. But we'll see. Can the Avs overcome? Or will it be doom for this already struggling team?

Duck top Hawks

It was a battle of two of the Western Conference's hottest teams on Tuesday night. One hot team and one hot goaltender were the duo tonight. In the end, it was the hot goaltender that took all the glory in Chicago.

Viktor Fasth, the Ducks backup who has been elevated to starter because of Jonas Hiller's injury, continued his miraculous start to his NHL career by making 28 saves and two more shots in the shootout to help the Anaheim Ducks to a 3-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago.

Fasth is the first 30-or-over goalie to begin his NHL career by winning his first six decisions. Originally, he was signed to backup Jonas Hiller. But now because of Hiller's lower-boy injury, Fasth has taken his place as the starter and has done very well in net to earn the praise of his teammates.

"I have not seen a goalie so calm all of the time," noted Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne, a fan favorite of mine.

The Hawks now have their four-game winning streak snapped. However, they still have yet to be beaten by a team in regulation. Since the season was launched, the Hawks have gone 10-0-3, first in the West and best in the NHL right now.

The Ducks are now 5-1-1 on the road this season. Fasth has proved to be a vital part of that.

Teemu also added that "he reminds me of (Jean-Sebastien) Giguere because he is never out of the play."

True that, Teemu. Viktor Fasth has shown to be an elite goaltender through his first six starts. But not so fast. If Fasth does want to be the goaltender all of the NHL is talking about, they travel to the Red Wings on Friday. If Fasth can prove that he can shut down the Red Wings' top line scorers and provide the spark needed for the Ducks to win that game, I can honestly say that he would be considered an elite goaltender. Right now, I just can't be sure. I'm just glad he's 6-0-0 because that'll give him some confidence right now and going into the game on Friday. Let's hope he has a miraculous start.

In the meantime, congratulations to my team for knocking off the top team in the West, even if it took the shootout to do it. This team is resilient, hard-working, and never quits, even in the utmost circumstances. Next up: Detroit. We'll see how well this team does against Jimmy Howard and that red-and-white team.