Serious Injuries playing havoc with the Pens Success

[Goffie]

The Pittsburgh Penguins looked to be having a great season. They started the year with a stellar 16-8-1 mark in the first 25 games of the year. Then they lost #1 defenseman Sergei Gonchar for 15 games and the results showed just how much he was missed. Since the opening 25 games the Pens have went 6-9-2 in their next 17 and went from battling for top spot in the conference to battling for the playoffs. The Pens were starting to get the team healthy when young winger Dustin Brown was hurt and forced to miss about a week of playing time. Then the real injury struck. Star player Ryan Smyth who was just aquired via a trade scored a goal in his first period as a Penguin. In Smyth's first shift of the 2nd period he fell awkwardly into the boards, and suffered the serious injury. It is unknown if the Pens will get Smyth back in time for the playoffs or he will spend the rest of the year on the shelf. This was a blow the Pens were not ready for and it has caused some concern in the dressing room.

The Pens get no time to decide what to do to compensate for the huge loss, but it is expected that some bigtime positional changes will take place before the Pens meet the Rangers today. "I have my lineup done, you can expect to see at least 4 players playing in a different positions then they lined up at last game; and that is too bad for us cause we played a great game yesterday." Coach Ruff stated

Martin Gerber was expected to start his second straight game in net for the Pens but he missed the morning skate due to flu like symptoms and will be a gametime decision tonight.

[MJK]

Some tough luck there Goffie, hang tough and make some trades. You will find a solution!

[nyrcrisfer]

Ouch, that's real tough luck.

BTW, how come on the injuries page every hurt player is listed with an "injury". It used to be that they'd say where he got hurt (shoulder, ankle, whatever)

[JiriHrdina]

That is bad luck. The sim rarely spits out injuries that severe.

Not sure what you did to tick off the Sim Gods but you best make amends for it.

[notoepik]

I feel bad whining about losing Miettinen to a similar injury. At least he didn't play on the top line.

Jiri I might be able to help you with that sim glitch that won't spit out the specific injury. I will look for the file you need.

[Goffie]

Originally Posted by notoepik

Jiri I might be able to help you with that sim glitch that won't spit out the specific injury. I will look for the file you need.

Send him the file to get rid of the glitch that has it out to injure all the Pens while you are at it!

[Beerfund]

Tough luck Goffie. You do have a solid team and working around little injuries is something we all face. However, you've been dealt a bad hand with the injury to Smyth. Especially considering the move you made to acquire him in the first place, should have put you back in the thick of the battle at the top.