Ward Out 6-8 Weeks With MCL Sprain

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Link: http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=658493&navid=DL|CAR|home

RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that goaltender Cam Ward has been diagnosed with a third-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL). Surgery will not be required for the injury, and he is expected to be out six to eight weeks.

[SuperMan]

Honestly this may be a good thing with the way Dan Ellis is playing.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Any other year, I'd say tank after something like this; but Ellis is better than the majority of the starters in the NHL right now. I still like our chances.

[kman72]

yeah it stinks since he was just starting to find his groove. I will look for a silver lining and say Ellis has played well and can hold us up for awhile and now Ward will be fresh when playoffs come around....

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

I feel like this sets up Ward for 06 type run.

If you guys remember, Gerber was the starter for most of the season but Ward came in during the playoffs and had his Conn Smythe run on the way to winning the cup.

The only thing I'm worried about is Peters as the back-up.

[boney]

Glad to see you guys are optimistic about Ellis...I should preface by saying that I am a total hockey noob but to me it seems like Ellis spits out a ton of rebounds which really scares me with our defense. Am I wrong to be worried?

[Munch4455]

Glad to see you guys are optimistic about Ellis...I should preface by saying that I am a total hockey noob but to me it seems like Ellis spits out a ton of rebounds which really scares me with our defense. Am I wrong to be worried?

He does spit out a lot of rebounds so it seems, but a lot of them end up behind the net our out to the sides. The few has has let go in the slot have been cleared well by our defensemen.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Ellis does spit out a lot I rebounds which is why I think the Canes will be forced to trade for a puck clearing defense-man (it's easier to trade for a defense-man than a goalie). In my opinion, now would be the perfect time to get on the phone with PHX and trade for Yandle.

By the way, I expect Justin Peters to get the call up and be Ellis's back-up. I also wouldn't be surprised if they split ice time 50/50 between Ellis and Peters because both struggle as the number one, but our above average as back-ups.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

One thing is for sure, Frederik Andersen has to feel like and idiot for listening to his agent and re-entering the draft (he is with the Ducks now). If he would have stayed, he would be out number one now with Wardo out.

[Jakob]

I'm not very worried about how Ellis plays, I think the season depends on if Justin Peters can step up.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Everyone feels bad for Cam, but I also feel awful for Ellis. His post game interview was sobering to say the least.

He basically blamed himself for the injury saying that if he would have just played through his illness (flu like symptoms) that Cam wouldn't have gotten hurt... Sheesh

It's okay Elly, you and Pete Dawg got this.

[Jakob]

Everyone feels bad for Cam, but I also feel awful for Ellis. His post game interview was sobering to say the least.

He basically blamed himself for the injury saying that if he would have just played through his illness (flu like symptoms) that Cam wouldn't have gotten hurt... Sheesh

It's okay Elly, you and Pete Dawg got this.

Hey, where can I find a link to his interview?

[KillerKat]

Peters had a 93.1 save percentage last season. I think they can handle it.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Couldn't find the link but it was just a few comments that he made where he put Cam's injury on himself.