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Sunday, 08 January 2012 14:44

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

This just keeps finding a new low.

The Penguins announced today forwards Jordan Staal (knee) and James Neal (foot) will be sidelined for extended periods of time.

Staal will be sidelined four to six weeks due to a knee injury he suffered following a collision with Rangers forward Mike Rupp Friday. The injury, which involved the medial collateral ligament, does not require surgery but will sidelined him four to six weeks.

Neal suffered a broken foot last night when he blocked a shot by Devils defenseman Henrik Tallinder. Dan Bylsma described Neal's recovery time as "weeks." Neal leads the team in goals with 21.

Additionally, this morning, Craig Adams suffered an apparent knee injury in a collision with Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. He will be evaluated tomorrow.

The team is already playing without the services of captain Sidney Crosby and defenseman Kris Letang due to head ailments, right winger Aaron Asham due to an undisclosed ailment and center Dustin Jeffrey (knee).

-EN Says:

What can you say at this point? The injuries the team had to endure last season were ridiculous, but this.... it's just... it's hard to imagine this team making the postseason right now.

That said, with the exception of the ailments of Crosby or Letang, these aren't long term injuries which could end a player's season. Staal, Neal, etc. will likely return at some point this season.

But by the time they do, will it be too late?

(Photo: Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Comments (6)

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written by Louder_Is_Best, January 08, 2012 - 01:36 PM

The season's over. Even if everyone returns, it'll take how long to get back into game form? Given the way this team is playing, they'll be well out of the playoffs by that point anyway.

What prospects will be available in the middle of the first round? I have a sinking feeling the Pens will be drafting between 10 and 15.

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written by KRC, January 08, 2012 - 01:54 PM

To quote from the movie Aliens: "..Game over, man, game over! What the f%@& are we gonna do now?"

Sigh.

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written by Luiz Mello, January 08, 2012 - 04:49 PM

Last year the Penguins showed remarkable resilience keeping up their competitiveness.

I wonder how fair is it to expect they'll be able to do the same this season. I mean, I do not doubt their character, or their will. But that's not always enough to overcome the odds.

Plus, last year the defense stayed pretty much intact, which is not the case this time.

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written by espo33, January 08, 2012 - 05:53 PM

What they need to do is call up some guys, but play them. Don't move up Park or Vitale to the 2nd line, etc. Just bring up a WB and use him on the 2nd line. They will continue to lose if they don't do that.

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written by tennpen, January 08, 2012 - 09:44 PM

I don't know how much NHL talent they have in WB but I agree. Park, Vitale, Adams (if he's not out long term also) etc. , aren't gonna turn into 1st and 2nd line players, give some young guys a fair shot and see what they can do. They really have nothing to lose at this point and nothing to gain by sticking the young guys on the 4th line for 6 minutes a night. Geno, MAF and the D are really gonna hafta rise to the occasion and keep the team afloat the rest of the season for them to have a shot at the playoffs. What a lousy last year and a half, surely the Pens hafta start gettin a break from all these injuries sooner or later, right?

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written by thudder, January 08, 2012 - 11:38 PM

Which makes the decision to shut Crosby down permanently for 2011-2012 all that much easier. Lets enjoy Sid for the long haul.... not have a Marc Savard repeat.

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