The I.R: Thursday Afternoon

Alot of minor shuffling today and yesterday from/to the Injured Reserve or the AHL and here they are.

*-> The Montreal Canadians have been hit by a wave of recent injuries and now can add Chris Higgins back to that list alot though he'll most likely only miss a game or two with an agrivated upper-body injury. The good news is that big Georges Laraque will most likely be ready to put on the skates for Montreal's tilt with Toronto Saturday. Also defenseman turned forward Mathieu Dandenault will be back from his serious leg injury way sooner than expected. He is rumored to be back early next week. Patrice Briesbois who is also out with an undisclosed injury which would most likely be his ankle should be ready to play again next week as well.

*-> The Canadians have also sent down defenseman Alex Henry back to Hamilton after playing two games.

*-> The Buffalo Sabres have activated veteran defenseman Teppo Numminen from the injured reserve and sent down defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani to the Portland Pirates.

*-> The Ottawa Senators have returned center Peter Regin to the juinior Sens and recalled winger Ryan Shannon for tonights game against Boston.

*-> The Blue Jackets have reactivated Russian young gun Nikita Filitov but then sent him down to Syracuse of the AHL.

*-> The Carolina Hurricanes have ran into some injury trouble down the stretch on their Western tour lossing both Rod Brind'Amour and grinder Scott Walker. Walker who was placed on the I.R today is out with an undisclosed upper body injury while Brind'Amour continues to suffer from a bad back. Walker is expected to be atleast while a week while Brind'Amour is only expected to miss the last leg of the trip. Replacement Jakub Petruzalek was called up from Albany.

*-> The Toronto Maple Leaf's have done another up and down shuffle involving Justin Pogge after leaving him out to dry againts the Sabres last night. Justin Pogge was sent down to the Marlies today after just one day in the show. The Buds countered by bringing back up Jonas Frogren after just sending him down yesterday with tough guy Andre Deveaux.

*-> The Phoenix Coyotes have recalled Kevin Porter and forward Jeff Hoggan from San Antonio of the AHL while sending down LW Steven Goertzen and former Sen Alexander Nikulin. The Desert Dogs have also activated Viktor Tikhonov from the IR but chose to send him down to San Antonio for some conditioning.

The I.R Sunday

*-Buffalo Sabre's longtime defenseman Teppo Numminen is out once again after having facial surgery this morning. He had surgery to repair a fractured cheek bone caused by taking a Tim Gleason shot to the face Saturday night. Teppo who has had a long list of ailments this season is expected to miss another 3 weeks.

*-Mike Zigomanis of the Pittsburgh Penguins will miss the rest of the season after opting for sugery on his right shoulder which he suffered December 3rd.

*-St. Louis Blues rookie defenseman Roman Polak will be out at least 2 months with a fractured bone in his foot. He was injured Saturday night when he took a shot of his right foot.

*Steve Stamko's of the Tampa Bay Lightning will be missing a few games as a healthy skratch so he may work on his conditioning and review video footage to make him stronger. The team announced they would be holding him back to help his future. He is however expected to play on Monday but after the future is unclear.

The I.R: Tuesday Morning

Here are today's injuries...

*- Maxim Afinogenov of the Buffalo Sabre's will miss at least a weeks worth of games due to a nagging groin injury he received from a hit against Chara.

*-In other Buffalo news Craig Rivet is set to return after missing 11 games with an injured shoulder. Also Teppo Numminen is almost 100% after missing a few games with an undisclosed illness.

*-The Columbus Blue Jacket's have finally placed Rostislav Klesla on the I.R for a nagging undisclosed lower-body injury. The time frame is expected to be 2-4 weeks.