The I.R: Monday Evening

*-> Columbus Blue Jackets young goalie Steve Mason was placed on the IR Saturday after suffering from a viral infection while suffering from mono. He is expected to be out for atleast 2 weeks giving him time to recover.

*-> The Minnesota wild will happy to know that defenseman Kurtis Foster is almost ready to go. Foster who suffered a broken leg in a race for the puck will attempt to test out his leg in the AHL till hes ready to go. The Minnesota staff would not comment on how much longer he'll be but it is most likely going to be under 2 weeks.

*-> Tomas Vanek's of the Buffalo Sabres will be out 3 to 4 weeks with a fractured jaw suffered from a shot off the jaw. The Sabre's are going to be missing him severly and are expected to look on the market for a replacement so they may stay in the playoff picture. I guess Don Cherry's hockey gods theory was true after he said the hockey gods would get Buffalo for running up the score last week on Toronto while they had a rookie goalie Justin Pogge in net.

*-> Boston's Michael Ryder will be out for a week with a fractured bone in his cheek after being high sticked by Antoine Vermette in boston's shoot out win agains't Ottawa. This isn't a serious injured its just a precaution while they find out what Ryder has to do in order to return to action like wearing a face sheild or visor.

*-> Chris Neil of the Ottawa Senators will be miss 3 to 4 weeks with a blown knee. Chris Neil who suffered the same injury last season suffered it again in a shoot out win over Buffalo Saturday night. Neil whose stock has risen over the past few weeks has once again dropped with this injury. The Sens are hoping to get him back in action before the deadline so they may attempt to get full value for him.

Ice Scoopz: Friday Evening -> Legace On Waivers

*-> Manny Legace was placed on waivers today by his club the St. Louis Blues after Chris Mason's recent performances solidified Mason's number one status and St.Louis's no need for a back-up at 2.5$MIL. Legace who was really down on the recent slide and was understandably upset when he learned he was waived. Manny said he still will play his heart out and will 100% report to Peoria of the AHL if not claimed. Good thing for Manny he most likely will get picked up it seams as many teams are clamoring for a reliable back-up. The Washington Capitols recently lost Brent Johnson so a 8 week injury and Theodore hasn't played to his usual rate all season. Another team that has reportedly shown interest is the New York Islanders who also have no clear cut back-up no that DiPietro is out for the season. New york has no real incentive though to acquire a back-up unless they feel they could re-sign him as they are already out of the picture and most likely want to keep sliding. Ottawa is another team with goaltending woes, rumor has it that Bryan Murray wont give up on playoff hopes yet and going to keep puching till the very end. Legace could fill that void nicely. The last team I hear is interested is the columbus Blue Jackets who really need to give their young goalie Steve Mason a rest to get healthy. The Blue Jackets are really being pushed by ownership to make the playoffs this year and a really good run down the stretch could do it. Do they have enough faith in Mason that he wont fade down the stretch now that they have learned hes playing with mono?

*-> Another big story is that TSN and the New York Times are reporting that the New York Rangers really would love to bring back Sean Avery. Sean Avery is just about complete the NHL's program and would like to restart his career. Acording to the article the New York management has asked its staff and its players if they thought bringing in Avery could really help the club and apparently the reaction was positive. The Dallas Stars would love to get him off the books in any way possible and most liekly would sweeten the deal for the Rangers if they were willing to take him. The Dallas Stars happen to play the Rangers this weekend so expect talks to begin.

*-> Oilers scout Dave Semenko has been seen watching yet another Bruin game, this leads many to believe that as i reported last night a deal will be close to be done for Erik Cole. Expect a deal sometime this week and from what I am hearing it still involves Vladimir Sobotka and some sort of pick. Brad Marchant's name is also being thrown around as the possible target. I doubt this is the case as Semenko has been watching Bruin's games not Providence so it most likely is Sobotka or someone else off the roster. Michael Ryder could be the target as well, as the Oilers could use his finishing abilities.

That's it for now, there's a few more on the line for later, stay tuned..