Halpern Injures Knee

[Top Shelf]

Poss. torn ACL, may be out half a year.

On and on it goes. Further eval today.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/lightning/2008/05/lightning-cente.html?cid=113655546#comment-113655546

[jaydeedub]

That's really bad news if it is a torn ACL. Really, really bad news. Guy at work had one in Feb and is still limbering around with his knee brace on. There goes the 3rd line.

[timothy]

That all but guarantees the resigning of Chris Gratton.

[Netminder]

That all but guarantees the resigning of Chris Gratton.

And this would be Good, Why????

He is coming off surgery also,No Idea how that works.

[Randy]

I do think they have to make the push to resign Gratton. There are not many UFA centers out there this Summer and a lot of teams will be after them.

From the reports I've read, Halpern will be off the ice for 6-8 months. Assuming a recovery within that time frame, he still has to get his conditioning together. My guess is that Halpern would return in January at the earliest.

So I think signing Gratton is an imperative. I don't think anyone on the farm is quite ready yet for 3rd line prime time in Tampa. Maybe Blair Jones.

Absent Halpern getting hurt, I didn't see the Bolts resigning Gratton. It should only be a one year deal for less money than he got last season.

Halpern is going to be a big loss to the Bolts. The 3rd line was the most solid line going into next season. He elevated Darche's and Ouelette's games after he got here.

And to be injured in a post season tournament.

[bassassin]

This is why players don't like tournaments out of season.

[timothy]

And this would be Good, Why????

Was there anything in my post that made you think I thought it was a good thing? I was neutral statement.

Just a statement of what I think is obvious fallout from the Halpern injury. Doesn't take a prophet to connect the dots from Feaster's trade deadline statements about how much he likes Gratton and wants to resign him to an extension. The Halpern acquisition and Gratton's hip surgery were the only pauses in the road to Gratton's resigning. Halpern's injury clears one of them, and I agree Gratton's hip rehab and subsequent medical clearance will be the other.

So... for Netminder's sake for those that have trouble connecting the dots on their own... perhaps I should rephrase...

Like it or not, barring any long term effects of his hip surgery, Halpern's injury all but guarantees the resigning of Chris Gratton.

[Bolthed]

This is the hockey gods' way of evening out the magical run of no significant injuries that preceeded this awful spell. As always, the mantra is, "At least we won the Cup."

[astro]

I would like to see Blair Jones tryout for the third line role. For some odd reason, I don't believe that he will be given that chance.

[CTLightning26]

You know, i think we are gonna be paying for the cup for many more years. Good grief. Thanks for picking him Torts. The guy was injured a lot this season. let him sit and rest.

[Netminder]

This is why players don't like tournaments out of season.

And yet they keep filling the rosters,:doh:Guess Someone likes playing,or they WOULD NOT SHOW UP. ( I wish they would Not,but they do) Teams tell them they CAN NOT Ride a Motorcycle,but it is OK to go get injuried in some tournament. It is so Stupid.

[Jester47]

I would like to see Blair Jones tryout for the third line role.

If #77 isn't resigned, they may not have a choice!

[bassassin]

I would like to see Blair Jones tryout for the third line role. For some odd reason, I don't believe that he will be given that chance.

Surely he will be at least be given the chance in training camp, and you would also hope Mihalik will be given a look then as well.

[bassassin]

And yet they keep filling the rosters,:doh:Guess Someone likes playing,or they WOULD NOT SHOW UP. ( I wish they would Not,but they do) Teams tell them they CAN NOT Ride a Motorcycle,but it is OK to go get injuried in some tournament. It is so Stupid.

Yeah but hardly with the best players they have I mean Anderson and Thomas in net, when you have players like Miller?

Or Ward in net for Canada when there are Brodeur and Luongo as possiblities?

[chad]

I would like to see Blair Jones tryout for the third line role. For some odd reason, I don't believe that he will be given that chance.

It'd be nice if he was at least given a shot under the meritocracy monster. With a youngin' like Stamkos coming in, the chances of them adding another youngster like Jones or Fadden will probably be unlikely, IMO. Jones would probably be the leader there, but this will certainly thwart the ideas of a 3rd scoring line.

[Evan]

erik has a betterr injury report now. Apparently halpern has a partial tear in his MCL, so he has to wait a month before he can have the ACL surgery and then its 5-6 months of recovery.

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/related/C189/

[chad]

Out until January. Wow.

I wonder how many more Lightning players we'll see at Worlds over the next few years.

[jaydeedub]

My half full glass for next season just lost a little liquid. I was all for Halpern in the 3rd line center role and having a heck of a 3rd line with him and Ouellet and Darche. Sucks. Really, really don't think Gratton is worth bringing back yet again. When the guy did score a goal or add a helper he'd end up taking a stupid call right after. If not two. He played sloppy for the most part. Halperns drive and leadership will be missed. Rather pick up a center who could play wing or center.

Here's the list:

ADAMS, KEVYN C CHI
BARNES, STU C DAL UFA
BEECH, KRIS C PIT UFA
BROWN, CURTIS C S.J UFA
CAJANEK, PETR C STL UFA
CLASSEN, GREG C VAN UFA
CONROY, CRAIG C CGY UFA
CORAZZINI, CARL C DET UFA
CULLEN, MARK C DET UFA
DOELL, KEVIN C ATL UFA
DOWD, JAMES C PHI UFA
FEDOROV, SERGEI C WSH UFA
FORSBERG, PETER C COL UFA
GLUMAC, MIKE C STL UFA
GRATTON, CHRIS C T.B UFA
HARTIGAN, MARK C DET UFA
HEALEY, ERIC C COL UFA
HLINKA, JAROSLAV C COL UFA
HOLIK, ROBERT C ATL UFA
JOHNSON, RYAN C STL UFA
KAPANEN, NIKO C PHX UFA
KARLSSON, ANDREAS C T.B UFA
KELLY, CHRIS C OTT UFA
KELLY, STEVE C MIN UFA
KONOPKA, ZENON C CBJ UFA
KROG, JASON C ATL UFA
LANGKOW, DAYMOND C CGY UFA
LINDEN, TREVOR C VAN UFA
MACDONALD, CRAIG C T.B UFA
MACKENZIE, DEREK C CBJ UFA
MAPLETOFT, JUSTIN C OTT UFA
METROPOLIT, GLEN C BOS UFA
MOORE, DOMINIC C TOR UFA
MORAN, BRAD C VAN UFA
MORGAN, JASON C WSH UFA
MORRISON, BRENDAN C VAN UFA
PAYER, SERGE C MIN UFA
PECA, MICHAEL C CBJ UFA
PERREAULT, YANIC C CHI UFA
PETERS, GEOFF C ANA UFA
PETERSEN, TOBY C DAL UFA
POHL, JOHN C TOR UFA
PROSPAL, VACLAV C PHI UFA
RASMUSSEN, ERIK C N.J UFA
REASONER, MARTY C EDM UFA
RISSMILLER, PATRICK C S.J UFA
RITCHIE, BYRON C VAN UFA
ROBITAILLE, RANDY C OTT UFA
ROENICK, JEREMY C S.J UFA
RUCCHIN, STEVEN C ATL UFA
RYAN, MICHAEL C BUF UFA
SAKIC, JOE C COL UFA
SMITH, MARK C CGY UFA
SMITH, WYATT C COL UFA
SMOLINSKI, BRYAN C MTL UFA
STRAKA, MARTIN C NYR UFA
SUNDIN, MATS C TOR UFA
TAYLOR, TIMOTHY C T.B UFA
VASICEK, JOSEF C NYI UFA
VIUHKOLA, JARI C N.J UFA
WALZ, WES C MIN UFA
WEIGHT, DOUG C ANA UFA
WILLIAMS, JASON C CHI UFA
YELLE, STEPHANE C CGY UFA

[PEIBolt]

Probably nothing new here, but thought I'd pass along what the wires are saying:

THE CANADIAN PRESS
TAMPA BAY — Tampa Bay centre Jeff Halpern is expected to miss the next six to eight months after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament at the IIHF World Hockey Championship, the Lightning announced Wednesday.
Halpern, the captain of the U.S. team, was hit hard late in the third period of Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to Canada in Halifax. The diagnosis was made Wednesday by Dr. Benjamin Shaffer in Washington.
Halpern also suffered a Grade 3 sprain to his medial collateral ligament, and a small tear to his lateral meniscus. Doctors recommended Halpern wait 4-6 weeks for the MCL injury to heal before undergoing reconstructive surgery on his ACL, which typically carries a recovery time of 5-6 months.
Halpern, 32, had 20 goals and 22 assists in 83 games for the Dallas Stars and the Lightning this season. The six-foot, 195-pounder has 281 points (115-166) in 597 career games with Washingon, Dallas and Tampa Bay.

[DrBolt]

WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! :bigcry:

[Sotnos]

Can't believe this...

:begging: no more, hockey gods!

[chad]

Just think if we lost the draft lotto and this happened.

[nhljohnson]

best UFA fit:
Chris Kelly

option 1a:
Chris Gratton

option 1b:
Jones

option 2:
Fadden

[nhljohnson]

kelly > gratton

sign one of the two, address the wings, pray we're in the hunt when halpern returns

ufa winger targets:
brian rolston, MIN
ryan malone, PIT
kristian huselius, CGY
niklas hagman, DAL
antti miettinen, DAL
radim vrbata, PHX


best case

pre-halpern

jokinen-lecavalier-st. louis
harju-stamkos-rolston
oullet-kelly-darche
tarnasky-jones-artyukhin/craig/ward

boyle-ranger
kuba-lundin
picard-o'brien/smaby

w/ halpern

jokinen-lecavalier-st. louis
harju-stamkos-rolston
oullet-halpern-darche
tarnasky-kelly-artyukhin/craig/ward

boyle-ranger
kuba-lundin
picard-o'brien/smaby

/must find a way to trade lukowich and sign rolston

[nhljohnson]

some of the boys on the farm are going to need to grow up quick this season, namely keller and smolenak up front, mihalik on the back end.

[CTLightning26]

I like Kelly a lot. The question is, how expensive would he be?

[jaydeedub]

I like Kelly a lot. The question is, how expensive would he be?

That's a good question. He made 1.26 mil last season, and his production has been nearly the same for the past 3 seasons. Don't think he'd try to command too much. Maybe they could get him on a 2 year deal with 3 mil to 3.5 mil and go from there.

Sucks that Gratton ends up being an option now. He's not worth the $$ and what the Bolts paid to get him.

[timothy]

You know... our luck as a hockey club since we won the Cup has been something akin to when Greg Brady stole that little idol out of that Hawaiian cave...

[chad]

I think Bobby took it.

That's not the point, Chad.

If someone breaks their nose from a football before a "big date" then I'm going to freak out.

[Randy]

You have to figure Halpern is going to miss at least one-half of the season if not more.

I'm not sure that Gratton is the answer here. If he came back, he would have to take a sizeable paycut and I wouldn't sign him for more than 1 year.

Blair Jones is a possible answer. But Torts seems to have no confidence in him based upon the amount of ice time he got this past season during his callup. But he is the low cost option.

Fadden at this stage of his career is not ready to step up to the NHL. He at least needs a year in Norfolk to adjust to the pro game. He may be that center in 2 years, but not right now.

Kelly does seem to be a good candidate from the free agent market. Fortunately we are only looking to replace a 3rd line center here. But it does tie up money that could be used for the two top 6 wingers we need.

[timothy]

That's right! Bobby did take it.

But Greg was wearing it around his neck when he wiped out while surfing, almost drowning.

And then there was the tarantula that crawled into their things (at a picnic??)

The more I think about this, the more I'm convinced someone did something taboo with the Cup during their "day" with it, and they need to make it right.

[CTLightning26]

You have to figure Halpern is going to miss at least one-half of the season if not more.

I'm not sure that Gratton is the answer here. If he came back, he would have to take a sizeable paycut and I wouldn't sign him for more than 1 year.


Kelly does seem to be a good candidate from the free agent market. Fortunately we are only looking to replace a 3rd line center here. But it does tie up money that could be used for the two top 6 wingers we need.

I think Kelly could be used anywhere after Halpern came back. 2 for 3.5-4 would be fine with me.
Gratton - 1 yr $800,000 take it or leave it

[nhljohnson]

I think Kelly could be used anywhere after Halpern came back. 2 for 3.5-4 would be fine with me.
Gratton - 1 yr $800,000 take it or leave it

2 x $2,000,000 per sounds about right.

and yeah, kelly can move to wing when halpern returns.

[chad]

Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - Tampa Bay Lightning center Jeff Halpern underwent successful surgery to repair damage suffered in his right knee on Thursday.

Halpern suffered a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and a partial rupture of his medial collateral ligament in his right knee in Team USA's loss against Canada at the 2008 World Hockey Championships last month.

The procedure was performed in Washington, DC by Dr. Benjamin Shaffer, who did a similar operation on Halpern's left knee in 2002 to repair a torn ACL.

Halpern, a native of Silver Spring, Maryland, scored 20 goals and tallied 22 assists in 83 games for the Stars and Lightning last season.

[Sotnos]

Wishing a speedy recovery to Jeff. We will certainly miss him. :(