the 4th star

As of this posting, no one seems to know the extent of the injury Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron suffered in a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers last night. TSN is reporting that the forward, a controversial selection to the Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team roster, suffered a thumb injury and will be out at least three weeks. Break out that calendar you got for Christmas (or the one you’ve already received for Ukrainian Christmas) and you’ll see that time line doesn’t even get us to February.

The Hockey Canada network also mentions that there have been reports that replacements are already being suited up for a jersey:

While various reports have Bergeron being replaced by Philadelphia Flyers forward Jeff Carter, the full extend of the injury is not yet known and Team Canada’s executive director Steve Yzerman told TSN’s Darren Dreger that  it was far too premature to suggest Carter would be Bergeron’s replacement, if Bergeron can’t compete in Vancouver.

Three weeks and no replacement. Sounds good (for Bergeron). However…

Pierre LeBrun offers a much more vague timeline for the injury, placing the injured thumb in the 2-6 weeks range. That prognosis pushes Bergeron well into February and with the 15th of Heart Month the drop-dead date for final roster submissions, one has to wonder if Team Canada will take a chance on a bubble player who hasn’t participated in real games leading up to the tournament.

UPDATE: It’s 2-3 weeks, according to the Bruins blog entitled Bruins Blog.

So that’s that. But no matter how long the Bruins forward is out, the injury opened up the expected can of worms in this country regarding who the replacement should would be. If you read the comments on the bottom of the Bergeron stories today, the change will be the difference between the gold medal and the seventh place medal. Except from this guy on the TSN comments. His over-confidence is so abundant that it seemingly pushes away any memory of Turino:

Arnieboy
2 hours ago
I think it’s stupid to complain about who made and didnt mae (sic) the team. Canada could field 3 teams and have 2 in the final and one in the bronze medal game.

Now that would be Owning the Podium! I’m not sure the possible change would have that big of an impact, but many seem to feel the injury is certainly an opportunity to right a roster wrong. Personally, I would rather watch Bergeron play his way off the team — but that’s just the way I was raised. Just joking. I’m sure he’ll be fine. If someone would go all Tonya Harding on Eric Staal this weekend — now that could have a positive effect on the Canadian club.

Is that a lead pipe in your hand, Martin St. Louis, or are you just happy to see me?