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MLive : Howard out at least 2-4 weeks with "slight groin tear"

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DETROIT - Goaltender Jimmy Howard will undergo another medical test Monday to determine the severity of the slight groin tear he suffered Saturday night in Washington.

Howard underwent an MRI Sunday afternoon and general manager Ken Holland told MLive in a text message that team doctors want an ultrasound performed Monday "so we have a better read on his injury."

"We are doing an ultrasound tomorrow to confirm we have the right info," Holland said.

"We think he's out till the All-Star break and maybe beyond but in my 18 years of being GM I've found that no one really knows how one player heals versus another player.

"I would say tonight he's out 2-4 weeks but we don't really know. He has a slight groin tear and we've put him on IR so he's out a minimum of a week."

Howard was injured 1:53 into a 3-1 loss to the Capitals when he was trying to stop a wraparound goal by Troy Brouwer. Barely an hour earlier, Howard was named to his second All-Star team.

The Red Wings have placed Howard on the injured list and recalled Tom McCollum from Grand Rapids of the AHL to replace him on the roster.

McCollum will be available when the Red Wings play Tuesday in Buffalo. With Howard on the shelf, Petr Mrazek becomes the Red Wings' No. 1 goalie.

Veteran Jonas Gustavsson started the season as Howard's backup but has been sidelined for more than two months with a dislocated shoulder.

Not as bad as I initially feared.

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I'm cautiously optimistic because 2-4 weeks is just Holland taking a random guess. A slight groin tear doesn't sound good and you know how these groin injuries can sideline goalies for quite a while. I remember when Hasek had a similar injury during the Olympics (although his was the adductor muscle, so it could have been more severe) and he was out for the rest of the year.

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I'm cautiously optimistic because 2-4 weeks is just Holland taking a random guess. A slight groin tear doesn't sound good and you know how these groin injuries can sideline goalies for quite a while. I remember when Hasek had a similar injury during the Olympics (although his was the adductor muscle, so it could have been more severe) and he was out for the rest of the year.

Posted this in the All-Star thread:

Holland says 2-4 weeks, or more.

http://redwingsfront.wordpress.com/

MRI confirmed it's a slight tear, ultrasound tomorrow to determine exact extent of the damage.

My understanding is there are three general degrees of severity. Grade 1, you're out a week (or more). Grade 2, 2-4 weeks (or more). Grade 3, 6-8 weeks (or more). It sounds like he's Grade 2; I'm assuming a month or longer. Even if he heals relatively "quickly," he won't be allowed back until he's 110% healthy. As we've learned (through Howard and others), you don't come back from a groin problem unless you're really, truly, totally, unequivocally better - especially if you're a goalie.

We wait.

Point being, I don't think Holland's giving a random guess. It seems to be a Grade 2 strain.

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I'm going to hope for positive (at least as positive as possible) news. He has had a great season thus far, and the team is going to need him for the playoff push. As much as I like Mrazek, I'd prefer Jimmy back at 100% regardless. Plus, he needs a certain percentage of the games played as far as league stats leaders recognition at the end of the year, right.

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This is pretty damn bad. Howard was having a Vezina season and now we need to rely on Mrazek for at least a month?? (Howard will be longer than 2 weeks trust me). Were you guys watching the game on Saturday? The book is already out on Mrazek, The guy is so incredibly aggresive other teams know to wait him out and be patient. This is really horrible news. Where the hell is Gustavsson?

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This is pretty damn bad. Howard was having a Vezina season and now we need to rely on Mrazek for at least a month?? (Howard will be longer than 2 weeks trust me). Were you guys watching the game on Saturday? The book is already out on Mrazek, The guy is so incredibly aggresive other teams know to wait him out and be patient. This is really horrible news. Where the hell is Gustavsson?

And that's not something they can rather easily fix? He'll mature. Relax. There's a reason why a lot of smart people believe he's our goalie of the future.

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In case no one else has said it: Mrazek needs to get all the starts 'cept for maybe that Buffalo game that's the night right after the Nashville game.

Yeah, I don't want to see McCollum even get a game in, but i'm sure it will happen, unless Monster is back sooner than anticipated. Mrazek will need a rest at some point. Sucks, but thats the way she goes.

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This is pretty damn bad. Howard was having a Vezina season and now we need to rely on Mrazek for at least a month?? (Howard will be longer than 2 weeks trust me). Were you guys watching the game on Saturday? The book is already out on Mrazek, The guy is so incredibly aggresive other teams know to wait him out and be patient. This is really horrible news. Where the hell is Gustavsson?

The sky is falling the sky is falling!! Please, Mrazek will be fine. We need to score goals!

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The sky is falling the sky is falling!! Please, Mrazek will be fine. We need to score goals!

I absolutely agree 100%. This is the time when we find out what kind of team we have. The leaders of this team have to find another level and get Mrazek some goals and the D has to play much better in front of him.

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I wouldn't even give McCollum a shot against Buffalo. Mrazek is young -- he can handle playing on consecutive nights with the break just a couple days away after that. That should be an easy two points and starting McCollum probably turns it in into anything but easy.

Mrazek should start every game until Monster is back, IMO.

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I know the difference between the AHL and the NHL is pretty significant for any position, especially for a goaltender. But McCollum has been playing great down in Grand Rapids so far this season, he actually has better numbers than Mrazek. I'm not saying McCollum would hold his own at the NHL level or even that he would play well, but some are acting like there's no chance and that he is doomed for failure. And why? Because he had a terrible outing 4 years ago in a blowout game against the Blues that they already had lost?... Give me a break. I hope McCollum gets a chance to start a game and gets the W, if for no other reason but to keep his confidence up with the Griffs, and of course to prove the naysayers wrong.....

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I know the difference between the AHL and the NHL is pretty significant for any position, especially for a goaltender. But McCollum has been playing great down in Grand Rapids so far this season, he actually has better numbers than Mrazek. I'm not saying McCollum would hold his own at the NHL level or even that he would play well, but some are acting like there's no chance and that he is doomed for failure. And why? Because he had a terrible outing 4 years ago in a blowout game against the Blues that they already had lost?... Give me a break. I hope McCollum gets a chance to start a game and gets the W, if for no other reason but to keep his confidence up with the Griffs, and of course to prove the naysayers wrong.....

I hope he does it if only to raise his value should we decide to trade him! Gotta be pragmatic at the very least. But if anything, it just seems like he's had a rougher development in some ways, but Howard struggled as well early on and came out strong once he hit the NHL. Everyone's different though and it's really tough to say. It'd be great to have two relevant goaltending prospects waiting in the Wings in any event. It's a very good problem to have.

But that said, I do think Mrazek is ultimately going to be our guy, and I also wouldn't be shocked at all if he ends up being the reason Howard is traded in the next year or two. If we've got a young guy ready to take over the starting job who's capable of being as good or better than Howard for a lot less money in the short term, Howard is instantly going to become trade-bait, though at least it'll be the best trade bait we've had in about 4-5 years.

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I hope he does it if only to raise his value should we decide to trade him! Gotta be pragmatic at the very least. But if anything, it just seems like he's had a rougher development in some ways, but Howard struggled as well early on and came out strong once he hit the NHL. Everyone's different though and it's really tough to say. It'd be great to have two relevant goaltending prospects waiting in the Wings in any event. It's a very good problem to have.

But that said, I do think Mrazek is ultimately going to be our guy, and I also wouldn't be shocked at all if he ends up being the reason Howard is traded in the next year or two. If we've got a young guy ready to take over the starting job who's capable of being as good or better than Howard for a lot less money in the short term, Howard is instantly going to become trade-bait, though at least it'll be the best trade bait we've had in about 4-5 years.

Holland doesn't make trades. He definitely wouldn't trade a goalie like Howie if he didn't have to, remember hasek/cujo. He won't trade a top 5/10 goalie

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Exactly Euro_Twins. Those of you clamoring for Howard to be traded now, it simply is not going to happen. Howard isn't going anywhere any time soon. If anything, Mrazek would be the one that Holland would trade at this point. If I HAD to trade one right now, I would think long and hard, before ultimately keeping the proven goaltender and trading the very good prospect. I would do so, knowing I may regret it, but you cannot put all your faith into a goalie with just 20 NHL games under his belt. Lucky for us, we still have plenty of time to sort this out. If all goes well, maybe after a couple seasons of Mrazek backing up and another season or so of shared duty, we can then shop Howard, although I still wouldn't be shocked if Holland opted to keep his veteran goaltender...

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Holland doesn't make trades. He definitely wouldn't trade a goalie like Howie if he didn't have to, remember hasek/cujo. He won't trade a top 5/10 goalie

Not only did he try and trade Osgood in 2001, but he ended up exposing him to waivers. But yes, I generally agree.

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