Ilya Kovalchuk Out 2-4 Weeks

“The Atlanta Thrashers will be without star forward Ilya Kovalchuk for two-to-four weeks.

The 26-year-old has a small fracture of a non-weight bearing bone.

Kovalchuk had a CT scan on Monday afternoon to determine the extent of a foot injury he suffered on Saturday against the San Jose Sharks.” (source: TSN.ca Staff)

After earning a bad reputation early in his career (we all remember him doing the show-boating in the world juniors) Kovalchuk, at 26, has matured into a fine player and a good captain for the Atlanta Thrashers. With 306 goals and 261 assists over 553 NHL games, they obviously won’t be able top replace him but it does offer a good chance for other players, like young star Evander Kane, to step up.

There will be much gnashing of teeth for fantasy pool general managers as well, like my fellow writer Mark, who has been taking Christobal Huet shots at me since the season started. I wonder what a keeper player is worth when he’s in the KHL?