It seems as if nothing else could go wrong this season.
Actually, that probably shouldn’t be said… hockey players are very superstitious.
Adding to the Hurricanes recent string of unfortunate luck, Tuomo Ruutu will undergo a season-ending surgery Thursday for an injury that has been nagging him for most of the season’s second half.
Despite Ruutu’s effectiveness in recent weeks, he has not been at 100% since leaving a game against the Colorado Avalanche back on January 8. He returned after missing 15 games but apparently never fully healed.
His injury comes at a time in which fan favorites Tim Gleason and Cam Ward, and newcomer Alex Picard are all down with injuries. Out of the three only Ward seems to have a chance to play in the team’s final nine games. Also, the injury comes during a season which has seen only one Hurricanes player, Tom Kostopoulos, appear in all 73 games so far. Even Eric Staal missed considerable time this season, breaking his streak of 349 consecutive games played.
The ‘Canes will return to action Thursday night when they face the Eastern-Confrence leading Washington Capitals in a Southeast Division showdown. It is unclear of who will be called up to replace Ruutu in the Hurricanes lineup but it is assumed to be Drayson Bowman, Jerome Samson, or Oskar Osala.
