Just as the LA Kings were boarding their plane and heading off to Colorado this afternoon it was announced that defenseman Matt Greene had been placed on injured reserve (retroactive to January 19) and Andrew Bodnarchuk was called up from Manchester as a roster replacement.
Although coach Darryl Sutter described it as a ‘mid-body’ injury, it was in fact his back.
And LA Times writer Lisa Dillman soon tweeted that GM Dean Lombardi told her Greene was “out for the year probably.”
But, is he?
Now, we’re not trying to contradict what Lombardi said, as he would know best.
However, for what it’s worth – and our sources on these types of things have been right many more times than they’ve been wrong through the years – we hear Greene isn’t likely lost for the season.
When MayorsManor asked, our sources indicated Greene was estimated to be out 6-12 weeks, depending how he heals from surgery later this week – believed to be for a herniated disc.
Regarding the timetable, sure, if it’s the full 12 weeks, he’d be looking at mid-April – or a return just a few weeks before the regular season ends. Say there were still seven games remaining, that’s still significant in a 48-game season.
Also, if he returns as early as six weeks, that’s around March 2nd – and he will have missed about 17 games or less than half the season.
When we asked the team for clarification on the situation, the only thing initially relayed was – “Matt Greene was placed on IR today due to a mid-body injury. As for recovery time-frame, we plan for the worst and hope for the best.”
We have a more detailed look at the Kings’ situation on defense, including notes and quotes about Willie Mitchell’s knee injury and rookie Jake Muzzin’s expected debut posted here.
From what we’ve gathered, it looks like Mitchell might play as early as Thursday vs. Edmonton or perhaps Saturday in Phoenix. Again though, that information wasn’t confirmed by the team.
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please include a link to www.MayorsManor.com
About John Hoven
Hopefully we see Mitchell back on the ice as soon as possible, especially with Greene now gone for some or all the season. Really interested to see what Muzzin does with the opportunity though.
Wouldn’t mind picking up Mike Commodore right about now. I know it won’t happen, but he’d be a great fit IMHO