Carolina Hurricanes are Close to Getting Back to 100 Percent

The Carolina Hurricanes took a few injuries early in the season but are finally closing in on a fully healthy roster.

The Carolina Hurricanes have seen their fair share of injuries this season. They went into the season carrying an injury from last year in the form of Trevor van Riemsdyk. Since then, van Riemsdyk has come off the injury reserve and has only missed a single game since as a healthy scratch.

But the Carolina Hurricanes weren’t whole then. Newly minted alternate captain Jordan Martinook required surgery for an ab muscle that has kept him out for a little over a month already. He has already shown, in his absence, that his presence is simply irreplaceable for this team. But that wouldn’t be the only injury the team would suffer.

New addition to the team, Erik Haula, would once again aggravate his knee which has kept him out of the last four games. His absence was also felt as the team dropped three of those games. In their stead, the Carolina Hurricanes called up Brian Gibbons and Eetu Luostarinen. While both have played wonderfully they are no Haula or Martinook. Luostarinen was sent back down yesterday.

The Charlotte Checkers do not play again until friday, a full day after the Hurricanes’ game against the Buffalo Sabres. That means that they felt comfortable enough to travel to Upstate New York without him. That compounds to either Haula or Martinook ready to take back the ice. So why Luostarinen and not Brian Gibbons, who some might argue has been the lesser of the two?

While Gibbons passed through waivers on October 1st before the start of the season, he has played ten games with the Carolina Hurricanes since, filling in for Jordan Martinook on the fourth line wing. That means that he will have to pass through waivers once again to send him back down to Charlotte.

Both Haula and Martinook can and have played center so it is not clear which of the two will be returning. The good news is that both have been seen in the latest practices and will travel with the team to Buffalo before Thursday’s game.

Now it’s not very realistic that both of them are good enough to return to the ice against the Sabres. After all, Jordan Martinook’s recovery time was estimated to be between six to eight weeks and it has only been a little over four since. Haula has only practiced today and will only get one more practice before tomorrow’s matchup.

That said, both are listed as day to day with equal chances of returning to the game. Martinook has been seen active and jumping around at a Carolina Panthers game last week, so perhaps he is recovering a little quicker than anticipated. Haula on the other hand may have simply needed time off to recover quicker.

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While Haula missed the road trips to Philadelphia and Ottawa, Jordan Martinook traveled with the team against the Senators and was seen in the press box with Haydn Fleury. His return to practice before the Home game against the Senators on Monday was a welcomed sight and sound for the team and possible helped them return to their winning ways.

When they both finally return to the ice, barring any other injuries (excuse me while i go viciously knock on some wood), the Carolina Hurricanes will return to being a fully healthy team for the first time this season. Rod Brind’amour has a knack for keeping his players healthy with ten going a full 82 games last season. That helped take them to the Eastern Conference Finals. Perhaps it’s time for another trip there.