(Get) A Sporting Life

As if losing to the Red Wings wasn't bad enough, the Blues are now looking at another possible injury to a main cog in their lineup : A knee injury suffered by Erik Johnson is expected to keep the Blues defenseman out of tonight's game against Los Angeles, but club officials were reluctant Wednesday night to look past the next 24 hours. Johnson left the team's game Wednesday seven minutes into the first period, after he was tangled up with Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk in the neutral zone. Johnson got up slowly, headed to the dressing room and didn't return. It appeared that he was favoring his right knee, which is the one he had surgery on two years ago to repair a torn ligament and caused him to miss the entire 2008-09 season. But there were hints of relief that it might not be a re-aggravation of Johnson's prior injury. "Well, at least he's not dead!" I'm sorry, but it has gotten to the point where it is impossible to see the "glass half full...

From STLToday : Blues defenseman Erik Johnson has a torn ACL in his right knee and will undergo surgery in a couple of weeks, a source has told the Post-Dispatch. Johnson, 20, is expected to be sidelined six to nine months after injuring his knee in a golf-cart incident last week at the Lake of the Ozarks. Obviously, this sucks. But, the Blues were not gonna make a serious run at the playoffs based largely upon contributions from Johnson. We have depth on defense, and Johnson was gonna get injured like this sooner or later. I'd rather have it happen now when he's not the main cog on the blueline than in three years when we are poised for a deep playoff run. Who knows, maybe Johnson being sidelined will allow a player like Junland to make the team. I mean, we already know Johnson's gonna be a stud in this league, if we get a couple more promising young players to step up life will only get better.