White out with upper body injury; Salvador will play in St. Louis

Defenseman Colin White did not practice today and will not make the trip to St. Louis with the team today for Tuesday's game against the Blues because of what the team is calling an "upper body injury."

Devils coach Brent Sutter said White was injured in Saturday's win over the Rangers. White played the full game. In fact, he played more than seven minutes in the third period.

White has been bothered by a sore throat for more than a week, but that wasn't keeping him out of the lineup. I don't think this "upper body injury" is related to that, but I guess you never know.

Sutter said "at this point" there was no plan for White to join the team for Wednesday's game in Dallas either.

On the positive side for the Devils, Sutter said defenseman Bryce Salvador will play in St. Louis after missing the last five games with what the team is now calling a inner ear infection.

Salvador practiced with the team today for the first time since he last played on Dec. 17 in Buffalo and reported no problems.

"It felt good to be out there," he said.

Salvador was experiencing some dizziness and trouble with his balance because of the inner ear infection. He also had some pain in the ear. He said most of the pain is gone.

"Still some of the hearing is not back, but it's resolving itself," he said. "I'm cleared and (the doctors) feel pretty confident that the ear infection is resolved and it shouldn't affect my balance and stuff like that."

Salvador said he took steroids (orally and through injections) to treat the ear infection. (They were prescribled by a doctor, so don't worry about him failing any drug tests).

It will be Salvador's first game in St. Louis since the Blues traded him to the Devils for Cam Janssen on Feb. 26. Although Salvador admitted he wanted to get back to play in the city he called home for seven seasons -- he also spent three seasons in the Blues' minor league system -- he would not have rushed back if he wasn't ready to play.

"At the end of the day, it's one of those things you can't control," Salvador said. "I'm excited to go back to St. Louis, but if it didn't happen, it's not like I'm not going to have another opportunity to play in St. Louis."

Salavador said he planned to see some of his former teammates tonight, but probably wouldn't be able to visit with most of them until after the game Tuesday night.

Sutter said Salvador will play with Jay Leach, though he played with Paul Martin before he was injured. Martin will remain with Johnny Oduya instead.

"Johnny and Paul have played well together," Sutter said.

***

It might have been just because he let it slip, but Sutter actually admitted today that Scott Clemmensen will start in net Tuesday in St. Louis. I had asked him if both goaltenders might play in these upcoming back-to-back road games in St. Louis and Dallas.

"I don't know that," Sutter said. "We'll get through tomorrow night and see now Clemmer gets through it and then we'll decide going into Dallas what we want to do."

Kevin Weekes has not played since Dec. 13 against Buffalo.

***

Mike Rupp and Janssen were pretty good friends during Janssen's two-plus seasons with the Devils, but Rupp said he had not spoken to him "in a while" and wasn't sure if he was going to get together with him tonight in St. Louis. I asked Rupp if it would be difficult to drop the gloves against Janssen if the situation arises.

"From a personal standpoint, I always liked Janny," Rupp said. "Janny's a great guy. But we're playing the game of hockey and we're trying to win hockey games and if anybody on the other team is trying to get under our skin and do something, we've got to respond."

Would it be strange fighting somehone who he was friends with?

"You don't have a choice but to put it out of your head," Rupp said.

Does Rupp know all of Janssen's tendencies when he fights?

"He's a ball of energy," Rupp said. "That's all I know." 

Comments

[mikeK]

Almost makes you think they're giving the d-men some rest while we've got the depth...

[Sarah]

This is reaching all new levels of crazy now. It's a revolving door of injuries/illnesses. One player in, another player out.

Hopefully Colin won't be out too long, he's been playing really well this year.

[mikeschoenf]

TG always posts something new after i post a comment! The day greene comes back Salvador is out. The day Salvador comes back Greene is injured!! WTF?
I hope sal doesnt fight cam.. especially with the facial/ear injuries.. in fact rupp is probably our only devil that could stay alive fighting Cam haha. As for Chearapanov I dont believe anything that the Russians are saying. They are looking to point the blame on anybody but themselves. First they say he was playing on the team illegally (should have been in the army) and now this.. Man up and take responsibility for what occured. The entire league should be shut down.. who would want to play there if they cant even admit to some fault.. 15 minutes for an ambulance.. no batteries in the defibrillator.. i mean really here.

[mikeschoenf]

Wrong color.. i meant the day Salvador comes back White is out.. not Greene. HA.. I didnt realize being perscribed steriods was a valid reason for using steriods. I thought I have heard athletes use that as an excuse and still be punished. Obviously Salv isnt using steriods for personal gain, but you know how WADA and all of these agencies work. Lastly, Cant belive Sutter slipped! I bet if you asked him who was starting tommorrow he wouldnt have said Clemmer!

[embo slice]

mikeK....i'm with you.....it doesnt seem that they want to send leach down.....so they are giving guys a rest to have them not break down at the end of the season while they have the numbers.....its really not the worst idea considering the defense as a whole is playing very solid right now

[JJ]

Leach stays, Brookbank goes when all are healthy.

[DP]

brent, dont leave martin with oduya when everyone is healthy, it would be a big mistake

[Ed]

I bet Janssen takes on Salvador or Clarkson instead of Rupp. Clarkson and Janssen both played in the OHL around the same time. I think they had some run-ins back in those days before they became teammates in the minors.

[Kelly]

I miss Cam... Rupp hit the nail on the head when he said he was a ball of energy. I don't care if he had so many points and so many minutes. I was always excited to see him play. Can't wait for tonight!!

[wound infections]

This kind of wound is very hard to treat , I said tha based on my own experiences.

[hotels spanien]

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