Fedotenko to miss 4 to 6 weeks

[Captain Chaos]

Saturday, January 10, 2009
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

DENVER -- Ruslan Fedotenko doesn't fight much.

And even though he won his most recent one in stunning fashion, it will be a while before Fedotenko does it again.

Or even gets a chance.

It turns out that he broke his right hand throwing the punch that dropped Atlanta right winger Colby Armstrong during their skirmish in the first period of the Penguins' 3-1 victory Tuesday against the Thrashers, and is expected to be out of the lineup for 4 to 6 weeks.

The Penguins, who will play Colorado at 3:08 p.m. today at the Pepsi Center, recalled forward Chris Minard from their minor league team in Wilkes-Barre once they learned the extent of Fedotenko's injury.

Minard leads the American Hockey League with 26 goals and is tied for second in points with 41. He has one goal and one assist in 15 games with the Penguins this season.

I'm not the biggest Fedotenko fan in the world but he has performed a little better than Shitan. I am, however, tired of seeing Goligoski or Letang playing on a 4th line wing. That's where Fedotenko's absence will be felt. If only Minard could transfer his minor league success over to the big leagues.

[PghSteel-43]

Now we lose one of the very few players who has shown up over the last month.  Overall, I'm pleased with Fedotenko.  It's not like we are paying the guy 3.5 million. 

At the cost of $2.2 million, he has 11 goals, 10 assists and is a +7.  He's basically putting up the same amount of points that he put up the last two seasons.  That should be pretty much expected from the Penguins front office.  If they were expecting him to come in here and put up over 30 goals, they signed the wrong guy.