Dallas Stars defenseman Sergei Zubov underwent arthroscopic surgery Thursday to repair a hip injury and will be out 4-8 weeks.
That brings a bit of a cloud to the start of training camp today, as Zubov will miss the start of the season. But Stars coach Dave Tippett said the team learned a lot about its young defensemen last season when Zubov and Philippe Boucher were out of the lineup.
\"I think when Zubie went down last season, there was a real feeling of \'Oh, oh, what are we going to do?\'\" Tippett said. \"But we had players step it up and play big roles, and we expect the same thing this year.\"
Boucher, who missed 44 games with shoulder injuries, also will miss the start of training camp with a sore toe. Tippett said they are resting Boucher as a precaution.
Zubov missed 33 games with a sports hernia, but Tippett said the hip injury is not related to that injury. Zubov returned to play 11 playoff games, averaging 26:01 in ice time.
Zubov was skating with his teammates in loose scrimmages for the last three weeks and the hip pain flared up. The Stars decided to have the procedure Thursday for Zubov to lose as little playing time as possible, Tippett said.
Dallas starts the regular season Oct. 10.
Tippett expects Boucher to be in the lineup, and Zubov\'s injury will probably move Mark Fistric into the top six. Fistric, 22, played 37 regular-season games with the Stars and nine in the playoffs. Stephane Robidas, Trevor Daley, Matt Niskanen and Nicklas Grossman should fill out the remainder of the top six.
Dallas also has three veterans with AHL experience who will fight to fill in. Garrett Stafford, 28, Dan Jancevski, 27, and Maxime Fortunas, 25, are in the mix to start the season with the Stars. Rookie Ivan Vishnevskiy, 20, will get a shot to make his NHL debut, but will probably not be kept as a seventh defenseman.
The Stars will move quickly through training camp, which begins today in Frisco, with the preseason opener Tuesday in St. Louis.
Dallas has to adjust to losing Mattias Nortstrom, Stu Barnes, Niklas Hagman, Antti Miettinen, Johan Holmqvist and Brad Winchester from last season\'s team.
The Stars add free agents Sean Avery and Fabian Brunnstrom, as well as open the lineup for rookie forwards James Neal, Ray Sawada and B.J. Crombeen to fight for a couple of roster spots.
\"We have some great competition, and that\'s a good thing for the team,\" Tippett said. \"Everybody is pushing everybody else, and that makes everyone better.\"
wow, major news, I guess this means alot more PP time for Niskanen...I wonder what else we might see shaken up on the Stars D as a result of this injury
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