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Injuries could sideline Cammalleri, Spacek for weeks

Montreal Canadiens v Florida Panthers

SUNRISE, FL - DECEMBER 31: Stephen Weiss #9 of the Florida Panthers fights for control of the puck with Michael Cammalleri #13 and Jaroslav Spacek #6 of the Montreal Canadiens on December 31, 2010 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

Joel Auerbach

The Montreal Canadiens stomped all over the Winnipeg Jets’ party on Sunday, but it came at the cost of Michael Cammalleri and Jaroslav Spacek’s health. It’s now becoming clearer how long the Habs will be without Cammalleri and Spacek.

Considering how scary an unlucky skate blade injury can be, Cammalleri’s situation is surprisingly tolerable. The Canadian Press reports that he’ll only miss 10-14 days from a cut that thankfully didn’t damage any muscle or tendons. Cammalleri will check in with doctors on the weekend to make sure everything’s going as planned, though.

The news is slightly worse for Montreal defenseman Spacek, though. He could miss up to three weeks from what many believe is a rib injury but the Habs will only call “an upper body injury.”

Losing an electric scorer like Cammalleri hurts, but he’s had enough struggles with health problems that it isn’t exactly out of the ordinary. Besides, the Habs’ biggest issues are on an injury-ravaged blueline. Spacek joins the injured defensive ranks of Andrei Markov and Chris Campoli.

This tough situation will test the limits of Jacques Martin’s system and put the onus on players like P.K. Subban and Carey Price to shoulder more and more of the burden. The one bright side is that six of their next seven games take place in Montreal, although the possibility for blown opportunities could make those injuries sting that much more.