Joni Pitkanen Injury Setback Raises Questions for Carolina Hurricanes’ Defense

September 3rd, 2013 by Mark Jones Leave a reply »

Another wrong turn in Joni Pitkanen's injury recovery has left the Carolina Hurricanes with a new gaping hole in the defensive depth chart.

Pitkanen re-aggravated an injury in his heel last week, according to statements made by his agent that became public Tuesday.

The 29-year-old defenseman had spent the summer rehabbing in his native Finland from a broken bone in his left foot. The injury was caused by an accidental crash into the PNC Arena boards during an uncontested icing play in a Hurricanes-Capitals game on Apr. 2, leading to further calls around the league for the implementation of hybrid icing.

Per Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer:

General manager Jim Rutherford said Tuesday that Pitkanen, who suffered a broken heel bone in April, still needs more recovery time and will not be at camp. Pitkanen will have a CT scan in Raleigh on Thursday, Rutherford said.

"We'll look at what our options are for a possible replacement for Joni, if he's out a long time," Rutherford said. "We don't know how long it's going to be that he'll be out. Will it be a couple of weeks, a month, a half ...

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