The St. Louis Blues have two significant injuries to report. Out are right wingers Jimmy Snuggerud of Chaska, Minnesota and Alexey Toropchenko of Moscow, Russia.
What are the injuries?
Snuggerud will be out six weeks with left wrist surgery. Toropchenko, meanwhile, severely burnt his legs in a home accident. This is the third significant injury in the National Hockey League this season where a player got injured away from the ice. Last month, New Jersey Devils superstar forward Jack Hughes of Orlando, Florida severely cut his finger on a glass during a team dinner, and will be out at least another month after having surgery. Meanwhile, Florida Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen of Siilinjarvi, Finland suffered severe burns during a barbecue accident.
Jimmy Snuggerud
Snuggerud has five goals and six assists for 11 points in 26 games. He is a -2 with six penalty minutes, four power-play points, two game-winning goals, 47 shots on goal, two faceoff wins, 16 blocked shots, 25 hits, 10 Â takeaways and 13 giveaways. Snuggerud’s 11 points are 10th among NHL rookies this season.
Snuggerud’s first game-winning goal came on October 13 in a 5-2 Blues win over the Vancouver Canucks. Snuggerud scored from Pavel Buchnevich of Cherepovets, Russia, and captain Brayden Schenn of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on the power-play at 8:13 of the second period to put the Blues up 3-1. Snuggerud’s second game-winning goal came five days later on October 18 in a 3-1 Blues win over the Dallas Stars. Snuggerud put the Blues up 2-0 at 13:52 of the second period from defenseman Tyler Tucker of Thunder Bay, Ontario and Buchnevich.
Alexey Toropchenko
It has been a very disappointing season for Toropchenko, who has not been effective for the Blues offensively or defensively from a statistical standpoint. In 17 games, he only has one goal and one assist for two points and is a -5 with two takeaways ands nine giveaways. Toropchenko has one shorthanded point, 13 shots on goal, 13 blocked shots, and 38 hits. Toropchenko’s assist came in a Blues’s 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames on November 11. Toropchenko set up Nathan Walker of Cardiff, United Kingdom at 7:20 of the second period for the game-winning goal. At the time, the Blues went up 3-0.
Struggling this season
The Blues have a record of nine wins, 11 regulation losses and seven losses in extra time for 25 points. That is the fourth fewest points in the Western Conference. Only the Nashville Predators (20), Calgary Flames (22), and Vancouver Canucks (23) have less.
