MSU head coach Ron Mason has been shooing it away all season, but the injury bug finally bit Tuesday night in Big Rapids.
And although it bit hard, the sting doesn’t look quite as bad as it did at first.
Both freshman center Lee Falardeau and junior right wing Steve Jackson left MSU’s 3-2 win over Ferris State early - Falardeau with a sprained left knee and Jackson with a sprained left thumb.
Falardeau, who was hurt in a collision behind the Ferris net, was originally feared to be out three to four weeks, but was upgraded Wednesday to two to three weeks. He’s on crutches, and spent Wednesday’s practice in the training room.
“I just got kind of tangled up and went into the boards wrong,” said Falardeau, who has four goals and seven assists this year. “I don’t really feel that bad at all, just a little stiff.
“There’s nothing you can really do about it. I figure this way I’ll be fresh for the CCHA playoffs.”
Jackson, who has three goals and four assists, sprained his thumb on a check as he crossed the offensive blue line and was first thought to be out at least four weeks. He wore a hard cast on the arm Wednesday, but could be back in as little as two weeks.
“I didn’t feel it right away,” Jackson said. “But I came across and kind of caught the guy’s shoulder and my thumb sprained back.
“And now we’re left with this here,” he said, holding up his cast. “Thumbs up all the time.”
Even freshman wing Mike Lalonde was nicked up Tuesday night, slicing his right ear on a stick while diving for a loose puck. He practiced Wednesday with a tape-and-gauze contraption covering his mostly purple ear.
“It burns a little bit,” said Lalonde, who said he will “definitely” play in Saturday’s tilt at Michigan.
“Hopefully other guys on the team like myself, and Fergie (junior forward Troy Ferguson), and other guys can step in and do just as good of a job as the injured guys.”
Before this rash of medical hardships, MSU (17-5-2 overall, 12-4-1 CCHA) only had lost two man-games to injury all season - Falardeau sat out of MSU’s 5-1 loss to Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 27 with a mild concussion and sophomore defenseman Joe Markusen missed Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Western Michigan with a chest contusion.
And the timing of the new injuries is especially frustrating for the Spartans, who are about to enter the “Big Ten” portion of their schedule. After Saturday’s high-profile battle for first place with No. 8 U-M at Yost Ice Arena, the next two weekends hold four straight games against third-place Ohio State.
“I think we’ll be OK, but who knows?” Mason said. “The thing about it is, we’ll get these players back. Now, if it happened in March, that could really be a serious blow to our team.
“What you want to do when you have injuries is try to get some balance among your second, third and fourth lines, as opposed to just building up two lines.”
So let the line-juggling begin.
If Wednesday’s practice is any indication, Ferguson will move up to Falardeau’s spot on the second line, centering senior left wing Joe Goodenow and freshman right wing Brock Radunske.
Lalonde practiced with freshman left wing Kevin Estrada and freshman center Ash Goldie on the third line. And the fourth line will probably include junior left wing Steve Clark, sophomore center Tim Hearon and junior right wing Kris Koski.
“It’s terrible for your teammates to get hurt and I really feel for them,” said Clark, who has only played one game this season after playing 75 in his first two years. “But at the same time, any opportunity I can have to help the team - whether it’s this or earning my own way in - is always nice.
“Falardeau’s been playing great all season and Steve Jackson as well, and those are two tough guys to fill-in for, but I don’t think the team’s going to have a big lapse because of it.”
