Kopecky Might Need Surgery After Fight With Beauchemin

The Detroit Red Wings are getting ready to take on the Anaheim Ducks Sunday evening with their Western Conference semifinal series tied at two. They're likely going to be without forward Tomas Kopecky who is looking at the possibility of surgery following his one-sided (not Kopecky's side) fight with Francois Beauchemin on Thursday night.



At least both guys took their visors off. This is the second fight in the NHL this season, that I can recall, that resulted in a combatant injuring himself to the point where he missed several weeks of action. Earlier this season Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko suffered a broken hand when he punched Colby Armstrong in the nose.

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said on Saturday that it appears Kopecky will require surgery, which would likely end his season. A fourth-liner, the 27-year-old averages about nine minutes of ice-time per game, and has one assist in eight postseason games. He recorded 19 points in 79 regular season games for the Red Wings.

In his absence, Detroit has called up forward Justin Abdelkader from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League. Head coach Mike Babcock was pretty clear when discussing his expectations for the rookie forward. From Ansar Khan of MLive.com: "We expect him to get in on the forecheck and run over people."

In 86 games with the Griffins this season (including playoffs), the former second-round pick scored 30 goals to go with 30 assists. He's played four games with the Red Wings the past two seasons, registering no points.

(H/T Puck Daddy)