FINLAND – As reported by Pro Hockey News, HPK’s Arsi Piispanen had his spleen removed following an injury sustained from a contact situation in a match against Karpat. Piispanen also had damage to his kidneys which doctors say has started to heal following the operation. Piispanen will have full two months off from any training and following rehabilitation, he is likely to return for the play-offs. HPK also had two other players injured in the Karpat match. Miikka Mannikko suffered a broken nose and will undergo surgery on Wednesday. Mannikko was on the ice for training wearing a full face cage and is likely to ice tonight against Rauman Lukko, but is likely to miss HPK’s Thursday fixture due to the operation. The third player HPK lost is Niko Nieminen. Nieminen is out for approximately six weeks after he sustained a broken jaw from blocking a slapshot. According to the injury report, Nieminen’s jaw is broken from two places and is awaiting decission to whether he will have to undergo surgery to repair the damage. HPK also learnt that it will have to do without the service of Toni Happola. Happola has been out with back problems and learnt that he will have to undergo surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back. Tappara suffered a big loss, after it was announced that its Captain, Pekka Saravo, sustained a broken hand when Tappara faced Kalpa. Tappara also lost Jesse Turkulainen to injury in the same game. Rather ironically, Tappara has bolstered its defence with Kai Syvasalmi on a loan contract (que drum roll) from Kalpa. Syvasalmi is a great player and a solid defender, but I can just imagine the stick he is going to receive when he first arrives at the Tappara changing room, given he was on the Kalpa roster in the game where Tappara lost the player he has come to replace. Saipa has lost its top point scorer in Tyler Redenbach. According to Saipa physiotherapist Pertti Laakso, Redenbach will be sidelined from three to six weeks with an undisclosed injury. In 38 games this season, Redenbach has registered four goals and 26 assists. Karpat has undergone, what is said to have been a ‘serious development conversation’ with Canadian import player Martin St. Pierre. Karpat, the SM-Liiga’s most expensive team, has had a dismal season when looking at the investments it made for players. Players who have performed below expectation and their salary include St. Pierre and Pavel Rosa. Karpat director of sports operations Harri Aho said, “We had a very serious conversation with Martin St. Pierre. It wasn’t a ‘gun to the head, last chance’ type meeting, but a serious one none the less. Martin has said he wants to play for Karpat for the remainder of the season.” It remains to be seen if St. Pierre will pick up his play after the conversation. In 25 games this season, St. Pierre has registered eight goals and six assists. Kalpa has announced that it has signed a contract with defender Joonas Lehtivuori. Lehtivuori has been a member of the Philadelphia Flyers organisation and the 22 year old has spent most of the time with the AHL Adirondack Phantoms. In 32 games with the Phantoms Lehtivuori has registered two goals and seven assists. Lehtivuori has played 133 games in SM-Liiga with Ilves. Lehtivuori will be replacing Janne Jalasvaara who is reportedly moving to the KHL. According to Kalpa General Manager, Sami Kapanen, Kalpa is on the look for another defenceman before the trade deadline. Contact Janne.Virtanen@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.