Its been a season where Pittsburgh Penguins defencemen just cant seem to stay healthy. And without Pittsburgh even playing a game in two and a half weeks the Penguins have another injury, this one suffered during the Olympics in Sochi, as Team USA defenceman Paul Martin broke his hand at the games.
Penguins Suffer Another Big Loss on Back End
Head Coach Dan Bylsma, who also coached Martin in Sochi, confirmed the news via the Penguins official website, saying ““Paul Martin broke his hand at the Olympics. It will be put in a cast at this point in time and 4-6 weeks for Paul.”
Martin has had a dreadful run of injuries this season. The 32-year-old has missed time with a lower-body issue (2 games) and a fractured tibia (23 games) this season. He returned to the Pittsburgh lineup in late January and played just a handful of games before heading to the Olympics. Martin has not had the best of luck in the Olympics, he was a healthy scratch for the entire 06 Tournament in Turin, was injured and missed the 2010 games in Vancouver, and saw his teammates lose their final two games and fail to medal after he was injured in the quarter-final victory against the Czech Republic in Sochi.
For the Penguins, the injury comes just weeks after it was confirmed that Kris Letang suffered a stroke and is out of action indefinitely. With injuries to their two best puck-moving defencemen, the Penguins may be active in looking for a defenceman prior to the March 5th NHL trade deadline.
Martin has two goals and 10 assists for 12 points in 33 games this season.
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Main Photo Credit: Christian Petersen
