Ott to miss three months with injuries to hamstrings

Veteran needs surgery after being hurt Saturday in loss; 

Blues recall Lindbohm, reassign Edmundson to Chicago of the AHL

By LOU KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The Blues announced Sunday afternoon that veteran left wing Steve Ott will miss a minimum of three months with hamstring injuries that will require surgery.

Ott was injured late in the first period of a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He slid hard and awkwardly into the boards by the Blues' bench and needed help getting a couple steps to the bench. He left the ice with the help of head athletic trainer Ray Barile and did not return.

(St. Louis Blues photo)

Steve Ott (9) will be sidelined a minimum of three

months after injuring both hamstrings Saturday night.

Ott, who will be reevaluated in three months, has been played on injured-reserve, but with the Blues carrying two extra forwards, a corresponding move from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League isn't necessarily something that could happen.

Ott, 33, will join Jaden Schwartz (fractured ankle) and Patrik Berglund (shoulder surgery) on injured-reserve. He becomes the sixth player this season to have someone miss at least five games or more, along with Paul Stastny (broken foot), Kevin Shattenkirk (groin) and Robby Fabbri (concussion).

Ott, who missed six games earlier this season with a shoulder injury, has dressed in 21 games this season and has two assists.

The Blues did make a move earlier Sunday morning by recalling defenseman Petteri Lindbohm from the Wolves and reassigning rookie defenseman Joel Edmundson.

The Blues, who are 0-2-1 in December and just 2-2-3 in the past seven games, are looking for some more spark on their blue line.

Edmundson, who has two assists in 23 games this season, was one of the more impressive -- and surprising -- stories out of training camp when he won a job along with fellow rookie Colton Parayko. Edmundson arguably played three of his best games of the season Nov. 4, 7 and 10 against Chicago, Nashville and New Jersey by playing more than 17 minutes in each of those games, including a career-high 20 minutes, 19 seconds against the Blackhawks. But Edmundson, who was a plus-5 the first 15 games of the season, was a minus-7 his past eight games, including minus-2 Saturday against the Maple Leafs and minus-4 the past two games he played.

Lindbohm, 22, has played in 20 games with the Wolves and has posting seven points (two goals, five assists), was expected to make the team out of camp as part of the third defensive pairing but was beat out by both Parayko and Edmundson.

Lindbohm played in 23 games last season and had two goals and one assist. 

Edmundson, 22, played the past two seasons in Chicago and had 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 94 games.