Janssen out of hospital, placed on IR; Reaves makes NHL debut
By LOUIE KORAC
ST. LOUIS -- The good news for Blues' winger Cam Janssen: he's out of the hospital. The bad news: he'll be on injured reserve and dealing with an injury so early in the season.
Janssen, who sustained a concussion and sternum contusion after taking an inadvertent elbow from teammate Brad Winchester late in the second period of Saturday's 2-1 overtime victory over Philadelphia, was released from the hospital Sunday but was not present for Monday's 5-1 win over Anaheim.
Janssen has been placed on IR and will miss at least two weeks and will be reevaluated at that time.
"It was a scary situation seeing the injury," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "... One of the good things for all young hockey players was Cam had his chin strap done up very tight. That kept his helmet on. That could have saved himself from a very serious injury. That's a good lesson for all the youth players out there."
To replace Janssen in the lineup, the Blues recalled forward Ryan Reaves from Peoria. Reaves was in the lineup Monday but saw his first NHL action cut short when he was tossed from the game after a fight with Anaheim's Kyle Chipchura.
Reaves received a game misconduct for not having his jersey tucked in, as it came off during the altercation. Reaves will be here on a game-by-game basis.
"We saw (Reaves) play in Colorado (during the preseason) and he probably had his best game that I've seen him play either in Peoria or in pro at this level," Armstrong said. "He's got size, he can skate, he can get in on the forecheck, he can create a little bit of havoc. I think that's a Taylor-made role for him in our lineup, so he'll get that opportunity now."
Armstrong said Janssen's timeframe is too soon to tell, other than the two weeks is a minimum requirement.
"You see some players that come back very quickly and don't have issues," Armstrong said. "Other players, it lingers on. We're hoping that Cam is certainly back very quick and it doesn't linger. There's really no timetable. Cam's health is first and foremost."
* Sobotka clearance close -- Vladimir Sobotka's visit to the doctor in Boston will take place Wednesday to see if the Blues center will get clearance to play after off-season shoulder surgery.
"He'll hopefully get clearance and join us for practices on the road trip," Armstrong said of Sobotka. "Then that'll be a situation where (coach) Davis (Payne) and Vladi get comfortable when he's ready to play. It's one thing getting cleared. It's another getting up to game speed."
* 2-0 start impressive in many ways -- The Blues' 2-0 start this season has been impressive to say the least.
They went toe-to-toe with the defending Eastern Conference champ Philadelphia before prevailing 2-1 in overtime, then made quick work of Anaheim here Monday that all began with a record-setting two goals in six seconds by David Backes and Andy McDonald.
"I really liked the way we jumped out early," Payne said. "I liked the fact that we had direction and intention going to their net. I liked the fact that we drew first penalties. I liked the fact we were able to get our game going and execute against some of the things we saw coming. Really good steps.
"We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone and this is a big focus of ours. We feel when you're there, you draw more penalties, you give up fewer chances. I thought we've done a pretty good job up to date of where our next play is."
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