Armstrong says defenseman will miss "a significant amount of time"
By LOUIE KORAC
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said on Thursday night that Roman Polak's surgery earlier in the day was a success but that the Blues will be without their reliable defenseman for an extended period of time.
Polak had surgery on his right wrist, performed by Dr. Martin Boyer at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, to repair a severed tendon that Armstrong said has only happened to one other NHL player. Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg had a similar surgery to repair a lacerated left wrist in April of last season. He was expected to be sidelined for eight weeks but had an entire summer to heal.
"Everything went very well," Armstrong said of Polak. "(Blues head athletic trainer) Ray (Barile) has talked to the doctor and to Roman. The surgery was a success.
"We aren't sure of the timeline. ... he'll be out a significant amount of time. We're going to know more in the next two weeks. After the weekend, we'll sit down with Roman and our training staff and get all the information from the doctors at that time. It's important for me just to have Roman relax at home, let everything sink in on the situation and we can address it next week."
Armstrong said he feels the Blues have sufficient reinforcements in Peoria, the team's American Hockey League affiliate and won't look outside the organization for help.
"One of our strengths coming out of camp was competition for those spots on our team," Armstrong said. "I think everybody's played very well. I've seen our American league team play, they're playing very well down there. I think Tyson Strachan's done everything he can do to give himself the best opportunity. He gets that chance now. It's going to be a fluid situation on if we stay healthy ... knock on wood ... and we'll just go with these six for a while. I want those players that are down in the American league to continue to play so when we do need a player for our lineup, they're ready to go."
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