ST. PAUL, Minn. — The dangerous hit Minnesota Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck took from Edmonton Oilers forward Taylor Hall last week has landed him on injured reserve.
Clutterbuck's thigh contusion is improving and he is off crutches, but he hasn't returned to practice since Thursday's game in Edmonton when Hall kneed an unsuspecting Clutterbuck at center ice. Clutterbuck was moving away from the puck when Hall clipped him with his knee and hip. Clutterbuck had to be helped off the ice and couldn't put any weight on his left leg.
Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said Tuesday that Clutterbuck won't travel with the team on the upcoming West Coast road trip.
"We'll leave him here, let him get his therapy and re-evaluate when we get back," Yeo said. "He's sore, for sure. We expected that."
Hall, the top overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, was suspended by the league for two games as a result — his first suspension in the league.
Clutterbuck will miss his second game when Minnesota hosts the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night and will miss at least four games total with the Wild traveling to Phoenix and Anaheim this week. Yeo said Minnesota won't make a corresponding move to add another player right now.
Clutterbuck, walking gingerly in the halls at the Xcel Energy Center on Monday without crutches, said he was feeling better.
Previously, the Wild took exception to the hit, and Clutterbuck said he didn't think it was clean.
"I think it's a little reckless," Clutterbuck said Friday. "I've been in that situation a lot of times personally, so I know that there's a fine line between milliseconds and split-seconds. Personally, I probably wouldn't put myself in that situation. But, you know, he made a decision, was probably a little frustrated with the way the game was going. He made a decision and here we are."
The two teams face each other again on Sunday, and Hall's suspension is over after he sat out games Saturday and Monday. Coincidentally, a hit from Hall in a November American Hockey League game resulted in a broken clavicle for Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin.
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