Comments / New

Deep Blue Sea: Radim Simek placed on injured reserve

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Radim Simek has been placed on injured reserve.

The San Jose Sharks defender has had a real bout of bad luck with the team in his three seasons with the club, landing on the injured reserve list each year. Simek was not on the Sharks’ opening night roster in 2021 due to lingering issues in his surgically repaired knee.

Early in the second period of Saturday night’s home opener against the Vegas Golden Knights, Jonathan Marchessault slammed Simek into the boards, adding a crosscheck into the boards later in the same shift. No penalty was assessed on the play and Simek left the game after that shift and did not return in the 3-1 Sharks loss.

Not much is known about the state of Simek’s condition, though the upper-body injury could be his shoulder, which struck the boards awkwardly, or his ribs, where Marchessault made contact. Either way, he’ll be out of the lineup for at least a week.

Erik Karlsson also suffered an injury in the third period and missed the final 11 minutes of play, though it’s not believed to be serious.

Though the Sharks entered this season perhaps the healthiest they’ve been thanks to the nine-month break, and they’ve been lucky to avoid losing players to either injuries or COVID-19 protocols so far this season. Unfortunately, the injuries are now coming to one of the weaker areas of the roster.

Onto the news and notes:

News & Notes

Blood in the Water

  • The NHL’s best and worst this week: The secrets to Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith’s longevity [ESPN]
  • Flyers see addition and subtraction for COVID protocol list as they face new week [NBC Sports Philadelphia]
  • Krueger rejoins Sabres after having COVID-19, ‘scarred by the experience’ [NHL.com]
  • Calculating an NHL team’s finances and plan for expanding revenue [The Athletic]
  • NHL’s division-only format results in tunnel vision [Boston Globe]
  • Marquette native turned beer hockey league legend after video goes viral [UP Matters]
  • With Indoor Rinks Closed, Players Turn to ‘Speakeasy Hockey’ [The New York Times]
  • ‘He hit him until the stick broke’: Ice hockey aces’ horror as shock clips show player soaked in blood from brutal beating [RT.com]
  • High school hockey teams face unique challenges due to COVID [WHEC]/

Scores & Recaps

  • Washington Capitals 3, Pittsburgh Penguins 6
  • Colorado Avalanche 0, Vegas Golden Knights 1/

Click on a team name to find a recap on their SB Nation site!

On the Schedule

  • St. Louis Blues at Arizona Coyotes, 1 PT/4 ET on NHLN, FS-A, FS-MW
  • New York Islanders at Buffalo Sabres, 4 PT/7 ET on NBCSN, MSG-B
  • Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 PT/7 ET on TSN4, TSN5, RDS
  • Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning, 4 PT/7 ET on SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, SUN, FS-F
  • Columbus Blue Jackets at Carolina Hurricanes, 4 PT/7 ET on FS-CR, FS-O
  • Chicago Blackhawks at Detroit Red Wings, 4:30 PT/7:30 ET on ESPN+, FS-D, NBCSCH+
  • Nashville Predators at Dallas Stars, 5 PT/8 ET on FS-SW, FS-TN
  • Winnipeg Jets at Edmonton Oilers, 6 PT/9 ET on SNW, TSN3
  • Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks, 7 PT/10 ET on ESPN+, SN1, SNP
  • Anaheim Ducks at San Jose Sharks, 7:30 PT/10:30 ET on NBCSCA, FS-W/
fear the fin logoAs many of you know, Fear the Fin is an independent site run by Sharks fans for Sharks fans. Help keep Fear the Fin independent by contributing to our GoFundMe or buying merchandise. Proceeds help us pay our writers and fund subscriptions to our favorite analytics sites.


Looking for an easy way to support FearTheFin? Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch this holiday season!