Per Detroit Red Wings release, the team has made a few roster changes today.
First of all, heavy-sacked hero Ian White, who blocked a Jamie Benn shot with his face on Saturday night, received several stitches and was taken for further medical evaluation after the game. He will miss a week or two with a fractured right cheekbone. Mike Commodore will take his place in the lineup in the immediate future.
Next, Brendan Smith has been called up from Grand Rapids. He will serve the final game of his suspension on Tuesday night against St. Louis. His status for the road trip will be determined after the game — he’ll either be returned to Grand Rapids (with his suspension completely served so that he can be called up if another defenseman goes down with an injured) or will remain with the Red Wings for the trip to California.
Finally, to make room on the roster for Brendan Smith, someone had to be placed on injured reserve. Todd Bertuzzi, who has been absent since taking a stick to the face by Minnesota’s Devin Setoguchi and has been suffering from flu-like symptoms related to a swollen inner-ear, will be placed on short-term injured reserve, meaning he will be forced to sit out seven days. He can be placed on STIR retroactively, meaning he’s essentially already served his seven games and can be reactivated whenever his health condition improves.
Got all that?! The Chart has been updated to reflect all of the changes.