At a time when the IceCaps can really use a few wins to continue their slow climb up the standings, they'll have to face the best team in the Conference without their best forward. Alexander Burmistrov has been sidelined with what's believed to be a shoulder injury, though right now it's only being confirmed as "upper body."

From Robin Short at the Telegram:

"Everything looks normal with Burmistrov," McCambridge said in a text message Wednesday night. "He is going to stay in Winnipeg for a week and they will reassess him from there. He will not play this weekend."

The IceCaps are set to take on the Springfield Falcons over the weekend, a team that's tied for first in the Eastern Conference standings, and currently has a +28 goal differential. Losing Burmistrov for such an important pair of games is tough, but it's reassuring to hear that the injury isn't being described as serious. Or at least not yet.

The other side of this is that it's possible we've seen the last of Burmistrov in St. John's. With the NHL labor dispute looking like it could be over by mid-month, even if Burmistrov's injury isn't serious and he misses a week or two, that could be it as far as his time playing at Mile One Centre goes. The IceCaps hit the road until January 4th after playing the Hershey Bears in St. John's next Wednesday, so unless Burmistrov can return during that set of games, it doesn't look promising.