Dion Phaneuf out at least a month
Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke confirmed that the club’s captain Dion Phaneuf would be out for at least four weeks after sustaining a deep cut on the back of his leg.
Phaneuf suffered the injury in his club’s 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday 2 November. The Leaf captain got tangled up with Senators forward Peter Regin in the corner and cut the back of his leg on Regin’s skate. The 25-year-old left the ice immediately
and was taken to the hospital for further treatment.
Phaneuf has been struggling to get going this season, as his play began to fall off at the end of October. Phaneuf has still yet to score this season and fans are beginning to grow restless with the new captain. The faithful at the Air Canada Centre booed
Phaneuf when he gave a puck away at the blue line in the squad’s game against the New York Rangers on 30 October.
Burke rushed to the defence of his captain, sighting how the culture of the team has changed drastically since Phaneuf’s arrival.
Nevertheless, it would be difficult to find many Leafs fans that are happy with the play of their captain. Phaneuf has more goals than any other defenseman since he joined the League for the 2005-06 season. However, in 26 games with the Leafs last year he
was only able to register two goals, 10 points and was a minus-2. Moreover, the Leaf captain earns more than anyone else on the club with an annual salary of $6.5 million. Phaneuf’s salary, lack of offence, and the recent injury are starting seem to have worn
on the Leaf supporters.
So far in 11 games this season Phaneuf has managed four assists and is a team low minus-6.
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