Sore wing postpones throwdown

Today's Peterborough Examiner has more to offer on what appears to be a shoulder injury sustained by Sabres 2009 first-rounder Zack Kassian in Friday's loss to Soo.

The Peterborough Petes lost more than a hockey game last night, they also lost their captain. Zack Kassian suffered an upper body injury midway through the second period after a big hit from Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds' defenceman Jacob Muzzin. Muzzin also hit the Petes on the scoreboard with a goal and two assists as the Greyhounds, the surprise of the young OHL season, improved to 6-0 with a 4-1 win over the Petes before 4,745 fans at the Essar Centre. Petes' coach Ken McRae said it's too early to know, yet, how long Kassian, whose arm was in a sling after the game, will be lost. "We'll re-evaluate it day-to-day here, but he likely won't be in the lineup (tonight in Sudbury)," said McRae. "That's a tough loss for our hockey club, but we'll see how he comes along the next couple of days."

The injury disappointment comes on the eve of a game that has been long circled on the SabresProspects calendar, as Kassian's Petes will square off against '09 classmate Marcus Foligno and Wolves on Saturday. The potential collision of two of the OHL's more hard-nosed players when both would be looking to lead their teams in a bounce-back capacity could have provided some fireworks, and most certainly sparked an exciting rivalry for the Sabres' future duo. Instead, Foligno gets to buzz around with reckless abandon sans the imposing threat of retribution from a thundering Kassian. The two clubs will next face each other on November 7th.