The New Jersey Devils placed goaltender Martin Brodeur on injured reserve today with a sore back retroactive to Sunday’s game against Winnipeg, in which he sat on the bench as the backup after leaving warm-ups early.
Since Brodeur will not be making the trip to Winnipeg, the Devils called up goaltender Keith Kinkaid from Albany on Wednesday and he will serve as Johan Hedberg's back-up in Thursday night's game. Hedberg said he is ready to go just as if it was any other game and will make his third straight start for New Jersey.
“He’s still sore and it’s kind of foolish to put him on a plane with a back situation,” Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “He won’t play in Winnipeg, so let’s give him the time to get right and it will be retroactive to Sunday, so he’ll be eligible (to play) after the Buffalo game (on Saturday).”
Lamoriello said the decision to put Brodeur on injured reserve was not needed to open up a roster spot, but the Devils also called up center Tim Sestito from Albany of the today and is on the trip to Winnipeg too. Injured center Ryan Carter, who has been skating on his own recovering from a head injury, is also traveling with the team, but it is not known if he will be reactivated to play during the road trip.
According to Tom Gullitti from the Bergen Record, this is the fourth time the 40-year-old Brodeur has missed time due to injury over the last three seasons. In 2010-11, he missed 10 games over two stints with a bruised right elbow and missed another four games with a sprained MCL in his right knee. Last season, he missed six games with a right shoulder injury.
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