Number of Injuries Getting Ridiculous

The Washington Capitals are looking more and more like their AHL affiliate Hershey Bears. That's because the Caps have been hit with so many injuries this season that they've had to call up players from the American Hockey League to fill the gaps. At first, it just seemed unlucky. But now, it just seems ridiculous. Here's the current list of injured players:

• Chris Clark (Center) - Fractured forearm (Clark is the team captain and is on long-term injured reserve (LTIR))
• John Erskine (Defenseman) - Concussion
• Sergei Fedorov (Center) - High ankle sprain
• Eric Fehr (Right Wing) - Shoulder
• Mike Green (Defenseman) - Shoulder
• Brian Pothier (Defenseman) - Concussion syndrome (Pothier is on LTIR; he has not played since last season)
• Tom Poti (Defenseman) - Groin
• Jeff Schultz (Defenseman) - Finger surgery (Schultz is on LTIR)
• Alexander Semin (Left Wing) - Back
• Tyler Sloan (Defenseman) - Lower body injury (Sloan was actually called up from the Hershey Bears to replace one of the Caps' injured defenseman. Then he got hurt.)

Considering the fact that they only recently regained defenseman Shaone Morrisonn after a long-term injury and center Boyd Gordon after a short-term injury, it is amazing that the Caps have managed to maintain their first-place standing in the southeast division. But they need to get some of these guys back on the ice soon, or that very well may change.

Just looking at that list makes me shake my head.