Dan Bylsma informed the media that Malkin will join Sidney Crosby in missing this year's NHL All-Star Game, with the primary reason being a sinus infection. Malkin has also battled knee problems recently.
From the Penguins, here's Bylsma on Malkin's health:
Evgeni is not healthy enough to return to the ice right now. He needs to get healthy before we can move forward with that. Is that during the break, or is that after the break? We don't know that. We hope it's soon, maybe within the next week or so he can think about getting back on the ice again when he's healthy and the pressure in his head subsides.
Enstrom, meanwhile, will miss an All-Star Game that many were pleasantly surprised he was named to play in. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
The Thrashers will be without All-Star defenseman Tobias Enstrom for two to four weeks with a fractured finger on his right hand. He will not attend this weekend's all-star activities in Raleigh due to the injury.
"Knowing him, it will probably be the shorter side of it," Thrashers coach Craig Ramsay said. "It has to be done correctly. Our doctors want to do it - for the long-term health of him and our team - correctly."
Enstrom suffered the injury during Saturday's game against the New York Rangers. He missed Sunday's game against Tampa Bay, snapping his franchise record consecutive games played streak at 296.
ESPN's Pierre LeBrun reported yesterday that the NHL is "in the process of reaching out to possible replacements" for Crosby and Ales Hemsky; what about these new scratches?
One new name for the Draft: Martin Havlat of the Minnesota Wild, whom Bob McKenzie reported has been named an injury replacement.
(UPDATE: Also added it Keith Yandle of the Phoneix Coyotes, per the team.)
Still: Crosby, Malkin, Hemsky, Jordan Eberle, Enstrom ... to go along with players like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg who weren't in the Draft and players like Mike Richards and Jeff Carter who have said they're not going as replacements.
Have the injuries affected your enthusiasm for the revamped All-Star Weekend?
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