Afternoon Roster News

Here are some notes and tidbits that may be of interest to fans and poolies:

• Peter Schaeffer (shin) is close to returning to the Boston line-up.
• Aaron Ward (throat) is going to be re-evaluated today and his availability for Saturday night’s game is currently undetermined.
• Nikolai Zherdev (knee) didn’t skate at Columbus practice but is expecting to play on Friday night.
• Sergei Fedorov (concussion) skated at practice today, but didn’t take part in any contact drills.
• Patrick Marleau (groin) is a game-time decision for tonight’s game against Edmonton.
• Joe Thornton (flu) will suit up tonight.
• Paul Stastny (groin) hasn’t skated in the past couple days and his return date is unknown. (Writer’s note: It looks like Stastny got injured while rehabbing from his appendectomy.)
• Brett Clark (shoulder) is out for the season.
• Brian Rafalski (groin) will miss Friday night’s game.
• Kevin Bieksa (lacerated calf) skated with his teammates on Thursday but his return date is yet to be determined.
• It looks like Tim Gleason (flu) and Joe Corvo (flu) will miss tonight’s game for Carolina.
• Brett Hedican (lower-body injury) is also out for Carolina.
• Niklas Backstom will start for the Wild tonight.
• Sean Hill (healthy scratch) will not be in the line-up tonight for Minnesota.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.