Big Joe on IR, Adams family together again

Josef Vasicek has landed on the IR. He hurt his knee in Friday's 1-0 victory over Florida, and the results of the MRI affirmed a ligament tear, which could mean he's gone for four months. (News & Observer story). To fill his void, the Canes have called up Right Wing Craig Adams, who was recently re-acquired from Anaheim and was intended for use in Lowell. I always liked C. Adams for his tenacity and his ability to throw down when needed. However, and I've written about this before, we don't need that aspect of his game. We've got the Bull, whose primary function is "agitator" and we've also got Mikey C who will also throw down. In case you haven't noticed, Mike Commodore (aka "Mikey C") has quickly become one of my favorite players. That isn't my theme today, though.

I joked about this before, when we acquired Craig a few weeks ago, but now there really is a need for the team seamstress to get busy sewing the "K." plates on the back of Kevyn's sweaters.

I actually haven't covered this before, but to answer the question that some of you may have, Kevyn and Craig ARE NOT BROTHERS. They aren't even related. Nor are they related to TV's Gomez and Morticia Addams. According to legend, Gomez Addams' family name had been Adams (with one D), but they added the second D to distinguish their family name from that of "the other prominent Adams family" from which two US presidents emerged.

Despite his lack of offensive production, losing Vasicek is going to hurt a lot. Adding Craig Adams isn't really the answer. The good bit is that we'll get to see more of Radim Vrbata, who has been working really hard in his limited ice time. The bad bit is that we are one more injury away from having to recall Krispy. Actually, I think if it came to it, we'd probably call Chad LaRose, who was the final cut, before we'd call Brendl.

I wonder how all of this works on the Gölbez evil index. Vasicek, a Czech (therefore a +), goes on the IR. Enter Craig Adams, who was born in Brunei. Although the official ruling is that "players from non-traditional countries tend to be neutral", I would think that there would have to be a special provision for players from Asian countries. Because of the extreme nature of the non-traditionalism of their nations, they should receive a plus rating. The only other examples I can think of are Richard Park, David Tanabe (a former Cane), and the Kariya brothers. What do you think?

Anyway, in Vasicek's absence, we should expect to see fellow Czech Radim Vrbata (+) get lots of ice time, and we should expect to see the "evil" Swede, Nik Nordgren(-) get increased playing time. What I really hope we don't see is messing with the second line. Staal Cole and Stillman have been spectacular together, and it would be a real shame to move anybody around.