Pisani done, Carter might find work

The news has come in that the Oilers's Saint Fernando Pisani will be out of the lineup indefinitely after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.

I'd never heard of it before, but I correctly guessed that it had something to do with explosive diarrhea. It is often confused with Irritable Bowel Syndrome for that reason. While I can't really speak to the medical differences, there are quite a lot, and we'll just say that Ulcerative Colitis (IBD) is much more serious than irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

IBD is a cancer-like condition characterized by many things such as abdominal pain, arthritic flare-ups, deep vein thrombosis (Tomas Vokoun had this), painful skin lesions, and many others. The main manifestation, though, is blood-filled stool and chronic diarrhea.

IBD is much more rare than Crohn's Disease, with which it is closely related. It strikes about 1 in 10,000 North Americans each year. The causes are unknown, but it is believed that people from northern North America are more likely to have it than others. Twins are a little more likely than non-twins. People of Jewish descent. People who have recently quit smoking are more likely to have it. Strange.

This is one of those "diseases" that they can't really cure. What they hope to do is lessen the frequency and severity of the episodes.

Pisani is known around here as the guy who scored the shorthanded overtime goal in game 5 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. He actually scored 14 goals that postseason, which led all scorers. He tallied 28 (14/14) points in the 2006-07 campaign, and was a fan favorite. He is known as much for his work ethic as his heroics in the 2006 playoffs. He will be missed by Oil fans.


Anson Carter is still a free agent. He's probably the best available free agent, and he should expect his cellphone to ring early Wednesday morning. Carter spent a few years in Edmonton between 2000-01 and 02-03 and posted his career best totals those years.

Sorry, but I can't help but think of that silly "misheard lyric" from the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". The real line in the song is

The girl with kaleidoscope eyes"

but people often mis-hear:

"The girl with colitis goes by"