CHICAGO — The Utah Mammoth announced Monday that defenseman Sean Durzi is expected to miss four weeks with an upper-body injury after taking a hit in the team’s overtime win over Nashville on Saturday.
The team description was limited to “upper-body,” but Durzi appeared to damage either his arm or shoulder on the hit that sent the 26-year-old straight to the bench in serious pain.
The Mississauga, Ontario, native missed 52 games a year ago following early-season shoulder surgery, and the current timetable would put him out for at least another 15 games to start Year 2 in Utah.
It is certainly not an ideal situation for Utah to lose a top-four defenseman two games into the season, but the moves to bring in veteran Nate Schmidt and give rookie Dmitri Simashev his first NHL opportunity could help lessen the blow.
Simashev made his NHL debut in the season opener against Colorado, where he has impressed both fans and coaches so far in his brief big league career. The laid-back Russian 20-year-old said his nerves mostly went away by the second period of his first game, as he started to settle in and “just play (his) game.”
“I’ll keep my game simple,” Simashev said after his debut in Denver. “I want to be effective in this team. Of course, I want to score, but I want to win.”
In the limited sample size of two games, Simashev is one of four Mammoth players with a positive plus-minus, and he also blocked a pair of shots in Utah’s first win over the Predators.
Simashev has been paired with 15-year NHL veteran Ian Cole for much of his time on the ice so far, and the rookie had nothing but great things to say about the seasoned vet.
“He’s a good guy,” Simashev said. “After every shift, he just speaks with me on the bench and after the periods; it’s amazing. He has good experience in this league.”
Cole is known for his gritty play and received a slap on the wrist from the league in the form of a $2,500 fine on Sunday for a “dangerous trip” against Nashville on Saturday.
The Mammoth finish their opening road trip on Monday in Chicago against the Blackhawks at 6:30 p.m. MDT, before returning to Utah for the home opener on Wednesday against the Calgary Flames at 7:30 p.m. MDT.
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