Ouch -- and not at the injury

A freak deal. Wrong place at the wrong time. Lightning winger Marty St. Louis was cut on the forehead and nose by the skate of linesman Derek Arnel. An inadvertant occurrence that sent St. Louis rushing to the bench, and later received around 10 stiches to close the gash.

Marty is fine. The Lightning are hoping he will be available for Thursday's home against Colorado. Best news for this team in some time.

--Tom Korun -- ABC 28 Action News

I'm no professional sportswriter, nor a long standing, tenured TV personality in the Tampa Bay area... But jeez... "10 stitches... hope he is available for Thursday's game versus Colorado"???

Tom? It's routine for these guys to get stitches between periods for wounds suffered on ice and play later in the game. Bad cuts, bad locations... The game matters more than the wound. Maybe it's more obvious that players are playing while banged up during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but 10 stitches wouldn't keep Martin St. Louis from playing unless it severed tendons somewhere...