Red Wings’ Yzerman Sidelined by Knee Injury

Detroit Red Wing captain Steve Yzerman has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and a charley horse on his left leg, hospital tests revealed Thursday at Detroit.

Team officials said Yzerman is expected to sit out two games this weekend but should be back on the ice by next Friday.

Yzerman was injured Wednesday when he was kneed by Rick Tocchet of the Phoenix Coyotes during a game at Detroit.

Yzerman, one of three Red Wings scheduled to play in the Winter Olympics, was flipped into the air by the hit. He stayed on the ice on all fours for about a minute before being helped to the dressing room.

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The use of cold tablets as stimulants is not a problem in the NHL, claims the league and the players’ association.

“Sudafeds have no bearing on what happens in a game,” Jeremy Roenick of the Phoenix Coyotes said. “I think it’s a player’s choice. If a guy doesn’t feel very good and he wants to have a Sudafed, that is his prerogative. Thousands of people probably do it every day.”

An article in the current issue of Sports Illustrated says, “Two NHL trainers estimate that before a game 20% of the league’s players routinely take over-the-counter medications that contain pseudoephedrine, not to combat the sniffles as the manufacturers intended, but to feel a little buzz.”

“It doesn’t matter who is using them,” Coyote teammate Keith Tkachuk said. “It’s not a banned substance in the NHL.”

Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHL Players’ Assn., said he’s unaware of any abuse problem and that results of tests on players “suggested drastically lower numbers than what appeared in the story.”

Pseudoephedrine is on the International Olympic Committee’s list of banned substances. Players chosen for the Olympics have been subject to testing. A positive test in the Olympic medal round eliminates all results for that team.

“Unannounced drug testing has been conducted recently as part of an education program coinciding with the NHL players’ participation in the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano,” NHL spokesman Arthur Pincus said.

“The results of that testing show that there has been no abuse of the over-the-counter medication Sudafed. To the extent that there was any use of this medication by NHL players, the results were consistent with the recommended dosage for the relief of symptoms of colds and flu.”

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Boston Bruin goalie Jim Carey underwent surgery Wednesday on his right shoulder. He is expected to sit out the rest of the season.

Carey, 23, was 3-2-1 with a 2.90 goals-against average in 10 games this season. The Bruins recalled goalie Rob Tallas from Providence of the AHL to replace Carey.