Injuries are a part of hockey and every team must battle through them at some point during the season, but all injuries are not the same. Losing some players carries much more weight than others.
During the first few games of the regular season, we are seeing the impact of injuries to indispensible players such as Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis, Boston center Patrice Bergeron and Minnesota winger Zach Parise.
What makes a player indispensable? When players like Ellis, Bergeron and Parise are lost, their teams take a hit at both ends of the ice and the results show up on the shot counter and scoreboard.