Holmqvist Is Latest to Be Lost for Season

Another day, another player lost for the season. The days just aren’t getting any easier for the Mighty Ducks.

On Friday, they learned that forward Mike Leclerc would take the rest of the season off to heal his ailing left knee. On Saturday, rookie forward Michael Holmqvist was ruled out for the season because of an abdominal injury that has plagued him since mid-January.

Holmqvist was re-injured playing for minor league Cincinnati on Friday. He was to be recalled Saturday but instead showed up at Duck practice to have his injury evaluated.

“Of course it’s frustrating,” said Holmqvist, who returned from the injury March 6. “I wanted to play games. I play three and it’s over.”

Holmqvist played two games with the Ducks and one with Cincinnati after returning from the injury. Team officials had sent him down so he would be eligible for the American Hockey League playoffs. Instead, he will rest the injury, then resume training.

“The big thing is to get it ready for next season,” Holmqvist said. “It’s going to take a long while.”

Holmqvist spent most of the first two months of the season with Cincinnati. He was recalled in December and proved to be an effective checking forward.

He scored two goals, both in a Jan. 7 game against the Kings.

“It’s unfortunate because Michael was going to get some games here,” Coach Mike Babcock said. “Now he is going to have to show us what he can do in training camp.”

*

Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh will not play against the Kings today but is hoping to return to the lineup Tuesday against Phoenix. Ozolinsh has sat out 38 games with a shoulder injury that required surgery.

“It’s hard for me to say for sure, but the plan is for me to play Tuesday,” Ozolinsh said. “It has been 10 weeks [since the surgery] and I was supposed to be out 12 weeks. We’ll see how it feels after Monday’s practice.”

*

The Ducks will recall forward Stanislav Chistov before the end of the season, “to give him some games,” General Manager Bryan Murray said.