Travis Hamonic, Jaromir Jagr out against Devils on Sunday

Some discomforting news from this morning’s practice. Jaromir Jagr will not make his return Sunday night against the New Jersey Devils, and Travis Hamonic will join him in the pressbox due to injury.

Jagr is not that surprising, given that he’s missed just about two weeks worth of hockey. He was eligible to come off the IR last Sunday, but the Flames have been proceeding cautiously. Gulutzan said Tuesday (against the Canucks) would be the target date for his return.

The real big news out of practice was the injury to Hamonic. The second pairing defenceman was hurt in practice and left, as reported by Kristen Odland, who also later stated that he would not suit up tomorrow night.

It is not currently known what he injured or how long he’ll be out, but we will update as soon as we have info.

With a righty down, it seems that the first option up is Rasmus Andersson, who has been playing great for the Heat. No transaction has been officially made yet, but even if it goes through, don’t expect him to play tomorrow. Given that Stockton played last night against the Manitoba Moose plus the unexpected nature of Hamonic’s injury, I feel that Andersson would probably not be ready to immediately slot in against the Devils. That likely means Matt Bartkowski is back in the lineup Sunday.

Following practice, Glen Gulutzan mentioned cautiously that it’s too early to say Hamonic’s status for tomorrow’s game. Some variables to consider: Freddie Hamilton is eligible to go down to the AHL at a moment’s notice since he cleared waivers (and so the Flames have flexibility if Hamonic’s injury is short-term), and Stockton plays tonight at home against Texas. Since it’s extremely unlikely that the Flames would want Andersson playing three games in three nights, if he’s absent from the Heat lineup tonight that might be a big clue as to Hamonic’s status for Sunday night’s game.