Travis Boyd was playing some real solid hockey for the Coyotes, but will be forced to miss some time due to an upper-body injury.
The Arizona Coyotes really can’t escape the injury bug this season.
Coach André Tourigny confirmed today at practice that Travis Boyd is week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
The injury was sparked when Josh Manson hit Boyd face-first into the boards which resulted in retaliation from Liam O’Brien in the form of a fight.
This is really unfortunate as Boyd was playing some solid hockey and really just started to hit his stride prior to getting hurt.
“He was playing really good hockey for us,” Tourigny said. “I have a lot of good things to say about him. This year he had to be on the bottom-six and be very responsible defensively, and he was an example. We were talking a lot about ‘Coach Boyd,’ and he was so textbook on his positioning and everything defensively.
“There are unsung heroes sometimes in games. I probably jinxed it because at the last morning skate against Colorado, i talked to him to tell him ‘i need to find you more ice time, you deserve more ice time, need to put you out there more and you are playing really good hockey.’ There we go. I feel terrible for him as a person…”
Tourigny specified that Boyd’s injury timetable will be weeks and not days. This is not a very encouraging sign.
The 30-year-old forward has played in 16 games this season tallying two goals, six assists and eight points.
Boyd’s impact went far beyond stats though. He was a huge energy guy for the Coyotes both on and off the ice, so losing a guy like that is never easy for a team.
The Coyotes recalled Ryan Mcgregor from the Tucson Roadrunners following this injury. Mcgregor has played 19 games for the Tucson Roadrunners this season thus far posting two goals, two assists and four points.
Boyd is one of a few Coyotes players who are already injured which includes Barrett Hayton, Jack McBain and Travis Dermott.