Predators captain Jason Arnott "questionable" for Saturday vs. Anaheim

Despite assurance by Barry Trotz during last night's post-game press conference that Jason Arnott was "fine", we now hear that the Predators captain is questionable for tomorrow night's game vs. Anaheim. This comes from @NHLPredsInsider, one of the official team Twitter accounts:

Take a look at Buddy Oakes' video from last night, however. Skip to the 4:00 mark, which is when John Glennon asks why Arnott left the bench before the game was over...

Did he trip and fall on the way from the bench to the dressing room, and injure himself? Or perhaps throw his back out shoveling snow this morning (we know that's not likely, unless he was using a toothbrush). Strange stuff indeed. I'll go on record for the gazillionth time as saying that the NHL policy on the reporting of injuries is absurd.

UPDATE: John Glennon provides clarification at his blog:

Barry Trotz said the injury was the rea­son Arnott left the bench early last night - with over a minute left in the game. Trotz wasn't aware imme­dia­tely after the game that Arnott was inju­red, but found out later from the trai­ner. Asked if Arnott's absence today had anything to do with simply lea­ving the bench early last night, Trotz said he would ``swear on a Bible'' that it was not the case.

As for the Santorelli/O'Reilly moves, it looks like a switch to look for a spark. In this latest call-up, Santo has zero points in 4 games, and 2 shots on goal. It's important to note that at this point, Cal O'Reilly could be eligible for waivers if they try to send him back to Milwaukee. I can't imagine the Preds are at the point where they can commit to keeping him at the NHL level for the rest of the season, so is there a risk here of losing him at some point?

UPDATE: Glennon's blog also notes that since O'Reilly's recall is emergency-related, waivers would not be required to return him to Milwaukee.

Lastly, here's the press release from the Preds on the Cal O'Reilly recall:

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has recalled center Cal O'Reilly from Milwaukee (AHL), and reassigned forward Mike Santorelli to the Admirals.

O'Reilly, 23 (9/30/86), has one assist in nine games during two previous stints with Nashville this season (Oct. 15-29 and Dec. 4-10). Named to the 2010 AHL All-Star Classic on Dec. 29, the Toronto, Ont., native is ranked fifth in the AHL in assists (26), and tied for eighth in points (35), in 31 games. Nashville's fourth choice, 150^th overall (fifth round), in the 2005 Entry Draft has six points (3g-3a) in 20 contests since making his NHL debut on Feb. 28, 2009.

Santorelli, 24 (12/14/85), was held pointless in four games during his most recent recall to the Predators (Dec. 31-Jan. 7). In 25 games at the NHL level in 2009-10, the Vancouver, B.C., native has posted three points (2g-1a). He has 17 points (9g-8a) in 15 points for the Admirals this season.

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