Details of Kirill Petrov's injury include playing the entire game with a broken foot

We included in today's Bits post a tweet from Arthur Staple noting that Islanders prospect Kirill Petrov had suffered a broken foot and could miss up to two months. This morning, Connecticut Post writer Michael Fornabaio added more details to the injury, one of which will be of note to NHL meme makers and those concerned about the durability and dedication of Russian players.

From Fornabaio's Soundin' Off blog (which you should already be reading anyway):

On Petrov's last shift, in between the last two Hershey goals, he kind of spun awkwardly in front of Bridgeport's bench and — it was the end of the shift — went straight to the bench. Was that where it was?

Nope, Brent Thompson said: It happened in warmup.

"Tough Russian," Thompson said with a smile. "I give him a lot of respect, playing with a broken foot the whole game."

Ouch. Almost a Rasputin-like tolerance for pain. Worse, Bridgeport lost that game 4-2 to Hershey. Petrov probably could have sat this one out.

The post also goes into how the Sound Tigers will compensate for the loss of Petrov, who has one goal and four assists in 12 games this season. Seems like former NHLer James Wright will get the first crack this weekend against Springfield (Saturday) and Hartford (Sunday).

Once thought a longshot to even cross the Atlantic, Petrov signed with the Islanders this summer after a series of unfortunate (or fortunate) events gave him an opening to leave the KHL, where he had played for Ak-Bars Kazan. The 2008 third rounder almost made the big club out of camp, and impressed coaches and fans with his size and willingness to hit everything, but was returned to Bridgeport thanks to a glut of forwards.

The injury adds yet another level of intrigue to an already murky situation. Petrov was making very good money in his homeland and came over for a shot at the NHL, not to play 11 am kids matinee games against AHL squads (even historic ones like the Hershey Bears). Getting sent down at the start of the season after a solid camp wasn't the end of the world, but starting slow in a foreign land and then getting hurt won't ease his transition.

But hey, at least he has time to learn some more English via the magic of daytime TV, some of which is filmed right there in Connecticut.