Breaking: Goaltender expected to miss as much as 10 weeks with severe injury.

One team has just suffered a massive loss, one that could alter the course of their season.

After a red hot start in net Arizona Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith has hit a bit of a slump, one that has just been punctuated by a massive injury. On Tuesday the Coyotes announced that the injury to Smith was a "core muscle injury" and as a result required surgery, surgery that was performed on Tuesday.

However despite the surgery being a success by all accounts, the recovery time for Smith is devastating, and could keep him out of action for as long as 10 weeks, a massive loss for the Coyotes who are currently holding off some surging teams in the Pacific division.

The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers are the two teams most likely to benefit from this injury to Smith as they were already closing the gap on Arizona.

[pub]