Defenseman Alex Edler of Sweden has been suspended for the remainder of the IIHF World Championship for his knee-on-knee hit Thursday on Eric Staal. Staal, the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes, was to return to Raleigh on Friday from Stockholm and will have an MRI exam Saturday. The severity of his knee injury then will be determined. Edler, who plays for the Vancouver Canucks, was given the suspension Friday by the IIHF independent disciplinary panel. The IIHF, in its release, called Edler's hit on Staal in Thursday's quarterfinal game between Canada and Sweden "reckless, dangerous and ... in disregard to the vulnerability of his opponent." Edler was given a major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct. Staal, the Team Canada captain, needed to be helped off the ice. Canes goalie Cam Ward suffered a third-degree knee sprain -- a tear of the MCL in his left knee -- in early March and was sidelined for the remainder of the season. Defenseman Justin Faulk sustained a second-degree knee sprain and was out nine games.

Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal suffered a leg injury Thursday in the IIHF World Championships in Stockholm. Staal, who also is serving as Canada's team captain, took a knee-on-knee hit from Alex Edler of Sweden with 4:14 left in the first period. He fell to the ice in pain, clutching his right knee. After being attended to by a Team Canada trainer, Staal was helped off the ice by teammates and then to the locker room, unable to put any weight on his right leg. Edler, who defenseman plays for the Vancouver Canucks, was given a five-minute kneeing major and ejected from the quarterfinal-round game. Staal took a shot from the top of the left circle, collected the rebound and was attempting to backhand a shot when hit by Edler.

Moments ago, Eric Staal was injured in the IIHF World Championships game against Sweden. It was a knee-on-knee with Alexander Edler and looked bad, I am sure that video of this will be on Youtube soon. Eric was in obvious pain on the ice and had to be helped off the ice and into the dressing room. Hope this will not be a long-term injury, but knee injuries tend to be long term. As this just happened, there is no official word on this yet. Moments ago, Eric Staal was injured in the IIHF World Championships game against Sweden. It was a knee-on-knee with Alexander Edler and looked bad, I am sure that video of this will be on Youtube soon. Eric was in obvious pain on the ice and had to be helped off the ice and into the dressing room. Hope this will not be a long-term injury, but knee injuries tend to be long term. As this just happened, there is no official word on this yet.

Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal suffered what could be a serious injury following a knee-on-knee hit from Vancouver’s Alexander Edler during Thursday’s Canada-Sweden game at the World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. Edler was given a five minute major for kneeing and ejected from the game following the hit that left Staal writhing on the ice in pain. Here is a Vine clip from @mattbrigidi that shows the hit and Staal's reaction. We'll update any news on Staal as we get it.

Congratulations to Patrick Kane on being named a finalist for the 2013 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy! The Lady Byng Trophy is awarded to the player that 'exhibits the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability'. Kane had 23 goals, 32 assists and a team high 55 assists. He also had just eight penalty minutes this season despite averaging 20:03 of ice time per game.

Congratulations to Jonathan Toews on being named a finalist for the 2013 Selke Trophy! The Selke Trophy is awarded to the NHL's top defensive forward as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. Toews had 23 goals, 25 assists and 48 points this season. He also finished the season tied for the league lead with 56 takeaways and had a +28 rating.

We're into the second round, and with that, a new round of the Canes Country Playoff Super Schedule. What will your next two weeks look like? Read on. Note that just about everything is now on NBCSN. Only one game (so far) is scheduled for CNBC, so if you're like my wife who never fails to have trouble finding CNBC, fear not. Also, all games beginning this round are nationally televised, so if you happen to be reading from another team's market there won't be any blackout concerns to deal with this time around. Enjoy!

So, everyone who picked the Bruins in 7 totally had them coming back from a 3-goal deficit in the third period of game 7 to win, right? First, here are the standings right now: CaniacChica: 15 Corey S: 15 Patrick Clarke: 12 formersaint: 11 Jamie: 11 mburgess00: 11 PittsburghCaniac: 11 b.axeman: 10 Bgallen: 10 rabidwolf123: 10 anonymousJ: 9 caniac97: 9 Cory L: 9 PackPride17: 9 Shrilnixx: 9 ctlentz: 8 eburges1: 8 Incipient_Senescence: 8 Cathye: 7 GoCanes77: 7 lsleblanc82: 7 ASU-: 5 Bob: 5 CruelIn10tions: 5 Hockeydog: 5 keebler elf: 5 ltd2point0: 5 Brian: 5 Kram170: 4 Sara James: 4 CoastalCane: 3 Limelon: 3 RobbinDollar: 3 hotchipsnsalsa: 2 And now, it's time for you to pick Round 2. The stakes are upped for this round. Picking the correct team to win the series earns you two points. If you pick the correct team winning in the correct num

With Game 7 just hours away, listen to James Reimer explain his pre-game routine and how he gets ready for the big game!