Nylander's Done - Whom You Should Blame

So Michael Nylander is out for the year with a torn rotator cuff. Whether or not Nyls has been all that you hoped he would be thus far, you, as a Caps fan, are understandably disappointed and frustrated at this turn of events (unless you're one of the morons who think that the Caps won't miss the guy who's leading the team in power play scoring, is second in overall scoring and in ice-time among forwards and has taken the second most faceoffs on the squad... then again, if you are one of those morons, this probably isn't your blog of choice).

And since you're American, the obvious question is "Who can I blame for this crap hand I've been dealt?" Here, then, is a list of folks at whom to direct your anger:

• Michael Nylander. While I don't normally advocate blaming the victim, this is one instance where it might make sense. Did Nyls injure his shoulder attempting to sign one too many SPCs in the off-season? Is he faking the injury in attempt to duck Kevin Lowe whose Oilers come to town for a game Thursday night? Did dipping his shoulder on one thousand too many offensive-zone pirouettes do the harm?
• The New York Rangers. Did those bastards send a lemon into unrestricted free agency just to screw us? Is the curse of Jaromir Jagr alive and well?
• The Verizon Center Ice. It's been blamed for just about every other injury the team has suffered so far this year.
  
• Nolan Yonkman. It wouldn't be the first time...
  
• Me. Is karma paying me back for this morning's line about Dany Heatley's shoulder?

What are our other options? It can't just be bad luck, can it?

On a sidenote, a beer on me to whomever is first with the inevitable rumor of the Caps pursuing this guy to fill their newly found "veteran Swedish center" deficit.

[Note: In all seriousness, Nyls deserves kudos for playing through the pain as long as he did, even when other teams were targeting the injury. You don't typically think of him as a "tough guy," but he certainly demonstrated both guts and leadership to a young team - which is part of the reason he was brought to town in the first place.]