Updates on Foster, Ryan, Macenauer; plan for tomorrow.

Kurtis Foster will have a procedure later
today at UCI Medical Center to remove a piece of wire from his left
thigh, the Ducks announced Monday, and the defenseman is expected to miss 2-4 weeks. Foster hasn’t been taking part in drills since training camp opened Saturday.

A team spokesperson said the wire was placed in Foster’s left leg during surgery that took place
to repair a fracture in March
2008. The wire was causing inflammation/irritation, and therefore will
be removed.

A two to four week timetable projects to Oct. 3 at the earliest and Oct. 17 at the latest. The Ducks play a preseason game in Helsinki on Oct. 4 and do not play in North America again until Oct. 14, a home game against San Jose. Foster’s availability for the Europe trip seems to be in jeopardy, which would open a door for the other defensemen bidding for an opening-day roster spot.

Some more injury updates:

Bobby Ryan was held out of Monday’s intrasquad scrimmage with a strained
groin muscle. “The training staff felt he was better just to rest
another day,” Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. “His strength is back, he feels much better
than he did yesterday. I suspect he’s going to skate tomorrow.”

Maxime Macenauer, who is also recovering from a strained groin, “is very close,” Carlyle said.

Mathieu Carle “didn’t feel very good today so, after about 5, 6 minutes on the bike, he shut it down,” said Carlyle, who didn’t know whether the defenseman sustained a concussion when he rammed head-first into the end boards during a drill Sunday.

The Ducks host the Phoenix Coyotes at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Honda Center in the first game of the preseason. Two goalies will split the 60 minutes, though Carlyle didn’t say which two. For his part, Jonas Hiller had not been told Monday afternoon whether or not he’d be in the game.

Peter Holland said he’s in the lineup, skating on a line with Andrew Cogliano and Teemu Selanne. Saku Koivu and Lubomir Visnovsky are also expected to be in the game.

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