Update on Kings' Justin Williams

Update on Kings’ Justin Williams

Sports Columnist

Dec. 26, 2009 7:42 PM PT

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The official word from the Kings on right wing Justin Williams, who was carried off the ice on a stretcher early in the first period Saturday after injuring his right leg, is that he has a lower-body injury.

What were the odds that would be the official announcement?

The idea of teams being vague about injuries is understandable on some level. Teams don’t want to be specific because they fear an opponent might poke at it when that player returns.

But Williams was carried off on a stretcher, won’t return tonight and will be re-evaluated tomorrow. A bit more information would be appropriate in this instance because the stretcher leads to thoughts of horrible injuries -- and that might not be the case.

It’s Phoenix 2, Kings 1, about midway through the second period, by the way. Williams has not been taken to the hospital, a club spokesman said.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

-- Helene Elliott, from Glendale, Ariz.

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Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.