The news that many expected to hear came today when the Blues announced that D.J. King has a dislocated shoulder and will need surgery. There is no timetable for his return, but it’s expected to be several months.

I asked the question in yesterday’s blog how this affected the Blues, and how it would affect Cam Janssen’s role. Blues coach Andy Murray said that Janssen was a legitimate heavyweight and could do fine in that role. Today, though, the Blues claimed David Koci off waivers from Tampa Bay. The decision to add Koci presumably came from above Murray, who has said several times this season that enforcers are very few in the Central Division and the need isn’t as great.

Nonetheless, Koci will come in handy on nights when the Blues do face a heavyweight.  Here’s a link to his career numbers on Hockeydb.com: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=51285

Here’s a couple of fights courtesy of Youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWZ58VZD2oM 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3_ghTTQefI

Here’s the story on Koci this year: Tampa Bay signed him to a two-way contract as a free-agent this summer. New Lightning coach Barry Melrose likes his enforcers and he was high on Koci. He has played only one game this season and saw the ice for only 41 seconds. Koci picked up a holding penalty 30 seconds into his first shift, and 10 seconds after he came out of the penalty box, he got hit with an interference penalty.

Tampa Bay put him on waivers yesterday because the Lightning have a numbers issue. They’re about to sign defenseman Marek Malik and get center Ryan Craig off IR soon. That would bring them to 24, so they had to send Koci to the minors. He had to clear waivers and the Blues plucked him when they had the chance. I’m told Melrose was upset today about losing him.

Murray said that Koci will be available Wednesday night, but Murray wasn’t sure if he’d be in the lineup.

“That gives us depth in that physical role and we hear he’s a real good team guy . . . will fit in good with the group here,” Murray said. “Cam Janssen certainly is a guy that fulfills that role. We just want to have more depth in the organization. (Koci) is a big body that protects his teammates and can be hard to play against.”