Stars LW Morrow out with torn ACL

Nov 21, 2008 - 10:57 PM DALLAS (Ticker) -- The news continues to get worse for the Dallas Stars.

Already buried in last place in the Pacific Division, the Stars announced on Friday that captain Brenden Morrow is out indefinitely with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The veteran left wing left Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks with six minutes to play in the third period. He was examined by a team doctor on Friday, and it was determined that the torn ligament would require surgery.

The team said Morrow is expected to miss six months - which quite possibly means he is out for the rest of the season.

"We are obviously very disappointed to hear the news about Brenden's knee," Stars co-general manager Les Jackson said. "As our captain, he will obviously be missed, but we have every assurance that he can and will come back from this injury at 100 percent. There is a lot of hockey left to be played this season, and we are confident our team will rally together and keep pushing."

Morrow has recorded five goals and 10 assists in 18 games this season for the struggling Stars, who have stumbled to a 6-9-3 record after appearing in the Western Conference finals just six months ago.

He led the club with 32 goals last campaign and was second with 74 points. The 25th overall pick of the 1997 draft, Morrow has spent his entire NHL career with the Stars organization and was awarded the captaincy prior to the 2006-07 season.

In 591 career games, the 29-year-old has registered 173 goals and 216 assists with a plus-115 rating.

In a corresponding move, Dallas recalled right wing Landon Wilson from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League.

The 33-year-old Wilson has registered eight goals and seven assists in 15 games for the Griffins this campaign. Drafted 19th overall by Toronto in 1993, the native of St. Louis has collected 51 tallies and 111 points in 348 career NHL contests with the Colorado Avalanche, Boston Bruins, Phoenix Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Wilson, who spent the last four seasons in Europe, last appeared in the league in 2003-04 with Pittsburgh.