Wed May 7 20:11:45 2008

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Lightning C Halpern out indefinitely with rupture of ACL

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Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - Tampa Bay center Jeff Halpern suffered a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in Team USA's loss to Canada on Tuesday at the 2008 World Hockey Championships, Lightning executive vice president and general manager Jay Feaster announced Wednesday.

The captain of the USA squad, Halpern was hurt in the third period of the 5-4 loss and is done for the remainder of the tournament.

Halpern traveled to Washington, DC and met with Dr. Benjamin Shaffer for an evaluation, which revealed the 32-year-old also suffered a Grade III injury to the medial collateral ligament and a small tear to the lateral meniscus.

Dr. Shaffer and the Lightning medical staff have recommended that Halpern wait four-to-six weeks for the MCL injury to heal before undergoing surgery to repair the ACL rupture. His recovery time is expected to last five-to-six months. Dr. Shaffer performed surgery on Halpern's left knee in 2002 to repair a torn ACL.

Halpern scored 20 goals and tallied 22 assists in 83 games for the Stars and Lightning last season. Dallas dealt the veteran center to Tampa in February in the deal that sent Brad Richards to the Stars. Halpern has scored 115 goals and added 166 assists over eight seasons with the Lightning, Stars, and Capitals.