Losing a top D man such as Andrei Markov for at least 3 weeks will most certainly test the depth and character of this team. Given the fact that this upcoming road trip will be the toughest they will probably face this season, a bigger concern is which player or players will eat up the quality minutes that Markov plays. Gainey and Carbo have their work cut out for them, as do the rest of the team. Another concern is the nature of the injury. Any type of injury to the rotator cuff can be described as serious. A timetable of three weeks could be a best case scenerio; as you have to look no further than Nathan Hortons injury two years ago which ended up costing him season ending surgery. Only time will tell how this team will react in the upcoming weeks. In the end Gainey may have to make a trade to shore up his backline.