The Dallas Stars announced today that the left wing Brenden Morrow is out indefinitely with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will require surgery. He is expected to miss up to six months. The club also recalled right wing Landon Wilson from Grand Rapids (AHL).

"We are obviously very disappointed to hear the news about Brenden’s knee," said Co-General Manager Les Jackson. "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."

>> team release

An awful season gone worse for the Stars. This is going to be very difficult to recover from, especially given the hole the team's in already.

Mark Stepneski and Mike Heika will be all over this one, although the news just came down 10 minutes ago so reaction is limited.

In short, Morrow's the team captain, last year's leading goal scorer and a big part of what made Dallas so successful last season. Expect players like Brad Richards, Mike Modano, Mark Parrish and, yes, Sean Avery to step into a bigger role.

The playoffs are slipping away for the Stars.