Bryan Little, Jets' forward, out for the season with fractured vertebrae

Bryan Little was held back from travelling with the team to Dallas to undergo additional tests which led to the discovery of the injury. Little was injured on a hit from defencemanAnton Stralmanof the Tampa Bay Lightingin the second period of the Jets 6-5 shoot-outloss last week in Tampa.Little had stumbled on the ice and was in a vulnerable positionskating into theopposition's zone when Stralman closed in on Little and collided with him head on as he was falling.

RAW: Stralman hit on Bryan Little

9 years ago

Duration 1:12

Little was injured on a hit from defenseman Anton Stralman of the Tampa Bay Lighting in the second period of the Jets 6-5 shoot-out loss last week in Tampa.

There was no call on the play at the time and Maurice was livid as Stalman in the same shift had a knee-on-knee collision with rookie Nikolaj Ehlers. At the start of the third period of that Tampa game, Maurice got into anargumentwith the referee before the puck was even dropped and was ejected from the game.

Little has 17 goals and 42 points in 57 games for the Jets this season and is second on the team in scoring.The injury to the Jets number one centre is another setback in a season that has had manyhigh pointsfor the team.

Little and captain Andrew Ladd lead the team with 17 goals each and now Little is out for the remainder of the season and Ladd is potentially on the trade block ahead of the NHL trade deadline on February 29. The Jets also announced that the recalled forward Matt Halischuk. Halischuk has played 13 games for the Jets this season and has yet to register a point.