On Wednesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets placed starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky on injured reserve with a groin injury that will sideline him for four to five weeks.Bobrovsky sustained the injury making a spectacular glove save on a breakaway from Lightning forward J.T Brown.For a team that will still be without its best offensive player (Marian Gaborik) for a significant amount of time, the lo s of Bobrovsky could be a death blow for the Blue Jackets' season. With 12-14- Tyler Lydon Jersey 3 record, Columbus has the second fewest points (27) in what is arguably the NHL's worst division (the Metropolitan).PHOTOS: Coming into this season, it appeared as though the Blue Jackets finally had the franchise goalie that had eluded the downtrodden organization since it came into the league back in 2000. In his first year in Columbus last season, Bobrovsky won the Vezina trophy by posting a 2.00 goals-against average (tied for fourth-lowest in the league) to Jarred Vanderbilt Jersey go along with .932 save percentage (second-best in the league).Perhaps Bobrovsky's best stat of the 2013 lockout-shortened season is that he started 37 of 48 games (winning 21). That type of consistency nearly gave Columbus its second playoff appearance in franchise history.Now, Columbus will be forced to turn to journeyman backup Curtis McElhinney and AHL call-up Mike McKenna to fill the sizeable void created by the Jackets' most critical player.While the absence of Bobrovsky is a blow the Blue Jackets playoff chances, it might have an even greater impact on the outcome on the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi. Bobrovsky was born in Novokuznetsk, Ru sia, and after his superb play last season (and solid play for a bad team this season), he became a strong candidate to start in net for his native country when the puck drops in February.With the likes of Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk and more than a few others, the Ru sians are loaded with firepower up front. The problem has been that in the last two Denver Nuggets Jersey Olympics, the new Big Red Machine has been unable to find a viable option between the pipes.In 2006, then-Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov was "the guy," but the Ru sians failed to medal. Nabokov was tapped again for the 2010 Games, but in the quarterfinals against Canada, he was replaced by Ilya Bryzgalov after stopping only 17 of 23 shots in a 7-3 lo s to Team Canada in the quarterfinals.Neither of those goalies gives Team Ru sia the best chance to take gold this time around, and given the level ofuncertainty surrounding , the future status of Bobrovsky becomes all that much more e sential for the host country.If his rehab takes longer than expected, it is po sible that the Ru sians could once again be stuck with two retread goalies that they don't want.Nabokov has the third highest goals-against average (3.30) among NHL starters. Bryzgalov meanwhile, was claimed off waivers by the Oilers in November, and played only three games this season before sustaining an injury in a collision against the Stars on Dec. 1.The good news is that the International Jerami Grant Jersey Hockey Federation (thanks largely to pre sure from Ru sian and other European officials). That date isn't particularly binding either, as it is po sible for countries to add and drop players from the roster up to 24 hours before the start of the tournament.With injuries to players such as Steven Stamkos, Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Bobrovsky, Gary Harris Jersey countries are going to be doing serious injury a se sments over the next two months. In the case of Bobrovsky, that analysis is probably going to come down to the wire.If you combine Ru sia's recent Olympic failures on the ice with the burden of being the host country, it is easy to see why the stakes have never been higher.Even with Ru sia's illustrious hockey history, this is likely going to be one of the most talented teams that the country has ever a sembled.That being said, without Bobrovsky in net, the nation's quest for hockey gold will likely be over before the team even takes the ice.