The Vancouver Province reported this afternoon that Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo(notes) is injured: "How badly is unknown and how many games the Vancouver Canucks starting goaltender may miss is also open to speculation."

The Vancouver Sun was happy to speculate openly, while reporting that Luongo is "out indefinitely" after last night's loss to the Detroit Red Wings:

Bertuzzi was knocked into Luongo by Canuck defenceman Alex Edler. The impact appeared to jar Luongo's shoulder and arm.

What happened since the initial news moved speaks to how all-encompassing hockey culture has become: We've been bombarded with messages from concerned Canucks fans, concerned Team Canada Olympic fans, concerned fantasy owners who drafted Luongo first in their leagues and, of course, fans from the other 14 teams in the Western Conference havin' a laugh right about now.

The only people who haven't checked in about the injury are members of backup goalie Andrew Raycroft's(notes) family, no doubt because champagne corks can be tricky sometimes.

Later, TSN clarified the injury, which is less ominous than inferred:

The Vancouver Canucks may have dodged a bullet as the team learned Wednesday that netminder Roberto Luongo is only expected to miss about a week's worth of action after suffering a hairline fracture in his ribs.

Luongo originally suffered the injury during this past Saturday's victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs where the Montreal native made 35 saves.  He appeared to aggravate the injury in Tuesday's loss to the Red Wings during a second period collision with Todd Bertuzzi(notes).

A week? And ... exhale. But in case this happens again, know this: As a Devils fan who watched another all-world goalie go down with a significant injury last season, please keep in mind that Scott Clememsens do happen.

But our Stanley Cup bet is looking better by the day, no?

Related: Rumors, scuttlebutt, innuendo