Ryan Jones

Chatham’s Ryan Jones could possibly miss the rest of the NHL season, according to the Edmonton Sun and Edmonton Journal.

Jones was injured 7:29 into his first game as an Edmonton Oiler on Friday night after a knee-on-knee collision with Derek Boogaard of the Minnesota Wild.

Boogaard received a two-game suspension from the NHL. He will be eligible to return on Thursday when the Wild visit the Detroit Red Wings.

The 25-year-old Jones, however, likely won’t get a chance to make an impression with his new team until next season.

The two Edmonton newspapers reported that Jones suffered a second-degree tear in the MCL of his right knee and will miss about four weeks. The last-place Oilers only have 17 games remaining over the final five weeks.

Jones was claimed by the Oilers on waivers from the Nashville Predators last Wednesday.

Oilers’ coach Pat Quinn was upset at the light sentence handed down by the NHL on Boogaard.

“One guy loses two games, one guy is going to lose four weeks. That seems fair,” Quinn said in a sarcastic tone to the Edmonton media.

“I hope (Jones) gets a chance to come back. He’s a robust, honest, workmanlike player that you really like to have in your line-up,” said Quinn of Jones.

The day after the hit, Jones showed no animosity towards Boogaard.

“I didn’t quite see it coming. It looks bad but nobody’s going to mean to do those kinds of things,” Jones said to the Edmonton media on Saturday, as posted on the Oilers’ web site.

“I know Boogie from the summer and talked to him this (Saturday) morning, it’s just one of those things,” said Jones, who trains in the off-season with the 6′7″ Boogaard.

After the hit, Jones returned to finish the first period before getting pulled in the intermission as a pre-caution. He played six shifts for a total of 4:19.

Jones played on a line with Sam Gagner and almost scored a goal.

The Oilers won the game 2-1 in a shootout.

Jones had seven goals and four assists in 41 games with the Predators this season. He had seven goals and 10 assists with Nashville in 2008-09.

Jones was drafted in the fourth round, 111^th overall, by the Wild in 2004. The Predators acquired Jones from the Wild in exchange for defenceman Marek Zidlicky on July 1, 2008.

Jones and Boogaard played in the Minnesota system at the same time, but never together.

Jones played four regular season games and four playoff games with the Wild’s AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros, after his graduation from the Miami University Redhawks in the spring of 2008. Boogaard played with the Wild at the time.