By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

As camera crews for Home Box Office’s ”24/7″ series have made their way through the Philadelphia Flyers’ locker room for the past month in anticipation of the NHL Winter Classic, there is an expectation of something special. It’s a showcase for not only the League, but also the Flyers, their opponents on January 2nd, the New York Rangers, and the respective players and coaching staffs.

(Photo credit: Len Redkoles / NHLI via Getty Images)

Amid all of the ballyhoo, defenseman Matt Carle tries not to act any differently with all of the extra attention.

“It’s a little different having those guys around as much as they are,” the 27-year-old rear guard said after Saturday’s loss to the Boston Bruins. ”But you just try to go about your business and do things as you would normally. Just act like they’re not there, just kind of a fly on the wall.”

While Carle’s philosophy as HBO is filming seems to be just to blend in, his play in recent weeks has forced everyone to take notice.

This is the second straight year that the team has had to endure a prolonged Chris Pronger  absence, and it has perhaps been the most trying on Carle, Pronger’s usual partner.

Carle, a user of the social media platform Twitter, sent out his feelings after it was announced that the Flyers’ captain would miss the rest of the season.

“Tough news about Prongs yesterday…really just hoping the big guy is able to get healthy, not just for hockey, but everyday life #beast“

The loss of Pronger for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs, along with the injuries to Erik Gustafsson and Andreas Lilja, has understandably affected the way head coach Peter Laviolette has been utilizing his defensive pairings.

Subtracting the club’s top defender and leader in ice time, alone, will do that. With the three blueliners out of the lineup, Laviolette’s top four defensemen — Carle, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, and Andrej Meszaros — have seen a noticeable increase in their amount of ice time.

Through the first 19 games of the 2011-12 campaign, Carle’s TOI hovered in the range of 20 minutes per game. Included in that time frame were five different contests in which he stayed below the 20-minute mark. Maybe not so coincidentally, the 19th game of the season was in Winnipeg, which just so happened to be Pronger’s last appearance for the year.

Since Pronger’s departure, Carle has been averaging closer to 25 minutes a night, topped off by a season-high 27:44 December 7th in a 5-4 overtime victory in Buffalo.

(Photo credit: UPI / Matthew Healey)

In the 2010 Classic, Philadelphia traveled to Fenway Park in Boston. Carle played 21:49 and finished the afternoon with a -1 rating, and the Flyers dropped a 2-1 overtime decision. Carle said his team, which was wildly inconsistent during the first Classic experience, will have a better idea of how to handle things this year. And maybe even savor it some more.

Though he tries to act as though nothing is different with the added exposure, Carle does like the idea of the documentary-type format. He believes it’s an important medium for hockey fans to identify with their heroes, and maybe even further appreciate their daily grind.

“I think it’s (“24/7″) something that needs to be done every year, whether there’s a Winter Classic or not,” Carle said. “It’s a great opportunity for fans to get an inside look at what our daily lives are like, trying to get to know some personalities and players a little bit more.”

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

The devastating news was reported early Thursday evening by Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos via Twitter, and confirmed by the team later during the first period of last night’s Philadelphia Flyers contest in Montreal — the club’s top defenseman and team captain, Chris Pronger, will miss the remainder of the regular season and playoffs due to severe post-concussion symptoms.

(Photo credit: Paul Bereswill / Getty Images)

It’s just another hard dose of adversity for the Eastern Conference-leaders, especially for their beleaguered blueline.

Already missing Erik Gustafsson (wrist surgery) and Andreas Lilja (high ankle sprain) for several weeks, Peter Laviolette has had to juggle defensive pairings for some time. The big four of Matt Carle (Pronger’s usual defensive partner), Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, and Andrej Meszaros have been eating up a ton of minutes, with AHL call ups Marc-Andre Bourdon and Kevin Marshall also seeing time.

Philadelphia’s injury predicament is becoming more worrisome with each passing game, and concussions are at the top of the list. In addition to Pronger, Claude Giroux, the NHL’s leading scorer, and youngster Brayden Schenn, acquired from Los Angeles in the Mike Richards deal, remain out indefinitely with head injuries.

While only time will tell how these players fare in hopes of a return, the question for now becomes what will Paul Holmgren do now that Pronger is officially done until at least next fall, if he is able to return at all.

The Flyers are buying their GM some extra time because they simply refuse to lose. Even with all of their injury woes, the team defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at Bell Centre last night, running their current winning streak to seven games. This is a huge development, because there is no reason for Holmgren to get sucked into making any type of a panic move.

There’s no doubt that the excellent results in recent games are helping in the club’s decision-making process as to exactly what to do with their next move. With both Gustafsson and Lilja set to return sometime early in the New Year, and Matt Walker another option as a healthy body, Philadelphia could make do with their current roster.

Burning The Candle At Both Ends

The exhorbitant amount of ice time being logged by the big four has to eventually become a concern for team management.

• Timonen played a game-high 26:36 last night, with 8:03 of that time on ice in shorthanded situations. The other three ranged from 22:53 (Meszaros) to 24:21 (Coburn). Conversely, Bourdon was on for 10:48, and Marshall just 4:42.
• Tuesday night in Washington, Carle logged a game-high 25:27, while the three played between 21:39 (Meszaros), and 23:14 (Coburn). Carle’s TOI in the first period alone that night was 10:13, or better than half the frame. Lucky for the Flyers that they had a big lead and were able to give Bourdon (16:29) and Marshall (10:17) more minutes when the outcome was no longer in doubt, allowing the fab four to rest down the stretch.
• Carle also played 26:27 last Thursday at home against Pittsburgh, and 27:44 the previous night in Buffalo. Coburn also churned out a gruelling 25:48 against the Sabres that night.
• Coburn logged 28:03 against the New York Rangers at MSG in late-November. Timonen saw 24:28, and Carle had the least amount of TOI at 22:14.

That’s a ton of ice time for all four, especially Timonen, who is constantly banged up. The physical pounding is definitely taking a toll, and Philly will need the soon to be 37-year-old Finn to be fresh when the postseason commences if they want to have any kind of shot at a deep run.

Looking at the numbers Laviolette seems to be, for the most part, rotating the member of the group that will log the most ice time, thereby avoiding a complete burn out of any one defenseman.

So far, it’s working pretty well, but the long-term affects could prove costly down the road.

(Photo credit: Photo by Jim McIsaac / Getty Images North America)

Other Possibilities At Home

Gustafsson’s return should help to lighten the load somewhat, and will signal Marshall’s departure to Adirondack. Bourdon has been solid since his recall from the Phantoms, but his ice time ranges anywhere from 10-16 minutes, dependant upon how close of a contest the Flyers find themselves. Lilja was just starting to become more reliable when he was hurt, so Bourdon may stick around a bit when both Gustafsson and Lilja are back. Just in case.

Walker remains an enigma in Philadelphia. Having to bring him back through re-entry waivers and taking the risk of another club claiming him and leaving the Flyers footing $875,000 (pro-rated) of his contract, it’s strange that he hasn’t dressed for a game since clearing.

Oskars Bartulis played well when he got into the lineup last season before a shoulder injury, and looked to be in the team’s plan for this year. But after being sent to Adirondack before the end of training camp, the 24-year-old native of Latvia would have to clear re-entry waivers. With the probability of another club claiming him, Bartulis will almost certainly be relegated to the Phantoms all year long.

Who Will Holmgren Consider in Trade?

If Holmgren decides to go the trade route, let the Shea Weber-to-the-Flyers rumors begin. Having won an unprecedented $7.5 million arbitration award this past summer and set to become a restricted free agent at season’s end, Nashville may not be able to afford their captain and he may end up on the trading block.

He’s one of the most complete defenders in the entire League, and would most certainly attract interest from Philadelphia – especially with the uncertainty of Pronger’s situation. He’s a right-handed shot, something (other than Walker) the Flyers’ defense does not possess at this time. Weber also plays a physical game, and brings a booming, heavy shot that would aid the power play.

In other words, he could be the perfect fit.

While fitting his contract within the club’s salary cap limit this season may be within the realm of possibility (depending on who goes the other way), his asking price moving forward will likely be the killing point for the Flyers. With what will end up being Nashville’s asking price — young players off the current roster as a starter, no doubt — and the likelihood that he could end up being a rental player, Weber isn’t a probable candidate. But you can still prepare yourself for the barrage of never-ending rumors sure to be attached to this storyline.

(Photo credit: Frederick Breedon / Getty Images North America)

Another Predator’s blueliner could be a possibility. Ryan Suter stands to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and if GM David Poile decides to make sure Weber stays, he likely will not have enough money left to sign Suter.

That’s not to say that the Preds are at the cap ceiling, because they’re not even close. At $48.6 million — or just above the mandatory $48.3 million cap floor – Nashville owns the lowest payroll in the NHL. Their restrictions are related to the club’s budget, and Suter is in the last year of a $3.5 million deal.  He will be expecting a hefty raise and with the recent contract inked to keep goaltender Pekka Rinne from testing free agency (his current $3.4 million deal becomes a $7 million salary next year), Suter will probably be dealt prior to the trade deadline.

Stop Gaps

Both Weber and Suter are more on the high-end of the line of defenders, and another of Holmgren’s options would be to get a stop gap guy — likely a veteran presence, a la Sean O’Donnell last season — to be able to log a decent amount of ice time.

Teams that are falling well below the eighth spot in each conference may well be looking to deal a blueliner at some point. Depending on how Ottawa fares over the next two months, Sergei Gonchar (signed through next year at $5.5 million annually) may be available. Many remember how effective he was playing with a group of offensive players in Pittsburgh — especially on the power play – but he also has a tremendous amount of downside. He will turn 38 years old by the time the playoffs begin, has a gigantic contract, and has missed a significant amount of games over the last four years due to his body breaking down. Holmgren would be wise to stay away from Gonchar.

The same rings true for Tampa Bay (Brett Clark — $1.5 million, UFA after this year), Carolina (Jaroslav Spacek — $3.833 million, UFA after this year), Calgary (Scott Hannan — $1 million, UFA after this year), and Anaheim (Toni Lydman — signed through next year at $3 million annually). All may be looking to make changes in the next couple of months, and Holmgren could end up finding a trade partner.

Of this group, only Hannan should be a consideration. He is strictly a defensive defenseman, but he blocks a lot of shots and would help in shutdown situations.

Built More For the Longer Haul

The Flyers would be wise to proceed as if they know Pronger will not return at all, and pick up a defender who will not only be around the rest of this season and next, but for the next several years, as well — especially considering Carle is scheduled to become an UFA next summer, with Timonen’s contract expiring the following year.

Some players of interest that may become available if their respective teams fall out of the playoff hunt:

• Marc-Andre Bergeron (TB — signed through next year at $1 million annually) is a smaller option but is decent in the defensive end, and has a heavy point shot that would help take away the sting of Pronger’s absence on the power play.
• Travis Hamonic (NYI — signed through next year to entry level deal at $875,000 annually) is just 21 years old and plays a robust style of game. He plays the PP, hits, and gets involved physically. He racked up over 100 PIMs as a rookie last year and after a slow start this season, has been playing better of late. With his age and potential, Hamonic probably won’t be available, but this is the Islanders we’re taling about. Anything is possible.
• Milan Jurcina (NYI — $1.6 million, UFA after this year) is an interesting case. Though he didn’t find a home in Boston or Washington and is on a sometimes very bad New York club, the 28-year-old could be attractive to Holmgren. He has great size (6′ 4″, 253 pounds) and tools to excel in the League. His motivation is often in question, but much the same was said about another native of Slovakia currently on the Flyers’ roster — Meszaros — and he’s working out pretty well right now.

Bergeron and Jurcina would come much cheaper than the Weber and Suter options. Hamonic would, also, but would cost Holmgren at least a young roster player.

There is no reason to say anything will actually happen in the trade arena in Philadelphia, at least not for the time being. The team continues to win, so there is nothing even close to an air of panic within the Flyers’ organization.

Over the next couple of seasons, there is the possibility that a Brandon Manning or Colin Suellentrop or another prosepect in the system will be ready to make the big club.

It never hurts to plan ahead. So maybe the best course of action at the moment would be to not count on Pronger coming back at all, and maybe make a couple of deals for the future, as long as the young assets and current team chemistry are not compromised.

If Pronger does eventually come back next season, it would just be icing on the cake.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

Already with top defenseman Chris Pronger absent from the lineup with concussion-like symptoms, many had their eyes on the Verizon Center in Washington Tuesday night to see how the Philadelphia Flyers would react to the loss of Claude Giroux. After all, the NHL’s leading scorer has been one of the central keys to the team’s success thus far. 

The question of just how these Flyers would deal with yet another bout of adversity in a season looking as if it will test the very boundaries of their resiliency were answered quite emphatically with a dominating 5-1 victory in the nation’s capital. 

(AP Photo / Nick Wass)

In winning their sixth straight contest, the Flyers increased their lead to three points over both the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers, who both lost, for the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conferences leads.

It helped the cause that Washingon goaltender Tomas Vokoun had a brutal night between the pipes for the Capitals, but he was the only one bearing gifts. Only garnering one power play on the night, Philadelphia did all of their damage at even strength.

GM Paul Holmgren has from time to time come under some amount of scrutiny for his constant battle with staying within NHL mandated salary cap limits, including from yours truly on the odd occasion. But unlike many other general managers that find themselves in a similar situation, Holmgren seems to have the attained a near-perfect offensive balance with his roster. Last night’s contest was proof-positive:

• There were five different goal scorers and 13 different skaters recorded at least one point in the triumph, with only Matt Carle and James van Riemsdyk picking up more than one. Both had two assists.
• 16 of the 18 skaters registered at least one shot on goal, with Jaromir Jagr and Kimmo Timonen being the only two not to send a puck onto the Washington net.
• Three of the five goals were initiated with a shot by a defenseman from the point, with two being deflected in by Flyers, and Marc-Andre Bourdon picking up his first career NHL goal.
• Scott Hartnell scored a goal in his sixth consecutive game, tying Nashville’s Patric Hornqvist for the League’s longest streak of the season. A rejuvenated Hartnell now has 15 goals and 27 points in 29 games, and leads the club with a +18 rating.
• Wayne Simmonds scored a goal in a career-high third straight game. After going through a seven game goalless drought, the big winger has goals in four of the last five contests.
• Even the oft-scratched Jody Shelley got into the act last night, picking up an assist for his first point since January 14, 2011 in Atlanta.

One of the biggest components to the Flyers’ success has been the speed added to the forward position by Holmgren over the summer, and the fit with Peter Laviolette’s system is like hand in glove. The youth and jump of Matt Read, Sean Couturier, Harry Zolnierczyk, and Zac Rinaldo, along with the tenacity exhibited by all has been a much-welcomed change from last season. Offseason acquisitions Jakub Voracek and Simmonds also have been invaluable.

While the absence of Giroux will most-certainly sting, it appears as if the Flyers’ scoring attack will be just fine as he takes time to recover.

Did Holmgren Sign The Correct UFA Goalie?

It was a tremendous team effort all the way around, and nearly resulted in a shutout for Ilya Bryzgalov. The first-year Flyer stopped 31 of 32 Caps’ shots, yielding a late third period tally by Jeff Halpern with the outcome of the game already determined. Having won 11 of his last 13 decisions (11-1-1) since October 27th, Bryzgalov has run his record to a stellar 14-5-2 on the season.

Having gotten out of the gates slowly this year, many pundits panned the Bryzgalov signing. At $51 million over nine years, many experts lambasted Holmgren for not going with a much cheaper option in Vokoun, who ended up inking a one-year, $1.5 million pact over the summer.

The Czech-born netminder’s shaky performance last night accentuated what Washington has endured for most of the season, the fact that Vokoun — who has had some decent starts and currently has a 12-8-0 record – has been inconsistent all year. The weak goals allowed on shots from Hartnell and Max Talbot were absolute back-breakers for a team in desperate need of big saves. The Capitals had won their last two games for new head coach Dale Hunter, but Vokoun’s tendency for allowing soft goals didn’t give them much of a chance against the Flyers.

While Bryzgalov and Vokoun have very similar goals-against averages (2.75, 2.70, respectively) and save percentages (.901, .910, respectively), the quality of the goals yielded have differed greatly. Bryzgalov was the victim of numerous pinball goals early in the year, leading to an inflated GAA and poor save percentage. Last night’s showing is typical of the types of goals that Vokoun has allowed.

For all of his critics, it looks like Holmgren made the correct choice. Except for one 0-4-1 stretch in mid-October Bryzgalov has been solid for the Flyers, and for a team that underwent so much change in the offseason, that is a necessity. Especially with the poor history of the position in recent years in Philadelphia.

The Road Warriors

With the win in D.C., the Flyers now boast the NHL’s best record away from home at 11-3-1. 

Here’s an interesting tidbit from the Flyers’ PR department:

Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the Flyers have never had 11 wins in their first 15 road games before this season. The previous high was the 1979-80 season, when the Flyers were 9-1-5 through the first 15 road games. The Flyers are on pace for 30 road wins, which would shatter the franchise record of 24 road wins set in 2002-03. That year, the Flyers were 8-4-3 through their first 15 road games.

Hard to imagine that with the storied history of the club’s franchise that the team would be on such a pace in a year viewed by many experts to be a season of transition in the City of Brotherly Love.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

The Flyers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-2 tonight, but there should be a guarded enthusiasm that goes along with the victory. NHL leading scorer Claude Giroux and goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov each left the game early with injuries.

Giroux, who assisted on two second period goals, was accidentally kneed in the head by teammate Wayne Simmonds, who tried to jump over the center to avoid a collision. Giroux stayed on the ice for some time, holding his head, before skating slowly to the bench. He remained at the end of the bench until there was approimately one minute left in the middle stanza, then headed down the tunnel to the locker room.

“Yeah, he kind of fell and he was right in front of me so I tried to jump over him,” Simmonds said after the game.  “I couldn’t really feel it, you know,  it was kind of fast. I just kept trying to go, and then I turned around and he was still on the ice there. So, obviously I was worried about him.”

Linemate Jaromir Jagr wasn’t seeing the possibly dire situation regarding Giroux.

“I think he’s going to be OK, he’s a tough guy,” Jagr said after the game. “I don’t worry about him, I think he’s going to be back.”

The 39-year-old Jagr continued.

“I don’t think he’s going to be out,” he said. “I don’t even want to think about it, but I don’t think he’s going to be out. That’s my prediction. If he is, maybe  one or two games, no more. I think maybe one or two just to be careful, hopefully. When I asked him I thought he was going to play, I didn’t know he was going to sit the third period. But, of course, you have to be careful with players like that, but I think he should be fine. Hopefully I’m not wrong.”

GM Paul Holmgren addressed the media after the game. “Claude was obviously injured late in the second period,” he said. “He was evaluated by our doctors and held out for precautionary reasons in the third period, and we’ll evaluate him tomorrow and see how he is.”

When Giroux did not return for the third period, rookie Sean Couturier skated in Giroux’s vacant spot centering Jagr and Scott Hartnell.

After the game, Peter Laviolette spoke about the job done by Couturier.

“Well right now, anything involving Claude is just speculation, but to comment on Sean’s game I thought that he did a really nice job in the third period,” the coach said of his 19-year-old rookie. “We double shifted him between that line and his line; you know young kid, lots of energy. He played extremely well, and I think that’s a real positive for our team.”

Couturier had numerous quality chances, but was robbed several times by Lightning goaltender Mathieu Garon.

“I thought young Sean stepped in and did an admirable job,” Holmgren said. “He probably could have had a hat trick during that third period.”

With both Chris Pronger (concussion-like symptoms) and Brayden Schenn (mild concussion) already out with head injuries, and defensemen Erik Gustafsson (wrist surgery) and Andreas Lilja (high ankle sprain) out for an extended period, the sick ward is filling up rapidly in Philly.

Bryzgalov may just be joining the group in the M*A*S*H unit. The club’s number one netminder left the game during a television timeout with 13:01 left in the third period, and the Flyers leading, 4-2.

“Ilya, it’s an injury issue, lower body, (it happened) during the third,” said Holmgren. “We don’t think it’s anything serious.  It’s an off-day tomorrow for the player I would assume that he will be fine for our next game.”

While there is much to be concerned with regarding the club’s injury woes, Holmgren kept things in perspective.

“It is a part of the game,” he said. “Pittsburgh played their game tonight without (Kris) Letang, without (Sidney) Crosby, without (Jordan) Staal.  I mean, everybody goes through injury issues, we’re just through our share right now.”

The Game

Briere celebrates first period goal with Voracek and Meszaros. (AP Photo / Matt Slocum)

The game, itself, was a typical contest for the Orange-and-Black lately. They got off to an extremely slow start in the first period, falling behind on a Ryan Shannon goal, then came out like gang-busters to commence the second.

Simmonds made a nice play at center ice to create a turnover that led to a two-on-rush with Danny Briere the other way. Briere finished off the sequence, beating Mathieu Garon top shelf for his ninth goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.

Just 34 seconds later, Hartnell sent a pass over to Giroux, who hit Jagr. The Czech superstar ripped a one-timer high over Garon’s glove for his 10th of the year to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. It was also the 656th of his career, tying him for 11th place on the NHL’s all-time leading goal scoring list with Brendan Shanahan.

With just over five minutes left in the middle frame, Simmonds would strike for one of his own with Vincent Lecavalier in the sin bin. After taking a pass from Giroux to the right of Garon, Simmonds attempted a hard backhand pass out in front. The puck hit off of defenseman Brett Clark’s skate and caromed past his goaltender and into the net for a 3-1 Philadelphia lead heading into the third period. After a recent nine-game goalless drought, it was the second in three games for Simmonds, and seventh of the season.

“Yeah, you know he (Simmonds) doesn’t play in an easy area,” Laviolette said. “It usually comes with a cross-check and a punch to the head, and you’ve got to be willing to take that. So you have to give him credit for standing in the tough areas, but he was able handle the pass, bring it to the net.”

Laviolette said the Simmonds goal is a designed play. Well, sort of.

“We’ve actually been working on that play, not necessarily to bank it off the defenseman’s skate, but you know when you bring pucks to the net, good things happen and he got the reward of that.”

Lecavalier would tally a power play goal of his own — his 11th this year — just 55 seconds into the third, but Matt Carle answered with a man advantage goal, his fourth goal of the year, four minutes later to restore the two-goal lead for the Flyers.

Hartnell iced the game with 28 seconds remaining in regulation, hitting the empty net with Garon pulled or an extra attacker. Jagr had a chance to pass Shanahan on the list, but instead hit Hartnell.

With the five goals, Philadelphia became the first team to top the 100-goal mark for the year (101).

Giroux’s two assists increased his lead in the scoring race to three points over Toronto’s Phil Kessel. Giroux now has 39 points for the season.

Bryzgalov held the Flyers in the game during a lopsided first period, and even though he could not finish out the game, won for the 10th time in his last 12 decisions (10-1-1). His season record is now an impressive 13-5-2.

Most importantly with the win — their fifth consecutive, by the way — Philadelphia stayed one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference leads.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

It has been a strange road trip, indeed, for the Philadelphia Flyers. Four games in 12 days starting in New York, then a five-day gap in between the first and second games; proceeding with back-to-back contests on the West coast, and after a three day gap between games three and four, closing the trip in New York this coming Wednesday. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention; the first and last games of this peculiar odyssey include back-to-back games, with one each having a game attached at the Wells Fargo Center.

And Gulliver thought his travels were unique.

After defeating the Montreal Canadiens on Black Friday at home, the Flyers ventured to Madison Square Garden the next day to take on their arch nemesis wearing the Broadway Blue. In a very physical affair, Philly was able to muster as many goals against Henrik Lundqvist as they did during their previous visit to MSG late in the regular season last spring — that being none.

The 2-0 shutout loss at the hands of the Rangers was a bitter way to begin the current trip.

Things didn’t look much better for the Orange-and-Black in Anaheim on Friday night, either, as the goal drought continued well into the latter stages of the second period. Philly trailed after the first period, the fifth time in the last six games they were behind after the opening 20 minutes.

With seven Flyer rookies in the lineup and Bruce Boudreau making his Ducks debut behind the bench, Anaheim was cruising along with a seemingly safe 3-0 lead late in the middle frame.

Giroux and Briere celebrate Giroux's game-winning power play goal in overtime Friday night in Anaheim. (Photo credit: Jeff Gross / Getty Images)

That’s when the struggling Flyers’ power play unit got things rolling. Without Chris Pronger’s heavy shot from the point, the unit had been highly ineffective.

But the man advantage would yield three goals on this night. Jaromir Jagr, who just returned from a groin injury, scored one late in the middle frame, then added a second early in the third. Scott Hartnell tallied an even strength goal late in regulation to send the game into sudden death, and it was Claude Giroux who dealt the death blow with a one-timer while on the man advantage midway through the extra stanza.

Even though Anaheim has been in the throes of some horrific play, it was still an important victory for Philadelphia. They showed they could overcome a notoriously bad start, scratch and claw their way back in, and take the two points when it didn’t look possible.

The strong play late Friday carried over into Saturday’s game in Phoenix, as the Flyers turned around some pretty stark trends in a first period against the Coyotes.

Heading into the contest, Philly had been outscored 11-2 in the first over the course of their previous six games, and Phoenix, conversely, had yielded just 10 goals in the first all year.

That’s why they actually play the games.

Philadelphia torched starter Mike Smith for four goals in the opening period, on their way to a 4-2 triumph. It was especially surprising because the Coyotes were resting, waiting for the Flyers to arrive the day after their game in Anaheim.

But it was the Philly players who looked much more fresh and rested.

The Flyers again had seven rookies in their lineup against the ‘Yotes, and Matt Read — who had been so vital to the club’s success over a stretch, but had been quiet in recent games – would provide the spark by scoring a goal and adding two assists. The power play was once again a prime factor, as it clicked for two goals in three man advantage opportunities on the evening.

Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov beat his former teammates for a second straight time and was solid all night, making 36 saves.

It has to bring some level of heightened satisfaction to the first-year Flyer to have knocked off his old team, particularly because of the criticism tossed his way before their initial meeting in Philadelphia on November 17. Read was instrumental in the outcome of that contest as well, as he scored with just 18.2 seconds left in regulation to provide Bryzgalov and the Flyers with a hard-fought 2-1 decision on that night.

Bryzgalov raises his glove in triumph after defeating his former teammates in Phoenix Saturday. (Photo credit: Norm Hall / NHLI via Getty Images)

Just Say Bryz

For all of the criticism Bryzgalov has taken for his sometimes inconsistent play this season, he has quietly posted a sparkling 7-1-1 record in his last nine decisions since an October 27th 9-8 horror show against the Winnipeg Jets in which he was tagged with the loss.

He has run his record to a more than respectable 10-5-2, with a goals-against average of 2.83 and a save percentage that has finally reached .900. After the debacle with the Jets, it has taken an elongated period for the 2010 Vezina Trophy candidate to get his numbers back in line.

Bryzgalov played in both ends of the back-to-back games over the past weekend, the first such time he has done so this year. With the excellent results — beating both of his former teams in the process – it wouldn’t be surprising to see it happen again, specifically with the team trying to get their franchise goalie on a roll.

Balanced Scoring Attack

After being blanked by Lundqvist and the Rangers at the beginning of the sojourn, the Flyers have been won the last two games via scoring by committee. Jagr has two goals and four points in the two contests, Danny Briere and Kimmo Timonen each have four assists, leading scorer Giroux and Hartnell each have two goals and an assist, and Read has contributed a goal and two helpers.

Speaking of Timonen’s Assists …

Even though he has not scored a goal this year, Timonen has been a solid contributor to the club’s offensive efforts. With four assists in the last two contests, the defenseman now has 17 helpers in 25 Flyers games this season – tying him for the team lead with Giroux, and placing him right around the top-10 for the NHL lead.

Timonen also has the most assists in the League by any player who has yet to score a goal.

Scheduling A Good Thing For The Defense To Rest

Perhaps the unbalanced scheduling by the League has actually been a blessing in disguise for the Flyers. With three injuries they have sustained to their corp of blueliners, a grueling journey with games every other night could have been lethal at this juncture.

With Pronger (knee surgery), Andreas Lilja (high ankle sprain), and Erik Gustafsson (wrist surgery) all out for an extended period, the top four defensemen have seen an inordinate amount of ice time:

• Braydon Coburn has averaged over 25 minutes per game on the trip thus far, including 28:03 against the Rangers in the first contest away from Philadelphia.
• Matt Carle has seen an average of over 23 minutes of time on ice in the trio of games, including 24:56 Saturday night in Phoenix.
• Andrej Meszaros has seen the least amount of time of the foursome, averaging nearly 22 minutes per game. It was of great concern when he was shaken up late in the tilt against the Coyotes, getting up slowly after taking a heavy hit along the boards from Phoenix fire plug Raffi Torres. The club has said Meszaros will be available for the game Wednesday in Buffalo.
• 36-year-old Timonen has been on the ice for nearly 24 minutes in each of the three road games, with a high of 25:35 in Anaheim on Friday. Though gathering his share of bumps and bruises along the way, Timonen has seemingly turned back the hands of time. He’s been playing some of his best hockey over the past calendar year. 

There is no doubt the amount of days off between stretches of games has helped these four regroup for the next series of contests.

The group, which had looked so deep early on in the season, has looked suspect at times. Gustafsson had been so solid in the five games since his recall from Adirondack when Pronger originally went out of the lineup with a mysterious virus, so his loss shortly after was costly. In the absence of the pair, Marc-Andre Bourdon and Kevin Marshall were recalled from the Phantoms.

Bourdon has played well over 11 minutes per game on the trip, and Marshall nearly eight.

One issue has been the fact there are two more healthy bodies in Adirondack who have been trapped there because of having to clear re-entry waivers. Matt Walker and Oskars Bartulis could come in handy in spelling the big four for a rest, but any recall could see them claimed by another team — with the Flyers footing half of their remaining salary. The situation got so dire the team called Walker up last week, and the 31-year-old cleared. The team was so overjoyed, Walker was scratched for the two games since his return to the club.

With a break in the calendar that began yesterday and continues through tomorrow — before the Flyers play the Sabres in Buffalo Wednesday before returning home to play Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time this season on Thursday – now is the time for the defense to rest.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger has had a tough go of it for the past 15 months. Over that time he’s suffered five major injuries that have required surgeries, and had a close call with another when he took a high stick that nearly caught him in the right eye.

(Photo credit: Len Redkoles / NHLI / Getty Images)

He was forced to miss 32 games during the 2010-11 campaign, and missed all but three postseason contests last spring.

Coming into this year, Pronger missed most of training camp while recovering from back surgery in the spring, and saw just one game of exhibition action prior to the start of the 2011-12 regular season.

After getting off to a good start, he was hit with a stick on the follow through of a shot that very well could have been the end of his career. Lucky for him it was a near miss, just catching the edge of the orbital bone.

Pronger returned donning a visor after missing six games, but he “just didn’t feel well.” It even got to the point where he underwent baseline testing for a concussion, but it ended up being a virus, which knocked him out of the last seven games.

And then the left knee problem reared its head. Pronger had successful surgery yesterday, and plans on beginning rehabilitation on it tomorrow.

Without their captain in the lineup, they have gone just 5-4-1 in the 10 contests he has missed. Now they head west, where they will play in Anaheim tomorrow as they finish this four-game road trip that had a five day break in between games.

About the announced estimation of four weeks before he can return? Well, sounds like that is kind of up in the air and will be determined as he begins rehab work.

Below is the transcript of this morning’s conference call:

Q: When did you have your surgery and how are you feeling?

Pronger: I had the surgery on Tuesday afternoon. I’m feeling okay, just ice and elevation. Trying to get the swelling out, and I start my rehab tomorrow.

Q: Holmgren said the other day that you would be out for 4 weeks. Are you optimistic that it will be four weeks? Do you think you could be back sooner than that?

Pronger: I have no idea. Again, I had surgery two days ago, so  once I start getting my rehab going, as I progress through that I’ll know a bit more. Gauging off of when I had my other knee done a couple of years ago, a month sounds about right, but again, it may be 3 weeks, it may be 6 weeks, I don’t know. We just kind of gave a ballpark number because we don’t really know.

Q: You mentioned the other surgery, and that one took about 9 weeks. Homer said he thought that one was more involved. Did the doctors tell you what was different about this surgery compared to the one you had two years ago?

Pronger: There was a little bit more damage on the one a couple years ago. There were pretty big chunks they took out, and it was not as clean as this knee was. The doctor was pretty pleased when he got in there to see what exactly was involved, and was pretty pleased with what he saw.

Q: Did you feel like you were almost ready to come back from the virus and then this whole thing with the knee came up?

Pronger: Well, my knee had kind of been bothering me. It’s gradually gotten worse since I came back from the eye injury. When I stopped skating, as I started to try to work out, it started to bother me. I’d do daily workouts and try to do legs every other day, and it got to a point where I couldn’t do my leg workouts, so I knew something was wrong. I went and got the MRI and got a plan to get it fixed very quickly as opposed to last time, Tim, when you got mad at me for doing it so late. 

Q: Was there anything that you did when you played that would have contributed to this injury?

Pronger: Not that I know of. I don’t remember ever getting hit. I don’t remember ever catching it in a rut or doing anything. I don’t know what it’s from…I have a couple suspicions, but I don’t really know. 

Q: How frustrating is this for you? Last year you said was the season from hell and this year so far you’ve had three different issues. How tough it for you mentally now with this kind of start?

Pronger: Again, I was pretty pleased with how my summer went with training, and obviously got in a preseason game and felt like I got a pretty good start to the season. When you have a fluke injury where you get slashed in the face with a stick and now the knee, it’s a little disheartening. But I felt like I was playing pretty well when I got hurt the first time. It just sets you back. You’re just starting to get your rhythm, you’re starting to get in your groove and you’re comfort level is very high, and this kind of sets you back. I have to go through that whole process again whenever I do get back.

Q: How scary was the virus? When we asked Paul he didn’t really know what it was. He said there were tests but it wasn’t anything overly-serious…

Pronger: I just didn’t feel well. I didn’t know what it was, we said it was a virus but I didn’t know what it was. I had never felt like that before, where I had headaches and nausea and all the rest of that stuff. So I had a concussion test. I took the baseline test and passed that. I’ve just never felt like this where you get lightheaded, you have headaches, you’re nauseous. It’s been a bit of a mystery with what exactly is going on. I did some blood work, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on.

 Q: Is this one of those things, with your surgery, where you might’ve been able to play but you wanted to take care of it so that when it comes time for the games that really matter—the playoffs—you can be 100 percent?

Pronger: I think if it was the playoffs or the Stanley Cup Final, I could play, but it was to the point where I wouldn’t have played very well. We can always say we can play but at what level and at what detriment are you playing? At this stage in the season, not knowing the other side of it, it was prudent to get it done now so that if I’m able to return in 4 weeks, let’s say, then I’m able to get 3 weeks in before the All Star break, and then put the hammer down after that, as we get into the playoff stretch.

Q: When you go through something like this– when you’ve had so many surgeries– do u do any soul searching and say, my body’s breaking down here, how long do I want to go through this? Or do you say to yourself, hey, I did have a fluke injury with the eye but now I have both of my knees taken care of so they should be good to go for a few more years?

Pronger: Well, you have to look at the injuries in their totality. I got hit with a puck, and I broke my foot. I got hit with a puck in the hand, and I broke my hand. I got slashed in the face and hurt my eye. The knees are things that, you know, I hurt my knee in the game against Boston in the Stanley cup playoffs and this one was from I don’t know what. The only one that was really perplexing was the back. I don’t really know how or what happened there and probably never will. It’s just one of those things. You look at the number of the injuries and they would seem to be kind of fluky. Three of them I got hit with the puck or a stick. Are those everyday hockey occurrences? Yeah, it could happen to anybody. When you play the game hard and you play a lot of minutes you’re that much more inclined to have something happen to you because you’re always out there. So you still have to take a look at it as, yeah, I’ve had a lot of surgeries and it takes a toll on your body but you’ve got to continue to follow rehab protocol and follow guidance of the doctors and try to make sure that you’re doing the best you can to take care of your body and take care of your mind at the same time to prepare yourself to be ready when you do get back.

Q: Just to be clear, are you still dealing with the effects of the virus? Or whatever you said you wanted to call it?

Pronger: Yeah, I’m not quite…again, we’re still trying to ascertain what’s going on, and like I said, I’ve never felt like this before so…I don’t really know what’s going on.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

With the recent wave of injuries experienced by the Philadelphia Flyers, the rumors have begun that something will soon be on the horizon via the trade market.

Photo credit: Jim MacIsaac / Getty Images

In pre-salary cap days, there would be no issue whatsoever in going out and making a deal to get some much-needed help on the club’s ailing blueline.  Ed Snider always gave the go-ahead with a pre-approval – along with a blank check - for whatever his general managers believed would improve the team’s chances of succeeding.

But this is a much different climate and while Snider still has given his blessing to Paul Holmgren to do whatever is necessary to improve the Flyers, a trade at this point in time would be a knee-jerk reaction.

No pun intended.

Dr. Peter DeLuca will perform an arthroscopic procedure on Chris Pronger’s left knee today, to clean out and remove what Holmgren referred to ‘loose bodies’ from the defenseman’s knee in his conference call yesterday.

It was more bad news for the blueline corps, which is already without the services of Erik Gustafsson (wrist surgery) and Andreas Lilja (high ankle sprain).  Both are expected to be out until sometime around the New Year, and rear guards Marc-Andre Bourdon and Kevin Marshall have been filling in during their absences.  The defensemen were recalled on November 21 when it was learned that Pronger (virus) and Coburn (upper body injury) would not be ready to play.

This presents a tremendous quandry for Philadelphia, as they are left with just four regular NHL-caliber defenders – Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Andrej Meszaros, and Matt Carle – to go along with the AHL recalls. 

Bourdon has actually played pretty well since his recall.  Although he has not scored a point in the four games, he has a +1 rating and four PIMs while providing a physical presence.

Marshall - who was sent back to Adirondack after the November 21 game when Coburn was proclaimed good to go, then recalled again when Lilja suffered his ankle injury - hasn’t fared as well thus far.  In limited ice time in the two games in which he has seen action, Marshall has been a -1 in each.

Oskars Bartulis, or possibly even Matt Walker would be worthy recalls from the Phantoms, but both would have to first have to pass through re-entry waivers. 

If either were to be recalled it is likely they would be claimed by another team, and that scenario would not be a good one for the Flyers.  Another by-product of the mess is if they were to be claimed, half of their respective salaries would count against Philly’s salary cap totals.  Walker being taken off the Flyers’ hands would cost the club an additional pro-rated $875,000, and Bartulis $300,000. 

Just for not playing in Philadelphia.

Another problem the injuries are creating is the amount of ice time the big four are seeing.  In Saturday’s 2-0 shutout loss at Madison Square Garden, Coburn was on for in excess of 28 minutes, Timonen 24:28, Meszaros 23:38, and Carle 22:14. 

Those are postseason-type numbers, where players wear down quickly in the all out pursuit of Lord Stanley’s hardware.  But this is only late-November, and Philly’s defenders are looking battle-weary already.

36-year-old Timonen has especially been banged up over the past two seasons.  Many times as he’s leaving the ice in obvious distress, team management and fans alike must be holding their collective breath.  It’s been said here before in these pages, but any sort of long-term injury to Timonen – especially in combination with the devastation the ranks have experienced this year – would spell an almost certain catasrophic end for the Orange-and-Black.

Holmgren has already had to be ultra-creative just to make his squad cap compliant this season.  He left forward Brayden Schenn off the opening night roster to save a rather large bonus that would have kicked in and pushed the team over the upper limit.

And that is why any kind of band aid moves are likely not to happen. 

Sure, this is a critical stretch with the Flyers in the midst of a four-game road trip, and they can ill-afford to go into a tailspin.  With Sidney Crosby’s healthy return to the Pittsburgh Penguins – and the likelihood of a big run by the Pens – and vastly improved play by the New York Rangers this season, Philadelphia could quickly find themselves losing sight of the teams in front of them in the Atlantic Division, as well as many others in the Eastern Conference race.

Presently, Philadelphia sits two points behind Pittsburgh, and two points ahead of the Rangers.

Yes, when Pronger and Lilja are placed on LTIR the Flyers will have in excess of $5 million in cap room.  And with the Carolina Hurricanes claiming Andreas Nodl off waivers at noon, that’s another $845,000 in wiggle room.  

But any kind of a stop gap measure taken for ‘the now’ will almost definitely come back to haunt the Flyers later when the injured players return.  There is only so much limbo space available for Holmgren to maneuver within cap limits, and having any extra bodies around when everyone is healthy won’t work.

Expect nothing to happen for at least the next week or so, as Philadelphia has some time with which to see how things play out.  For now.  If the team begins to spiral into a freefall, all bets are off.

And if some kind of move is going to be undertaken by Holmgren, you can bet it will involve players with more substantial contract numbers leaving the City of Brotherly Love – in other words, a move that will leave the club in good standing with regards to the upper salary cap limit when the entire core of the team is healthy once again - if that will even be a possibility in this season of seemingly never-ending injuries.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

In a Monday chock full of NHL news, the Philadelphia Flyers evidently didn’t want to feel left out. 

After coaches in Washington and Carolina were fired and their replacements named, Philly GM Paul Holmgren had some news of his own to deliver.  No, it was nothing to do with their coach.  Peter Laviolette has one of the safest jobs in the entire League.

(Photo credit: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images North America)

Keeping with the injury theme that has been the biggest non-Winter Classic related fodder in Philadelphia for some time, Holmgren announced today that captain and top defenseman Chris Pronger would be undergoing surgery tomorrow on his left knee. 

Already a scratch for the last four games due to a ‘virus’, Pronger will likely miss at least another month following the surgery on his knee.

Holmgren said this is not a new injury, it’s just something that’s been lingering for some time.  Knowing he had surgery on the right knee last season and seeing Pronger’s knees wrapped in huge ice bags in the locker room following each home game, it’s not hard to imagine the validity of the statement.

Pronger missed the beginning of last season with the right knee surgery and had three subsequent injuries that required surgeries – the last of which was back surgery during the playoffs that caused him to miss almost all of training camp this year.

The 37-year-old defenseman had a close call with a major disaster on October 24, when he took a stick to his right eye in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Lucky for Pronger, Mikhail Grabovski’s blade just clipped the outer edge of his eye, and did no damage to the eye itself.  He returned, donning a visor, on November 9 after missing just six games.

For the season, Pronger has played in 13 games, scoring a goal and assisting on 11 others, while recording a +1 rating and 10 PIMs.  But it appears the 1,167 regular season contests and 173 more in the postseason – not to mention international competition – has taken a hard toll on Pronger’s body.

As a result of the Pronger development and other injuries the team is dealing with at the moment, there was a deluge of roster moves made today, as well as more to come this week.

Below is the transcipt of the conference call held by Holmgren today, explaining not only the situation with Pronger, but also the domino affect it is having on the club’s ailing roster:

Q: How long have you known he’s had a knee problem?

 “Obviously Chris has played a long time.  This has been an issue probably for the last month or so for him that’s been nagging.  He’s been playing through it up until this recent bout with his virus.  As I said in my statement earlier, we kind of believed that through continuing the rehabilitation that he’s been doing on that, that he does on a daily basis anyway, and some medicine, that it would start to feel better.  But Chris saw the doctor yesterday and had another MRI, and we just decided that this was the time to go ahead and get this taken care of.  Some of the loose bodies in there are becoming a little bit of an issue, and we felt it was better to get it taken care of now.”

Q: Did he miss games because of the knee or because of the virus?

“The reason he missed games was because of the virus.  This came up just recently, yesterday, and we decided the best way to attack this is with surgery now.  But he’d been missing games because of the virus.  It had nothing to do with his knee.”

Q: Has he recovered from that virus now?

“Well, he’s certainly feeling more like himself.  If this hadn’t come up with the knee, we were hopeful that he’d be able to play on Friday.  Obviously now that’s out of the question.”

Q: What are you going to have to do now roster-wise?

 “We’re talking about a lot of things here today.  I think initially… we sent [Kevin Marshall] back after the Ranger game on Saturday night, so he actually wasn’t here the last couple days.  I think initially we’ll probably just recall Kevin and try to figure out where we’re at at that point.  But right now that’s kind of the way we’re leaning.”

Q: Was Andreas Nodl put on waivers too?

 “Yes.”

Q: Can you talk about that decision?

 “Well, Andreas hasn’t played as much.  We’ll just gauge interest and see what happens.  At some point tomorrow, if he clears waivers, we’ll see what we’re going to do with him – if we send him down or just keep him.  But we’ll decide his fate tomorrow after we find out whether he clears or not.”

Q: Will Chris be moved to the long-term injured reserve?

 “I would probably say yes, at some point, today or tomorrow.”

Q: On Pronger’s multiple surgeries

“Any time a player has surgery, there’s concern, whether he’s an older player like Chris or a younger player.  I do think Chris is a player that takes good care of himself, looks after himself, does the proper rehabilitation and conditioning to stay in top shape.  I think this time, the only thing we can go by is what the doctors tell us, and it’s just a question of cleaning up some of those bodies.  The structure of his knee is fine, he’s got good cartilage on  both sides of that knee, so this is just kind of a maintenance thing more than anything, and to get him a little more comfortable.  He’d been playing with some discomfort in that knee, apparently, and Dr. DeLuca believes if we just get this done now and take care of it, we can get him back playing in four weeks time and he’ll be good to go.  We’re worried because he’s going under surgery, yes, but long-term I still think Chris has a lot of miles left on his body, and based on his attitude about this and the way he takes care of himself and prepares, I think he’ll be fine.”

Q: Will Andreas Lilja be going on long-term injured reserve as well?

 “He’s going to go on today or tomorrow as well.”

Q: Is Brayden Schenn a consideration to be called up?

“Yes, he will be (called up).  He was in town today to get a follow-up on his foot with Dr. Raikin and everything looks good there, he made it through the three games [with the Phantoms], so we will recall Brayden.”

Q: Updates on Jaromir Jagr & James van Riemsdyk

“Jaromir skated today, we’ve just got to take it a day at a time with him.  James did not skate today.  I would think there’s a chance Jaromir could play on the upcoming weekend.  James is probably a long-shot right now, but I’ll know more tomorrow, we’ll see how he is tomorrow.  He wasn’t doing too good today.”

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

It would seem safe to say that with a rash of injuries to several key players, the Philadelphia Flyers have officially gone through their first bout with adversity in the new season.

Among the wounded was defenseman Chris Pronger, who first took to the practice ice on November 4th in his recovery from a nasty eye injury.  Less than a week later, he may just be ready to return to game action. 

It is probable that the captain will be activated from injured reserve today, in time to play against the Lightning tonight in Tampa Bay.

Grabovski shoots the puck - follow through clips Pronger. (Photo credit: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

On October 24th, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski took a shot that Pronger stepped in front of to block.  As Grabovski followed through on his shot, his stick came up and clipped Pronger along the outer edge of his right eye.

It was a horrifying scene, as Pronger flailed and immediately skated off the ice while blood dripped from the hand he was holding to the area.

“I mean, it could have been a lot worse,” the 37-year-old blueliner said in a conference call on October 29th.  ”I don’t know if I feel lucky getting hit, but it certainly could have been a lot worse.  We have seen a lot worse instances.”

He couldn’t be more on the money. 

Hockey has seen devastating eye injuries throughout the years.  Included in that group are defenseman Bryan Berard, who was actually able to return, even after losing most of the sight in one eye.  

The Flyers have had their share of on-ice tragedies, seeing eye injuries end the careers of defenseman Barry Ashbee and goaltender Bernie Parent.  Ian Laperriere also was struck in the eye with a slap shot during the club’s 2010 run to the Stanley Cup Finals, and the resulting skull fracture and concussion ended his career, as well.

There is no question that Pronger’s injury could have been much worse.

GM Paul Holmgren said that he would ensure that his defender will be wearing a visor on his helmet when he returns, but Pronger is, to say the least, a strong personality, one who is completely and totally set in his ways.

When asked about how he felt about the issue of wearing the face shield, his response made the answer obvious, even if he technically didn’t want to answer.

“You don’t want to know my stance,” he grumbled.  “That’s for another day.”

Well, that day is apparently here, so it will be interesting to see if his helmet will include the additional protection or not.

Philadelphia lost the first two games sans Pronger, and did so in ugly fashion.  They gave up 14 goals in the pair of losses, including nine to the Winnipeg Jets in a 9-8 horror on home ice.

While the visor issue is unclear, one thing that is crystal clear, though, is what he believes the team needs to do to continue to be successful.

“I think our attention to detail in our own zone, and making sure we do all the little things that allow you to win hockey games,” he said about his team’s play.  “We need to get back to that.”

The Flyers have done a much better job in their own zone since the atrocious defensive effort against Winnipeg, posting a 3-0-1 record in the four games since.  In those four contests, Philly yielded just eight goals.

As a matter of fact, the one area of concern coming into this year has been just fine.  When Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were dealt in the summer, almost the entirety of Flyers Nation wondered just who would score goals for this team.

But in 14 games this year, Philly has racked up an NHL-leading 56 goals.  The Washington Capitals are second with 50 (in 13 games). 

In an era of decreased scoring totals, averaging four goals per game is an incredible feat, and one the Flyers have achieved by committee.  As an example, there were eight different goal scorers wearing Orange-and-Black in their 9-2 drubbing of the hapless Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

While the team survived without Pronger, there were some areas that suffered greatly.

The Flyers were successful on just two of their 28 man advantage opportunities during Pronger’s six game absence.  Without Pronger’s big shot from the point, the power play was as ineffective as it was during last season, when he missed 32 contests with four major injuries.

Another is how many shots on goal the club is allowing on goaltenders Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky.  In each of the past two games, Philadelphia’s opponent has fired 21 shots on Flyers’ netminders in just one period.  The unforced turnovers have become epidemic at times, and the Flyers have found themselves pinned in their own zone for long stretches as a result.

With 21 shots being a number that Peter Laviolette would probably be much more pleased seeing over the course of an entire game, that’s an area that will have to improve greatly.

And there’s no reason to think otherwise, except for the fact that the defense was still yielding too many scoring chances even before Pronger left the lineup.

If Pronger were to be inserted back into the lineup tonight, the timing couldn’t be any better.  Erik Gustafsson, who was recalled from the Adirondack Phantoms to replace Pronger after the eye injury, is likely out for at least a week with a wrist injury, according to Teemu H. of Euroflyers / Broadstreet Hockey.  The rookie had played very well in his stint with the Flyers, looking more steady than some of the veterans had in the same games.  Included in Gustafsson’s resume’ was a game-high +6 rating on Saturday against Columbus.

As for Pronger’s demeanor, it should be noted that he seems like the same warm, fuzzy guy that we have all come to know and love.

CSNPhilly’s Tim Panaccio tweeted yesterday that Pronger, or as he calls him, ”Captain Warmth”, came into his interview wearing a “Go Screw Yourself” t-shirt.

It’s good to know that his edge is still well in place, which is excellent news for the team when he plays in front of their own net.

The Flyers are lucky they were only without Pronger for a six-game stretch.  For everyone involved, it could have been much more serious.  The club survived the time without their leader, and it appears that they will have him back soon.

Maybe even tonight.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

Let’s leave the “What’s wrong with the Detroit Red Wings?” question at the door right now before we even start. That’s another article completely.

Many Red Wings fans were given good news on Halloween when the turned on their computers and went online and/or opened up the sports section of a newspaper and saw that Ken Holland worked his magic again:

Niklas Kronwall remains a Red Wings defenseman for seven more years.

And why wouldn’t he? He was given the title of “Alternate Captain” this season, swapping out with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. The Red Wings need that physical kind of force on their ranks, and keeping Kronwall around is a smart move. Plus, with Nicklas Lidstrom on his way out at some point in the future, the team needs some defensemen on which they can rely and not have to worry about re-signing every other year.

Kronwall signed for seven years, $33.25 million; at thirty years of age, this lengthy contract pretty much guarantees he’ll be wearing a Winged Wheel for his entire career, unless otherwise traded. His contract gets a little tricky. The salary cap hit will be $4.75 million, but the breakdown is more intricate than that (naturally).

2012-13 sees him making $4.25 million. The following three seasons, he ears $6 million, then $5.5 million in 2016-17, and the last two years of his contract will be $3.5 million and $1.75million.

Kronwall will earn $4.25 million in 2012-13 and $6 million in each of the next three seasons. He’ll make $5.5 million in 2016-17 and $3.5 million and $1.75 million, respectively, the final two years of the deal.

With a cap hit of $4.25 million, it puts him in the same ranks as Chris Pronger, Kevin Bieksa, Mike Komisarek, Dan Hamhuis, Jack Johnson, and Tomas Kaberle, to name only a handful.

So how does Niklas Kronwall compare statistically with these other defensemen?

Firstly, he’s always been fairly prone to lengthy injuries (one to two months of the season); the 2008-2009 season only saw him missing two games and getting 51 points and 50 PIMs. 2010-11, he only missed five games and hit 47 points and 36 PIMs. Twelve games into the season, he has two goals and two assists, though let’s not forget the Red Wings went through a six-game slump of only scoring six goals total.

Now let’s compare these stats to some of the previously mentioned defensemen. Kronwall’s stats are fairly similar to Pronger’s, if you can believe it. However, Pronger has come close in several recent seasons to hitting sixty points whereas Kronwall still struggles to hit fifty. Last season, Pronger only played fifty games, but still scraped up 25 points, almost identical to Kronwall’s 48 game, 22-point season.

Against a player like Bieksa, Kronwall has more offensive output (and a lot fewer penalties), with Bieksa’s highest offensive season coming in 2008-9 with 43 points. The same goes with comparing him to Komisarek and Hamhuis.

Kronwall is also pretty identical to Jack Johnson, both in offensive output and penalties. They both get around 35 to 45 points per season and hit somewhere around 40 PIMS.

His comparison to Kaberle is very similar to that of Pronger. Kaberle hits anywhere between forty and sixty points per season while keeping his penalties to a minumum. One thing is for sure, Kaberle really hasn’t missed a majority of a season like Kronwall has in the past. But if the Swede can stay healthy and aggressive, anything is possible.

Now after comparing all of these stats, would you find it strange to compare Kronwall’s output to Pronger’s output? People usually rank Pronger up there with Lidstrom, Zdeno Chara, and Shea Weber, but Kronwall gets lost in the mix, and is usually only known for his bone-crunching hits. Well, it all started from the scouting level…

As Hakan Andersson, the director of European scouting for the Red Wings, once said, “I know one scout who tried to bring up Niklas Kronwall’s name with his team. They just laughed at him. They never even had a serious dialogue. They just stopped him. They said ‘a 5-11 Swedish defenceman?’ [The Red Wings] organization is more open-minded than that.”

But the Red Wings like their players to be under the radar and overlooked.

Christina Roberts
NHLHS Detroit Red Wings Correspondent
Twitter: @franzenmuth
Email: christina.roberts@nhlhotstove.com