RICE & MICE will periodically review injuries that are common, uncommon or just plain unique in hockey. I hope to provide some insight to the “how’s, why’s, and when’s” of the injuries that might keep players out of the lineup. The Flyers announced last night that the NHL granted a two game extension to Michael Leighton’s conditioning stint with the Adirondack Phantoms that allows him to stay on LTIR status for another week. Leighton underwent surgery on October 11th for a herniated disk in his lower back and while the surgery was successful, he is still experiencing residual numbness and weakness …
Spectrum memories: Paul must go
To celebrate my 25th year of hockey fandom, I will occasionally step into the way-back machine and write about events in the Flyers’ past. For the balance of the season, I will be dipping into the well to ruminate about some things related to my love of the Philadelphia Flyers, and in general about the fan experience as a youngster. This is the second in the series of Spectrum Memories. …and Paul eventually went. In most years my family bought tickets, the first game in the matinee plan was the semi-regular Friday-after-Thanksgiving afternoon contest. The opponent always varied, as these …
The morning after: Flyers vs. Ducks 10.21.10
“The morning after” is a review of the previous night’s Flyers’ game which, in theory, provides a more objective perspective on the game. In the four days that the Flyers were off, players were bag skated, the team worked on the power play, and they had plenty of time to rest so that they could come out hard against the Anaheim Ducks, a team that stumbled out of the gate this season. Much like the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins this past Saturday, this win was there for the taking and the Flyers did not grab it. Instead, they dropped …
The morning after: Flyers vs. Islanders 9.29.10
“The morning after” is a review of the previous night’s Flyers’ game which, in theory, provides a more objective perspective on the game. The Flyers celebrated their first regulation win of the preseason last night. It was the second consecutive game that did not go to a shootout. Whew. The team faced off against the New York Islanders, who were playing their first game of the preseason. This was an expected win for the Flyers, as the Islanders dressed many of their prospects. Perhaps the biggest story of the night was that Ville Leino, Blair Betts, and Johan Backlund returned …
Leighton has bulging disc
Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren revealed at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that goaltender Michael Leighton has a bulging disc in his back. He is expected to miss one month with the injury. The bulge wasn’t discovered until Leighton was sent for a second opinion late yesterday and for a third opinion this morning.
There’s no reason to panic
Since Michael Leighton was re-signed, both Flyers writers and fans worried about the team’s goaltending situation. Now that Michael Leighton has a back injury, people are once again concerned about the Flyers goalies. I don’t see much of a reason to worry. Perhaps GM Paul Holmgren is not being completely honest and, when Leighton is set to hit the ice again on Thursday, we’ll find out that he’s not ready yet. So it goes. When it comes to injuries, the comments of Holmgren, much like those of other people in his position, are intentionally vague and open-ended. Let’s not read …
The current and future states of Flyers’ goaltending
Justin Goldman runs the site The Goalie Guild and is a goalie scout. He began playing hockey at the age of 10 but passed up the opportunity to play juniors to attended Colorado State University. He has written about goalies on a number of different sites over the last three years and has recently been working on different project with Dallas Stars goalie coach Mike Valley and former NHL goalie Steve Shields. He credits Valley and Shields with helping his professional development. If you are one of the 2,000+ people who follow Justin on Twitter, you know that he has …
Are the Flyers a better team?
This question was recently asked on the Flyers Forum and, admittedly, it caught me off guard. For all of the knee-jerk reactions we are accustomed to giving as fans of Philadelphia sports teams, I had a hard time saying no to this question. I wanted to lash out about how management backed themselves into a corner with the cap and it forced them to trade the beloved Simon Gagne for garbage, or about the illogical acquisition of overpaid defender, Andrej Meszaros, while plenty of good free agent defenders were available. I had a million reasons to complain about how I …