Emery Should Rest
The doctors say that Ray Emery is ready to return to the ice tomorrow night against Tampa Bay. What's the rush?
Emery Should Rest
PITTSBURGH – After the Flyers’ morning skate on Wednesday at the Wachovia Center, Ray Emery said that he thinks he will be ready to play on Saturday night against Tampa Bay.
If you’ve read my work recently, you can probably tell that I tend to err on the side caution and like to play Mr. Conservative with regards to injuries.
Alas, I am a sports writer and not a general manager.
As I sit here now, I’m still trying to figure out why the Flyers are so desperate to rush Ray Emery back to the lineup.
He had surgery to repair a tear in his abdominal wall on Dec. 9. His target date for return, we were told, was six weeks. That would make Jan. 20 a realistic goal.
Tomorrow is only Jan. 9. By my count, that’s 11 days early.
This week, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said that all he was waiting for was the clearance from doctors to hand the keys to the Flyers’ net back to Emery.
"If the doctors think he is fine and Ray feels fine, I don't think there is any reason not to activate him," Holmgren said.
Re-aggravating the injury due to a premature return sounds like a pretty good one to me.
Let’s face it: Emery is a goaltender. And an active one at that. When he’s at the top of his game, he is one of the quickest goalies in the NHL. Flopping around on a partially healed abdominal muscle – one that obviously impaired his explosiveness – doesn’t seem logical. There is a lot of stress on a goaltender's abdomen during the course of a game.
What’s the rush? It’s not like the Flyers have a gaping hole in net that Emery will magically fill.
He may even be a little rusty. He said after practice on Monday that he felt “a little tight.” That’s never a good sign.
Overall, is Emery a better goalie than Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher? Probably. In situations like these, though, it makes sense to balance risk and reward.
In the same sense, it’s hard to yank Leighton out of the net with his impressive .930-plus save percentage and sparkling 6-0-1 record. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said so himself.
“Certainly, we’ll be glad when Ray’s available to us,” Laviolette said. “But our goaltending has been OK. It hasn’t been a problem. We, collectively, were a problem. We didn’t see anything that looked good. It certainly wasn’t the goaltender’s fault. Our goaltending has given us a chance to win hockey games; that’s what you want from your goalies.”
We know that Laviolette is a big fan of Emery. He was someone that – as a TSN analyst before he was hired by the Flyers and before Emery was hurt – pushed for Emery to be considered for the Canadian Olympic team.
But even he thinks Emery needs a little more time to work on his game.
“I think he’s feeling better and more confident,” Laviolette said. “The more work we can get him, the better I think he’s going to feel.”
Emery is a warrior. I wouldn’t bet that he’d say – after all this attention – that he suddenly isn’t as far ahead of schedule as he thought and he needs more time. Emery clearly wants to be on the ice competing with his teammates.
“I think he’s pushing, he’s close,” Laviolette said on Thursday. “I’m not sure who’s going to start in net over the weekend and who’s going to be available. He certainly is getting close and practicing hard.”
There’s something to be said for that. Sitting out is no fun.
Emery said he wouldn’t think twice about holding back a few extra days if he thought it wold help.
Then again, though, this is the same player that had such a tough time taking himself out of the lineup before his surgery. He started six games (all losses) for the Flyers even though he knew he wasn’t 100 percent.
There’s something to be said for that, too.
Offensive spark
Here's an interesting stat to chew on, courtesy of the Shales Sports Bureau:
In the first 35 games, the Flyers averaged 2.71 goals a game and scored four or more goals only 10 times. Their record in those games? 15-18-2.
In their last eight games they have averaged 4.38 goals per game and have scored four or more six times. Their record in these games? 6-1-1.
Agreed: Emery should take his time to work back. The question is, who will be Emery's backup and does Boucher like the Adirondacks?— pizano13- the way the flyers luck has been, they will need all 3 goalies to finish out their season.— stanley
- Start the bus, Booooosch! My guess is you will be the back-up based solely on your salary 'cause Mike Leighton has earned the job!— RJM16
- "We, collectively, were the problem." Awesome. Even if they lose out from now on I will have respect for Laviolette simply for this quote.— MaC130
- Oh, and Frank--I'm not a hater of you or any of the other writers on here, but stating that a team has a better record when it scores nearly twice as many goals isn't really too interesting.— MaC130
- Boucher is far better than Leighton, who has simply benefited from the team finally getting its act together. There's a reason why at 28 he's only been a fringe player.— eagle1971
- I also agree that Ray should take his time. There's no sense rushing back and aggravating it. I'm also one of those who's wondering what will happen when he comes back. Who becomes the backup - Leighton or Boucher? It's Leighton based on play, and he has a much lower cap number. Morganti made a good point last night about keeping Boucher over Leighton, but right now I can't remember what it was. (d'oh!)— uncle meat
- bring back Vanbiesbrouck!— T3rdEyevisual
- What exactly has Boucher done THIS YEAR to make you think he's a better goalie than Leights?— th
- please don't rush him back. if Emery isn't healthy down the stretch than we have absolutely no shot in the playoffs.— Ryan
- please don't rush him back. if Emery isn't healthy down the stretch than we have absolutely no shot in the playoffs.— Ryan
- Why doesnt he play a game or two with the Phantoms like Boucher did earlier in the year?— BHite15
The Leighton Crazy Train can relax now please. I am thoroughly enjoying his success right now but...Watch the games for crying out loud! He's been the beneficiary not only of better team play- but fantastic luck as well. Pick ANY of his wins and rewatch the tape- each game there have been opponents missing WIDE open nets while he was floundering around. I'd leave him in for now too- because the team is cruising, but don't be fooled. When his luck runs out he will look every bit the 28 yr old 3rd stringer he has been.- Seems pretty simple to me, you ride Leighton til he falters. This buys Emery more healing time & you work him in slowly. Sorry Boosh!— philadavephia
- mike leighton should be the goalie, end of story.— kenzo9126
