Matt Carle: Laperriere is huge loss

Flyers defenseman Matt Carle will blog regularly, and exclusively, for the Daily News during the NHL playoffs.

Carle, 25, is in his fourth NHL season and his second as a Flyer. Carle captured two NCAA national titles in three seasons at the University of Denver, where he became the only junior defenseman to ever win hockey's Heisman Trophy, the Hobey Baker Award, in 2006. Carle is just one of 11 players in NHL history from Alaska and resides in Minnesota in the offseason.

Here is Carle's second blog:

Ian came into the locker room before he went to Pittsburgh yesterday and told us what was going on with his injury. He said he was getting a second opinion, so we were all keeping our fingers crossed. I found on out NHL.com last night and saw that he was done for the season.

It's tough. When you watch him play, you think he's made of steel. You think he can play through anything. But when you start messing with your brain and your eyes and that area, you want to be pretty careful and take every precaution.

It's tough to see that happen. Any time you have a guy that has played 1,000 games, it's huge to have him on your team. He brings a lot to our team. He has this calmness on the bench, I think he helps [Dan] Carcillo in that area - and a lot of guys. He's a smart player that knows when to be physical and when to lay off.

He's a huge player that we've lost.

I didn't watch a whole lot of the Detroit-Phoenix [Game 7] last night. "Deadliest Catch" was on, so I was flipping back and forth. I've been busy with other stuff. I'm getting married this summer [Matt's fiancee's name is Clancey] so that kind of takes up most of our day, getting that planned. We're getting married July 16 in Minnesota. I don't really do much of the work but I try to lend a helping hand when I can.