Walker out with hip/groin injury
Daily News Flyers blog
Walker out with hip/groin injury
With his equipment hanging neatly at the Flyers Skate Zone on Tuesday, defenseman Matt Walker’s skates were dry – not dripping with sweat and water like the rest of his teammates.
Walker was missing from practice on Tuesday.
So too were Chris Pronger, Jeff Carter and Blair Betts.
Pronger and Betts are still nursing knee injuries and Carter has been slightly hampered after blocking another shot with his foot in the preseason.
Peter Laviolette called it a “maintenance day” for all three of them, who played Monday night. The Flyers' next game is not until Thursday night against Tampa Bay.
But Walker, who was acquired on July 19 from the Lightning along with a fourth round pick for Simon Gagne, was a scratched on Monday – and in the Flyers’ first two games last week. That raised a red flag.
Turns out, Walker suffered a hip / groin injury in the preseason, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren told the Daily News.
“Matt suffered a hip/groin injury in an early preseason game that has continued to bother him,” Holmgren said. “He went to see a doctor today. We will not know his status until tomorrow [Wednesday] at the earliest.”
A Flyers team source said surgery could be on the horizon for Walker.
The injury could explain why Walker, who will earn $1.7 million this season, was scratched in favor of fellow blue liner Oskars Bartulis last week. Hip and groin injuries have caused multiple issues for the Flyers over the last couple seasons.
We will keep you posted.
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.
“Matt suffered a hip/groin injury in an early preseason game .....,” Holmgren said. “He went to see a doctor today. We will not know his status until tomorrow [Wednesday] at the earliest.”
-----he gets hurt three weeks ago and just now is seeing a doctor---interesting.— Romus- Unreal. Please tell me why Holmer didn't dump Gagne for draft picks instead of picking up a tough-guy injured defensemen? Fortunately, Mezaros and O'Donnell look very good together.— MichaelZoe
- Walker will be fine. If he needed surgery, he'd have been to the doctor earlier.
- TB probably asked for Flyers to take salary in return. How about IRing this guy?— P Even
Yeah right....the groin injury is one of the worst vague injuries that players have to deal with. The strained groin is such a pain that it will hamper Walker for the rest of the season most likely. This sucks because we've lost some depth on the blue line.— kjuggs77
Between Walker, Leighton and Lappy - we'd be about 5 mil under the cap! While it SUCKS they're all hurt, wish we KNEW this in July! I'd bet Gags does too!- Explains the Gagne trade. One bad groin for another. Ending up with extra cap room as we head into the pre-trade-deadline homestretch would be a welcome change.— wmichael
- The red flag isn't that he's injured and we are just leraning of it. The red flag is that the Flyers seem to have an inordinate number of hip and groin injuries. When is this team going to investigate and fix this problem? Is it the ice surface? Is it their strength and conditioning program? C'mon Homer....if this was Richards, Giroux or Pronger we'd have a real issue.— dri_as_a_bone
- Gagne was traded because he was going to be a UFA. There was no future for him here with the salary and years he wanted. $5-$6 Million a year (with a no-trade) for 4 or 5 years wasn't happening here. Gags didn't hesitate to waive his NTC at the deadline last year, he had no trouble bailing on Philly.— drmonday
- I know that Gagne was not going to be here after this season DRMONDAY, but to say he was bailing is unfair. Sometimes, saying you will waive your no-trade clause is a very unselfish act that is done to help the organization. For example, think about the Leafs, Kaberle. He would not waive his NTC, and that negated a trade that would have brought them Jeff Carter. That was a selfish act that hurt the Leafs organization, and the players on that team.— Hexy4GM
