Emery to be sidelined 3 more weeks, season in jeopardy
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Emery to be sidelined 3 more weeks, season in jeopardy
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Ten nights ago, the Flyers' Ray Emery blanked Calgary, 3-0, and was starting to look like the goalie who led Ottawa to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007.
Now his season is in jeopardy.
Emery will be shut down for at least three more weeks and, based on medical information provided by the Flyers Thursday, no one is certain if he will return this season.
That means Michael Leighton will be the No. 1 goalie for the foreseeable future.
Emery has an injured left hip that is almost definitely going to need surgery; the Flyers are hoping three weeks of rest enables him to return to action next month. If that happened, surgery is likely after the season.
Because of the two-week Olympic break, Emery would miss only five games if he was able to return after three weeks.
General manager Paul Holmgren would not say what an MRI on Emery's hip revealed. He said tests showed "issues there" and added, "I'm not going to get into specifics because we're still working through some stuff."
Based on hints the general manager has been dropping, it appears that Emery has a torn labrum.
"Is he going to need surgery at some point? I would probably say, 'Yeah,' " Holmgren said. "Right now, we're trying to take that out of the equation. After three weeks, we're fairly confident that he'll be OK to play."
Holmgren paused.
"Let me rephrase that," he said. "We don't know about surgery down the road. He's got hip issues. What we're trying to do" is help him get better "through rehabilitation and keeping him off the ice."
Holmgren said he had no interest in acquiring Dallas' Marty Turco or the New York Islanders' Marty Biron, a former Flyer.
The Flyers have little salary-cap space and figure to use the blossoming Leighton and Brian Boucher the rest of the way if Emery cannot return.
Leighton, 28, has been brilliant since the Flyers claimed him off re-enrty waivers from Carolina, compiling a 2.21 GAA and .925 save percentage.
Emery, 27, had a 2.17 GAA in the eight straight starts he made after returning from abdominal surgery. His last start was the shutout win in Calgary on Feb. 1. Four days later, he injured his hip during practice in Minnesota.
Shut him down!— ChrisM- I bet Holmgren wouldn't mind having Nitty in the fold right now...especially for the 1 year, $1Million deal he signed during the off-season. He is having a great year for Tampa Bay (.922 save percentage).— WadeThroughTheIdiots
- wouldnt be suprised if somehow biron made his way back to philly.— pop pop
- Hope they don't panic...Leights is playing very well and Boosh has played fine, even during the slump - he didn't get any support from the team. No need for Turco. Let's roll with what we've got and work on consistently scoring goals.— ferg_1977
- Leighton has played well for us but this team isn't winning anything with him in net.— mdelrossi1
- I'm cool with Leighton starting the rest of the way. He has earned the trust of his coaches and players. A true "diamond-in-the-rough".— Richie Captain
- Leighton has been great and I'm fine with him moving forward, but I'd love to see Biron back just in case.— flossified
- Leighton will be coming back to earth any game now. This is not a Cup team no matter who is in net (and Washington is running away with thh East) so there's no sense in making a desparate move like Turco.— UncleEddie
- Gotta feel bad for Razor. I'd stick w/ Leighton and take my chances. It would be nice to score another goal or 2 per game.— brio
- Leighton can carry the load for the rest of the season. I love Boucher, but I love Biron too... just to be on the team, not in goal everynight. Emery should hang it up for the season and rest up, make sure he's 100% for next year and then try to get a contract— rabidconsumers
- Leighton did come back down to earth. Did you see the soft goal last night? The difference is that is the first legitimately soft goal he's given up so far, whereas Biron had given up quite a few of those by this time last year. Leighton as your #2 is better than Biron as your #1, so I'll take Leighton as far as we need him to go.— londoncalling
- I think the flyers should just put a trash can in net....thats basically how much they have respected the position over the past 25 years.— ArtieLange
- Stay with leighton unless we can get Tim Thomas Or Halak. otherwise stay put. I'm sure we will do some dumb trade.— fman727
Emery's appetite looked good at last nights game...Hey, I feel good with leighton. Always seems to have good position and doesn't seem to get rattled if scored upon (like last nights first goal). Now, if the scoring picks up, should be an interesting run.— dogman5- A big loss. Emery has played at a high level when healthy. Leighton has given up 3 terrible goals in his last three games (2 vs minn and one last night). He will flame out as waiver wire specials do. Boucher is a competent NHL goalie, however, so the playoffs remain a good possibility. But does anyone think this flakey team has more than two rounds in them at best even if Emery comes back OK? I don't.— eagle1971
