Emery to be sidelined 3 more weeks, season in jeopardy
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.
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.
Comments (48)
cmon guys, Leighton is playing great hockey for sometime now. So what he let in 1 soft goal, he has made some really good saves! He is big and athletic! He should be given the chance. Boucher played great until he was taken out of net so let him be the backup. Lets give them a chance. Hell we have a 10 million dollar defensemen in front of him!— PEFF- Leighton is not a playoff caliber goalie, but we should continue to ride his hot streak and hope boucher can pick up the slack. While leighton has been paying reasonably well, he is starting to let in too many soft goals. They have been able to recover in most instances right now, but come playoff time, those will be killer goals they will have no hope of coming back from. You know, the types of goals our players ALWAYS let in that lead to early playoff exits. Don't go hoping for a cup this year unless san jose, pitt and wash get swallowed up in an earthquake.— kodi69
- Leighton is not a playoff caliber goalie, but we should continue to ride his hot streak and hope boucher can pick up the slack. While leighton has been paying reasonably well, he is starting to let in too many soft goals. They have been able to recover in most instances right now, but come playoff time, those will be killer goals they will have no hope of coming back from. You know, the types of goals our players ALWAYS let in that lead to early playoff exits. Don't go hoping for a cup this year unless san jose, pitt and wash get swallowed up in an earthquake.— kodi69
- First of all, leighton will be collapsing any day now - he's not this good. He's had extraordinary defense in front of him and has yet to be really tested. He is good positionally, but is SO SLOW - he WILL get exposed eventually. Second, the solution is simple, bring back Biron. The guys single handedly stole the playoff series against the Canadians 2 years ago, and has never cost us a playoff game. He's a PROVEN performer. Is he Ryan Miller? LOL, no, but there are only 3 or 4 of those guys in the league, and you don't need a Miller or a Broduer to win a cup. You just need a guy who can make the saves he's supposed to and steal the occassional game - Biron has proven he can do both in the playoffs. Third, here's the best part, what's Biron making this year, $1mil??? We should be able to get him for a song and would only need to free up what, $300k at this point in cap space? It's a no brainer. Bring back Biron and let Leighton or Boucher back him up.— dollarland
- another year of not good enough..what else is new— mibrze
- One more I recommend Carchidi,To not leave his day job,I repeat!— quigly46
- Maybe its time for the Flyers staff to reconsider it's medical help and rehab people(sorry Jim,gotta'tell it like it is)). Injury wise,the Flyers just get worse and worse.Whats next? Blood letting!!Amputation?Head Transplant,how about a GM transplant.Gees!— quigly46
Comment removed.- I would only trade for a goalie if it meant getting rid of either Briere, Hartnell or Gagne. It would be a monumental feat if Emery/Leighton/Boucher manage to win a playoff series.— Snap Crackle Propp
- ok seriously where is the hate on boucher coming from essentially the guy was about as close to a 2.00 this season as you could get, the only reason his W-L record was so bad was because he was in during a time that you had a better chance of having an alien from mars drop by for a new years party then you did of seeing the flyers put up at least 3 goals. So there is no need to put another goalie in front of him. He's a good backup in case Leighton is in need. By the way if emery is back next season I think he's gonna need to play from a hospital bed— Phillyaddicted
- Melrose suggested on ESPN today that there is better than a 50% chance Turco comes to Philly. He is making close to $5M so I could only imagine who we would deal to make that salary work. He is not going to bring us the cup so let's ride it out with Leighton and Boucher.— left coast flyer fan
- Longest yard, three undeniably bad goals in three games is fine with you? An average of one a game (if you can handle that much math) is not a problem? You're obviously one of those clowns who enjoys being mindlessly abusive in forums. You're sad, little man.— eagle1971
- eagle1971.. you are a true idiot. "Leighton has given up three terrible goals in his last three games". Considering the man has only given up 6 goals total in his last three games, I will tolerate whether or not three of them were "terrible". Why dont you give us all a break and shut up for about a week.— LongestYard
- Michael Leighton is all we need!— rob611
- Please don't waste money renting Turco- need it for a D. Souray said Philly's on his radar... who would you trade for him, or would you? He'd look real nice on the PP with Prongs or Kimmo... FREAKIN SALARY CAP!!! By the way, where's Ville Leino, buried in the snow?— frankiex
- odds are, we're not winning the Cup with emery, biron or Leighton in net. don't do anything stupid here, holmer (or is it homer?).
- why is everyone saying contract contract for emery. until he proves he can stay healthy we shouldnt give him the big bucks fman no chance we get tim thomas. he'd never fit with the cap, but thatd be a godsend.— Stanley Cup
- i sure am glad that this emery signing worked out so well for the flyers.....why can't they ever seem to get the goaltending situation right? it has been too long since the flyers had a top-rated goalie.....pelle lingbergh in 1985 is the only one for the last 25 years— Frank_Drebin
- Yes, they will rush him back and he will re-injure it. This cycle will continue he retires.— drmonday
- Tim Thomas had a fluke season to win the vezina. Halak is not a number 1. Leighton is playing like a top 5 netminder and until he starts giving up goals like Tommy Sodderstrom in 92' there is no reason to go with anyone besides booosh for a night off. Granted, Leighton doesn't have the most solid starts to games but he has quickly regained himself and given solid performances in all but one game recently. There are a lot of quality wingers on the market and judging by the returns for Kovalchump and Jokinen, guys like panikarovsky, paul kariya etc.. there should be some way to get somebody to give a little jolt to an already formidable and gelling roster.— taintaugustine
- There is no one to trade for a goalie without completely ruining team chemistry. Why did Brierre and Hartnell get NTC's to begin with? Atleast Gagne earned his with his prior service here before his concussions.— DavidLeeRoth
- With Leighton in goal, I think psychologically the defense is thinking that they have to bring their A game every night. Leighton is playing well, and the defense has been stellar. I like what I'm seeing.— oldhat
- Love ArtieLange's comment. But really, unless they can get some STUD goalkeeper, stay with Leighton. He's been solid in net, and most importantly, the team plays well in front of him. Please, Homer, don't go making a move just to make a move and get a better name.— hunsinator
- Leighton has been solid, no denying that, but is he a playoff goalie? I know now he will get a chance but it would be nice to get a Halak, Price, or even Biron?— Fabulous
- Shut him down. Unless you live in a cave or only watch Flyers games, who is going to derail the Caps on their way to the Stanley Cup? Certainly not this Flyers team with or without Ray Emery. Think Knuble was looking ahead when he signed in our nation's capital. Get Razor healthy and let Leighton get some more experience and see if we have a keeper in this upstart keeper and let's look ahead to next year.— rockinrob
- Again…the goalie position isn't our problem. Leighton will probably give up 2 goals a game, so will Emery or anyone else for that matter. We need to SCORE! Gagne's luck shot (notice how he wasn't even looking at the net when he pulled the trigger) won't get things done for us. 2 upcoming games against a team we MUST beat. If we can't pull off these next 2 wins, we're as good as finished.— springfish
- I like Biron too but come on, he is no better than what we have now and cannot win you a cup, so why trade for him? Same for Turco. Unless you get Halak, don't make any moves.— srf466
- The Capitals are one of the more dominating teams I have seen in a long time, maybe since the mid 80 Oilers. Their single game goal differentials have not been seen in a long time, they are just blowing teams out, not just beating them. They can put up 4 or 5 on goods teams (see Pitt game) without even blinking. They have arguably the best forward (ovechkin, i spell that right) and defenseman (Green, what was he the first 30 goal defenseman since K. Hatcher?) in the league. Plus they have an excellent supporting cast, minus a stand-out goalie which personally, I don't think they NEED to win the conference. I don't think it matters much, which goalie is in net for the Flyers this year. -not bob levy— remyy
- Put him on the IR and use the $ to go get someone that can score.— hey buddy
- Good. This seems to be the only way they'll play the best guy.— bobbyd24
- Boucher and Leighton can get it done as long as the rest of the team contributes a little more scoring.— bobby16
- Agree with most. Keep Leights in net and let Boosh back him up. Sit Emery until next year. It's not like Razor was gonna carry us through the playoffs. No matter who is in there, if our offense is stagnant, we will get an early exit.— USAFruss
- i may be a flyers fan through and through but i am also a realist. this team is not going to beat pittsburgh or washington or san jose or chicago for the cup this year. shut ray down for the year, ride leighton and boucher as far as you can and address the goaltending in the off season once they clear out the overpaid deadwood like briere, gange and hartnell.— canflyfan
- 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
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- Stay with leighton unless we can get Tim Thomas Or Halak. otherwise stay put. I'm sure we will do some dumb trade.— fman727
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 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
- Leighton has been great and I'm fine with him moving forward, but I'd love to see Biron back just in case.— flossified
- 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 played well for us but this team isn't winning anything with him in net.— mdelrossi1
- 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
- wouldnt be suprised if somehow biron made his way back to philly.— pop pop
- 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
- Shut him down!— ChrisM
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Broad Street Bull is the Inquirer's blog covering the Philadelphia Flyers and the National Hockey League.
Reach Sam at scarchidi@phillynews.com.
Sam Carchidi
Inquirer Staff Writer
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