Posted: Wednesday, January 5, 2011, 1:11 PM | 11 comments |
 

Pronger to start skating; Briere issues warning
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Chris Pronger has not played since breaking his foot on Dec. 15. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)

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   The Flyers received good medical news on Wednesday: Chris Pronger, the heart of the team's defense, was cleared to start some light skating on Thursday.

   Pronger, 36, broke his right foot blocking a shot in Montreal on Dec. 15 and, at the time, it was estimated he would miss four to six weeks.

   Without Pronger, the Flyers have allowed 23 goals in six games (3.8 per game) and are 3-3.

   Pronger will be re-evaluated by a doctor on Jan. 12.

    * * * 

   On Thursday, the Flyers travel to Newark to face the fading New Jersey Devils, who have accumulated an NHL-worst 22 points.

    Repeat: 22 points _ or 31 fewer than the Flyers.

    Center Danny Briere insists that the Flyers cannot overlook the Devils.

    "They finished second in the conference last year and almost all of their players are back," he said.

     The Devils have a minus-55 goal differential, while the Flyers are plus-27.

    * * *

    Just when you thought you had seen everything....

    Click on this link from a USHL game and you will see a puck hit the post so hard that it splits in half. Honest.

    http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=35&id=90896   

     * * *

    Improving the special teams is one of the Flyers' goals the rest of the way.

     Their power play is tied for 17th with a 17.1 percent success rate, while their penalty kill is tied for 16th, at 81.6 percent.

    The Flyers' dominating even-strength play has compensated for their special teams' struggles.

    * * *

     Defenseman Simon Bertilsson, the Flyers' third-round selection in the 2009 draft, picked up an assist in the World Junior championships. Sweden lost to USA, 4-2, in Wednesday's bronze-medal game.

   * * *

    Breakaways. Pittsburgh trounced Tampa Bay on Wednesday, 8-1, and moved two points ahead of the Flyers in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. The Flyers have two games in hand....Goalie Johan Hedberg will start for the Devils Thursday. He is 1-1 against the Flyers this season, making 40 saves in a 2-1 shootout win, and dropping a 5-3 decision....Look for Brian Boucher to make his second straight start for the Flyers.....Darroll Powe leads the Flyers _ and is 25th in the NHL _ with 100 hits....Jack McIlhargey, who played for the Flyers and was later an assistant coach with the team, will go into the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame on July 22. He is currently a Flyers scout.

   * * *

   For constant Flyers updates, follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BroadStBull.

 * * * 

    Get exclusive Flyers videos and analysis in our new app for iPhone and Android. Download it here.

 
Posted by Sam Carchidi @ 1:11 PM  Permalink | 11 comments
11
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:55 PM, 01/05/2011
    ' light skate ' . . that means . . no hitting . . no cheapshots . . and No tryin to block shots . . just keep Prongs away from everyone . . please . . just send him out on the ice by himself . . tell him he's starring in the Ice Capades . . or something // just so . . he doesn't get any ' ideas ' : )
    — ingy9
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:38 PM, 01/05/2011
    Good news, Pronger is the key for the Flyers defense.

    Ingy9, must be a oversea s language for idiot!
    — doublehook
  • 1 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:06 PM, 01/05/2011
    There sure are a lot of broken feet with the Flyers players. Now I don't know much about skates and I do realize they block a lot of shots with their feet, but wouldn't a skate with some kind of armor cut down on these injuries?
    — ronin32
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:11 PM, 01/05/2011
    that would work, not only would the foot be protected, but opposing shooters could skate right around them to shoot!
    — potus
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:31 PM, 01/05/2011
    Timetable for recovery might put him back in game action against...Montreal on 1/25. How ironic that would be.
    — mikemcnhl
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:07 PM, 01/05/2011
    @Ronin, There are plastic skate covers that do help with protection from blocking shots. The only problem is that athletes do not like to change up their equipment. The option is there for them if they want to take it. IMO, the team should just mandate their use. Make the players suck it up and adjust to em.
    — max-power
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:29 PM, 01/05/2011
    I'd rather them take a shot in the foot than in the face like Ian Laperriere. 4-6 weeks for a foot to heal is nothing compared to his fate. Poor guy.
    — UncleEddie
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:42 PM, 01/05/2011
    this is good news.... let's concentrate on pulling out two wins against NJ....
    — dexter55
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:33 PM, 01/05/2011
    this is great news, immediate defensive upgrade.
    — trinieagle
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:12 AM, 01/06/2011
    beat NJ
    — dexter55
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:20 PM, 01/06/2011
    flyers
    — SPro


11 comments
About Sam Carchidi
Sam Carchidi is in his fourth year as the Flyers' beat reporter. He became an Inquirer staff writer in 1984 and covered mostly South Jersey high school sports and the Phillies before taking the Flyers beat.

Carchidi has written three books _ the nationally acclaimed Miracle in the Making: The Adam Taliaferro Story, which he co-authored with Scott Brown; Bill Campbell: The Voice of Philadelphia Sports; and Standing Tall: The Kevin Everett Story, which was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He also contributed to a 1993 Inquirer book on the Phillies.

A lifelong South Jersey resident, Carchidi lives in Wenonah with his wife, JoAnn, and their two children, Sara and Sammy.

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