Pronger's long road back
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Pronger's long road back
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
All the moves the Flyers have made during a dizzying off-season probably won't mean much if future Hall-of-Famer Chris Pronger doesn't return to form.
And it's going to take a while for that to happen.
Pronger, in an interview Wednesday on TSN radio, said he didn't know if he would be ready for the start of training camp on Sept. 16. Pronger is recovering from back surgery, and he is limited to walking on a treadmill and light bike riding.
The 36-year-old defenseman said he was at least three weeks away from training hard, adding that his doctor wanted his back to "scar up and then fully heal" before he did any strenuous workouts.
"I would say I'm quite a bit behind where I would be, training-wise, and workout-wise," he said on TSN. "Whether I'm at camp or not, I don't know that yet. It's still early to tell. I would guess I would not be starting camp, just from the mere fact that I haven't been able to work out at all yet. I'm skinny to begin with, and now I'm looking really skinny."
Doctors expect Pronger to make a full recovery.
Pronger, who will turn 37 on Oct. 10, played just 50 games last season, one in which he had three different surgeries. It was his lowest games total since 2002-03.
After being swept by Boston in the second round of the playoffs, the Flyers made a major overhaul. Ten players who were with the team at the end of last season, including captain Mike Richards and high-scoring Jeff Carter, are gone.
"I think the way we exited in the playoffs, and with our owner coming out and asking to get a goalie, that puts a little bit of cash restraints on your team with respect to the salary cap," said Pronger, who is expected to be named the Flyers' captain. "Moves have to be made. In order to free up money, you have to give up good players, and we obviously did that with both Mike and Jeff.
"But in return for those guys," Pronger added, "we got a lot younger, a little bigger up front and a little bit more gritty _ and I think that was something we were missing in the playoffs."
Pronger also praised the addition of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov; the two were teammates in Anaheim.
"I've seen what he can do when he's hot, and he's definitely a great goalie," Pronger said.
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I think he will start playing in November. They shouldn't rush things and put him back on the ice when fully healed. Without him, the Flyers will not be able to contend.— flyerdommo- Might not have the luxery of waiting for Pronger,play-offs could be in jeporady— primo
- And meanwhile, The Avs just signed Shane O'Brien who would have been a affordable, serviceable 6th D Man. If Pronger went down, they rotate everyone up and use one of the young guys or Lilja. To think that Lilja is going to be an everyday player is CRIMINAL. To think that one of the Phantoms can earn a spot is hopeful, but hope doesn't win the Cup. WHY on earth would Holmgrem free up all of this space and not sign a decent 5-6th D-man? Let alone another top four. Liljs is a 7th/healthy scratch type with a poor track record. He stinks and he can't fight well. Absolutely useless. Would have been better bringing back O'Donnell or Boyton for a few games.— MichaelZoe
- I think Lilja is just insurance in case Gustaffson and/or Bartulis flame out. He won't be playing every night. Better to have like 8 D-Men with Kimmo's and Pronger's ages catching up to them so we dont have to rely on them playing 30 minutes a night. — seaonasdad
- Why did Jones get 2.75M a year, why was Lupol signed to such contract, why did Shelley get 3 year at 1.1M, why did Lilja get 2 years, why was Leighton signed 10 hours before UFA began?
why why why why....
why?— Nitroglycerin 
Pronger is like a Crystal Vase he is a Gigantic Bust!— Kevinmac- ...if you're banking on a player who was in his prime 10 years ago, you're finished before you even get started— petemagoop
- Not true. Nicklas Lidstrom is in his 40s and is still an elite defenseman. Pronger can still play at a high level and lead the Flyers deep into the playoffs.
- Hannan record isnt as good as McCabe. Hannan is not as good as skater or good on the Powerplay. So who ever wants him needs to learn about stats a bit more. I am just as pissed in signing Lilja. Matt Walker is very close in similarities in Lilja. Except Matt is much more physical. Bad pick up for the Flyers. Lilja's 11 NHL career stats sucks big time. 16 goals 65 assts in 530 games. Walker 8 yrs season career stats has 4 goals 26 assts in 310 games. Hannan 13 yr career has 31 goals 154 assts in 830 games. McCabe 16 yr career has 145 goals 383 assts in 1,135. Basically says McCabe has been much healthier and is a better player. Walker may not have certain skills of what Hannan possesses. But he is younger, a better skater and willing to adapt to change to make his game better in the NHL.— Flyers_70
Trade Pronger and Bryz to LA for that Richards kid. I hear he's pretty good.— 7xChamp- We do not need Hannan to be good on PP. I do not care if Hannan scores 0 points or scores 10 points. He is stay home. His job is to play D, be always position, block shots, hit people, clear the crease, occasionally drop gloves, log tons of minutes, discipline. Hannan does his job well. He is a decent skater. He is not slow.
McCabe sucks. Take away his point shot and he is a crappy all around player that gives puck away. Remember Recchi's goal a while back in playoffs? This is what McCabe is all about. Turnovers.
— Nitroglycerin - Pronger is done as a full time D man. No more 27-29 minute games. I would bet that he isn't back until the late fall and if he isn't healthy then he'll retire.— LAFlyer
- Romus,
I wish we still had Sbisa but the Ducks have him now and he has really matured over the last year or so. The Flyers brought him up too young and he wasn't ready, so they shipped him off. Big Mistake.
The Anaheim Ducks have re-signed defenseman Luca Sbisa to a 4-year contract extension worth $8.7 million back in March.— LAFlyer - Very interesting "reporting" Sam. 1) This story was on TSN.CA about 24 hours ago, so why didn't you get the scoop on Pronger? (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=371660) Also, 2) You missed an important quote from Pronger..."Both those guys are going to be sorely missed, they're big parts of the Flyers for a number of years. Hopefully we don't miss them too much this year."...why did you miss that quote, Sam?...It's an extremely important part of the story...did you miss this quote out of spite to Carter/Richards? It's no wonder we drove them out of town with "reporting" like this....pretty shameful, Sam.— Phront_Runner
