The Pursuit of Lappyness: Laperriere ready for Game 4
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
The Pursuit of Lappyness: Laperriere ready for Game 4
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
MONTREAL _ Ian Laperriere, the Flyers' gritty right winger, is expected to return to the lineup Saturday afternoon against Montreal, a club source said Friday.
Laperriere skated on a line with Blair Betts and Darroll Powe at Friday's practice. He has been sidelined since April 22, when he blocked a slap shot against New Jersey and suffered a bruised brain, a broken orbital bone and a concussion. He needed nearly 70 stitches to repair a cut above his right eye.
Jeff Carter, recovering from a broken foot, also skated at Friday's practice and scored on a wraparound goal. He looked to be regaining his form, but is still doubtful for Saturday.
"But you never know," said one club source, smiling coyly.
Laperriere, the Flyers said, has been cleared by a neurologist to play.
"He gives us a veteran presence, and he's very energetic in the locker room and on the ice," said center Danny Briere, who called Laperriere the Flyers' best penalty killer. "...And obviously he's tough to play against."
The Flyers would not allow Laperriere or Carter to talk to the media.
The Flyers have a 2-1 series lead over Montreal in the Eastern Conference finals. Saturday's game is at the Bell Centre at 3 p.m. on NBC.
Bring in Lappy and drop Nodle. He sucks! We can only play better in game 4. The defense had its worst game of the playoffs and Leighton allowed 2 softies through the fivehole.— TKPHILLY- You're right, Ned. Lappy, Carts, Leights, Richie, Harts, J-Roll, etc. How original! Whatever happened to Hound, Hammer, Big Bird?— brio
- I forgot Coatesy. Lappy should be either Blockhead or Scarface.— brio
- Lavy, Gags, Prongs, Scotty, Matty, Richie, Bundy, Jones-ee, Coates-ee and Leights will be ecstatic over the return of Lappy. Flyers don’t have enough muckers in the line-up.
- Using this nickname in the media is insulting to the players. Those nicknames are earned on the ice and in the locker room for the players to call each other. Noone in the media calls Gagne "Gags" do they? With that said, I expect to see them both tomorrow. Albeit Carter in a more limited capacity like when Gagne returned.— Flyersroadtrip
- If Pronger and Carle continue to play like they did last night it won't matter who you put in there.— pillpusher
- Lappy is okely-dokely, Ned-a-rooney! As for Mark1npt, what if Gagne decided to wait to come back? The Flyers would be golfing already.— Flyskippy
- i'm worried about chemistry and whether their legs will be where they need to be at. completely outplayed in game 3 even though the officiating was atrocious, we have to play better. bring carter back only if they lost game 4.— Stanley Cup
- "Lappy" or Laperriere...either way welcome back!! Any guy who takes a puck in the face for his team is the kind of guy we need to get 2 more wins and shut up those stupid Habs fans!! Don't rush Carter back. Let him sit this series out, get strong and come back for the finals! OLE! OLE! LET'S GO FLYERS!!!!!— NinaNoodle
not reactionary, not rushing back. i believe that Lappy having to watch his team from the press-box has been driving him nuts. we all know he is the type of player who lives for these games!— Inchon- I saw a commentary from one of your reader earlyer today about the fact that the fans at Bell center are looters and rioters...Well, you should know that people who do those things are not Canadiens fans from Bell center...It's only a marginal group that wait for those kind of celebration to do their thing...NOTHING to do with habs fans...Those hooligans could not even name 2 habs players...! So Chill up and enjoy game #4...!There's no Kate Smith in Montréal... OLÉ, OLÉ, OLÉ...GO HABS GO...!— proudhabs
- Hey tackelberry...Who won Gold at the olympics...Ho ya...That's right...CANADA...!!! By the way, most of the flyers stars are Canadians...!— proudhabs
Comment removed.- Tozmanian LOL Was thinking the exact same thing! Lappy will be a huge boost and it will be sad to see a guy like Nodl get taken out but Who goes out for Carter? Everyone has played fairly well, Asham maybe?— Canadian_FlyerFan
- Nicknames are how the players reference each other neddyflanders. Don't be an idiot— max1831
