Gagne needs three goals to hit two goals

Even in a year in which the Flyers became the NHL's worst team, Simon Gagne has not had a bad season.

With 37 goals and 23 assists, he is three goals shy of back-to-back 40-goal seasons. He's also three away from his 200th career goal with the Flyers.

But the way Gagne is feeling these days, he's not sure he'll reach that mark - or even finish the season. He is recovering from a left groin strain that kept him out of six games and is slowing him down.

And Tuesday, it was revealed that he has a slight sports hernia, much smaller but similar to the one he had repaired several seasons ago.

"I'm not thinking about it that much right now," he said of the milestones. "I'm more worried about finishing the season and playing the next seven games. Maybe before I got hurt that was something I was getting close to. I felt it was coming, it was just three goals.

"Now, I just want to finish the season."

Gagne has his leg wrapped before practices and games and is still not up to speed.

"I feel all right. I think every day is getting better and better," he said. "The muscle is still a little bit tight and I don't want to push too hard. The first game was not too bad, but I feel that I don't have the speed that I had and to me it's a big difference in my game. I create a lot of scoring chances like that."

The Flyers would prefer not to have the season end next week, but if he gets three more goals, at least Gagne will have something to remember.

"Maybe I will be disappointed if I don't reach it," Gagne said. "I was in a good situation to get it before I got hurt. With the tough season that we had, this was maybe something I could go home and feel good about it. Right now, it's very tough to look at this season and say you did something well. If I don't get it, it might be a little bit tougher than I thought.

"Having a chance to get 40 goals again, that's something I would like. I would like to be that type of player for the next couple of years. I'm only three goals away. Two hundred, I will get it at some point. It's a nice mark to get to. But I will get it no matter what, but getting 40 goals for 2 years in a row is something that at the end I will be proud of." *