Flyers pondering Pronger's concussion
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Flyers pondering Pronger's concussion
UPDATE: Even after Chris Pronger was shuttled back-and-forth to Pittsburgh yesterday to visit with renowned concussion experts at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the Flyers needed more time to discuss their gameplan for their future Hall of Fame defenseman.
Last night, the Flyers decided to keep their cards close to the vest.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren released a statement that the team will “have an update on Chris Pronger [Thursday] once we have spoken to the doctors.”
MONTRÉAL -- It is a safe bet that Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren will be glued to his Blackberry today.
That’s because the Flyers - and Holmgren - are anxiously awaiting news from the Steel City, where captain Chris Pronger is scheduled to meet with renowned concussion experts Drs. Mickey Collins and Joe Maroon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Pronger is out indefinitely with post-concussion symptoms. Pronger, 37, has not played since Nov. 19. He said previously that his headaches have been vicious and accompanied by nausea and general fatigue.
The general consensus surrounding Pronger’s uncertain medical status usually comes back to the high-stick that he took to the eye on Oct. 24 against Toronto.
I’m not so sure that high-stick is the direct cause - but it may certainly be linked.
On Oct. 24, Pronger temporarily lost vision in his right eye and was immediately put on medication to help relieve the pressure build-up behind his eye. Pronger missed the next 6 games before returning to the lineup on Nov. 9. Clearly, with the eye connected so closely to the brain, any vision problems and general head trauma can cause concussions.
If I know anything about Pronger, it’s that he is more in-tune to his body than almost any other professional athlete I have covered. That makes it unlikely that Pronger would have returned to the lineup with any lingering headaches or nausea on Nov. 9. He would have had no reason to rush back into the lineup unnecessarily.
Pronger played 5 games - on Nov. 9, Nov. 13, Nov. 14, Nov. 17 and Nov. 19 - before missing time with what the Flyers originally called a virus.
Holmgren told the Daily News on Tuesday that Pronger initially reported not feeling himself on Nov. 18 but believed the pain was related to the eye. With nothing serious believed to be the case, he played the next day in Winnipeg. It was after the Winnipeg game that his condition worsened.
What changed between Nov. 17 and Nov. 18?
I believe it was Canadian station TSN who first glanced at the game tape for any unusual plays, but I went back and perused through the Nov. 17 win over Phoenix in full on Tuesday through the magic of NHL Game Center Live. That’s where I believe Pronger may have sustained more head trauma.
With 2:09 remaining in the third period, Pronger was crunched on the boards in his own end by the Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal. It was a routine, clean hit. But it may have a lasting impact on the Flyers’ season.
Pronger was hit from the side, but went into the glass face first. He bounced off the glass and immediately fell to his knees and was slow to get up again. Pronger eventually re-joined the play, made a pass, and exited the ice.
Why is that significant? For one, Pronger is not Scott Hartnell. He does not fall down often; he is usually well-balanced on his skates. Plus, that hit was the first - and one of only 2 - Pronger had taken in his 5 games after the high-stick.
Here is a video of the hit, courtesy of the NHL.
Holmgren said on Tuesday that Pronger did not report a specific hit that could have been the culprit. And this is not to say that Pronger’s current injury is as a direct result of the Hanzal hit. At this point, it doesn’t much matter when or where Pronger was hurt again - the result is the same.
It’s just to suggest that for a player skating with a relatively fresh head injury, it might not take the biggest hit in the world to wreak havoc. Sometimes, the second hit is the one that does the most damage.
The Flyers are set for a 12 noon practice at the Bell Centre here in Montreal. We'll have more on that and Pronger's latest news later today.
CONCUSSION CRASH COURSE: As we noted in today’s paper, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said on Tuesday that Claude Giroux’s concussion symptoms and whiplash effect are not at all connected to the minor car accident he was in on Saturday before the game.
Giroux's roommate on the road, Matt Carle, was on an ESPN.com podcast with John Buccigross on Monday and mentioned the accident.
"He just got in his first car wreck the other day," Carle told Buccigross. "He was driving from the rink to pre-game meal and rear-ended some lady. That has nothing to do with what's going on with his injury right now, I can tell you that for sure. But it's a dealer-owned car, a Chevy Camaro, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out. The front-end is all banged up. So, for right now, he doesn't have a car."
MORE VS. LESS: On Tuesday, Paul Holmgren pointed out that the NHL released statistics recently that say the number of concussions are down this season compared to last. Sounds hard to believe when you consider the amount of stars currently suffering from them. Courtesy of the Globe and Mail's James Mirtle: Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux, Chris Pronger, Mike Richards, Kris Letang, Jeff Skinner, and Marc Stall, just to name a few.
If that wasn't enough, the NHL's leading goal-scorer, Ottawa's Milan Michalek, was officially diagnosed with one on Wednesday.
WERTH IT? Former Phillie Jayson Werth took in Tuesday night’s Flyers win over the Capitals at the Verizon Center in Washington. According to CrossingBroad.com, Werth said he was remaining “neutral” as a fan, though he did cheer for the Capitals’ lone goal in the third period.
WORST GAME EVER? Philly native Mike Sielski, of the Wall Street Journal, took a look at the Flyers’ stand-still game in Tampa Bay on Nov. 9. It’s being dubbed the “worst hockey game ever played.” What do you think?
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
The hit could be the reason for the issues with Pronger right now it just could be the trigger that made the concussion symptoms rise their ugly head and maybe it is good it happened then would not want to go into the playoffs again with a 100% healthy Pronger. Didn't know Giroux was in a minor car accident... that is never a good thing maybe he had a little whiplash from that and the n knee just made the concussion symptoms show. Lets just hope that all our players with concussion symptoms get well soon.— srcdaddy1216- I read the WSJ article and didn't like it. During the game, the Versus announcers kept speaking in vague, pronoun-laden terms about not liking what was going on, but wouldn't say specifically to whom their dislike was directed. THEN, during the intermission report, the studio guys come out and CLEARLY say that the venom is directed at TAMPA, for not attacking defensively, and NOT the Flyers. They went on to mention that other current players (who didn't have games that night) texted one of the guys and said the same thing - the blame's on Tampa. Conveniently, this wasn't mentioned in the article. God forbid something pro-Flyers gets printed in the national media.— uncle meat
- Why should I care what WSJ has to say about sports? Getting my sports info from them is like to going to a great steakhouse and ordering fish.— philharmonic55
- Perhaps fines and suspensions to players who make dangerous hits and cause concussions would quell this epidemic. Back in the years when they didn't wear helmets and tons of gear and padding, this wasn't an issue because they just didn't hit as dangerously. The NHL should strike a committee of retired vets and current players to look at the issues and make recommendations to Bettman on how things should be handled. We don;t want to see figure skating, but there are an awful lot of players who are out with concussions ...— petergou
What does it matter you ask? After your insinuating that the second hit after his initial head injury is the reason he is still out with a concussion which is essentially blaming the GM and Coach for playing him too soon. Or did I miss your point?- The hits that 'caused' these concussions were not caused by dangerous hits from opposing players- Prongers is suspected of being from a stick to the eye on a follow-through from a shot, and a clean hit from Hanzal; Giroux's from a knee to the head by a teammate, Crosby's is from running into his own teammate, etc. So new rules might slow down the concussion parade, but then the NHL risk being even more 'over-regulated' than it is already.— JWB109
- How many more years on Pronger's contract? WOn't he be eligible for Medicare?— brio
- Would love for pronger to retire and open up all that cap space.— fman727
- Werth is a jerk.— vipers53
- this reads like a Quincy M.E. episode. Does it matter at this point? For his sake he retires and lives a happy life.— Shemp Howard
- It's funny, i've lost count of the number of times a Flyer got sent off for high sticking and Coates or JJ or Jones says, "well you have to control your stick no matter what. I've also lost count of the number of times a Flyer has been injured by an unpenalised high stick, and the refs/league tell us "it was just a follow-through". Two that really stick in my mid were this recent Pronger incident, and years ago when Marty Brodeur's zigzag "follow-through" sliced open John LeClair's face.— Pelti
The minor car accident may not be linked to Giroux's concussion....But remember this is not his first one....Claude missed five games in 2009 with a concussion after this nasty cheap shot by Corey Perry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kelfxdCEjZs- FMan727--Pronger counts the same amount against the cap if he retires.You do not get a break in the cap space.It is more cost effective to put the player on long term injury reserve.This is what they did with Lappiere.This gives you more cap room than if the guy retires.Nhl was worried about Older superstar players signing contracts they knew they would never play out. This kicks in for players signed over the age of 35— whilly
- Ever watch Pronger play in near the goal and the corners: he is all stick all the time, and not legally, so not surprising he gets "payback" with the stick from other teams.....this isn't a Flyer thing, he's been a goon since day one in the league with all those other teams he was on......but maybe he should retire before it all catches up to him, but ego won't let him, he'll end up like Lindros.......— morrisrh
- At least the training staff has advanced in their treatment of concussions, not like when they gave Eric Lindros a couple of extra Advils and let him travel.— richw38
