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Pronger cleared for practice

BUFFALO -- Chris Pronger trekked through the snow on Wednesday back in Philadelphia for an important meeting.

On Wednesday, Pronger was due for another re-evaluation on his surgically repaired right foot. And this time, it was important.

After beginning to skate lightly by himself a week ago, Pronger was cleared by Dr. Steven Raikin on Wednesday to "take his rehabilitation to the next level," according to Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren.

That means Pronger will re-join his teammates in Atlanta on Thursday night to practice for the first time since his Dec. 17 surgery, as the Daily News first reported last Friday.

Pronger likely would have joined the team in Boston later Wednesday afternoon but weather issues made that impossible.

His original timetable for return, as reported, is to play against Washington next Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

"I'm excited to get back in the mix at practice and obviously excited to try to get back in the lineup," Pronger said. "But again, I've got to make sure everything's good with my foot before we even go down that avenue."

The Flyers are 7-3-1 without Pronger in the lineup this season, and 6-3 since his most recent injury on Dec. 15.

"I think we've played pretty well," Pronger said. "You look at our record, we're still atop the Eastern Conference, and a couple points back of the league lead. We've beaten some pretty good teams in that stretch. So I think we've fared pretty well."

SNOWED IN: The Flyers barely beat the snow to Boston on Tuesday night with their charter flight from Buffalo. Even so, coach Peter Laviolette canceled practice on Wednesday and the Flyers worked out at the health club in their Boston hotel as they prepare for Thursday night's contest with the Bruins.

"We just worked out today," Laviolette said on a conference call with reporters. "They have a nice health club here, so rather than risk going out in the weather, we just decided to stay here."

As of this 1:45 pm posting, just 7 planes have landed at Boston's Logan airport since 12:45am: the Flyers, the Sacramento Kings (in town to play the Celtics on Wednesday night), 2 UPS planes and 3 private jets.

The team's beat reporters, well, they weren't so lucky. They're all stuck in Buffalo until at least Thursday morning.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers