Pronger to undergo surgery, miss 4 to 6 weeks
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Pronger to undergo surgery, miss 4 to 6 weeks
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers announced that defenseman Chris Pronger will have foot surgery today and be sidelined for four to six weeks.
In that time frame, he would miss 11 to 17 games. He may be able to return in time for the All-Star Game on Jan. 30 in Raleigh, N.C.
Injured in Wednesday's 5-3 win in Montreal, Pronger, 36, will have surgery at 1 p.m. to repair a broken first metatarsal in his right foot, GM Paul Holmgren said. Steven Raikin will perform the surgery.
"He's a guy you don't want to be too long without, but these things are going to happen," said defenseman Sean O'Donnell, one of Pronger's closest friends. "We're going to need him in the spring and hopefully into June, so this may be a blessing in disguise to kind of give him some rest and let us pick up the slack for a little bit."
At today's practice, Andrej Meszaros was with Pronger's defensive partner, Matt Carle. The other pairings had O'Donnell with Oskars Bartulis, who has played just three games, and Braydon Coburn with Kimmo Timonen.
Bartulis has not played since Nov. 1.
Pronger seemed a cinch to make the all-star team, but he may not be ready for the contest. He is a six-time all-star.
The Flyers also announced that defenseman Matt Walker had successful hip surgery Thursday; he was placed on the LTIR list and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.
Holmgren said the team had no plans to recall a defenseman, such as Danny Syvret, from the AHL Phantoms. The Flyers have enough cap space to recall a player, and they opened a roster spot by placing Pronger on the injured-reserve list.
While Bartulis will be added to the defense, the Flyers will also make changes on the PP. Mike Richards is expected to drop back to Pronger's point spot, and another forward will be added _ perhaps Nik Zherdev.
The Flyers host the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon.
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Oh no. Well, at least he will be fresher for the playoffs. Does this give the Flyers salary cap relief for the 4 to 6 weeks? If so, can delay the goalie decision.— P Even
In the long term view that includes a postseason run, this might not be the worst news. The Flyers have some depth on defense and should be OK.— jp8899- glad its only that long...like you said P he will be fresher for the playoffs...get the injuries over with now so that we can be fresh for another playoff run— PhillySports23
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10 to 16 games is manageable. Just glad it's not a season-ender. Get well soon and come back strong for that playoff push.— jpk- Having him fresher for the playoffs is the rite way to look at this. Maybe the NHL should do something about that like contract a couple teams, lop 20 or so games off the schedule, or just have it so that half the teams do not make the playoffs.— chham57
Bad news, but not as bad as I feared. I was afraid he had re-injured his knee. But every team has to deal with injuries and P Even makes a good point - Prongs will be rested for a playoff run. The Flyers have a lot of defensive depth, thanks to Homer's off season strategy. While Oscars Bartulis is no Pronger, he's not a bad d-man and we shouldn't be hurting too much.- Will they paint it as a defensive controversy when both walker and pronger are healthy again?— SeattleFlyersFan
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- Is is me, or does Sydney Crosby bear a striking resemblance to Freddie Mercury with that stache? Get well soon Pronger!— flyers9797
- Yep, give him time for his knee to heal. Should make this 8 weeks to be sure.— n62
- ...phils sign cliff lee!
- Pronger's knee still isn't anywhere near 100% (as he has admitted) and his play has shown it: he's definitely been shaky on more than a few occasions. So while I hate to see him out for that long, I'm not sure it's a huge problem. I hope Kimmo is getting lots of sleep -- he'll need it.
— DiTurno - — flyers9797
Cindy looks like Freddie Mercury- as in that he plays for the "Other Team", if you know what I mean. Between Cindy and Carcillo it will be a tight race to see if one of them could actually grow a stash.
— phlyersfan - The Flyers will be able to handle this. Pronger gets rest which will be great for playoffs.... and we get to see who steps up on the power play now. Getting Bartulis time now will be beneficial in the future because when Pronger gets back you can bet not everyone on the D will be healthy— SPro
