See, I really like the Flyers' fourth line of Carcillo-Betts-Laperriere. Those guys have been awesome together, and Betts/Laperriere on the PK has been SWEET. Gotta get this Gagne thing fixed, and Jeff Carter and Claude Giroux scoring goals. If we do that...man, there's good things ahead for this team. You can kinda see it.
Given the Flyers' history of lying about injuries, there are two points to be made. First, the only muscles running below the four major muscles of the thigh (the "quads") ALL attach on the pubic bone or the inner arc of the hip which, to any honest male on the street, would be referred to as the groin. If Briere has an injured muscle in his thigh that is not part of his quad aggregate, then he has a groin injury. Second, given Briere, now Parent, of course Gagne and the collective history; again we have another daily journalistic episode that refuses to investigate and discuss the Flyers' repetitive problems with the same injuries, and what that implies about the competence of their training and medical staffs. So the story now is growing: Part One, Flyers' injury history and incompetence in dealing with it; Part Two, local media's refusal to engage and cover Part One. I am Oppressed.
Glad to see Nitty doing well. I felt he never got a fair shot last year. As soon as he got the #1 tag he got sick and they went with Biron again. Emery has been great. Would have liked to see Nitty stay but glad he's getting his shot.
Flyers have a serious problem with groin / ab injuries: Either it's the ice, the training facility, the trainer, or the workout routines. There is no way that this many players get the same injury over and over again, on the same team, year after year.
I have said it before and will say it again....Blair Betts was a steal. Worth twice the money than he is getting.
I think the issue with the groin injuries is just a string of bad luck. In the last year, it's really been only three players that had groin issues, so the problem isn't that widespread. Actually, Gagne's latest groin injury came in the first Olympic workout for Team Canada, so I don't think it's fair to blame the Flyers for that.
As far as the 4th line is concerned, I agree with FlyersFan88. They've been phenomenal. Last year in the playoffs, they didn't really have a fourth line that could control the puck, keep the opposition pinned in their own end, and create energy. It's also going to be crucial for them to be able to continue eating PK minutes because it will help keep Carter and Richards fresh.
