Chris Pronger has been sidelined since undergoing hand surgery in March. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
By Tim Panaccio, CSNPhilly.com
Peter Laviolette never talks about injured players.
"All questions go to the GM," the Flyers coach usually says when asked for injury updates.
Yet, with regards to Chris Pronger's absence from practice the entire week, Laviolette said more than once that he was preparing his team as if Pronger would not be in Game 1 because the lineup he had at practice was the one he had been using in games.
So it should not come as a surprise that Pronger is out for Game 1 of Philly's first-round series against Buffalo on Thursday night because of his injured right hand.
He had been listed as doubtful the entire week. CSNPhilly.com confirmed a report on Pronger appearing in Thursday's Philadelphia Daily News.
"With regard to Chris, I think everyone in the locker room would like to have him in here," Laviolette said. "He's not and he hasn't been for a while and teams deal with injuries all the time.
"We dealt with them last year in the playoffs and I'm sure we'll deal with them this year in the playoffs. That's just the nature of the beast, So it is just business as usual. We've got to prepare to play. Nothing much really changes with our system or how we play. We've got to go out and win a hockey game."
The fact Pronger had not shot a single puck all week and hasn't shot pucks in quite a while was a strong indication he wasn't going to suit up.
The Flyers have gotten used to not having Pronger around.They were 16-9-7 without him in the lineup this season, and that includes the 16 consecutive game he missed at season's end leading into playoffs.
From a lineup standpoint, nothing changes from what the Flyers have been doing all along. Matt Carle, who is Pronger's defence partner, will alternate with Andrej Meszaros and Danny Syvret.
"Obviously, you'd like to have Chris in the lineup," said Sean O'Donnell, who won a Stanley Cup with Mr. Warmth in 2007 in Anaheim.
"You look down and I'm sure [Buffalo] would like to have Leopold and Roy in, and Pittsburgh would like to have [Sidney] Crosby in.
"That's the way things go. I think we've done well without Chris. Obviously, we want him back. But I'm comfortable with our team until he gets back."
Buffalo's view
The Sabres figure to get a boost from not having to deal with Pronger.
"He bring a lot to the table," said Buffalo forward Jason Pominville. "He's a proven All-Star and might be a Hall of Famer. It seems every team he goes on they find a way to win or make it pretty far in the post-season. He's a big piece of their team. We can't really worry if he plays.
"He brings a lot to their power play and penalty kill. He's a really good shooter who finds lanes, and on the PK he blocks shots. Again, he's a proven player. Kinda like us missing [injured top centre] Derek Roy."
Sabres forward Nathan Gerbe is 5-foot-5. Pronger is 6-foot-6. Lucky for Gerbe to not have to face Pronger, eh?
"He's an unbelievable defenceman - you can't get past that and he's a huge presence for that team," Gerbe said. "Again, we're going to play the same game."
Other scratches
For the Flyers, based on the morning skate, Nikolay Zherdev, Jody Shelley and Nick Boyton won't play. For Buffalo, Nick Mancari and Andrej Sekera. Questions remain as to the availability of Mike Grier.
What about 'Bob'?
You don't want to diss Flyers rookie netminder Sergei Bobrovsky in front of Danny Briere.
He doesn't care if the guy they call Bob - even though his facemask says "Bobs" will be making his first-ever playoff start on Thursday.
"Chicago won the Cup last year with [rookie] Antti Niemi," Briere said.
There's been a lot of anti-Bobrovsky sentiment lately in Philly. "Doesn't handle the puck well." "Doesn't close the five-hole quick enough." "Doesn't cover the top part of the net."
"I think it's too early to say anything against Bob," Briere said. "We haven't seen him. We have to give him the chance. Maybe he is a big-game player."
We all know Buffalo's Ryan Miller is a big-time player. He won the silver medal for Team USA at the Vancouver Olympics, giving us one of the great all-time hockey classics with an overtime loss to Team Canada in the gold medal game.
Miller has earned his stripes and would be considered the favoured goalie in the series were it not for the fact he had a rather poor 3.69 goals-against average this season against the Flyers.
Bobrovsky has never been tested under playoff pressure. You don't know how he'll react.
"When the pressure was on at the beginning of this season, the few times he got pulled, coming back the following game when everyone was doubting him, he had some strong outings," Briere said.
"Before we say he's no good and doesn't deserve to be here, let's give him the chance. I know I have a lot of confidence in him."
For more from Tim Panaccio on the Flyers, check out CSNPhilly.com
Peter Laviolette never talks about injured players.
"All questions go to the GM," the Flyers coach usually says when asked for injury updates.
Yet, with regards to Chris Pronger's absence from practice the entire week, Laviolette said more than once that he was preparing his team as if Pronger would not be in Game 1 because the lineup he had at practice was the one he had been using in games.
So it should not come as a surprise that Pronger is out for Game 1 of Philly's first-round series against Buffalo on Thursday night because of his injured right hand.
He had been listed as doubtful the entire week. CSNPhilly.com confirmed a report on Pronger appearing in Thursday's Philadelphia Daily News.
"With regard to Chris, I think everyone in the locker room would like to have him in here," Laviolette said. "He's not and he hasn't been for a while and teams deal with injuries all the time.
"We dealt with them last year in the playoffs and I'm sure we'll deal with them this year in the playoffs. That's just the nature of the beast, So it is just business as usual. We've got to prepare to play. Nothing much really changes with our system or how we play. We've got to go out and win a hockey game."
The fact Pronger had not shot a single puck all week and hasn't shot pucks in quite a while was a strong indication he wasn't going to suit up.
The Flyers have gotten used to not having Pronger around.They were 16-9-7 without him in the lineup this season, and that includes the 16 consecutive game he missed at season's end leading into playoffs.
From a lineup standpoint, nothing changes from what the Flyers have been doing all along. Matt Carle, who is Pronger's defence partner, will alternate with Andrej Meszaros and Danny Syvret.
"Obviously, you'd like to have Chris in the lineup," said Sean O'Donnell, who won a Stanley Cup with Mr. Warmth in 2007 in Anaheim.
"You look down and I'm sure [Buffalo] would like to have Leopold and Roy in, and Pittsburgh would like to have [Sidney] Crosby in.
"That's the way things go. I think we've done well without Chris. Obviously, we want him back. But I'm comfortable with our team until he gets back."
Buffalo's view
The Sabres figure to get a boost from not having to deal with Pronger.
"He bring a lot to the table," said Buffalo forward Jason Pominville. "He's a proven All-Star and might be a Hall of Famer. It seems every team he goes on they find a way to win or make it pretty far in the post-season. He's a big piece of their team. We can't really worry if he plays.
"He brings a lot to their power play and penalty kill. He's a really good shooter who finds lanes, and on the PK he blocks shots. Again, he's a proven player. Kinda like us missing [injured top centre] Derek Roy."
Sabres forward Nathan Gerbe is 5-foot-5. Pronger is 6-foot-6. Lucky for Gerbe to not have to face Pronger, eh?
"He's an unbelievable defenceman - you can't get past that and he's a huge presence for that team," Gerbe said. "Again, we're going to play the same game."
Other scratches
For the Flyers, based on the morning skate, Nikolay Zherdev, Jody Shelley and Nick Boyton won't play. For Buffalo, Nick Mancari and Andrej Sekera. Questions remain as to the availability of Mike Grier.
What about 'Bob'?
You don't want to diss Flyers rookie netminder Sergei Bobrovsky in front of Danny Briere.
He doesn't care if the guy they call Bob - even though his facemask says "Bobs" will be making his first-ever playoff start on Thursday.
"Chicago won the Cup last year with [rookie] Antti Niemi," Briere said.
There's been a lot of anti-Bobrovsky sentiment lately in Philly. "Doesn't handle the puck well." "Doesn't close the five-hole quick enough." "Doesn't cover the top part of the net."
"I think it's too early to say anything against Bob," Briere said. "We haven't seen him. We have to give him the chance. Maybe he is a big-game player."
We all know Buffalo's Ryan Miller is a big-time player. He won the silver medal for Team USA at the Vancouver Olympics, giving us one of the great all-time hockey classics with an overtime loss to Team Canada in the gold medal game.
Miller has earned his stripes and would be considered the favoured goalie in the series were it not for the fact he had a rather poor 3.69 goals-against average this season against the Flyers.
Bobrovsky has never been tested under playoff pressure. You don't know how he'll react.
"When the pressure was on at the beginning of this season, the few times he got pulled, coming back the following game when everyone was doubting him, he had some strong outings," Briere said.
"Before we say he's no good and doesn't deserve to be here, let's give him the chance. I know I have a lot of confidence in him."
For more from Tim Panaccio on the Flyers, check out CSNPhilly.com
