Tuesday afternoon the general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, Paul Holmgren, made a somber announcement that goaltender Michael Leighton and forward Ian Laperriere will miss the start of the regular season with injury.
Michael Leighton has reportedly re-aggravated a back injury he suffered over the summer during Friday night’s pre-season game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Following a re-examination of an MRI taken Monday, the doctors have found a bulging disc in Leighton’s back. The problem will fortunately not require surgery, but Leighton is expected to miss up to a month of regular season play to heal up.
"It's a bulging disc, and my personal experience with bulging discs is they go back in eventually," Holmgren said. "It's not a herniated disc, which is a bigger issue in and of itself. We think with strengthening and rehab and time he'll be ok. Right now we think that time period is a month. He's in here working out today and doing some other stuff. It's uncomfortable and that's what he's dealing with now. Because of the position of goal it's a little more dicey than maybe a regular player because of the way he's bent over in net."
Leighton heads into the season as the bona fide number one in goal after backstopping the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Championship and Stanley Cup Finals appearance last season. He recorded a 17-9-2 record in 34 games with a 2.83 GAA and .905 save percentage with 1 shutout in the regular season, and increased his play in the post season as he went 8-3 with a 2.46 GAA and .916 save percentage with 3 shutouts. He was claimed, funny enough, off of waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes in mid December and was re-signed to a two-year contract in June of this year after his phenomenal play for the Flyers. Veteran Brian Boucher will take over in the meantime and as expected will play the majority of the time that Leighton is out. Boucher was equally impressive for the Flyers in the regular and post seasons last year and is a more-than capable goaltender. In fact, Boucher was the 1A goaltender overall last year, appearing in 33 games in the regular season (9-18-3) and was also the main guy heading into the post season (6-6) before he fell to the injury bug himself. Boucher could use Leighton’s troubles as his gains, just like Leighton prospered from Boucher’s injuries last year, and regain number one status through the month of October.
"I'm going to give it my best shot. But whatever role they decide to give me, I will be a team guy and accept it.” Boucher said. "Having played down the stretch there into the playoffs last year, I felt really good about it. I feel like I can contribute if needed."
Holmgren will not be outsourcing for a short-term replacement for Leighton, as Johan Backlund is primed to take the back-up spot available after Leighton’s injury. Even Backlund is coming off of a hip injury, though, completing the injury prone list of netminders in the City of Brotherly Love. Beyond Backlund is only Sergei Bobrovsky, but if the two aforementioned goalies can stay healthy, the answer has been found for Leighton’s absence.
After sustaining a concussion and broken orbital bone from a slap-shot to the face in the first round of the playoffs against the Devils, Ian Laperriere was back on the ice to finish up the post season in an effort to win Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Laperriere unfortunately has not recovered from the devastating injury that stems from that shot, and will be out indefinitely with post-concussion syndrome.
"Right now, it's not safe for Ian to play," general manager Paul Holmgren said yesterday. "I think this is significant. They saw a little spot there initially and I think they were hoping, like we all were, that it would dissipate a little bit, but after seeing the doctor and validating it again today - it kind of erased any optimism we had. The prudent thing for us to do now is get him checked out properly and see what he's dealing with."
The 36 year-old 16 season veteran plays with as much heart as anyone in the National Hockey League and displayed that last year in an effort to achieve Stanley Cup championship status, which has eluded him over his career.
Laperriere knows he was lucky to dodge even greater injury as if the puck had gone but a half-inch away from the point of impact, he would most likely have lost his eye.
"I said to Jimmy, 'Is it (his eye) there?' " Laperriere asked as he frantically skated off the ice.
The wound required 60 to 70 stitches, only 30 or 40 less than the required 100 stitches for his blocked shot against Buffalo November 27th where he lost seven teeth.
It is not unlike NHL players to play with their heart over their mind, especially come playoffs, but Laperriere truly set aside his own well being to better his Flyers club through the 13 games he was able to take part in.
It is an admirable thing about the players of the NHL, but it is a problem that exists for players who are willing to lie to doctors, coaches, friends, and linemates regarding their health status just to stay on the ice and compete. He wouldn’t be the first player to do so, and most certainly won’t be the last.
The portion that is completely understandable (and respectable) lies in the fact that Laperriere competed just as hard as he did throughout his 16 years of service to the National Hockey League last season, in what could have been his last chance at winning the Cup.
The portion that is not acceptable is the risk factor in which he put himself in. Many players have been forced into retirement too early with concussion woes, and although he’s not getting any younger, Laperriere showed no signs over the past couple of years that his time is nearing the end.
Ian is a competitor and a leader and the hope and prayer around the NHL is that his career continues without issue.
"We're hockey players," Laperriere said. "We take pride in playing with injuries. But that's just one thing I can't do, for the sake of my family. Trust me, I want to be out there. I played 82 games just to play for the real season.”
"Hockey is my passion. But my kids are my life. I have to think about that."
The NHL has limitations and boundaries for injured (especially concussed) players, but the NHL can only control so much of it. The NHL cannot control the player himself, should he decide to be dishonest about his health condition. Ian approached GM Paul Holmgren candidly last Saturday after not having mentioned how he was feeling over the summer.
Holmgren has stated Ian’s health status will not force his hand in the signing of training camp attendee Bill Guerin, but I don’t personally feel that would be the only circumstance that Guerin will receive a contract. It’s just another reason atop many to make that deal in efforts to get back to the Finals and this time, perhaps, lift the Cup. Let us all just hope that Ian Laperriere is a part of it, regardless of how the Flyers finish.
Laperriere blocked 74 shots last season for fourth best in the league, and was a key piece in one of the best penalty kills in the league, especially in the playoffs.
"It's hard to replace Ian and what he does, particularly on the penalty kill," Holmgren said. "He's a heart-and-soul guy on our hockey team and it's hard to replace that."
Unsurprisingly, Laperriere’s only regret is his timing, and is ready and willing to go down and block every shot he can if and when he gets back on the ice.
"I'm not mad about the play. That's the play I make a living with," Laperriere said. "I'm going to do that play again. I did it 10,000 times in my career and I'm going to do it again. It's a matter of bad timing, I guess."
Laperriere vowed to wear a face shield upon his return, which he stuck to his guns by, and wore in the post season. He will wear one as soon as he is back, and hopefully will have more games played than not in the future.
"It's sad that it took an incident like that to make me realize that my eyes were that important," he said. "The 5, 10 minutes of not seeing anything out of that eye and panicking and Jimmy telling me my eye was still there, you get so many bad feelings going through your mind that I don't want to live that, or my family to live that, ever again."
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