Ray Emery’s season is over, and there are major questions about whether the Flyers goalie will ever play again.

Emery is suffering from avascular necrosis – a condition in which poor blood supply leads to death of bone tissue – and will have a bone graft to alleviate the hip issue, the Flyers announced. It is the same ailment that ended Bo Jackson’s baseball career.

In a conference call with reporters last night, Emery sounded stunned by the developments and acknowledged that he would have a difficult road back to the NHL.

Emery said doctors have told him the success rate for the surgery is 95 percent, but said that was for “being mobile [again], not playing professional sports.”

The surgery will be performed by David Ruch at Duke University Medical Center.

“It’s something I have to get done, and after that I’ll do my best to get back,” Emery said.

Click here to read the full article – By Philadelphia Inquirer

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When NHL teammates become Olympic opponents, most say there is no special treatment they give each other. No favors.

Asked of his thoughts if he had an opportunity to crunch Timonen into the boards, Pronger replied: “It sucks to be him.”

You can’t change the way you play, or you’ll likely risk an injury, Pronger said, adding that the action is so quick that you don’t have time to pull away from one of your NHL teammates – even if you wanted to.

“To be honest, half the time I’m not looking at who it is,” said Pronger, a four-time Olympian. “The other half, it really doesn’t bother me. We’re playing a game. You’re playing for your country.

“It’s no different than when you’re traded and playing against your former team. You have to go 100 percent or you leave yourself open to injury, so you have to push yourself to play as hard as you can.”

Click here to read the full article – By Philadelphia Inquirer

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Defenseman Oskars Bartulis began the season in the minors, hoping to improve his game and get to The Show.

Latvia’s coaches took notice of his play, and Bartulis, 23, was selected for his first Olympic team.

“This whole season has been really exciting and full of surprises for me,” the 6-foot-2, 184-pound Bartulis said.

Tiny Latvia, which has never finished higher than ninth, is not expected to do much in the Olympics.

“But you never know,” Bartulis said. “We will try to surprise some teams.”

Latvia stunned the U.S. team in a 3-3 tie in the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

Click here to read the full article – By Philadelphia Inquirer

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Since returning from a nearly two-month absence caused by abdominal and hernia surgery, Flyers left winger Simon Gagne has shown flashes of last year’s 34-goal form. He scored a hat trick against the New York Rangers on Dec. 30.

Gagne is not alarmed.

“It’s not the first time I’m going through something like this,” he said, “but we’re winning and that’s what’s most important.”

The 29-year-old Gagne entered the game with six goals and 14 assists in 29 games.

“I just have to keep shooting and keep going to the net,” he said. “Maybe get a dirty goal or a lucky goal and that will get the confidence going.”

Missing nearly two months, he conceded, has contributed to his scoring slump.

“At some point, it will catch up with you,” he said. “You need time to get in game shape and get your timing going. The good thing is, I’m getting the chances.”

Click here to read the full article – By Philadelphia Inquirer

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Over the course of his last few injury-riddled seasons, the best way to approach Simon Gagne’s timetable on a return to the lineup was with caution.

After his abdominal surgery on Nov. 3 to repair two small tears and strengthen his abdominus rectus muscle, doctors said Gagne should be ready to play in 6 to 8 weeks.

Gagne insisted yesterday – when he returned to practice almost 2 weeks earlier than expected – that he is still a long way from playing in an NHL game.

“I felt pretty good,” Gagne said. “But now I could tell that I am a couple steps behind from game shape and stickhandling and stuff like that. It will be good to have at least another 2 weeks.”

Gagne wore a yellow jersey to single himself out during contact drills and he did not skate on a line with anyone else. He said after yesterday’s heavy skating practice that his body felt normal.

Click here to read the full article – By Philadelphia Daily News

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The Flyers aren’t using their injuries and illnesses as an alibi for their recent struggles.

The Flyers have lost five of their last six games, including Saturday’s 1-0 defeat in Atlanta.

“I’m not disappointed with the effort, but we have to find a way to sharpen up offensively,” said Stevens, whose team outshot the Thrashers, 34-18, but was blanked by Johan Hedberg. “We have to find a way to get more pucks to the net. Sometimes there’s a fine line between scoring and not scoring – and we have to start crossing that line.”

General manager Paul Holmgren said he was “disappointed in the results. Every team has injuries, and we just haven’t handled it as well as we should have.”

In the loss to Atlanta, the Flyers were missing a trio of injured players – Simon Gagne, Blair Betts and Darroll Powe – along with the flu-ridden Danny Briere.

Click here to read the full article – By Philadelphia Inquirer

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When Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren signed free-agent Ian Laperriere in the off-season, he admitted Laperriere was a player he had “coveted for a long time.”
Two games into the season, it’s easy to understand why Holmgren was so enamored.

The scrappy right winger/center has provided energy, superb penalty-killing and his first goal of the season, helping the Flyers start 2-0 for the first time since 1998-99.

While goalie Ray Emery has been sensational, defenseman Chris Pronger has been as good as advertised, and Mike Richards and Jeff Carter have scored two goals apiece, Laperriere has been supplying valuable minutes.

Click here to read the full article – By Sam Carchidi of Philadelphia Inquirer

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Relentless is the Flyers’ slogan for the 2009-10 season.

Swarming the net in the first portion of the game and excelling at penalty- killing throughout the night, the Flyers got power-play goals from Jeff Carter and Mike Richards 22 seconds apart early in the second period, sparking a 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at the RBC Center.

Ray “Razor” Emery made 28 saves and became the third goalie to register a shutout in his Flyers debut. The others: John Vanbiesbrouck in 1998 and Jeff Hackett in 2003.

“Ray has looked more comfortable every day. . . . He was tremendous tonight,” coach John Stevens said.

“I’ll be honest with you, I was pretty nervous,” said Emery, returning to the NHL after a year in Russia. “But nerves are a good thing.”

Click here to read the full article – By Sam Carchidi of Philadelphia Inquirer

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The Flyers finally reached an agreement yesterday with free agent Blair Betts, signing the fourth-line center for $550,000 and putting him on their 23-player roster for tonight’s opener at Carolina.

“I’m relieved,” Betts said.

“I would rather it happened sooner than later, but nonetheless, I think we made the right decision to come here,” he said.

Early in training camp, the Flyers made it clear they wanted to sign Betts.

Click here to read the full article – By Sam Carchidi of Philadelphia Inquirer

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Chris Pronger is a man of many talents.

That much is certain in his short time in Philadelphia; he joined the Flyers in a trade with Anaheim on the first day of the NHL draft in June.

From the drop of the puck in the Flyers’ first preseason game in Detroit 2 weeks ago, Pronger has added the snarl on the ice that is synonymous with the club’s 42-year history. He can move the puck like few other players in the league, has a cannon of a shot and he sacrifices his body like a Secret Service agent.

But to say only that Pronger’s on-ice skills as an All-Star defenseman make the Flyers a Stanley Cup contender simply doesn’t do him justice.

Click here to read the full article – By Frank Seravalli of Philadelphia Daily News

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