Simon Gagne had an MRI on Saturday morning that confirmed he suffered a bone bruise in his right knee while playing for Team Canada in the Olympics in Torino, Italy. Below are comments regarding the injury from Flyers Athletic Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach, Jim McCrossin.

Jim McCrossin: Simon has a bone contusion. We’re looking at a bone bruise. The amount of time that Simon is going to be out will be to where he can tolerate being able to go ahead and skate and push off and get the strength back in that one leg. We’re looking at no more than two weeks at that point. Hopefully it’s going to be a lot less, but that should really be about it.

If Gagne is out for the full two weeks, thats 5 games the Olympics cost him to miss.
While 5 games is not a long time, that is still 5 games without your #1 scorer. Which makes it big.

Peter Forsberg will be going to Torino for the Olympics. Although he says he won’ play unless he is 100% healthy. The plan is to play in the later games if he is healthy. So this is how I see this happening. He will either not play at all or he will play from a period to a game and a half and re-injure his supposedly 100% healthy groin. As a Flyers fan I see nothing positive with him trying.

Michal Handzus has withdrawn from the Olympics with a rotator cuff injury. Article says it’s unclear when he was injured, but it probably was the check by Dainius Zubrus in the second period against the Capitals last Friday. Handzus missed a shift or two and was reported to have a bruised shoulder. Handzus has had multiple nagging injuries this year, but nothing serious enough for him to sit and rest. I hope the rotator cuff injury is not too bad, but I am glad to see him pull out of the Olympics to get some much needed rest.

The Olympic break is officially here. A break from hockey for most players, it is definitely welcomed relief for the Flyers. The Flyers sit fifth in the conference, 7 points behind Carolina and 3 points behind division leading Rangers. Really not a bad place for a team with 287 man games missed to injuries. This wouldn’t bug me much except the Flyers have just been awful as of late. With the talent they are missing the Flyers need to play a high energy, hard hitting, desperate style of game. For the most part they have only done this in the second half of games when already down by multiple goals.

As a review the Flyers going to the Olympics are…
Playing for the United States are Mike Knuble, Derian Hatcher and Robert Esche.
Playing for Canada is Simon Gagne.
Playing for Finland is Antero Niittymaki.
Playing for Slovakia is Michal Handzus.

Players that were selected but decided to not go include…
For Finland Sami Kapanen and Joni Pitkanen.
For Sweden Kim Johnsson.
Kapanen has been playing with a shoulder and knee that isn’t %100 he has decided to rest them. Pitkanen hasn’t fully recovered from his sports hernia surgery he is figured to rest and continue rehab. Johnsson initially withdrew because his wife will soon be expecting. Johnsson has been out for over two weeks with post concussion symptoms.

Branko Radivojevic was selected for the Slovakia Taxi Squad, but wouldn’t be available anyway with an ankle sprain.

And then there is Peter Forsberg. Forsberg was selected for Team Sweden and he is yet to announce whether he will play or not.
He has missed 16 games so far this year with continuing groin injuries. Looking at his injuries, how much time he has missed and how many games he was back before reinjurying his groin again, it is apparent that he will not be healthy for the Olympics. Even he is healthy enough to play a game or two he will just end up injuring it again. All last week Forsberg continued to put off his decision. He was going to see how it felt Thursday, then again on Friday, then see after a MRI he was suppose to have over the weekend. Now it’s Monday and still no news on his decision. It was reported over the weekend that a Swedish website stated Forsberg would travel to the Olympics and play in the medal rounds if he was healthy, which is opposite of what he has been saying over here. The games start this Wednesday the 15, so some sort of announcement should be forthcoming.

The Flyers have reassigned Ryan Ready, Pat Kavanagh and Alexandre Picard to the Phantoms. Unlike the NHL the AHL does not break for the Olympics. The AHL schedule continues as normal.

Peter Forsberg left the Jan 25 game with a tear in his left groin. He is expected to miss 7 to 10 days from that date. There has been talk that Forsberg should skip the Olympics to rest his body from all the injuries this year.

Eric Desjardins has been out since December 7 with a right shoulder subluxation. He is slated to return sometime in February, probably after the Olympic break.

Branko Radivojevic is expected to be out 3 to 6 weeks with a high ankle sprain. He slid hard into the boards late in the Jan 25 game against Montreal. He was on the taxi sqad for Slovakia for the Olympics.

Keith Primeau has been out since October 30 with a concussion. He is still experiencing post concussion symptoms. The only recent news is that he is still improving, whatever that means.

Joni Pitkanen had been out since December 5 with a sports hernia. He played two periods in the Jan 21 game against the Penguins. He left the game with tightness in his groin. He will be returning to the lineup today against the Lightning.

Kim Johnsson has missed 3 games with soft tissue damage after a series of hits to his head. He did not have a concussion. He will be returning to the lineup today against the Lightning and will be wearing a half shield.

Joni Pitkanen has been out since December 5 with a sports hernia. He has been cleared for full practice and is probable for the game Thursday against Boston. If his return is successful it would mean the Flyers would currently have 2 extra defensemen. Call-ups Freddy Meyer and Randy Jones along with Dennis Seidenberg and Chris Therien would be fighting for those two positions. Therien and Seidenberg would have to pass thru waivers before being sent down to the Phantoms.

Robert Esche has been out since December 15 with a groin injury. He has been cleared for full practice. His return date is really up to him. Esche has stated he will not return until he is 100%. Even when he does return, he will be sharing starts with Antero Niittymaki.

Keith Primeau has been out since October 30 with a concussion. He is still having post concussion symptoms. He skates for 45 minutes and rides a stationary bike for 30 minutes every day. But he still is experiencing head spins with bright lights, when doing some hand eye coordination drills or when he make quick head movements. There is no date set for his return. He has missed 36 games. There has been some talk about keeping Primeau on injury reserve and trading for another forward. Rumors on who that could be include Doug Weight from the Blues or former Flyer Mark Recchi from Pittsburgh.

Eric Desjardins has been out since December 7 with a right shoulder subluxation. He is slated to return sometime in February.

Turner Stevenson returned last game against Colorado from having continuing hip issues after his surgery earlier in the season. He has missed 34 games.

Mike Knuble, Michal Handzus and Mike Rathje are the only Flyers to play in every game this season.

Turner Stevenson is out with a right hip flexor and is listed day to day. He underwent surgery on his hip October 18, returned to the lineup about a month later only to re-injure it. Since then he has started several games only to play a couple shifts in each. The problem is no that the hip is injured but there is pain in the hip. Stevenson was reexamined by the doctor who did the surgery and the hip looks fine.

“It’s good news and bad,” Stevenson said. “They don’t know what is causing this problem. This is very frustrating. The doctor says I am fine, but I know something is wrong.”

He will be with the team in Washington, but doubtful to play.

Joni Pitkanen is slated to be out 4 to 6 weeks from December 5 with a sports hernia. He will skate with the team this weekend, but will not play.

Robert Esche has been out since December 15 with a groin pull. He is scheduled to return in the next week or so.

Eric Desjardins has been out since December 7 with a right shoulder subluxation. He is slated to return sometime in February.

Ryan Ready suffered an Abductor strain on November 29. Apparently he is healthy again, he has been returned to the Phantoms.

Keith Primeau is still having post concussion symptoms. Every few weeks or so he is reported to be showing improvement. The problem with his improvements is that they are too small to count in the big picture.
Primeau has been out since October 30. The past couple weeks he has been taking medication to help reduce his dizzy spells. He is skating, but still getting dizzy spells. The current improvements are that the dizzy spells are not lasting as long as they use to.

There has been some talk about replacing him if he can’t play this year, getting a solid checking center after January if he does not improve.
I just don’t see the need. The Flyers have Carter, Richards, Handzus, Forsberg and Umberger. Five centers not counting Primeau. If the Flyers get healthy even without Primeau, this is the team to go with. Right now the only thing the Flyers need is a defenseman. Pitkanen will be back in January and Desjardins will be back in February.

Keith Primeau has skated for a third straight day yesterday. He skated for 45 minutes on Saturday and had no adverse affects. This definitely shows progress; although no date has been set for his return I would suspect it will be late December or early January.

Bryan Savage and Ryan Ready have also begun skating, recovering from injuries.

Another week, another injury update.

Keith Primeau – Concussion out indefinitely. Primeau has been out since October 30. Really no news this week on his progress, he has not been skating.

Brian Savage – Sprained MCL, right knee. He was projected to be out 2 weeks, working on week 4, out since Nov 19.

Joni Pitkanen – Athletic pubalgia (sports hernia) out 4 to 6 weeks from December 5. He should be starting rehab.

Eric Desjardins – Right should subluxation (sprain) out 8 to 10 weeks from December 7. He is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow.

Simon Gagne – Right groin strain out about two weeks from December 9. He should be re-evaluated later this week.

Turner Stevenson – Right hip flexor and listed day to day. He underwent surgery on October 18, returned to the lineup about a month later only to re-injure his hip. No word on the results of the latest MRI exam.

Donald Brashear – Strained left shoulder and listed day to day. He will miss Tuesday’s game against Columbus and was scheduled for an MRI late today.

Other injures the Flyers are playing thru include –

Michal Handzus with an elbow sprain.
Mike Richards with a wrist sprain.
Jeff Carter with a clavicle (shoulder area) bruise.
Kim Johnsson with a groin pull.
Dennis Seidenberg recovering from a broken wrist.

Peter Forsberg and Robert Esche have healed enough to return to the lineup Saturday against the Wild. Esche will be backup to Niitymaki, which sent Jamie Storr back to the Phantoms.

Turner Stevenson who had hip surgery earlier this year has injured his hip again and is listed day to day.

Simon Gagne will be out two weeks with a groin injury.
Will the carnage ever stop?