Because of all the injuries on Saturday December 10 the Flyers will be hosting auditions for potential players at the Wachovia Center. Open to all residents of Philadelphia.
Ok, that was a joke.

Eric Desjardins – Right should posterior subluxation of his humoral head. He tore both the posteral labrum and the inferior border of the Glenohumeral ligament. In layman’s terms it means that Eric has a sprain of his right shoulder and will require surgery to repair the instability that was caused by the injury
He will be out 8 to 10 weeks. That puts him out until February. He is on Team Canada’s long list for the Olympics. I suspect this will hurt his chances on being selected. If so he might not see any action until March.

Joni Pitkannen – Athletic pubalgia otherwise known as a sports hernia. Joni is going to have surgery and is going to have to have a muscle called a rectus abdominus pulled off of his pubic bone and is going to have surgery to repair that. An abductor release will also be done.
He will be out 4 to 6 weeks. Return sometime in January.

Peter Forsberg – Right groin strain and is listed day to day. In reality it is a groin tear, worse than what Forsberg initially thought.
It has been thirteen days since the injury.

Robert Esche – Slight tear, abductor tendon.
He will be out at least until December 13.

Ryan Ready – Abductor strain and is listed day to day.
Nine days now since the injury. He missed the beginning of the season with a groin injury.

Turner Stevenson – Right hip flexor and is listed day to day.
Twelve days since the injury, the same hip he had surgery on in October.

Dennis Seidenberg – Broken right wrist.
He is listed out two to three weeks; three weeks would be this coming up weekend.

Brian Savage – Sprained MCL, right knee.
He is listed out one to two weeks, which would have been last week.

Keith Primeau – Concussion out indefinitely.
He has been out 39 days now. Even though he is ‘strengthening his muscles behind his eyes’ and says he is making progress, I just don’t buy it until he starts skating.

Jeff Carter and Chris Therien were x-rayed after the game against Calgary. Carter for his collarbone and Therien his hand, both were negative.

Like the Flyers needed another injury.

Joni Pitkanen will be out 4-6 weeks with athletic pubalgia also known as a sports hernia and will require surgery.

The injuries are getting ridiculous.
Something is really not right.
Pitkanen, Esche, Gagne, Forsberg, Ready, Stevenson, Savage and Hatcher have all suffered lower body injuries this year. Five of those injuries being around the groin area.
Are the Flyers not warming up and stretching?

Robert Esche will be out at least a week with a slight tear in his common abductor tendon (groin area). Esche will see a specialist on Monday to determine if his injury is classified as an abductor strain or a sports hernia. The Flyers saying Esche might be out only a week is just being hopeful. I expect him to miss at least 3 weeks.

So for now there wont be any goalie controversy. Nittymaki will have at least 4 starts in a row, all against Western Division teams.

Peter Forsberg will not play Tuesday. He is suffering from a right groin strain. He is also doubtful for Wednesday’s game. He is listed as day-to-day

“You don’t want to push it too hard because if you do then you’re going to strain it again,” said Forsberg. “I was just out there today skating a little bit and see how it felt and it was not good enough. If you pull your groin higher up, it usually takes a long time, but this is further down so it should not be that long and shouldn’t be long-term at all.”

Turner Stevenson is out with a Right hip flexor. He will not play Tuesday. He is listed as day-to-day.

Dennis Seidenberg is out with a broken wrist. He is expected back sometime in December.

Brian Savage is out with a sprained knee. He should be back within the next week.

Keith Primeau is out with a concussion. It is still unknown when/if he will return.

“People think I’m finished,” Primeau said. “I don’t know what the future holds. But my whole intent is to play.”

The Good

Sami Kapanen will be back in the lineup on Saturday against the Islanders. Kapanen had surgery back in September to repair torn cartilage in his right shoulder.
Eric Desjardins will return Tuesday against Tampa Bay. Desjardins took an elbow to the head from Chris Clark of the Capitals on November 5 which resulted in a concussion. Clark was also fined $2,000 for the elbow.
Mike Richards fell into the boards awkwardly, jamming his right wrist. X-rays came back negative and is probable for Tuesdays game.

With Stevenson, Desjardins and Kapanen back, the penalty kill is suppose to improve. At least that’s what they say.

The Bad

Dennis Seidenberg took a slash to his hands in Pittsburgh which resulted in a broken bone in his right hand. He is expected to miss 2 to 3 weeks.
Brian Savage has a grade one MCL sprain of his knee. He is expected to miss 10 days to two weeks.

The Ugly

Captian Keith Primeau is still MIA with concussion symptoms. Primeau and his busy eyes have no date set to comeback.
If I had to guess, I’m thinking January.

Turner Stevenson underwent hip surgery to repair his right labrum on Oct. 18. He was due to miss 8 to 12 weeks. Yesterday, he was given medical clearance to participate in a full practice and could be back in the lineup next week, a full month earlier than expected. Good news, particularly for the Flyers crappy penalty kill. He might be back Saturday at Pittsburgh.

Keith Primeau and Eric Desjardins passed their baseline neurological tests yesterday but neither have a date when they will return to the lineup, both out with concussions.

Sami Kapanen is still looking at November 30 against the Devils for his first game of the season.

Flyers right wing Sami Kapanen, who has yet to play in a game this season due to torn cartilage in his right shoulder, has started taking part in full practices with the team. He is still not able to participate in drills with full contact, and is about three weeks away from getting back into game action.

“I feel pretty good. I won’t have any contact for the next couple of weeks, but it is a good step for me right now,” said Kapanen. “Hopefully in the next three weeks, I can get in the uniform and be able to play.

“Ten weeks is the time it takes to heal, and I am at seven weeks [Tuesday]. We have just got to stay patient. I feel good right now and feel like I could go with the contact, but we go by the doctors’ orders and I think that is the best choice.”

Washington Capitals forward Chris Clark, who knocked Philadelphia’s Eric Desjardins out of Thursday’s NHL game with an elbow, finds himself out some money. [.continue.]

A fine that ends up being less than %1 of his salary. The league is taking hits to the head so seriously.
Desjardins will be out at least a couple weeks, but probably longer.

How about fining the guy or the team, the cost of Desjardins salary equal to the number of games he misses.

In an article that Bob Clarke sounded like he was whining over paying Umberger $4,594 a day, because it will move the Flyers under a million dollars under the salary cap, some more injuries were discussed.

A review:

Keith Primeau is out indefinitely with a concussion.
Turner Stevenson is out until sometime in December with a torn labrum, right hip injury.
Sami Kapanen is out for a couple more weeks with torn cartilage, right shoulder injury. I believe he is skating now.
Kim Johnsson has a left groin pull and is listed day to day.
Brian Savage has a mild groin pull, but is expected to play tomorrow.
Michal Handzus has a sprained right elbow, but is expected to play tomorrow.
Robert Esche has a mild groin pull but is expected to play tomorrow.

I suspect Nitty will get the start in goal.

Flyers Athletic Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach Jim McCrossin confirmed on Monday that Flyers captain and center Keith Primeau has sustained a concussion and is out of action indefinitely. Primeau did not play in the Flyer’s 5-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night after not feeling well following a game in Carolina on October 28. [.continue.]

Looks like the captain won’t be around for awhile.
So who gets to wear the C?
My vote is Gagne.

Johnsson is listed day to day with a pulled left groin.
I think his injury hurts the Flyers more than Primeau’s, since he is one of our better defensemen.