Per Flyers GM Paul Holmgren, defenseman Chris Pronger will not play for tonight's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in Buffalo while recovering from hand surgery.
Multiple sources have indicated, though, that Pronger has accompanied the team to upstate New York. Game 4 will be on Wednesday at HSBC Arena.
One new piece of injury news is that Andreas Nodl will be out Monday with an upper-body injury, suspected to be a facial issue. Nikolay Zherdev, a healthy scratch in the first two games at Philadelphia, will take Nodl's spot on the roster.
The biggest news of the day came early on, with Sergei Bobrovsky listed as a healthy scratch.
Bobrovsky allowed three goals on seven shots in 12 1/2 minutes as the starter in Game 2's 5-4 victory before giving way to Brian Boucher. Boucher will start Game 3, with Michael Leighton apparently the backup.
Showing posts with label roster follies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label roster follies. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday, January 03, 2011
Flyers waive G Leighton
By Steve Cwitkowitz and Bob Herpen
In a somewhat shocking move that is reminiscent of a few Paul Holmgren roster missteps in the past few seasons, the Philadelphia Flyers placed goaltender Michael Leighton on waivers Monday afternoon.
The 29-year-old, who had back surgery in October, made his 2010-11 debut in a 7-4 win at Los Angeles on Thursday. In that one, he turned aside 32 shots in playing for the first time since June 9 when the Flyers lost to Chicago in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The goaltending situation became a numbers game for the Flyers, as rookie Sergei Bobrovsky and Brian Boucher were splitting time between the pipes this season.
Bobrovsky is 15-6-3 with a 2.57 goal against average over 26 games -- 25 starts, while the veteran Boucher has appeared in 15 contests, 13 of them starts and has compiled an 8-4-2 record with a 2.33 GAA.
Leighton was claimed off waivers from Carolina in December of 2009 and was somewhat of a surprise by going 16-5-2 with one shutout and a 2.48 goals against average over 27 regular-season games.
After a knee injury to Boucher in the second round against Boston, he went on to guide the team to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1997 and posted an 8-3 mark with a 2.46 GAA in the playoffs.
Should Leighton clear waivers, he will find himself back down in the American Hockey League with Adirondack, where he spent early December while rehabbing from surgery. His salary ($1.5 million) will come off the books, but if Leighton needs to be recalled due to an injury by Boucher or Bobrovsky, Leighton would have to clear re-entry waivers to return to Philadelphia.
However, if another club claims him, that means the Flyers will clear up needed cap space in order to keep forward Ville Leino. It also puts the front office in the unenviable position of trying to explain how Leighton went from a playoff hero who earned a two-year contract, to departed from the franchise in roughly six months.
The waiver wire has not been kind to the franchise in recent years. The club lost fan-favorite forward Glen Metropolit to Montreal and defenseman Ossi Vaananen to Vancouver late in the 2008-09 season, and defenseman Randy Jones early last year to the Los Angeles Kings on re-entry waivers when Holmgren perhaps underestimated each player's value.
In a somewhat shocking move that is reminiscent of a few Paul Holmgren roster missteps in the past few seasons, the Philadelphia Flyers placed goaltender Michael Leighton on waivers Monday afternoon.
The 29-year-old, who had back surgery in October, made his 2010-11 debut in a 7-4 win at Los Angeles on Thursday. In that one, he turned aside 32 shots in playing for the first time since June 9 when the Flyers lost to Chicago in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The goaltending situation became a numbers game for the Flyers, as rookie Sergei Bobrovsky and Brian Boucher were splitting time between the pipes this season.
Bobrovsky is 15-6-3 with a 2.57 goal against average over 26 games -- 25 starts, while the veteran Boucher has appeared in 15 contests, 13 of them starts and has compiled an 8-4-2 record with a 2.33 GAA.
Leighton was claimed off waivers from Carolina in December of 2009 and was somewhat of a surprise by going 16-5-2 with one shutout and a 2.48 goals against average over 27 regular-season games.
After a knee injury to Boucher in the second round against Boston, he went on to guide the team to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1997 and posted an 8-3 mark with a 2.46 GAA in the playoffs.
Should Leighton clear waivers, he will find himself back down in the American Hockey League with Adirondack, where he spent early December while rehabbing from surgery. His salary ($1.5 million) will come off the books, but if Leighton needs to be recalled due to an injury by Boucher or Bobrovsky, Leighton would have to clear re-entry waivers to return to Philadelphia.
However, if another club claims him, that means the Flyers will clear up needed cap space in order to keep forward Ville Leino. It also puts the front office in the unenviable position of trying to explain how Leighton went from a playoff hero who earned a two-year contract, to departed from the franchise in roughly six months.
The waiver wire has not been kind to the franchise in recent years. The club lost fan-favorite forward Glen Metropolit to Montreal and defenseman Ossi Vaananen to Vancouver late in the 2008-09 season, and defenseman Randy Jones early last year to the Los Angeles Kings on re-entry waivers when Holmgren perhaps underestimated each player's value.
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