Injury Bug Bites Again As The Flyers Lose The Heart And Soul Of Their Team

There are certain guys on the ice who do all the little things so well, that they become just as vital, if not more so than the playmakers, snipers, and the strong defensemen. For the Flyers, that player is Ian Laperriere. And now Ian Laperriere is going to be out for at least a month with a brain contusion and a slight concussion. From Flyers beat writer Tim Panaccio.

Forward Ian Laperriere, who suffered a fracture of the right orbital bone blocking a shot in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against New Jersey, has a concussion, and, even more dangerous, a brain contusion.

He is out indefinitely and likely won’t play again this spring.

“I will play with injuries, but not to my brain,” Laperriere told CSNPhilly.com.

Laperriere’s eye injury does not require surgery.

Laperriere was examined by doctors here and in Pittsburgh on Tuesday where Joseph Maroon, the vice-chairman of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, confirmed he had suffered a brain injury after reviewing a CT scan.

While some Flyers fans will want him to return ASAP, I am of the mindset that he will be better off sitting out the rest of the playoffs for the simple fact that if he is out for at least or even about a month, that puts us late in the conference finals and possibly into the Stanley Cup. If the Flyers make it that far, that likely means that his likely call-up, Andreas Nodl, has done a fine job and the Flyers have done a fine job at rallying around the injuries. Lappy is a fucking warrior and as much as I know he wants to play, it would kill me to see him comeback too soon and suffer a more permanent injury, especially with the brain involved.

For those that have not seen it yet and would like to know what kind of puck to the face it takes to knock out one of the game's good guys and tought as nails warriors, here is the slightly squeamish video.



Having taken a falling golf ball to the eye before, I honestly can't even watch that without seriously wincing in pain. For realz.

I have talked to people who were at that game Game 5 in Newark, and I can confirm those cheers that you heard immediately after the whistle, were cheers of Devils fans, presumably cheering the fact that Laperriere got hurt. Classless. Classless. Classless. Yeah, I know that Philly fans get the rep for cheering an unconscious Michael Irvin (and the same three words that I described those Devils fans can be used to describe those Philly fans: Classless. Classless. Classless.), but how many of you heard about those evil Devil fans cheering an injury to one of the game's toughest, hardest, working, and classiest players? Again, I repeat, perception is not reality. Reality is reality and the reality is there are douche bag and jackass sports fans everywhere, only you just do not hear about them because it is much more funner to single out one city for having a bad reputation than to rail against North American sports fans everywhere, is it not?

Enough of my soapbox and onto an actual piece of goodness on the Flyers injury front. It appears that Simon Gagne, who was originally projected to be out til around the time of Game 6 of a Conference Semifinal series may return as soon as Game 3 of said series. His toe is healing at an extremely fast pace. OMGagne.