Saturday, March 12, 2011
Posted: 6:19 p.m.Updated: 8:30 p.m.
By Tim PanaccioCSNPhilly.com
Paul Holmgren insists he is not worried about Chris Prongers right hand injury, with the playoffs just 14 games away.
And yet, Pronger is now wearing a removable cast on the hand he injured last month against the Islanders.
Its to facilitate the healing and make it more comfortable, Holmgren said. Hes the same as yesterday: day-to-day.Hes gotten better the last few days by not taking part in anything with a puck.
Pronger missed Saturdays game against Atlanta. He has now missed three games because of the injury, which occurred on Feb. 24 against the Islanders when he was struck by a puck on the hand while blocking a shot from Ty Wishart.
He played Tuesday against Edmonton and expects to play this Tuesday at Florida. If thats the case, Pronger will have had a full week between games, even though he is participating in practices and skates with limited activity.
Should the Flyers be worried?
Not at all, Holmgren said. Some of that is because of our depth on defense. I happen to like it when Andrej Meszaros and Braydon Coburn play more minutes. I dont think thats an issue.
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The injury appears to be in Prongers right palm as he seems to have trouble tying his skate laces and is using just a couple fingers when he does.
Holmgren said all x-ray and MRIs of the hand are negative. Pronger has also seen two hand specialists: Randall Culp (Methodist Hospital) and Thomas Graham, a private hand specialist in Baltimore.
Pronger was better today in practice and that is all we can go by, Holmgren said. He gets better each day. Were hoping by the next game he feels good enough to play. His grip strength continues to get better.
Right now, grip is a problem. Holmgren said Pronger did not re-injure the hand. Some days, its worse than others. He said that Pronger was not 100 percent when he played against Edmonton and took a step back.
Theres something going on in there that is inhibiting his strength a little bit, Holmgren said. That continues to get better each day. But if youre a hockey player and you cant grip your stick, youre gonna have a hard time.
Most days, weve seen Pronger in a bubble wrap of nothing but ice on the wrist and hand.
At this point, there is no timetable for shutting down Pronger completely since he can still skate.
Chris wants to play and when he can play, hell play, Holmgren said.
Graham was in attendance at the Flyers-Atlanta game on Saturday and presumably, examined Pronger before the game. Pronger sat in Holmgrens private box for part of the game.
We miss him in the lineup, coach Peter Laviolette said. The fact he is not in there, everybody gets concerned about that. He plays 22, 25 minutesHes a guy who does a lot of things for us. Plays in a lot of situations. Certainly, youd like to have him in the lineup.
Nick Boynton, who played a strong, simple game as Prongers replacement in Toronto, was again in the lineup against the Thrashers.
I thought he did a good job, Laviolette said of Boyntons Flyers debut against the Maple Leafs. Toronto was a young, hungry, fast team. He came in after not playing for awhile, sometimes that is difficultIts good were getting guys coming in replacing players and able to contribute. I thought Nick looked good out there.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net
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