Flyers Receive Good News on Briere's Injury

Sunday, November 1, 2009

By Tim Panaccio
CSNPhilly.com

The only news the Flyers can use right now is something of a positive nature.

That may have come Sunday morning, when the Flyers learned that Danny Briere is feeling better and that he’s not being bothered by a right groin pull, but a pull to the inner thigh area, below his quad muscle.

This is good news because the area is totally removed from any of the groin/abdominal injuries the center/right wing suffered from last season that limited him to playing in just 20 games.

"I'm feeling better today and it's really not serious compared to what I had to go through last year," Briere said in a text message. "Hoping in a few days I will be able to rejoin the team in practice."

Briere received a shot of platelet rich plasma into his leg last week. Briere continues his rehab and Holmgren says he hopes he can skate on Tuesday.

No one is certain how Briere injured himself last Tuesday at Washington, although they don’t suspect bad ice or contact, but rather some kind of movement that caused the muscle to pull.

“He was sore during the game and real sore after, it’s actually in the muscle belly,” general manager Paul Holmgren said. “Kind of in that area.”

The injury is below the quad muscle.

“It’s a tough break for Danny because he was playing really well,” Holmgren said. “He had his quickness back. Hopefully, this isn’t a mental setback for him. It’s a physical one. It’ll set him back a few days and he’ll bounce back.”

While Briere is making progress, the fate of Simon Gagne continues to drag on without a resolution.

Gagne is scheduled to visit noted abdominal specialist William Meyers on Monday at Hahnemann University Hospital for a final opinion as to the two small hernias in his right groin.

“He’ll see Dr. Meyers tomorrow and we’ll put an end to this,” said general manager Paul Holmgren, who is obviously frustrated that there has not been a resolution sooner. “At some point tomorrow, we’ll get some direction on what we’re going to do.”

Meyers, Holmgren said, has been kept in the loop, but Gagne wants to visit with him before committing to surgery. No decision has been made as to who would perform the surgery and where.

On the subject of right groin pulls, the news on defenseman Ryan Parent, isn’t good. Parent re-injured his right groin during Saturday’s 6-1 win over Carolina.

“We’re shutting him down a week,” Holmgren said. “He’s a little more sore today than he was yesterday. So, we’re just going to shut him down a week or so.”

E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net