I fully expect the Flyers to engage in the usual injury song and dance today when Paul Holmgren discussed the results of the MRI on Michael Leighton's back. Anything short of an unexpected announcement that Leighton needs back surgery will be spun as a minor issue that the club is optimistic the goalie can work through and be fine.
Maybe that really is the case. But let's just say the club's injury history, especially with the goalies, and the nature of back problems suggest that this won't be the last we'll hear about Leighton's back this season.
That begs a question, a host of questions actually:
If Leighton was having back problems during the summer, and the club knew about it, then why did the club not come into camp with a backup plan? By "backup" plan, I don't mean Brian Boucher, a rehabbing Johan Backlund or a rookie Sergei Bobrovsky. Even if Leighton were 100% healthy, goaltending would have been the club's biggest question mark heading into camp.
Was Leighton having these "back issues over the summer" before the club elected to sign him to a new contract? If he wasn't, at what point did he inform the club? Did he wait until he was at camp to tell personnel that he'd been battling back issues? If so, I would be all kinds of agitated if I were Paul Holmgren.
Lastly, if Leighton is going to be out for awhile, putting Boucher in the starting role, is the club better off going into the season with Backlund (who may or may not be sufficiently healthy by opening night to play if needed) or Bobrovsky as the backup? Or would the club give its fifth goalie on the depth chart, Nic Riopel, the "prize" of being opening night backup if it comes to it?
Despite Bobrovsky's excellent preseason so far, especially in shootouts, my view has not changed at all. He's better off playing with the Phantoms than backing up (or starting) for the big club. I think his long-term outcome will be better if he isn't rushed.
I don't expect any real answers to be given today, even to the questions that actually can be answered at this point. But count me among those who are more nervous about the Flyers' goaltending situation than we were a week ago at this time. All the "minor problem" spin in the world won't change that until Leighton proves he's healthy, and just as important, proves he deserves the faith the club placed in him.
****
Did anyone else raise an eyebrow that the club sent down Patrick Maroon and Stefan Legein without either player dressing for a single preseason game with the big club? I interpret it this way: The organization is sending a message to the two players that others are higher on the depth chart now (Testwuide, Holmstrom, Nodl and Kalinski) and they had better impress with the Phantoms if they are going to earn a callup.
This is especially true for Maroon, who entered camp last year being promoted by Holmgren and former coach John Stevens as a player with a shot at cracking the big club. Injuries and a so-so second AHL season pushed him down a peg on the depth chart last season, and he did little to stand out in the rookie portion of training camp to stand out as a player set to challenge for the big club.
In Legein's case, the player struggled down the stretch drive last year and it may have been a case where there were too many players in camp with similar NHL projections -- i.e., an "energy" role player at the top level.
At any rate, the 2010-11 season is going to be a critical one for both players if their NHL aspirations are to be realized, at least in Philadelphia.
*****
Thank you to Mike Ross and Shawn Lavigne for having me on as a guest on NHL Home Ice's Hockey This Morning program earlier today. I enjoyed discussing the
Miracle on Ice project in Lake Placid to convert the aging Herb Brooks Arena into a museum devoted to the incredible story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team. I hope that, in some small way, I have help raise awareness of something I consider an extremely worthwhile project.
f you would like more information on the efforts to honor the Miracle on Ice story or to make a tax-deductible donation to the project, you can contact the organizers at:
Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum
2634 Main St.
Lake Placid, NY 12946
Phone: 800 462 6236 / 518 523 1655
Email:
[email protected]
Olympic Regional Development Authority website:
http://www.orda.org 
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»