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Meltzer's Musings: Pronger, Hockey Greats and more

August 9, 2011, 10:16 AM ET [ Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I did not listen in on the Chris Pronger conference call yesterday (I was in transit back to Philadelphia virtually the entire day). In reading the transcript, however, I got a different sense than Tim Panaccio did about whether the Flyers' top defenseman is likely to be ready for opening night.

Tim is optimistic about it, based on Pronger's upbeat demeanor. But I think the player's actual words suggest that nothing much has changed -- for the worse or for the better -- since he last spoke on the subject at the start of the offseason. The good news is that he's been recuperating and his hand and back are on the mend while he does some cardiovascular conditioning. So far so good.

However, there are still several mighty tall hurdles for Pronger to clear in the process of returning from back and hand surgeries -- regaining strength and getting through his off-ice training in preparation to skate, light skating, more intensive skating and shooting the puck, no-contact participation in scrimmages and then trying to get game-ready.

The timeline for each and every step depends solely on how Pronger feels, and it's impossible to know right now how quickly he'll bounce back and be ready to play NHL hockey.

The player realizes that the process absolutely cannot be rushed because the risks of rushing back greatly outweigh any potential benefits. If Pronger is ready for opening night, terrific. But if he needs a month or more into the season to return to his standards and feel reasonably confident that his body will hold up the rest of the season, so be it.

If I had to make a prediction right now, I would say that Pronger will NOT be ready for opening night. It's now Aug. 9 and Pronger is still a week away from taking step one of aforementioned process (lifting weights). If he had zero setbacks the rest of the way, he could conceivably be ready for opening night.

More likely with a soon-to-be 37-year-old player, he'll have some good days and some bad days physically (especially early in the process). Pronger's brain knows when the season starts and how to prepare. But he will have to obey the dictates of his body, not the NHL schedule. With back surgery in particular, the body can be fickle even if he follows his rehab plan scrupulously. Pronger knows this and has said over and over again that there cannot be a timetable set until he starts to undergo the physically strenuous portions of the process.

Bottom line: Pronger will be ready when he's ready. The Flyers still need to be prepared for the possibility that it will take a significant amount oftime for Pronger to be able to return at close to full strength.

*******

When I was a kid going to baseball and hockey games with family and friends, it seemed as though it usually worked out that I would see the Phillies play the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals or San Diego Padres and Flyers play one among the Hartford Whalers, Los Angeles Kings or Washington Capitals.

Why? I don't know. Some of those clubs were not even in the same division as the Philly team. It just always seemed to happen that way, and I certainly wasn't fussy about the opponent. It didn't have to be a marquee matchup. I was just glad for the chance to go.

Are there any particular visiting teams that you have seen play a disproportionate number of times over the year? In the current NHL schedule, of course, the greatest possibility if you go to a few random games per season is to see a divisional opponent (since they come to town three times each).

Of course, you can choose to handpick certain games. What I'm talking about here is a random sampling of games if you are not a season-ticket holder at the arena or divide a season ticket package according to free nights and not the slate of opponents themselves.

Also, are there any particular NHL superstars that you always wanted to see play in person but never got the chance? I consider myself extremely lucky to have seen Gordie Howe play with the Whalers but I never got to see Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull or Stan Mikita.

*****

In tomorrow's blog, I plan to discuss the issue of why the Flyers have rarely seemed to prioritize the need for having a righthanded-shooting player manning one of the points on the power play. Some coaches and GM insist that it's no big deal if both point men shoot lefty, but I have always disagreed with that.
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