Philadelphia Flyers Ray Emery out Three Weeks, Leighton Expected To Fill Void

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

According to Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, goaltender Ray Emery has been told to rest his injured hip for three weeks.

The news comes off the heals of Emery’s MRI results, which were inconclusive. Suffice to say, “inconclusive” is not exactly encouraging, especially for a team that has struggled to find consistent goaltending all season long.

If Emery responds to his three week rehab regiment and he is able to return, it is likely that Emery will still need some type of surgery and/or additional rehab this off-season.

Is Emery damaged goods at this point? In a word, yes. But, there are those that will argue that if he does respond well to rehab that he may be able to return to action for the Flyers and serve as the teams number one goalie for throughout the playoffs (assuming the Flyers make it, of course).

Rehab seems to be the obvious choice for Emery and the Flyers at this point. Collectively, they have nothing to lose in opting for rehab at this time. On the other hand, if Emery was to go under the knife he would be expected to miss the remainder of the regular season and beyond, which would be a huge blow.

There are no guarantees Emery will respond to rehab, but for now, the Flyers fingers are crossed.

Michael Leighton is expected to get the lions share of the playing time in Emery’s absence. Through 16 games with the Flyers, Leighton has put together an impressive 10-3-1 with one shut out, a sparkling 2.21 goals against average and a solid .925 save percentage.

For all intensive purposes, given Leighton’s success in between the pipes thus far, the Flyers should fair well with Emery on the sidelines. Clearly, Leighton’s numbers suggest that the Flyers are, in fact, in very capable hands—perhaps better hands than if Emery was in there.

For the record, Holmgren said public today that the Flyers are not looking to trade for Dallas Stars veteran goaltender Marty Turco—a trade that has been rumored for weeks.

With that in mind, expect Brain Boucher to serve as Leighton’s backup...unless of course the Flyers bite the bullet and make a move for another goalie!

Until next time,

Peace!