Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren
- Transcript courtesy of the Flyers:
“Both Simon and Jeff will have surgeries done on Friday by Dr. Steven Raikin at the Riverview Surgery Center located in the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. Simon is going to have to have two screws put into his right big toe. This process will probably expedite the healing a little bit for Simon, and possible recovery time, we’re looking at maybe getting him back in the lineup in three weeks. Jeff Carter will have a plate inserted into the shaft of his metatarsal of the second toe on his right foot. This is a little bit more delicate process and Jeff will have to be on crutches for approximately six weeks.”
Q: You said six weeks for Carter on crutches – is he done for the playoffs?
“Well, he’s on crutches for six weeks, and six weeks from now would put us in the Finals, so I would think so. We’ll remain optimistic to that point, but that’s obviously a long shot given that he won’t have skated in that timeframe.”
Q: How do you expect your team to react to this on the ice?
“I expect us to react in a positive way. I think injuries happen over the course of the season and in playoffs. It’s happened to a number of teams already in this playoff. It gives the opportunity to other players, whoever that may be – whether it’s Claude Giroux or Ville Leino, somebody’s going to get more ice time and put in different roles that perhaps weren’t given before. So certainly there’s opportunity for other players. We haven’t used injuries as an excuse the whole year and we certainly aren’t going to start now. I expect our players to play their best and we’ll see what happens.”
Q: Will David Laliberte be filling one of these two spots?
“You’re asking the wrong guy. That’s the coach’s job to put the players he wants on the ice. He’s certainly an option.”
Q: Is this kind of fate biting you guys a little bit considering that you’re blocking shots all over the ice?
“A couple of our guys, Betts and Lappy, block shots different ways. They slide to block shots… Ian obviously had a horrible injury earlier in the year. It’s just one of those things. We’re in the playoffs, guys want to do whatever it takes to win. This is just something that happens, and we’ll deal with it.”
Q: Can you explain a little bit about the surgery Jeff is going to have? Can you explain where that bone is on your foot?
“It’s probably right around the laces. It’s a non-displaced fracture, so first of all both these players are going to make complete recoveries. But just to expedite the healing process, they need to go in and put a plate in there. It’s the metatarsal of the second toe. It hit him on the laces, basically. You could see it clearly in the X-ray that it was broken and we did some further tests and looked at a lot of different things today before we came to the conclusion that surgery was the best option for both players.”
Q: Are you surprised that Jeff was able to play a couple shifts after that?
“I’m not sure he did play after that. If he did, I’m not surprised because your boot kind of keeps things in place, and as I said before I think Jeff’s a pretty tough kid. Once the skate came off, we figured something was wrong there.”
Q: Can you talk about Ville Leino a bit and the part of the game you like?
“I think Ville, when he’s had the opportunity to play for our team this year, I think he’s played very well. He’s a good player in the offensive zone, controlling the puck and making plays. When we picked him up in the trade from Detroit there, I thought if we ever got to the point that he got an opportunity to play with some of our skilled players, that he could excel because he is a skilled player. And he’s going to get his opportunity tomorrow.”
Q: You said you looked at other options, especially with Carter. Was there any chance you looked at both these injuries and thought if you did not go to surgery that either might be able to play?
“We talked about a lot of things. Is it something we can just freeze up for the game, can the players play… I mean, both these guys wanted to play. This was the last bit of news they wanted to hear, was surgery and they’re going to be out any length of time in the playoffs. When you’re a hockey player you want to play in the playoffs. Both these young men are now not going to play for quite some time, and I’m sure it’s devastating to them. So when I say looked at all options, we looked at it moving forward, and in their best interests long term this is the route we’re going to go.”
Q: Did you say Simon would begin skating in three weeks or he might be able to play in three weeks?
“Well, it’s a little bit similar to Jeff. I think once the surgery is done we’ll be able to take a look at it in a week’s time or ten days time and see how much healing is going on. Jeff, the injury he had prior to this one, I think he missed 17 days if I’m not mistaken. One of the reasons was that he had good healing going on in there, and the doctors didn’t believe he was in a position where he could do any further damage if he went back and played. It was just dealing with the pain. That’s kind of what we’ll be looking at with Simon.”
Q: Do you feel like the players need to be told or do you think they already believe that they can withstand something like this?
“Other than coming up on the bus here I didn’t get a chance to talk to many guys, but we’re going to go to dinner tonight as a team. We’re still facing the same task at hand – in order to advance to the next round we need to win a game. That’s our objective. Those players that have been playing still want that, and the new players that are going to go into the lineup, they’ve been around here and they want the same thing. As I said earlier, there are a couple players that are going to get opportunities to play that haven’t played yet, and there are players that have been playing who are going to get a chance to play a more significant role without two players that play in the situations that Jeff and Simon play in. I’m not worried about that – I think we’ll march on here. We need to put our best foot forward tomorrow, and I expect we’ll do that.”
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger • 
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