The good news was that Chris Pronger's absence on the ice today at Skate Zone was for "maintenance" purposes.
The interesting news is, if you read between the lines of what Flyers' coach Peter Laviolette had to say about Nik Zherdev, it's apparent he's trying to light a fire under the Russian's feet. Yeah, I know he's Ukranian, but he spent his formidable years in Russia.
There is no logical reason why a player as talented as Zherdev isn't getting as much ice time on the power play as sophomore James van Riemsdyk unless ... he isn't earning it.
And that is pretty much what Laviolette said without hammering Zherdev directly.
Actually, what the coach did was hammer away at why a player, like JVR, would get more ice time, and how it's healthy to have players pushing each other for PP time.
Zherdev has been mostly invisible though 3 games now. This is same guy who literally propped the Flyers on his shoulders in pre-season and delivered 5 goals in 6 games but refused to say anything about himself.
We all know the the history of Zherdev.
It's obvious that Lavy is sending a message when he says that Zherdev "should" be getting more PP time, but that when he considers using a player on the power play, he asks himself what this player has done 5-on-5 to warrant a reward.
And Laviolette was very vocal that JVR has warranted being rewarded with his hard work at even strength. I don't anyone would challenge that.
Three of us tried to get Zherdev's take, but he sat in the off-limits room for well over an hour watching TV to avoid us. When he came out, he gave a terse "no" when asked to talk.
No less than 5 people - inside and out of the Flyers, including agent Jay Grossman - have tried to reason with Zherdev about being cooperative with the media, a fresh start in Philly, etc.
He spoke briefly in Pittsburgh last week BEFORE the season-opener but did not enlighten us on anything.
A lot of fans say, 'the hell with the media, let his stick do the talking.'
Yeah, Zherdev might be able to pull that off.
But so far, the stick, like the player, has been silent, too.
Here's my story on CSNPhilly.com:
click here 
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