One of the odd injuries to come out of the Bruins-Flyers shootout on Sunday was Kimmo Timonen taking a deflection off his chin.
Monday was an optional skate with just 14 players on the ice. Timonen wasn't one of them. In fact , his equipment remained behind in his locker stall long after everyone else's had been packed to St. Louis this afternoon.
Timonen stayed behind. That means Erik Gustafsson, who has sat in the press box 14 consecutive games, will play against the Blues in Timonen's spot.
Two things. First, why is general manager Paul Holmgren being so secretive about a guy who took a puck off the chin but is not concussed? Holmgren was very reluctant to even admit today that Timonen did not board the plane to St. Louis.
Apparently, there are TSA issues with the Flyers involving Timonen's travel status.
Seriously, why the secrecy? Timonen did not have a facial fracture - which I suspected might be a reason to sit him _ but why not just come out and say that?
There aren't many things I respect about the NFL these days given its criminal element, but I do respect their zero tolerance on hiding injuries. Yeah, it's all about Vegas and the odds and gamblers but at least they have a policy of spelling it out.
The NHL has taken "upper and lower" body cover-ups to ridiculous lengths and this is another example of a GM not being straight forward on something minor, as opposed to major, which can only lede to speculation.
And while we're at with the the Flyers lack of honesty, the entire Steve Downie affair was a farce, as well.
Anyone watching the game, reviewing the replay, could easily see 2 things: whiplash and a concussion.
So what didn't the Flyers come clean and just say that after the game against St. Louis a few weeks back? Downie admitted both today.
Having been around the game of hockey as a fan since 1967 and a writer since 1977, I sometimes wonder if I will live long enough to see a few things:
1) covering a Flyers team that actually wins the Stanley Cup;
2) covering the sport where full disclosure of injuries is part of the daily routine.
So which happens first?
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