Something that came out at practice yesterday is that the Flyers may have violated NHL rules in their handling of Marc-Andre Bourdon's "concussion-like symptoms" several weeks ago.
When questioned by Tim Panaccio about how he was feeling and when he sustained the concussion, Bourdon claimed repeatedly that he "couldn't remember" when the actual concussion happened but admitted that he started feeling headaches, hoped they'd go away as he kept playing, but only got worse.
Bourdon refused the budge on the assertion that he didn't know when it happened or whether the symptoms arose while he was with the Flyers on his previous recall or with the Phantoms.
But here's the thing: Bourdon didn't play at all for the Phantoms -- until very recently --- after the Flyers sent him down. The concussion-like symptoms were first acknowledged by the Flyers shortly after he was sent down, which is why he was sidelined until the game in Syracuse on March 17. Prior to that, his most recent game with the Phantoms was on Nov. 20 before his initial recall to Philly.
So what we have here is one of two possible scenarios:
1) Bourdon kept quiet about his concussion symptoms. The Flyers had no idea the player was experiencing worsening headaches before he was sent to the minor leagues. He then admitted the injury to the Phantoms.
2) The Flyers did know about Bourdon's condition prior to sending him down. That would be a violation of NHL rules, as teams are not allowed to demote an injured player to the minor leagues. A motive to try to do it would be that the team was about to trade for Nicklas Grossmann and, for cap reasons, wanted to get Bourdon off the roster rather than placing him on injured reserve. - bmeltzer
Location: the lone wolf of hockeybuzz Joined: 07.31.2009
Mar 29 @ 12:59 PM ET
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