Gagne injured at Team Canada Olympic Camp

Simon Gagne is a regular for Team Canada
and is looking forward to the 2010 Olympics.
(Image Credits: hepyaddakat)

Among the forwards on the Philadelphia Flyers there is no one that knows international competition quite like Simon Gagne. On his resume for international play are four medals including a gold during one of his two Olympic appearances, a World Cup gold in 2004, and a silver in both the 2005 World Championships and the 1999 World Junior Championships. With that status as a Team Canada veteran comes the pressure of taking part in the Olympic camp held before each Winter Olympics.

While the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) discouraged players from attending Olympic camps due to the injury risk, Gagne made it a point to attend this year. Everything appeared great for Team Canada's chances, who look to ice an impressive if not dominant lineup for the 2010 games, until Gagne suffered an injury to the right side of his lower body.

Reports currently claim that, while not serious, the injury is a minor tweak to Gagne's right groin/hip region.

“Simon Gagne sustained a mild strain of his right groin last night while practicing with Team Canada," General Manager Paul Holmgren noted. "He was examined by Team Canada’s medical trainer and team orthopedic physician who believed that it was not a serious injury. Simon will fly back to Philadelphia today and be examined by Flyers team orthopedic physician, Peter DeLuca tomorrow afternoon.”

Gagne is expected to be ready to begin Flyers' camp as scheduled on September 12th. While the injury appears to be in his groin/hip region where he had issues at the end of this past postseason, it is not expected to hurt his performance long-term.

It is understandable that many fans would feel nervous about the announcement that the injury is in the region of Gagne's groin due to the series of injuries forward Danny Briere had over the course of the 2008-09 season, but there does not appear to be any similarities between the two injuries.

The real culprit in Gagne's injury is his surgically repaired right hip. After the 2008-09 playoffs he had a number of tests taken on his right hip, and it was an issue that he hoped the surgery had taken care of back on May 28th. During a skating session in Calgary with the Team Canada hopefuls he felt a soreness in the same area.

“For now it’s nothing serious. The pace was a little faster than I was used to this summer. I think I’ll be OK for training camp," mentioned the confident international veteran and key Flyers' forward. “It was a little tight when I was skating on my own, but the tempo here is a lot faster than the pace I set this summer. It’s faster than I expected and I’ll need to do some more rehab.”

With Gagne out of Team Canada's Olympic camp there are still three other Flyers in attendence. Centers Jeff Carter and Mike Richards are representing Philadelphia as well as newly acquired defenseman, Chris Pronger. Despite Gagne not being able to finish camp all four are expected to have a good shot at making the Olympic roster for 2010.