Simon Gagne continues to have issues with the hip
that was operated on last May.
It must be tough for Simon Gagne. He spent the vast majority of the 2007-08 season watching his team rebound from the worst year in franchise history to a team on the verge of a Stanley Cup appearance. He even said that should the Flyers make it to the finals he would do his best to be in the line-up.
That day never came, but Gagne came out hot for the 2008-09 season. Early on he was among the NHL's top couple forwards before tapering off to a more moderate pace. He still finished with 34 goals and 40 assists in 79 games which was good enough for third on the Flyers roster in production.
The summer though has been a horrific one for Gagne. The current longest tenured Flyer had surgery on his hip in May as part of a mass recovery period for a multitude of injured players after their short trip into the postseason was over. Slowly he began skating again while preparing for the Canadian Olympic camps. There disaster struck again, and Gagne returned home to Philadelphia after just one day of practice.
"The pace was a little faster than I was used to this summer. I think I’ll be OK for training camp," Gagne told reporters from a hospital bed, “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.”
As promised Gagne was ready to go by camp. He looked perfectly fine for the most part though he could not seem to find the net. He was not skating as well as he normally did in prior seasons, but many expected that to eventually pass. He scored his first goal of the season on Saturday in a blowout win against the Florida Panthers but played his worst game the following day in a blowout loss the Anaheim Ducks.
Gagne was noticeably in a funk during that Sunday game, and a day later it was announced that his hip was being re-examined. That seem hip/groin region continues to act up, and as the Flyers learned with star forward Danny Briere last season, injuries in that area require an almost frustrating amount of patience.
Briere has returned from his groin issues and is playing very well at the start of the season. Gagne wants to be ready now, but these things take time.
While he is one of Canada's veteran Olympians, he may not be a lock for the 2010 team as previously expected due to this injury.
Gagne is currently ninth on the Flyers' all-time scoring list and thirteenth all-time in points while wearing a uniform for Philadelphia. He has spent his entire career in the city and wants to win a Stanley Cup with this team. The Flyers have assembled one of the best teams they have possibly had in two decades, and as he learned in 2007-08, watching from the sidelines is never a fun experience.
The lineup without Gagne will of course suffer. While prospect forward Patrick Maroon is waiting for his shot in the AHL after hoping to make the team out of camp, it is not likely that anyone is called up. Coach Stevens will include Cote in the line-up though the actual line formations are anyone's guess. Throughout this past weekend it is plausible that he has made every possible combination out of his twelve forwards while trying to spark some momentum. If the team comes out flat against Washington on Tuesday night, the lines will again likely change.
The team continues to wait on center Blair Betts and defenseman Ryan Parent who are just around the corner in terms of returning from their injuries.
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