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Flyers goalie Michael Leighton hurts back, time to worry in Philadelphia?

Tim Brent, Darroll Powe

Philadelphia Flyers goalie Michael Leighton reacts after getting scored on by the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of an NHL preseason hockey action in Toronto, Friday, Sept. 24, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Adrien Veczan)

AP

Lost in last night’s game action, Flyers goalie Michael Leighton left last night’s preseason game against the Maple Leafs after playing 65 minutes worth of game action with a strained back. With Leighton having played through most of the game, missing out only on the shootout, speculation is picking up amongst Flyers faithful about how serious things could be. Philly.com’s Frank Seravalli gets word from Flyers GM Paul Holmgren about what’s up with Leighton’s back including one stunning revelation.

“We’ll see how he is [today],” Holmgren said. “But we probably really won’t know what’s going on until we get back to Philadelphia and get him checked out.”

While Holmgren is optimistic that Leighton will be fine by next week some time, he also revealed that this isn’t the first time Leighton suffered the injury; he just re-aggravated it last night.

Leighton apparently strained his back this summer while exercising. It was unclear whether he suffered the injury before or after signing a 2-year, $3.1 million deal on June 30.

“He had some issues in the summer from working out that kind of flared up on him,” Holmgren said. “But since training camp started, no, it hasn’t been an issue. That’s why we’re hoping that it’s a short-term thing.”

So, let’s get this straight. The Flyers re-signed Leighton after a great playoff run, then found out either before or after the free agent signing period began and still opted to not make absolutely sure they were going to have more-than-capable goaltending this season.

That sound you hear is coming from Flyers fans bashing their head into the wall yet again when it comes to the team’s puzzling personnel decisions regarding goaltending. Travis Hughes at Broad Street Hockey doesn’t trust the Flyers as far as he can throw them when it comes to discussing injuries.

Seravalli notes that if it’s causing Leighton problems after just three periods of game action, are we in for something long-term here? I tend to agree with his skepticism, if nothing else. After all, how many times has an injury been downplayed off the bat by the Flyers, only to find out later that yeah, it was indeed something serious.

I don’t trust what the Flyers have to say when it comes to injuries anymore, and this is no exception.

All of a sudden, the Flyers
missed attempt at landing Marty Turco in the off-season and seeming lack of contingency plan starts to look even more questionable if Leighton is going to be dealing with a potentially nagging injury all year. The Flyers are only rolling with Brian Boucher as Leighton’s backup and while there are a couple of intriguing young guys waiting in the wings in Johan Backlund and Sergei Bobrovsky, for a team that made the Stanley Cup Finals last year to think they can get away with that kind of motley crew in goal is daring if not just plain stupid.

Then again, if there’s anything that’s been an undeniable truth in life over the years for the Flyers it’s questionable goaltending. Death, taxes, and Garth Snow starting Stanley Cup Finals games. Perhaps Flyers fans are just numb to all of this by now.