Here’s what we know for sure: Ilya Bryzgalov left Philadelphia Flyers practice early today. The confusion begins when you ask “Why?” Howard Eskin recently reported that Bryzgalov is dealing with a hip injury, but Frank Seravalli passes along word from Flyers’ GM Paul Holmgren that there’s “no truth” to those rumors.
If you’ve followed Flyers injury reports in general and during this season in particular, it’s tough to believe anything you read. Holmgren was initially optimistic about Chris Pronger’s injury situation - which is amusing in hindsight since Pronger might not play another shift of NHL hockey. Then again, Holmgren was also positive about Bryzgalov returning from an injury late in the regular season ... and he actually did.
Another thing that compounds the confusion is that for all of Peter Laviolette’s positivity, he might go with Sergei Bobrovsky even if injuries aren’t the main determining factor.
It’s all a bit bewildering, but for now we’ll take the Flyers word for it. Bryzgalov might not have a hip issue, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t injured. Some Philly fans would say he’s playing like an injured netminder, anyway.
In other news from Eskin, James van Riemsdyk has been cleared to play while Nicklas Grossmann isn’t likely to be available for Game 4. Just like with Breezy, it sounds like we’ll just need to wait and see what happens on Friday.