Philadelphia Flyers lost Michael Leighton late in the first period of Wednesday March 16, 2010 game against Nashville Predators. Leighton was making a save and fell backwards onto his leg. Leighton later said he heard a “pop” noise while falling. A pop noise is never good in an injury. This could possibly be ligaments or tendons, which take weeks to heal.
Michael Leighton was later diagnosed with a high ankle sprain. After the game, he was placed in a hard cast for his ankle. This left the Flyers with backup goalie Brian Boucher to come into the game. In recent starts for Boucher, the very first shot has meant a goal for the opposing team. In Nashville, it continued again.
[adinserter block=”1″]Now with the uncertainty of Leighton’s injury, the Flyers must rally behind Boucher and hope for the best. Jeremy Duchesne has been called up from their AHL affiliate Adirondack Phantoms team to back up Boucher. There is rumor of Robert Esche being picked up from a Russian Hockey league. Esche, a former goalie of the Flyers might be a short term answer for the team, as he would not be eligible to play in the playoffs due to him not being part of the trade deadline roster. Would that leave enough time for Leighton to heal? What will be the official outcome of the injury to Leighton? He is scheduled to have an MRI on March 18, 2010.
Some officials are guessing that he will be out a few weeks. I for one am not comfortable with Boucher behind the net long term, or even short term. Could Robert Esche be the answer? What is to happen if Esche is brought in, and we find out Leighton is out for the season? Could this have been avoided with a trade being made for a goalie at the trade deadline? I for one hope this is a case of “It’s not as bad as we thought it was originally. “ Our chances were against us with Leighton I feel. With Boucher taking over I would not want to even picture what could possibly come out of the remainder of our season. I hope I am proven wrong in the long run.
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