The Philadelphia Flyers will be without All-Star defenseman and team captain Chris Pronger for at least 2-3 weeks following an injury to his right eye suffered in Monday's 4-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
At 8:02 of the first period, Pronger was defending against Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski. As Grabovski followed through with his shot, his stick hit Pronger in the right eye. Pronger immediately left the ice and went up the tunnel leading to the locker room.
Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren said Pronger was examined at the Wells Fargo Center by team opthamologist Dr. Stephen Goldman, and after initially suffering from blurred vision in the eye, Holmgren said Pronger's vision did return to normal before he was sent home.
Holmgren said Pronger will be on bed rest for the next four days, with planned trips to the eye doctor each day.
"He's going to see the eye doctor every day for the next four days," said Holmgren. "We think after that he'll be … I don't want to say out of danger, but if everything goes OK and the swelling goes down, he should start on an exercise program sometime after that and we're hoping he could rejoin the team in 10 days to two weeks -- skating-wise, not necessarily playing."
Holmgren said the bed rest order is to make sure there's no build-up of blood behind the eye, which could create more issues.
Holmgren did add that when Pronger returned, the 18-year veteran will be wearing a visor.
"I don't think our doctors would clear him to play if he didn't wear a visor," said Holmgren. "I think Chris was really scared. I would like to believe he'll want to wear one."
Holmgren wasn't the only one who was scared by seeing Pronger race off the ice and up the tunnel to the locker room.
"It was very scary for Chris," said Holmgren. "For all of us, really, to watch him come off the ice like that.
"It was a freak accident and a very scary accident."
"It's scary," added teammate Scott Hartnell., "You get a high stick, especially around the eye, it's a dangerous thing. You never know what is going to happen ... a million thoughts go through your head. That's why I wear a visor. I got high-sticked my second year and it's a scary thing. Hopefully he is all right. I haven't seen him since. We are thinking about him."
"You try to block it out as much as possible," said Danny Briere. "Obviously, it is on the back of all of our minds and we wish him the best and that he will be OK."
