Nerve Damage May Force Flyers' Laperriere to Retire
(from the Courier-Post)
By Chuck Gormley
Courier-Post Staff
October 6, 2010 - Flyers' Ian Laperriere has been told by two doctors that he should end his 15-year NHL career because of post-concussion symptoms and nerve damge, the Courier-Post has learned.
RW Laperriere, 36, visited with Pittsburgh neurosurgeon Joseph Maroon on Friday and it was determined that the puck he took above his right eye caused nerve damage behind the eye that could be permanently affected if he continues playing. A Philadelphia doctor offered a similar opinion on Monday, Laperriere said.
"When I get the lights going and there is movement around me, it gets worse and worse and I feel like I'm not myself," Laperriere told the Courier-Post.
"That's what scares me and that's why I can't play. They don't want me to get hit again and I don't want to get hit. If I feel this bad right now, how will I feel on my next hit? If I'm not sharp out there, especially with my game, I'm going to get killed."
The Flyers have not filed retirement papers with the NHL but are expected to offer Laperriere a position with the club.
"If this is it, I had a hell of a run," Laperriere said. "I played a long time and played a lot of games and met a lot of nice people. It is what it is and I wouldn't change anything."
Laperriere has two years remaining on his contract with the Flyers with a salary cap hit of $1.166 million. If he retires, his salary will count against the NHL's salary cap for those two years because he signed a contract after he turned 35.
For now, the Flyers are keeping Laperriere on injured reserve while they decide whether to place him on long-term injury reserve or announce his retirement.
Reach Chuck Gormley at cgormley@courierpostonline.com