Wordless Wounded
(from the Courier-Post)
By Chuck Gormley
Staff Writer
May 22, 2010 - MONTREAL — Ian Laperriere walked past a crowd of reporters Friday with his hand shielding his eyes.
"If I see you guys I'm going to want to talk to you," he said, "so I'm just going to keep walking."
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren has placed a gag order on his injured players during the playoffs, asking them not to speak to reporters until they are cleared to play.
But if Friday's line combinations are any indication, Laperriere will be in the lineup today for the first time since April 22, when he suffered a concussion and brain contusion after blocking a slapshot by the Devils Paul Martin.
Laperriere skated on a fourth line with center Blair Betts and left wing Darroll Powe on Friday, taking the place of Andreas Nodl, who filled in admirably for Laperriere during the 10 games he was injured.
"If you're asking me if I would have liked to have had a healthy Ian Laperriere in the lineup (Thursday) night, yeah, I would have," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. "He's an excellent player who does a lot of things for us. He's an inspirational guy, and he looked good in practice."
While Laperriere's return should give the Flyers an emotional boost, they likely will need to wait at least another two days for center Jeff Carter, who skated on a fifth line Friday with extra wingers Nodl, Riley Cote and David Laliberte. Carter has skated hard for two days now and there is a good chance he'll be cleared to play in Game 5 Monday night in Philadelphia.
In the meantime, Laperriere, who is from Montreal, is expected to boost the Flyers penalty kill, which allowed one goal in Thursday night's 5-1 loss to the Habs.
"He's the type of guy you like to have on the ice when there's two minutes left in the game and you've got the lead, or for checking the other team's best player," Simon Gagne said. "I think hes our best player on the PK."
Reach Chuck Gormley at cgormley@courierpostonline.com