PHILADELPHIA - Flyers defenceman Chris Pronger will miss two to three weeks and spend the next few days on bed rest after taking a stick near his right eye against Toronto.
Pronger and Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski sprinted for a loose puck in the circle after a rebound off Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky on Monday night. Grabovski slapped at the puck, but his stick connected with Pronger's stick and the blade shot straight up into the defenceman's face.
Pronger screamed in agony and instantly clutched his face. Hunched over, he skated straight to the bench, his hands over his eyes, and went to the dressing room with 8:02 left in the first period.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren told TSN that Pronger saw an eye specialist at the arena. Pronger will be on bed rest for three to four days out of concern for possible blood pooling. The Flyers hope that Pronger will get back in two to three weeks depending on how the injury heals, and said that he will need to wear a visor to be cleared to play.
The team said that Pronger complained of blurred vision after the incident on Monday.
"I think he was very scared and rightly so," Holmgren told the Associated Press. "When something like that happens to your eye, you're worried about what's going on. I think he settled down over a period of time and was fine when he left."
The tough 37-year-old defenceman lost 32 games to various injuries last season.
