Sam Donnellon | Head games with concussions

NEW YORK - No matter how fast they skate, or how far they come, the Flyers always seem to be stride for stride with their past. Three hits in this promising season, two cheap and one unfortunate, have branded them with a tag now more than 30 years old, obfuscating the niche they have carved in the early going as a spirited yet disciplined blend of young and old, a team on the upswing.

"Goon Culture Lingers in Philly" read a headline upon the Flyers arrival in Montreal last week, eliciting nervous laughter from a few Flyers veterans and an irritated defense from second-year coach John Stevens. Within the first minute of last night's 2-0 loss to New York, Flyers spark plug Mike Richards found himself in a midice boxing match with Rangers agitator Sean Avery, and shortly after that Riley

Cote was in a similar scrum.

Reputations, deserved or not, are hard to shake.

Already this season, two

suspensions of 20 or more games have been administered to Steve Downie and Jesse Boulerice, who had made the team despite some notorious incidents already in their pasts. A third Flyer, Randy Jones, received a two-game suspension for driving Boston's Patrice Bergeron into the boards from behind.

The hit resulted in a concussion, and Bergeron is not

expected back in Boston's lineup until January. Ottawa's Dean McAmmond just last week made his season debut after Downie's flying preseason hit, and Vancouver's Ryan Kesler is also sidelined after Boulerice broke his jaw with his stick, and left him with "concussionlike symptoms."

That phrase - the sports equivalent of "a little pregnant" I suppose - has become so commonplace as to render it legitimate. The fate and shortened careers of some notable stars in recent years, combined with some disturbing studies of NFL players such as the late Andre Waters, has raised awareness about head injuries, while still leaving some interpretation as to how they are evaluated.

Last season, NHL players missed a total of 760 games due to concussions, a 41 percent increase over the previous year. This strongly suggests that teams were more careful in returning players to the ice after mind-numbing hits, and paid more heed to baseline testing.

"I think our most important asset is our players," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said before last night's game. "So we need to be careful with them."