But in the NHL, he'd be just another playoff legend. Let's look at just a few recent examples.
* In 2001, Peter Forsberg was rolling along with 14 points in 11 playoff games. He notched an assist in Game 7 of a series against the Kings. A few hours later, he was on the operating table getting his spleen removed. Forsberg's Avalanche went on to win the Stanley Cup.
* Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom's 2009 postseason was interrupted because he needed surgery after getting speared in the testicles. He missed three games, but returned early in the Stanley Cup finals. The Red Wings lost in seven, but talk about overcoming a lower body injury.
* Two years ago around here, Kimmo Timonen returned to the lineup after a blood clot in his foot, Derian Hatcher's knees were bone on bone and Jason Smith had the shoulders of a 95-year-old. Still, the Flyers reached the conference finals.
* Even this season, Ian Laperriere is getting ready to come back after sustaining a brain contusion on a blocked shot gone badly wrong. Michael Leighton's timely return from an ankle injury has done nothing short of save the season. Jeff Carter (fractured metatarsal) is skating again.
And then there's Simon Gagne.
Gagne, 30, has padded his legacy more in the last 2 weeks than he did in his first 10 seasons. Not that he didn't have his stellar moments - scoring the game-winning goal in his first playoff game as a rookie in 2000 or notching two goals in Game 6 of the conference finals against Tampa Bay in 2004. The one Gagne scored in overtime nearly blew the roof off the Wachovia Center. But those were the Keith Primeau playoffs when the Flyers captain, who had returned from a late-season concussion, had 16 points in 18 games and was a plus-11.
