Chris Pronger

Chris Pronger's sullen words on Saturday were not nearly as revealing as his silence over the past 6 weeks. Pronger, 37, issued a brief statement through the Flyers, his first public peep since two Pittsburgh-area concussion specialists shockingly ruled on Dec. 15 that he would miss the balance of the regular season and playoffs. "It is very, very tough right now," Pronger said. "I don't feel well and it hurts so much to not be playing. " Pronger, named the 18th captain in Flyers history in September, has steered clear of the team's practice facility.

At the season's midway point, the Flyers are on a 108-point pace, which would be their best finish since they collected 110 points under fiery coach Mike Keenan in 1985-86. They have put together a commendable 25-12-4 record in a manner that not many people foresaw in the preseason - with a high-scoring offense and a defense that has struggled, primarily because goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has had a mostly forgettable season. Simply put, getting Bryzgalov to return to his Phoenix form when the playoffs arrive is No. 1 on the Flyers' second-half wish list.

MONTREAL - Five surgeries in the last 16 months. Countless fractures, torn knee ligaments and muscle strains over the 18 years of his Hall of Fame career. Chris Pronger can deal with all of those things. Headaches, nausea and perpetual fatigue are entirely different. Pronger can have a baseball catch in his backyard with his sons, Jack and George, with a surgically repaired wrist, or ride a bike with his daughter, Lilah, with a rubber knee. He can't do any of those things if he is too woozy or too tired to get out of bed. That's part of the reason why Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren shocked the hockey world last night by announcing that Pronger will be sidelined for the rest of the regular season and playoffs with "severe postconcussion syndrome.

When the Flyers begin a three-game road trip on Wednesday at Tampa Bay against the Lightning, there is optimism that defenseman Chris Pronger will return to the lineup. Of course, nobody, including Pronger is saying for sure whether he will suit up after missing the previous six games with a right eye injury. Pronger suffered the injury in the Flyers' 4-2 win on Oct. 24 over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs when he was struck in the face by an inadvertent stick. Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski was following through on his shot when he struck the 37-year-old defenseman.

Flyers Notes Chris Pronger is getting close to returning to the Flyers' lineup. For the first time since he injured his right eye Oct. 24, Pronger took part in drills during Friday's optional practice in Voorhees. Wearing a visor, he was on the ice with six other players. The Flyers have gone 2-2-1 in the five full games Pronger has missed since getting hit with an inadvertent stick by Toronto's Mikhail Grabovsky. General manager Paul Holmgren said Pronger will miss Saturday night's game against visiting Columbus, but he didn't rule out the possibility of his star defenseman playing Wednesday against Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla. Pronger will take part in Saturday's morning skate.

With Chris Pronger expected to miss at least six games because of an eye injury, Matt Walker and Andreas Lilja could be part of the Flyers' defensive rotation for the next two weeks. Or longer. The veterans had been either a healthy scratch or the sixth defenseman. "It's not the way you want to go in, but there's an opportunity for me," Lilja said after a short practice Tuesday in Voorhees. "We're all going to have to chip in and take over his minutes. It's a tough job, but we can all chip in and do what you have to do. " "It's a chance to get more games in, but it's tough to see anybody go down, especially when it has to do with your eye," said Walker, whose team will use some new defensive parings Wednesday night when it faces the free-falling Canadiens in Montreal.

MONTREAL - The drop-off, from Hart Trophy-winning defenseman to fringe NHLer, is a large one. Starting tonight, when the Flyers take on the Canadiens at the Bell Centre, they will have no choice but to play without that top-caliber player in Chris Pronger and replace him with two players - Andreas Lilja and Matt Walker - who have been swapped in and out of the lineup this season like interchangeable parts. "We'd much rather have Chris in there, because he is a world-class player," coach Peter Laviolette said.

THE THING that is hard to forget is the panic. Chris Pronger is as confident a player, on the ice and with the media, as any of us has seen - any sport, any time, not an exaggeration. Then the stick hit him in the eye, a follow-through of a shot by Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski, and the reaction was so hard to process. Pronger covered his face immediately. Then he got to his feet and was so frantically assisted from the ice. That was the thing. There was Pronger, whose game is about size and strength and snarl, about body positioning and economy of movement and the restoring of order.

BOSTON - As the days flew off the calendar and he remained at the Flyers' practice facility, rookie Sean Couturier said he had an increasingly good feeling that he was doing what is necessary to impress coach Peter Laviolette. Starting today, he no longer has to worry about whether he belongs. Couturier, the No. 8 overall pick in June's draft, will make the unlikely jump from junior hockey to the NHL with his debut tonight at TD Garden. "Ever since I was little, I always dreamed of playing in the NHL," Couturier said.

ELDER STATESMAN Kimmo Timonen said he spent some time poring over the NHL's rosters, factoring new acquisitions and key departures, and said he believes the Flyers' defense corps is in the top three in the NHL. "Top to bottom, one to six, I think we are in the top three in the league," Timonen said. "That's on paper, of course. It's always different on the ice. " At the center of the equation is Chris Pronger, where all eyes will be focused, not only on his leadership capabilities, as he begins his reign as the Flyers' 18th captain tomorrow night in Boston, but more so on his health.