Paul Holmgren

BARRED FROM speaking to his players during the lockout, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren had a twinge of nerves every time he read an update about Kimmo Timonen in the newspaper. Not only was Timonen struggling for motivation to stay in shape during the 113-day ordeal, but he was also becoming accustomed to being an everyday dad. "I was reading his quotes throughout the lockout," Holmgren said. "When he was liking this, being able to watch his kids play, I was a little nervous about that.

VETERAN Kimmo Timonen may be close to signing a 1-year contract extension with the Flyers, but no deal has been completed, according to general manager Paul Holmgren. "We have had talks, but no deal is in place," Holmgren said in a text message, confirming the discussions with Chicago-based agent Bill Zito. Multiple reports pegged Timonen's extension at $6 million, which would make him the 16th-highest paid defenseman in the NHL at age 38. That's an interesting figure, since Timonen has been slowed by injuries over the years and the salary cap will shrink by $5.9 million to $64.3 million.

SCOTT HARTNELL sat out Thursday night with an injury for the first time since joining the Flyers six seasons ago. It was just the fourth game he has missed overall - two due to suspension and one due to illness. Turns out, there's a good reason: Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren revealed Hartnell fractured a left metatarsal bone in his foot, which may end up needing surgery. He suffered the injury with 6:53 to play in Tuesday's loss to New Jersey. The Flyers' leading goal scorer from last season could miss anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks, depending on a possible surgery.

Flyers winger Scott Hartnell will miss four to eight weeks because of a broken bone in his left foot, general manager Paul Holmgren announced in a grim tone before Thursday's game against the New York Rangers. About an hour later, he was more upbeat, saying that the Flyers were bringing back 40-year-old winger Mike Knuble, an unrestricted free agent, to fill Hartnell's roster spot. Hartnell, who led the Flyers with a career-high 37 goals last season, suffered the injury Tuesday when he was hit by a shot taken by teammate Kimmo Timonen in New Jersey.

Flyers winger Scott Hartnell will miss four to eight weeks with a broken bone in his left foot, general manager Paul Holmgren announced in a grim tone before Thursday's game against the New York Rangers. About an hour later, he was more upbeat, announcing that the Flyers were bringing back 40-year-old winger Mike Knuble, an unrestricted free agent, to fill Hartnell's roster spot. Hartnell, who led the Flyers with a career-high 37 goals last season, suffered the injury when inadvertently hit by a shot taken by teammate Kimmo Timonen in New Jersey on Tuesday.

THE LAST time the NHL played a lockout-shortened season, in 1994-95, it was even shorter for John Paddock. Paddock, now 58, was the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets. After an abysmal 24-51-9 record in the previous season, the Jets sputtered at the start of the shortened season and Paddock survived only 33 games. His lesson? Not taking a chance on a rookie goaltender by the name of Nikolai Khabibulin. "The mistake I made was that I didn't play him," Paddock said. "But how do you play a rookie goaltender in a supposedly crunch time?

ANDREJ MESZAROS is not ready to rule himself out of Saturday's season-opening clash against Pittsburgh just yet. Like a handful of his Flyers teammates, Meszaros hasn't skated in a competitive NHL game since May 8. But after tearing his Achilles' last July during a training exercise in his native Slovakia, he wasn't sure if he'd be ready for the start of the season - whenever that were to occur. "It's possible," Meszaros said after the Flyers' 2-hour skate on Monday. "I'd say it feels pretty good.

With his 2-year contract with the Flyers finally set to run out last spring, Michael Leighton began to put together a plan to get back to the NHL. He signed a $3.1 million deal with the Flyers in June 2010, a few weeks after that infamous Patrick Kane Stanley Cup-clinching goal snuck through his legs in Game 6. Leighton spent much of the next two seasons buried with the Phantoms, more because of salary-cap restraints and the emergence of Sergei Bobrovsky...

IN MANY ways, Ilya Bryzgalov was the same person on Tuesday that we came to know over the last year, as he held court in the middle of the Flyers' dressing room surrounded by cameras and microphones. Bryzgalov spoke about his love for outer space, his visit to a Russian cosmonaut training center during the lockout, even his fetal position in a space simulator. He joked about teammate Scott Hartnell's fiery, out-of-control curls and full-length "lockout" beard. "He looked great, he was beautiful," Bryzgalov said.

LEAVE IT to the NHL to require a little more time after announcing the template of a new collective bargaining agreement in the wee hours of Sunday morning. In New York, the legal wrangling continues, as the NHL and its players association try to hash out a "memorandum of understanding," which would allow the two sides to finally vote on ratifying the deal. The NHL's board of governors is expected to vote on Wednesday. The NHLPA's 740 members are expected to vote on Thursday and Friday electronically, which would allow for training camps to open over the weekend.