The Philadelphia Daily News reports that Danny Briere is headed back to the doctor after barely practicing at the pregame skate this morning. He will not play tonight against Atlanta.
In what coach John Stevens did not hesitate to call a setback, Briere was not re-activated and was on his way for another re-evaluation because his groin and his abdomen are sore again.
"Clearly, it's a setback" Stevens said. "If you can add a player of his calibre you want to do that, but at the same time, if he's not healthy, he's not healthy and we have to get ready to play a game with the guys that are healthy.
"He's going to get re-evaluated again and see where it goes from there, but clearly he's sore where we hoped that he wouldn't be and he's not ready to go."
The Daily News also notes that Briere, who has played just nine games this season, does not know what is wrong.
"I don't feel good," Breire said. "It's the groin, the stomach. That's the problem right now... nobody really knows."
He has nine points so far with four on the power play and 10 PIM to go with 22 SOG when he has played - but just nine games? Ouch.
Groin injuries - if that's what this even is - are notoriously unpredictable and can go fairly well or really badly. The forward has played six times in October, twice in November and once in early December. Consider this the latter scenario then with an end apparently not on the immediate horizon.
Jeff Carter has utilized the extra space to rack up 49 points in 45 GP, which places him 13th in the entire league and four points ahead of Mike Richards, who landed that fat, long-term contract (12-year, $69M) last season. Carter himself signed a three-year, $15M deal over the summer.
Briere, who is making $8M this season with a cap hit of $6.5, has not yet been re-activated and the Flyers will have to make a roster move of some kind to even fit his salary under the cap. Unfortunately for Briere and the team, it looks like that decision can be delayed for awhile longer.
MASON LOOKS FORWARD TO REST
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Steve Mason, who made his 14th consecutive start last night @EDM, will not participate in the NHL YoungStars game Saturday. He apparently has been dealing with lingering back pains and does not want to risk injury.
"After talking it over with management and the training staff, we thought this was the best decision," Mason said. "It's an honour to be selected, but it's just best to get some rest and take care of some things.
"A lot of work has been put into (the past 2 1/2 months) and it does take a toll on your body. My first commitment has to be to my team in Columbus. I think it will be a good time to get away."
He is expected to be between the pipes again tonight @CGY though.
Remember that it was also just announced that goaltender Pascal Leclaire, who has had a disaster of a season because of injuries and poor play when he did get between the pipes, is going to have season-ending ankle surgery Friday.
Fredrik Norrena, who had been the back-up headed into this campaign, is playing for Kazan Ak-Bars in the KHL because he became the proverbial third wheel upon Mason's emergence as a Demigod.
The Jackets just claimed Wade Dubielewicz off waivers from the Isles to assume the back-up role. He had been playing for that same Kazan Ak-Bars squad and had 2.77/ .892 splits with an 11-8-3 record.
Mason has started 29 games for Columbus in the first half with a sparkling 1.99 GAA and .929 SV% with six shutouts. He also has to be considered one of the best fantasy stories of the season, considering he was added as a free agent instead of drafted in 99% of the leagues out there.
I'm probably not giving too much away when I tell you that Mason was my Western All-Star pick in net for this week's fantasy video, which'll get posted overnight tonight. There's also a bonus video coming Monday.
I know. Me, twice in the span of less than one week... can you stand the excitement?
The basic premise of the Thursday/ Monday split videos is not talking about the Alexander Ovechkin/ Evgeni Malkin-level All-Star in terms of the studs that were drafted early and that have basically done their job; rather, it's delving into the guys taken later in the draft or added via free agency that have come up with huge seasons for poolies.
In some instances it was a case of guys we knew might be stars one day, but they really jumped ahead of projections and have been dynamite. Some may have been stars, but were so horrible last year that their fantasy stock really fell headed into this season. Some may be just guys in the right situation at the right time.
SPEAKING OF WHICH
This guy wasn't in the Western fantasy video because that conference has more impactful blueliners taken late for poolies, but Kyle Quincey has turned into a great pick-up in a lot of fantasy leagues and he's been a gem for the Kings.
The Wings were forced to waive him in October right around the time Los Angeles lost Jack Johnson to that shoulder injury.
"Quincey has come in and had a real good impact on this team," coach Terry Murray recently told the L.A. Daily News. "His composure, his overall play as a young defenseman, has been good. That's the nice thing about it, is the age. He's 23 years old and he's going to be a player here for a long time.
"I like the fact that we can depend on him in all situations. He brings an edge to his game and he's a good person. He fits in. He's a good, quality guy."
Over 42 GP the Kitchener-born defender has tallied 23 points, 32 PIM, 16 PPP and 86 SOG. He also has his first two career GWGs and a decent -1 rating.
He's about 90 seconds per game behind highly-touted rookie Drew Doughty (who leads the team with 23:45 ATOI to 22:13 for KQ) in average ice time, but Quincey has nine more points in two fewer contests.
"Everybody needs that break, and everybody needs that long look, to show that they can do it over time, but Detroit knew what they had," Murray said. "It was just a numbers thing with them, and they had to get him through waivers, hopefully get him through waivers. We were not smarter than anybody else.
"There were a bunch of other teams that put claims in on him. There was no secret there."
On an unrelated note, writing this blurb on Quincey got me thinking about Jonathan Ericsson. He's, as you may know, another potential blueline prize coming out of Detroit's system.
When I was checking out his stats (13 points and 40 PIM in 35 GP) I had a quick peek at Ville Leino's numbers and he's currently leading Grand Rapids with 36 points (20G, 26A, +1 in 41 GP).
Much of the focus in Detroit-related fantasy circles lately has been - and rightfully so - how the contract situations would shake out with Henrik Zetterberg, Marian Hossa and Johan Franzen. They'll each be a UFA this summer, in addition to L3 winger Mikael Samuelsson.
Don't forget about how a vacancy on the wing (you'd have to assume one of Hossa or Franzen is a goner) opens another door for someone else though and Leino could be a guy that'll step in and begin to fill a void for this team.
Keep the Finn in mind for next year's draft, or even if the Wings get a long-term injury in the second half.
That's the quirky thing about fantasy or professional sports in general - you just never know when someone's value might explode. Or implode, for that matter.
Neither Mason nor Quincey was expected to be a good grab for single-season leagues back in September because they each had a crowded field in front of them.
Briere, on the other hand, should have been a high-end producer but has instead spent too much of the season with "DTD" or "IR" beside his name on fantasy rosters.
Oh well. At least it keeps what we do exciting, right?
On that note, there will be live fantasy Q&A tomorrow (and Monday) as normal at 3pm ET/ 12pm PT. Email chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com with a brief question.
But tonight... tonight is the last night of live game blogging until Tuesday.
Wow. That's going to be a tad weird.
