Screen Shot 2011-12-12 at 3.03.38 PMScreen grab: CSN Philly

UPDATE 2: Holmgren was lying.

UPDATE: Paul Holmgren told reporters tonight at Ed Snider’s US Hockey Hall of Fame induction (golf claps) that Giroux has what appears to be whiplash. Some quotes via Tim Panaccio:

“He’s got a little whiplash going. He’s done the tests and his scores are OK. A concussion? I don’t know. I wouldn’t go that far just yet. Sometimes they come forward after a certain period of time. 

“He actually has issues with his neck right now.”

 

Once again, Homer is not exactly believable when it comes to injuries. Plus, Giroux was in a fender bender Saturday morning, according to the reader who sent in this picture. Sometimes car accidents cause whiplash, too… but now we're just speculating. The collision with Simmonds was pretty nasty.

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Not good, my friends. Not good.

As expected, Claude Giroux did not practice today. He also won’t be traveling with the team (by train) to Washington D.C. for tomorrow night’s game against the Capitals.

Giroux will again see the doctor tomorrow, and while it’s possible he'll be cleared to play against the Caps, it’s highly doubtful that he will.

Unfortunately, the three players – besides Ilya Bryzgalov – who figured to be most key in replacing Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were Giroux, Chris Pronger and Brayden Schenn. Right now, all three of those guys have concussions, concussion-like symptoms or Paul Holmgren’s mystery ailment of the day. That’s not good, especially since these things can linger– Sidney Crosby, who just returned from his concussion, once again appears to be concussed (as much as we dislike him, no one wants to see one of the best players in the game have his career shortened by injury).

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I’m fairly certain the way this used to work was as follows: player gets hit, sees stars– not birds, stars!…

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… gets a smelling salt, puts some ice on it and returns to the game… because he’s a hockey player. Or football player.

In some parts of the world, that’s still how it’s done. 

Last week in an English Premier League soccer match, Stoke goaltender Thomas Sorensen was knocked out. He quickly sat up and returned to action. Five minutes later he began to sway like a Mortal Kombat character before he nearly collapsed (picture here) and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. Sorensen was able to “declare himself fit” (oh those Brits) to play this week against Tottenham.

Thankfully, that’s no longer how things are done over here in North America. Today, the Flyers issued this statement on Giroux*:

 

*Holmgren could be lying, so keep that in mind.

Considering the news on Crosby, let’s all take a deep breath with Giroux. The Flyers appear to be out in front of this one, but given their approach to disclosing injuries, we’re not going to know anything until Giroux gets all dirty on the ice again. Which could be Thursday in Montreal… or ???