Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher left in Game 5 against the Boston Bruins with two busted up knees. The Flyers were trying to rally from a 3-0 series deficit (if you haven’t heard how it ends yet, I won’t spoil it for you) and now their starting goalie just got toppled in his own crease, giving him what was initially called a Grade 2 sprain of his left knee.
The right knee was also injured and Boucher could barely make it off the ice. It didn’t look good.
But, Boucher was out there on the practice ice recently, skating and working with goaltender coach Jeff Neese. While I don’t think anyone is ready to proclaim him ready to get back on the ice (not that he would anyway with the way Michael Leighton has been playing), it’s an encouraging sign.
“It would be so good to get back in the locker room,” Boucher said. “It would be so good to get back with the guys. It really is so painful right now, being on the outside, looking in.
“They never told me my season was done, and I’m not acting like it is.”
Boucher isn’t going overboard, but he is doing some light work between the pipes.
“There was no going down, no taking shots,” he said. “The last 2 days, I took some shots but only in a really controlled setting. Every day so far, I’ve made progress. Each day, there haven’t been any setbacks.”
This is all good news for Boucher. It’s a shame he got hurt because he was playing extremely well. But who knows, maybe he resurrected his career and can get something going next season.
goalie coach Jeff Reese (not Neese)