Briere to miss 4 more weeks after surgery

The Flyers head into the All-Star break 2 points behind the first place Devils in the Atlantic Division, not a bad feat considering the rash of injuries that this team has dealt with. The fact that they have been able to put a team on the ice at all, let alone be competitive, when more than half the team has been injured at one point or another has to be considered a success.

Danny Briere has been one of the key players who has been missing for the Flyers and it looks like he will be out for a while longer. Briere, who last played for the Flyers in early December, underwent successful exploratory surgery on his groin today and is expected to miss the next 4 weeks. The injury has been nagging Briere for over a month, even when he played a few games with the Phantoms last week, so hopefully the surgery will allow him to come back healthy in February.

The season is a marathon, not a sprint, so losing Briere now shouldn't hurt the Flyers too much. Briere will be back when it matters, in the playoffs, and hopefully he will be close to 100% and ready to help the Flyers make a deep run in the playoffs.

The one positive about Briere being out for longer is the Flyers won't have to make a decision on what they should do to clear cap space. Luca Sbisa will remain with the big club and won't have to go back to his junior team and the Flyers won't have to make any salary-dumping moves, at least for now. You never hope for injuries to happen but Briere's surgery has bought the Flyers a few weeks to figure out what to do with their roster.