The Philadelphia Flyers are going to be without their top goaltender Carter Hart for an extended period of time, as Crossing Broad’s Anthony SanFilippo shared that Hart could miss anywhere from two to six weeks. Hart left the team’s Wednesday night game with the injury that will now hold him out. The exact moment that the injury occurred is unclear, although there was a moment when Kyle Okposo awkwardly fell on Hart that could have been the inciting incident.
Sam Ersson took over for the Flyers after Hart’s injury. It’s expected that Ersson will hang onto the role, with many anticipating that the team will call up Cal Petersen to operate as his backup. Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate has also had Felix Sandstrom and Parker Gahagen play games for them this season, with Sandstrom recording an overtime loss in his sole AHL game this year and Gahagen repping a team-best .911 save percentage through three games.
Regardless of who Philadelphia opts to use as a backup, Ersson is undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary of Hart’s absence. Ersson is technically a rookie, despite playing in 12 games last season, and has started the season out a bit uneasily, setting a 0-2-1 record and .763 save percentage through three games. He set a 6-3-0 record and .899 save percentage in his 12 appearances last year. He also played in 42 AHL games last year, recording a .900 save percentage and 24-17-1 record. The Flyers drafted Ersson in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, taking him 143rd overall. He’ll operate as the team’s top option for the time being, getting his first shot at the starter’s net.
The NHL needs to stop embarrassing itself with this “upper” & “lower” & “mid-body” injury language. Does the NHL really think this prevents other teams from knowing about player injuries? Total nonsense that only keeps the fans guessing.
When did the NHL adopt this “mid-body injury” designation? I’m old enough to remember before the NHL changed injury protocol to “upper” and “lower” and teams would just tell you what the dang injury was.
We are, of course, subject to the information we receive… but I certainly agree that it’s a strange designation. Not much in your “mid” area that “abdomen” can’t cover on its own I would think
The stupidity that the NHL thinks opposing players will target a specific body part is ridiculous. They target a specific body – the guy that is in possession of the puck. And, they still target the netminders’ heads, whenever possible. If that doesn’t pan out, pull the tried-and-true, “Accidental-on purpose” fall on the guy’s lower body. The Mickey Mouse junk of refusing to be specific is giving the finger to the precious league partners, the bet mongers.
That’s so mid.
sad day, to know the range of injury possibilities for our beloved hockey players has expanded yet again. once upon a time, a player had only to worry about his upper- and lower-body. then, players began to get head injuries.
now Carter Hart has added mid-body injury to the list. i fear for the players. who will be the first to suffer a mid-lower-body injury?
mid-lower-center-right
The oblique injury is popping up in all sports. The designation is “mid” at best, as the kids would say.