"Saying he was thrown a "curveball" by a pair of physicians who examined Michael Leighton on Monday night and Tuesday morning, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said Tuesday that his starting goaltender will be sidelined at least a month with a bulging disk in his lower back. One day earlier, Holmgren told reporters Leighton would miss just a few days with a lower back strain. Holmgren also revealed popular right wing Ian La-perriere will be sidelined indefinitely with post-concussion symptoms that he hid from the team all summer. "They were both obviously big parts of our team at the end of last year," Holmgren said. "To get out of the gates with news like I'm delivering -- it's tough." Leighton, 29, went 16-5-2 in the regular season and 8-3 in the playoffs last season after the Flyers claimed him off waivers. The club rewarded him over the summer with a two-year, $3.1 million contract. Leighton first injured his back during offseason workouts and aggravated the injury in the third period of the Flyers' shootout win over the Maple Leafs on Friday night. Holmgren said initial tests showed a back strain but subsequent tests revealed a bulging disk. "We don't know that it's related to what happened this summer," Holmgren said. "It wasn't really discovered until (Tuesday). There were a bunch of different guys that were reading the MRI between (Monday night and Tuesday). We got a curveball thrown at us. It is what it is right now, and we'll deal with it." Holmgren, who does not allow the club's medical personnel to address injuries, said he does not believe Leighton will require surgery because he does not have a herniated disk. "We think with strengthening and rehab and time that he'll be OK," Holmgren said. "Right now we think that time period is a month just to let everything settle down. Because of the position, in goal,it's a little more dicey than a regular player because of the way he's bent over all the time in net." The news on Laperriere was equally distressing. Lauded by his teammates as the ultimate playoff warrior after blocking a shot with his face in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Devils, Laperriere was diagnosed with a spot on his brain by University of Pittsburgh chief neurosurgeon Joseph Maroon, who advised Laperriere to sit out the remainder of the playoffs." http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20100929/SPORTS04/9290357/Injuries-bedevil-Flyers
