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Chris Pronger will not play tonight against Pittsburgh

Stanley Cup Flyers Hockey

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger stretches during practice at the NHL Stanley Cup hockey finals on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, in Philadelphia. The Blackhawks lead the series 3-2. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

While it seemed like a long shot from the get go with Chris Pronger coming back from knee surgery, he skated this morning with the team to see if he might, in fact, be able to start tonight against the Penguins. As it turns out, Pronger will need more time to get the knee healthy and will miss out on the season opener in Pittsburgh. Mike Morreale of NHL.com gets the update.

Pronger was one of the last players off the ice following the team’s afternoon skate at Consol Energy Center, a signal that his surgically repaired right knee remains a bit bothersome.

“I guess we’ll see how it feels tonight, but I think it needs to get stronger to play in an NHL-caliber game,” Pronger told the media after his skate. “I’ve only had two good practices and I’ll need a little more of that. Obviously, I’ll gauge how it feels. Some days I’ll rest and do strength training and other days we’re going to practice and try to get out there as much as I can.”

Morreale reports that Pronger would’ve joined the Flyers on their road trip to Pittsburgh and St. Louis no matter what and that testing his knee out is all part of the process. The Flyers enter tonight’s game against Pittsburgh without Pronger, Michael Leighton and will start rookie Sergei Bobrovsky in goal. The Flyers are certainly going out of their way to be accommodating to the Penguins as they open the season in the brand new CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

Former Flyer Arron Asham will not suit up for Pittsburgh, however, as he’s been placed on injured reserve by the Penguins. At least the Flyers won’t have to possibly deal with an important role player from their Eastern Conference championship team getting back at them in the first game of the season. Moral victories like that are fun. Or would that be a Pyrrhic victory? I’m not a scholar.

Teams drop the puck at 7:00 pm and the game will be carried nationally on Versus.