Brind'Amour

Brind'Amour missed Saturday's opener against Ottawa but is eligible to play in the Flyers' second game, against Carolina, on Thursday. He said he hopes to be ready by then.

Brind'Amour, who has played in 484 straight regular-season games, suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot Sept. 25 when he was hit by a shot during the first period of the Flyers' 4-2 exhibition loss at New Jersey.

"I'm feeling better every day," Brind'Amour said Friday. "The first couple of days weren't very good. Then the last couple of days, it's starting to feel a lot better. I think it's more how I feel. There's a certain time frame where the bone has to heal, and I think we're still in that stage."

Brind'Amour hadn't missed a game since Feb. 22, 1993, when a hand injury kept him out of a game against Detroit. Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Teppo Numminen inherits Brind'Amour's active Iron Man title with 297 consecutive games.

"I tried to put my skate on, it didn't really fit too well with the padding you'd have to have on," Brind'Amour said. "It's tough to say (when I'll return) because it's a very slow process. That's what the frustrating thing is. With another injury, you can kind of judge how it's going, but I don't know how this is healing."