Some days are more hectic than others.

For the Flyers, Thursday was a maelstrom.

We’ll try to cover all of it in this space.

It started with the injury to Scott Hartnell. It was obvious the last two days that Hartnell was in some serious pain and that his outlook wasn’t promising.

But when the news came down just how bad it was, it was like a funeral dirge was playing around the Flyers offices.

Hartnell will miss at least four weeks with a fractured first metatarsal in his left foot, suffered when he was hit by a Kimmo Timonen slapshot in the second period of Tuesday’s game in New Jersey.

Some news, notes and observations from the Flyers 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils:

- As if things couldn’t get any worse, it appears Brayden Schenn will have a hearing today regarding a hit he put on Anton Volchenkov in the second period of the game according to a report on Sportsnet.ca

Schenn had just come off the bench and was flying down the wing and nailed Volchenkov a nanosecond after he passed the puck.

The hit, for years, was deemed a clean hockey hit, and there was no penalty on the play.

But in the era of heightened concussion awareness, all big hits are getting reviewed.

NEWARK, N.J. – Tye McGinn was so excited Sunday when he found out that there was a very real possibility that he could be making his NHL debut two nights later that he couldn’t keep it a secret from his family.

So he called his parents to spread the good news. That was followed by a phone call to his brother Jamie, a forward for the Colorado Avalanche.

Soon, he was getting congratulations sent to him on Twitter from a bevy of friends and fans.

That’s how quickly news spread.

“I was so excited, I never thought to tell anyone not to put it out on Twitter,” McGinn said. “How can I keep that from my family. I had to tell them.”

No doubt – and no fault to McGinn at all.

The first in-season casualty has struck the Flyers.

Forward Zac Rinaldo will miss at least one week after suffering a laceration to his leg above his right knee and near his thigh after a first period collision with Buffalo defenseman Robyn Regehr.

When the two collided, Regehr’s skate cut Rinaldo, resulting in a gash that needed 20 stitches to close.

The Flyers recalled Tye McGinn from the Phantoms to replace Rinaldo in the lineup.

Some news, notes and observations from the Flyers opening game 3-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins:

- The Flyers game plan was to come out hitting, and hit hard. Primary target: Sidney Crosby. Anyone who got a chance to hit Crosby, did, but it wasn’t just that. Guys were hitting everyone on the Penguins. Maybe the Flyers struggled to find their speed in the first game of the season, but they sure got their licks in.

The Flyers were credited with 40 hits in the game. That’s one every 90 seconds. That’s a lot.

Leading the way for the Flyers with seven hits was Zac Rinaldo, who only played 8:54.

Matt Read had six hits, playing a much more physical brand of hockey than last season. Scott Hartnell had five and Andrej Meszaros and Scott Laughton had four each.

VOORHEES, N.J. – The Flyers opening day roster began to take a little more shape on this, the fourth day of training camp.

They waived two players and sent another back to the minor leagues.

Let’s take them one at a time….

Brian Boucher, who was originally slated to go on waivers Tuesday, actually didn’t get placed on waivers until Wednesday.

If he clears waivers at noon tomorrow (as expected) he will be sent to the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL.

His salary is $950,000. As such, because he exceeds the $900,000 maximum for players waived to the minors, the Flyers will still have to have $50,000 of his money count against the cap.

That cap hit, is, of course, pro-rated for this season based on the shortened season.

Secondly, the Flyers waived defenseman Andreas Lilja.

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VOORHEES, N.J. -- There wasn’t a ceremonial passing of the letter “C” fin front of the cameras from Chris Pronger to Claude Giroux – that kind of hokey, photo-op stuff is saved for the likes of the Miss America pageant.

But, that doesn’t mean Pronger can’t chime in on the decision to name Giroux as his successor, and 19th captain in Flyers history.

Pronger, who flew back to his St. Louis home following Wednesday’s practice, took a minute before he headed for the airport to comment on Giroux being named the team’s new leader.

VOORHEES, N.J. Danny Briere said the uniform was solid gold, not banana yellow.

Fashion debates aside, the stark color differences from the rest of the Flyers was intentional as it is to act as a visual reminder that the player adorned in such a vibrant color on the ice is not to be hit, bumped or even breathed upon, if one could help it.

But, just the fact that Briere was out on the ice with his teammates one day after the doctors had diagnosed his hairline wrist facture as “healing” was a positive for both Briere and the Flyers.

Briere skated for 25 minutes alone on one rink with assistant coaches Joey Mullen and Kevin McCarthy before joining his teammates on the other for practice.

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VOORHEES, N.J. – The voice emanating from down the hall was very familiar, but hadn’t been heard around here for quite some time.

It was refreshing to have it back though, even if it’s for just a short time.

A bearded and bespectacled Chris Pronger was back at the Skate Zone, and while his button-down shirt and slacks suggested he was all business, he still had time to crack a few jokes and bring a few smiles.

Pronger came down the hall and shook hands with several members of the media saying hello, but beyond that he wasn’t talking publicly.

But when his new protégé Luke Schenn was about to face a media scrum, Pronger, as is his style, yelled at the gathered scribes:

“Be gentle or feel the wrath,” he said.

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A few quick hitters as the Flyers begin Day 2 of a six-day training camp:

- Chris Pronger is here. He is in for his physical. He will not be cleared as his post-concussion problems persist. He will be placed on long-term injured reserve Friday. I do not expect him to speak publicly, but you never know with Pronger.

- Recently acquired goalie Brian Boucher will be placed on waivers today. General manager Paul Holmgren feels Boucher has a good chance of clearing waivers because all teams have at least two healthy goalies today. If he had Boucher in camp for a few days and another goalie in the league got hurt, the Flyers could conceivably lose Boucher on waivers as his cap hit ($950,000) is not prohibitive. Once Boucher clears, he will be assigned to the Phantoms.

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