Robert Esche says he won't make the mistake again. Why? Because he's already paid a heavy price for it, missing 12 straight games with a tear in his right groin.
This time, the Flyers goalie says, he won't come back until he is 100 percent healthy.
"I learned my lesson," Esche said. "I don't want to come back at 95 or 98 percent. At the end of the day, it creates bad habits and causes goals. I have to be at 100 percent to play well for this team and get ready for the Olympics, as well.
"I could do 98 percent, but I realize now I need 100 percent. That is why this is taking another week as opposed to me backing up [this week]. Ninety-eight percent doesn't cut it anymore."
Barring further injury, Esche is at about one week away from returning to the Flyers. He spoke Sunday afternoon for the first time in almost a month.
The 27-year-old, who is going to the Olympics for Team USA, injured himself Dec. 3 at Nashville. He missed three games, then came back to play Dec. 13 and was outstanding during a 3-1 victory at Columbus.
Coach Ken Hitchcock said Esche looked like his old self. Hitchcock's optimism was premature. Two days later, Esche re-injured his groin.
"If you look at my games closely, some I played very good, but it was me relaying on athleticism, which is my strong point," Esche said. "Not fundamentals. That Columbus game, we won and yet I did not feel I played fundamentally well. I felt I played well enough to win.
"The key to coming back is being strong and healthy and working on my fundamentals to get my entire game back at once. I don't want to continue the way I was playing at the beginning of the season. I need four or five good practices."
He needs practices where he feels pain free on every motion. On Sunday, he began taking shots from goalie coach Reggie Lemelin straight on with minimal up-and-down movement. This week, the plan from trainer Jim McCrossin was to gradually have Esche progress to where he could take shots from the Phantoms at every angle - shots where we will begin to overextend himself.
Esche says his strength is down, and he's dropped from 227 pounds at season's start to 217. He played at 233 in the 2004 Eastern Conference finals against Tampa.
"I like being heavier, but at 217 I feel leaner," Esche said, admitting he is not sure whether a lower weight will be better for him physically. "We'll see what transpires."
There is no confirmed date when Esche will play again. Or even practice with the Flyers. "It's day to day with me, and I have to get where I can practice for an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes to get to my fatigue point and see how I feel," he said.
The Flyers are not pushing Esche to come back. That's because they are in better shape than anyone expected. Esche's injury has permitted the entire NHL a glimpse into what Antero Niittymaki is capable of as a starter. Niittymaki is playing every game; Hitchcock isn't even using backup Jamie Storr.
Niittymaki's play has bought Esche extra time to heal, which might not have been the case if the Flyers were struggling, instead of being the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, prior to last night.
The consequence of Esche's injury, however, is that he has lost his starter's job and even when he returns, the medical staff has already determined he will play on a schedule that, at the outset, has him starting every third game, to prevent re-injuring his groin.
"Niitty's been awesome," Esche said. "He is a huge part of why the team is playing so well. We all knew he was great. He had a rocky start, but you knew watching him at practice he was fine.
"You know, he's has made it easier on me, not harder. There is no pressure on me to come back because he is playing so well."
The pressure will eventually fall to Hitchcock to determine a rotation. Hitchcock said this week he may wait until late in the season to determine who should be his playoff starter. If Niittymaki continues to win, it will be difficult to remove him.
"It's going to be a fight to come back," Esche said. "You have a goalie playing that well, you are not going to just throw me in there. I will have to earn every start from here on out. Antero is a great goalie.
"I don't know if it is a competition, but it is another niche. That is when I feel I play my best, when you have to fight for games. Well, not fight for games, but play well enough to start and win."