Philadelphia Flyers captain Chris Pronger missed the last four games with a virus, and now he is expected to miss the next four weeks. The team announced that Pronger will have surgery on his left knee on Tuesday afternoon that should keep him out of commission for about a month.

General manager Paul Holmgren said the team hoped the time Pronger missed with a virus would allow his knee to heal, but decided Sunday that surgery is the best option.

"We were hopeful that the time missed with a virus that Chris has been fighting would settle things down in his knee, but after an examination yesterday, it was decided that surgery is the way to go at this time," Holmgren said.

Holmgren said the surgery, which will be performed by Dr. Peter DeLuca, is designed to "clean out some loose particles that have given Chris some problems over the last month or so."

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