SB Nation - Riley Cote

Friday links: Team USA could look very Penguin

Hooks Orpik — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:24:39 -0000

Bill Guerin is one tough sumbitch. [Tribune Review]

The new power-play has a new result: actually putting the puck in the net. [Empty Netters]

Projected roster alert: Brooks Orpik, Alex Goligoski AND Bill Guerin all make the cut for Team USA here [NHL.com]

Shooting down the latest rumor that doesn't make sense: why the Pens won't be trading Sergei Gonchar to Phoenix. Really rumor mongers, Phoenix taking on the salary? And the Pens trading such a key guy? At least make the rumors make a little sense. [Faceoff Factor]

Deadspin picks up on the almost certainly false rumors swirling around the Flyers. [Deadspin]

Flyers ~~punching bag~~ tough guy Riley Cote weighed in on facebook (before removing it): "i feel the need to address a terrible rumor about 2 of my teamates [sic] hartnell and carter. 100% not true. do not believe what you hear. nothing but pollution. i got both there [sic] backs. now let’s put a beating on the pens!!" [Josh Q Public]

The Penguins have the highest scoring defense in the NHL. And they also have the most diverse scoring from the blueline too. [The Peerless Prognosticator]

A fresh batch of jersey fouls for thee. [Puck Daddy]

Saturday's opponent Ryan Miller is in the groove right now. [The Hockey News]

Head trauma and the effect on pro athletes is thankfully a lot of attention these days, but the more we learn, the scarier things seem. [From the Rink]

Betts is ready; Nodl and Backlund shipped back to Adirondack

Travis Hughes — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:54:29 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Andreas Nodl, left, seen here with Wojtek Wolski, Oskars Bartulis, and Ray Emery, has been sent back to the Adirondack Phantoms.

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Forward Andreas Nodl and goaltender Johan Backlund have been shipped back to the Adirondack Phantoms, according to several reports.

The news means the Michael Leighton is now the backup goaltender for the Flyers, and that Blair Betts is ready to return to the lineup tomorrow night against the Penguins at home.

Here's what Betts told the Flyers website about his return...

"I think I just have to be a little conscious of not using that arm to reach for pucks or anything like that. It’s a tough thing to do when you’re playing the game, but we’ll just see how things go."

It seems to me that not being able to reach for a puck with one arm means that you might as well still be injured, but I'm not a doctor so what do I know. Still, if Betts is playing hesitant and conscious of what he can't do on the ice, he may not be as effective as he can be and has been for the Flyers this season. As he said, we'll see how things go.

As for Leighton, we talked in depth about him yesterday. He hasn't been impressive in quite some time, but he can be a decent fill in for a team that will need a guy with NHL experience to step up and play a few games. Here's what Leighton told the Flyers website...

"The last couple of weeks in Carolina I didn’t really get much practice time in with three goalies. For me, personally, it wasn’t a good situation. I was not taking a lot of the practice and sitting out most of practice. I’d like to get a few practices under my belt and feel a little bit more comfortable, and the last two days I’ve gotten some good skates in so it’s just a matter of getting a few more practices in and feeling comfortable again."

We could see Leighton in action as early as this weekend against the Rangers. It's apparent that the organization clearly doesn't have the confidence in Backlund, who has never played an NHL game outside of preseason, even though the first-year North American pro has made strides in his game at the AHL level. This move backs up that theory.

With Nodl, this could be the nail in the coffin for his Flyer career. Coming out of college and even before then, Nodl was projected as a second-line forward, but in 48 NHL games stretched over the last two seasons, the once highly thought of player has not been as impressive as he was once thought to be, notching just one goal and four assists in those games. Other players, notably Jon Kalinski of late, have overshadowed him.

At the same time, there was a report from the Daily News this morning that said Nodl was seen "receiving treatment" in Boston, so he could be injured. If that's the case, it would explain Riley Cote's recent insertion into the lineup over Nodl, and it would also explain his demotion to the Phantoms. Still, though, it appears Nodl has fallen on the depth chart.

For a Phantoms perspective on this news, check out Tim McManus at the Glens Falls Post-Star.

Tales of the Tape: Beating on the Flyers in Three Parts

JDunman — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:00:46 -0000

When the Penguins meet the Flyers, be it in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, the chances of a fight breaking out are quite higher than most other games. Toss in the level of frustration that Philadelphia has to be feeling, and that high chance becomes an inevitability. So, with little surprise, the game featured three fights, all within the first six minutes of the game. We'll be taking a moment and checking out all three.

First up - the Noted One Mike Rupp taking on Arron Asham.

The two meet up and exchange pleasantries (and jabs) before Rupp begins going for Asham's helmet. Asham responds by grabbing for Rupp's jersey, but instead gets a handful of face. Rupp answers back with a nice shot, and gets the helmet off, with Asham slipping to the ice. Asham regains his footing and shifts Rupp off his balance, ending the fight. I could see this one being called a draw, but with the shot leading to the helmet removal, I'm thinking it's a win from Rupp. And I'm writing this, so that's how it will be.

Quickly after the first fight comes another (with another annoying 'Well, well, well' call from the announcer) which is not at all surprising once we learn that it's Eric Godard and Riley Cote (round 5).

Spinning and punching. That's what these two are good at, and that's what these two do. Godard gets Cote's helmet off and gets some shots in to the head. Also with these shots came Cote's helmet, which got stuck on Godard's arm and was also swinging towards Cote's head. As the two near the boards, it looks like they await the linesmens' intervention, but when the officials make no moves, they decide to swing a few more times at each other. A few more fist/helmet shots from Godard and the officials finally get in and break the two up. I'm calling this one for Godard - he got the better offense in, and hit the man with his own helmet.

So with Rupp and Godard both getting decent showings, when a fight breaks out between Craig Adams and Dan Carcillo, we're expecting good things, right?

Oh no. Well, Adams did manage to get Carcillo's helmet off...but he also managed to get punched. In the head. A lot. The less said here, the better. That's a loss for Adams...but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

These matchups have something in common with each other. All three pairings have fought each other before. Godard and Cote is certainly nothing new - we saw it three times last season and the two even have an AHL bout against one another. Mike Rupp had a noted fight against Asham last season while he was playing for the Devils. Neat little tidbit about that one - Rupp also fought Riley Cote in that game. In fact, when Rupp was fighting Asham, Cote was fighting another Devil right next to him. Certainly nothing special about that - it's just kind of neat. As for Adams and Carcillo - they also fought last season, and Adams actually took a worse beating then.

With these three fights, the Pens are tied for 5th in fighting majors with the Sharks, only below the Flames, Lightning, Flyers and Maple Leafs. Next up will be the Flyers again, and do I really need to write a preview for that one? Of course someone's going to fight.

Poll

Overall, who came out on top of the fights?

Flyers Embarrased Again, This Time in Pittsburgh

Geoff Detweiler — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:41:21 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

FACEPALM! (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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[Box Score] - [Complete Coverage] - [PIT Reaction]

November 16-18. That is the last time the Flyers won back-to-back games. A win over New Jersey, followed by a win in Los Angeles. The team has played fourteen games since then, going 3-11-0. Six points out of a possible 28. That's a point percentage of .214.

Who's still holding out hope that this team is a serious Cup contender? If it was worth it, I'd rattle off a ton of stats about how poorly the team has been playing, but that's an exercise in futility. The team can't score. They can't defend. They can't convert on the power play. They can't stay out of the box. They can't do a lot of things.

The final score doesn't even matter. Brian Boucher let in 6 goals - the last one weak - but he again deserved better. Three goals were scored on blasts from the face-off dot or below during a rush. Unacceptable. A few were rebounds - Guerin's first could be considered a weak goal, but I didn't see an angle showing where the puck was - where the Flyers blew the coverage.

Nothing else matters. The team lost. Again. So, we'll just cut to it.

After the jump, assorted thoughts, Comment of the Night, and Questions with Answers. I'll spare you the "highlights" since a) I'm against torture; and b) the audio is just as bad as the video.

There was a great discussion in the game thread on how much we all hate Pittsburgh sports fans. It was more enjoyable than the game. The start. (There was a very fractured discussion on the same subject here as well.)
Communication and awareness in the defensive zone are clearly lacking. There was a miscommunication between Coburn, Richards, and Carter which made all three look pretty bad, and then Pronger got caught staring at the puck while the goal scorer skated right past him to an open net. Both were atrocious.
Fresh off his suspension, Dan Carcillo was probably the best Flyer on the ice tonight. One goal, one (rightfully) overturned goal, and a decisive win over Craig Adams. Oh, and an amazing celebration back when we almost thought that maybe the Flyers might have a chance.
As pointed out by MarioD, Cote played a mere 0:31 tonight. And believe it or not, that was TWO shifts. His first was cut short by a fight after six seconds.
Six out of 7 Flyers finished the night 50% or better in the faceoff circle. Only Danny Briere failed to do so, and he only took one draw. Richards, Giroux, and Pyorala were all over 60% on the night, going a combined 65% in the dot.
Only two Flyers did not finish the night a minus. Obviously, you can guess one of them is Riley Cote. The other? Ryan Parent. 18:23 of ice time, not one goal scored while he was on the ice. Not even a PP goal.

Questions with Answers:

Is there any carry over from the Scott Hartnell biting/Kris Letang whining incident that happened when these two teams met back in October? A little. Some pushing and shoving, some boos from the crowd, but nothing major.
Can the Flyers keep the intensity up from last night in Boston? No.
Is Braydon Coburn still injured, and are the Flyers rushing him back so Danny Syvret doesn't see the ice? Conspiracy theorists would say yes. Hell, even I say yes.
Power play... yay or nay? Nay.
The Pens PP has been struggling, but they've revamped it. How's the Flyers PK respond? By laying down.

Comment of the Night:

The flyers are like the titanic... They look good until they hit the ice.

EREX21

Now, I'm sure I left a lot out. But really, "it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care."

Fight, fight, fight; score, score, score, score, score, score. Pens embarrass Flyers 6-1

Hooks Orpik — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:07:29 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Brian Boucher got used to this sight tonight.

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Flyers vs Penguins coverage - Broad Street Hockey

The Philadelphia Flyers, if nothing else, are known as a physical rough-and-tumble bunch. The Pittsburgh Penguins matched that willingness with three fights early (and a busy day tomorrow for Dunman!). Hockey is more about just the fisticuffs and the Pens are able to do that too, scoring six of the seven goals from Sidney Crosby, Bill Guerin, two by Jordan Staal, Ruslan Fedotenko and Evgeni Malkin.

One team is in a groove, getting good goaltending and playing strong defense....And the other is not right now. The results were as clear as the scoreboard; a 6-1 virtual whitewashing by Pittsburgh.

Riley Cote was the only Flyer that escaped a minus in the plus/minus column, and he got a grand total of two shifts and 0:31 of ice-time. Conversely, only Tyler Kennedy and Craig Adams were the only Pens that weren't pluses. Just one of those nights.
Shots ended up being 35-27, hardly the edge to demonstrate the zone time and puck control that Pittsburgh had all night long. Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang led the way five shots on goal a piece.
Strong effort by Marc-Andre Fleury getting in front of 26 of 27 shots. The Flyers did throw them on him, and he was there. Fleury's 8-1-1 and has given up 2 or fewer goals in eight of his last ten games and is sporting a .927 save percentage over that stretch.
About the only place the Pens didn't dominate was in the faceoff circle; Philly won 60% of the draws, no Penguin player who took more than one draw had over a 50% rate.
The blowout allowed the Pens to mix things up. No forward played more than 18:50, much under the season averages of guys like Crosby and Malkin. Defensively, only Sergei Gonchar played more than 20:00 minutes -- and even his 23:39 was under yearly average. Philly, playing catchup, had seven of their players go over the 20:00 minute mark. Might this show up in the second game of the home-and-home?
Brooks Orpik had 2 assists, Eric Godard had a nice flip that got him an assist, Staal wristed a nice shorty and a tap-in rebound, Fedotenko went 1 and 1, as did Malkin....You could go almost all the way down the line. Almost everyone who dressed made nice plays and a lot of them ended up in the net. Just one of those nights.

One of those nights indeed. Pittsburgh re-takes their lead for most wins league wide and the Flyers must be as frustrated as ever. Things change, and change quickly in the NHL. Philadelphia will get a shot in the arm with their crowd --and stewing over their performance -- on Thursday. If the Pens aren't out the gates running, make no mistake, Philly (with a 9-7-2 home record) will make them pay. But if the boys in black-and-gold have another showing like tonight, it'll likely be the same result.

Game 28, Preview and Open Thread: Home Cookin', New York Islanders at Philadelphia Flyers

Travis Hughes — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:55:25 -0000

#11 New York Islanders (11-11-7, 29 pts) at #13 Philadelphia Flyers (13-13-1, 27 pts)
Wachovia Center - 7:00 PM EST - Philadelphia, PA
TV: Versus HD, TSN 2 HD
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 204
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Lighthouse Hockey

The last time the Flyers won was the night before Thanksgiving against the New York Islanders. They'll go for a second consecutive win against the division rival tonight at the Wachovia Center. Let's try not to get embarrassed on national television, eh boys?

John Stevens last win as Flyers head coach came that night on Long Island. Peter Laviolette can get his first win as Flyers head coach against the same team -- a team he coached for two seasons at the beginning of this decade.

There really isn't a lot to say in previewing this game. There are a few lineup changes, as David Laliberte has been called up from Adirondack and will likely play in place of Riley Cote. Ray Emery is on the shelf for six weeks and Johan Backlund has been called up to replace him. He'll sit and Brian Boucher will start the second game of a back-to-back.

These guys just need a win. Badly. It doesn't matter who they're playing and it doesn't matter that they beat the Islanders two weeks ago. They're a hard-working team and the Flyers probably wont win without a complete effort. It's really the same problems they've had for weeks that they need to cure tonight. Get the special teams on track, work hard, get solid goaltending, and get a ton of pressure on the New York goal.

They did a few of these things last night, but they'll need to do all of them tonight. If not, we'll be looking to the bottle again before this one's over...

After the jump, questions to answer, the Flyers' line combos, and your starting goaltenders.

Flyers Line Combinations (subject to change)

Hartnell – Richards – Giroux
JVR – Carter – Briere
Laperriere – Pyorala – Asham
Laliberte/Cote – Kalinski – Nodl

Questions To Answer - many are the same as last night. Symbolism, or something.

Power play. Can they turn it around?
Goaltending. How does Boucher perform?
Sixty minute effort, yay or nay?
Can they outwork the Islanders?

Starting Goaltenders

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 PHI - Brian Boucher	8	415	2	5			18	2.60	183	165	.902	0

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 NYI - Martin Biron	13	751	2	8			38	3.04	410	372	.907	1

Riley Cote: Nice Guy, But Useless

Travis Hughes — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:57:27 -0000

More photos » by Paul Chiasson - AP

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I'm probably just stating what we already know, but Riley Cote has no worth on the Philadelphia Flyers.

It's really a shame, too, because Riley is truly a great guy. He does a ton of work in the community and works with several charities, especially those involved with fighting against multiple sclerosis, which his sister has. And his hockey career has been one that's defined by hard work and determination.

After playing his junior hockey with Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League from 1998 to 2002, Cote's eligibility ran out. He had not been drafted by an NHL team, something he calls a "blessing in disguise" today. He walked on to Toronto Maple Leafs training camp that year and left with a job. It was a Central Hockey League job, but a job nonetheless.

Playing for the Memphis Riverkings of the CHL, Cote tallied up the penalty minutes. He sat in the box for 241 minutes in 51 regular season games. After the Leafs passed him up the following season, he got another chance in Columbus. The Blue Jackets signed him to a two-way contract with their AHL club in Syracuse. He never played in the NHL that year, in fact playing most of his games with the organization's ECHL affiliate in Dayton. But the ECHL was a step up from the CHL, and Cote made his name known in that league.

It was in his time in Dayton that I first saw Riley play hockey. I was a season ticket holder of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies, and Dayton came to town quite a bit. Cote was one of the better players on the Bombers, and he had a knack for ticking you off with his play. I always referred to him as one of those players who you'd love to have play for your team, but you'd hate to play against. Even from the stands, I could realize how hard Cote worked. My seats were right near the visiting team's tunnel, and as the Bombers walked back to the dressing room, I can distinctly remember seeing the fire in Cote's eyes. I was impressed by him. His hair was a little shorter back then, too.

For Cote to stand out to me, a visiting fan in an ECHL city, who saw hundreds of different players walk into the arena that season alone, is impressive. You can imagine how I felt the following season when he was signed by the Philadelphia Phantoms.

He quickly turned into a fan favorite in Philadelphia. His hard-working, physical style was perfect for this town. He played 61 games in 2004-05 with the Phantoms, tallying up 280 penalty minutes. That's a helluva number. He was a key role player -- an assistant captain, even -- in the team's run to the Calder Cup that season, and the following year, with the NHL lockout over, he would finally break through to the NHL. He played just eight games, but the following season, he stuck for good. He's been with the Flyers ever since.

And that's where the problems arise.

He doesn't score. Obviously. In 150 NHL games, Cote has one goal and six assists. It's a shame, too, because way back in juniors, while pugnacity still defined his game, he did show an ability to put pucks in the net. Some offensive prowess, if you will. Unfortunately, those skills never carried over to the pro ranks, as they so often fail to with so many players.

But it's the one thing he does do well, the fighting, that he in fact doesn't do well.

We could all cite about 20 different videos of Cote's fights in which he puts in a showing like this. But now we have some numbers to cite, as well.

Jonathan Willis at Hockey Or Die! has compiled a few numbers for fighters who fought at least ten times last season. Compiling numbers from the voting at hockeyfights.com, Willis tried to figure out the best and worst fighters in the league. Who had the most losses last season, of all the fighters in the NHL?

Yep, Riley Cote.

Most Losses: Riley Cote, Philadelphia Flyers (5-14, 26.3%)
Runner-Up: Jared Boll, Columbus Blue Jackets (5-11, 31.3%)

Riley Cote carried on the Flyers’ penchant for dropping the gloves, but his success rate left something to be desired, as he accumulated more losses than any other player in the league.

When 5 minutes, 38 seconds is the most time on the ice you've seen in a game all season and the only thing you're on the roster to do is fight, you need to win those fights. If you can't, you serve no purpose. It's become clear over his NHL career that Riley Cote cannot fight NHL enforcers. He may be a great guy, but John Stevens was too. It's time to part ways.

Game 27, Preview and Open Thread: Se remettre sur les rails, Philadelphia Flyers at Montreal Canadiens

Travis Hughes — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:04:08 -0000

#12 Philadelphia Flyers (13-12-1, 27 pts) at #11 Montreal Canadiens (13-14-2, 28 pts)
Le Centre Bell - 7:30 PM ET - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
TV: The Comcast Network HD, RDS HD
Radio: 1210 AM WPHT, XM 206
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Habs Eyes On The Prize

Broadcast Note: Take notice above. Thanks to the Allen Iverson show dominating Philadelphia sports media tonight, the Flyers have been relegated to secondary status on television, radio, and probably in the minds of most fans. On local TV, the game will be on The Comcast Network, while the radio broadcast can be found at 1210 AM WPHT.

The Flyers travel north of the border tonight to take on the Montreal Canadiens, another team that is struggling mightily as the season slowly shifts to "not so early anymore." They'll look to get their new coach his first Philadelphia win, but they'll of course be without Dan Carcillo as he serves game one of his four game suspension. Regardless of how you feel about the suspension, Carcillo has been one of the hardest working Flyers over this current stretch of pitiful hockey, and his absence in the lineup isn't good for the team.

Riley Cote will replace him. Enough said, I think.

Ray Emery's absence tonight, on the other hand, might be able to help the team. He's been playing pretty pitiful hockey himself, and after looking absolutely terrible against Washington on Saturday night, he'll give way to Brian Boucher tonight. I hate to say it, but are the words goalie controversy slowly creeping up? If the current trend continues, that could be the case.

Two players that will be in the lineup and should be able to help the Flyers tonight are Claude Giroux and Danny Briere. But since we're playing Montreal, they're looooove their French players and their ridiculous trade ideas for said French players to come "home."

Cue Habs Eyes on the Prize today, talking about better potential trading partners for Guillaume Latrendresse, who they recently shipped off to Minnesota. Now maybe I'm taking the out of context and maybe I'm making nothing about a simple passing idea from a Montreal hockey fan. But still, it seems worthy of a reference. After the jump, if you'd oblige.

How about the Philadelphia Flyers Claude Giroux, whose on a steady upward curve?

Latendresse would have fit in nicely with the Flyers, or would the John Leclair flashbacks have been too scary? Guillaume would have been their type of player, very much in the Tim Kerr mode.

The Flyers, who have been spinning their wheels of late, might have opted for such a shakeup rather than canning their coach.

Such a potential trade could have been sprinkled with a future consideration clause on both sides, based upon 2009 to 2011 production, with draft picks in the balance.

The Habs could also have gotten their mits on Daniel Briere as well, alleviating a million bucks a season over a five year term off the Flyers payroll in the process, by offering up Scott Gomez. I'm not a big Briere booster, but I see him as having more upside in a role with Montreal than Gomez at present.

I'll refrain comment and let you form an opinion on that one. Especially that first one. Latrendresse for Giroux. Yep.

Anyway, that's a tangent and there's a hockey game tonight. Montreal's a poor team, but the Flyers sit behind them in the standings. It's time for the orange and black to prove they aren't a poor team themselves, and that sentiment is going to grow if they can't turn this around as soon as possible.

Flyers Line Combinations - slight changes, Briere and Giroux swap spots; Cote in for Carcillo.

Hartnell – Richards – Giroux
JVR – Carter – Briere
Laperriere – Pyorala – Asham
Cote – Kalinski – Nodl

Questions To Answer

Elements of the slump bust: power play. Can they turn it around?
Element two: goaltending. How does Boucher perform?
Element three: lifeless hockey. The Flyers have looked lazy for weeks. Does that stop?
Element four: the system. Is it obvious that Laviolette has already put in some tweaks to the offense, and if said tweaks are obvious, do they seem to work?

Starting Goaltenders

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
PHI - Brian Boucher	7	357	2	4			15	2.52	170	155	.912	0

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
MTL - Carey Price	21	1234	8	10			57	2.77	653	596	.913	0

As mentioned above, the game tonight is on The Comcast Network (ch. 8 for most, ch. 201 in HD) and on the air at 1210 WPHT. Join us here for the discussion and LET'S GO FLYERS!

Holiday Special: The Top Secret Thrashers Christmas List.

aaron b — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:07:16 -0000

In a massive coup for our writing team, our BWA spies have secured a copy of a very important document – Santa's Christmas list for our very own Atlanta Thrashers. At the risk of ruining the holidays for these players, we present it here for you in it's entirety.

via c cbssportsstore.com

Rick Dudley - 4,524 travel mugs. He's pretty hard on them.

Don Waddell - A mind-control device programmed to operate only on Jay Grossman.

John Anderson - 40 minutes of effort to match the 20 minutes he already has.

The Atlanta Sprit Group - Hawks at 12-5. Thrashers at 14-7-3. Miley Cyrus just played at Philips. What else could they possibly want?!?

Rich Peverley – A permanent ban on any questions including the phrases "Ex-ECHLer" and "waiver-wire". Oh, and will somebody pay this guy some attention, please?

Ilya Kovalchuk – Ten years, one hundred million dollars in Atlanta. And a Kindle. I bet he doesn't have one of those yet.

via komplettie.files.wordpress.com

Maxim Afinogenov - At least three more years in Thrasher blue next to Ilya Kovalchuk.

Nik Antropov - A goal. For the love of all that is good and true, a freakin goal.

Toby Enstrom - A noble steed to match his flowing mane.

Evander Kane - About 35 more pounds of muscle.

Slava Kozlov – A nice crocheted sweater that says "NOT VIKTOR."

Zach Bogosian - Call of Duty strategy guide (Bryan wins too much) and some sweet rims for his ride.

Pavel Kubina - Hey, he's not a Maple Leaf anymore; what else does he want?

Todd White – Quicken 2010/TurboTax 2010 value bundle. And some sedatives. Can't have him getting too wild.

Bryan Little – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and some new Xbox controllers (Zach keeps breaking them).

Marty Reasoner – Custom "The PARTY is HERE!" t-shirt and matching trucker cap.

Colby Armstrong - A nap.

Kari Lehtonen - One of those back massage thingys they have at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Ron Hainsey - Product. Lots and lots of hair product.

Chris Thorburn - Some recognition for the tireless charity work this guy does. (srsly)

Anssi Salmela - The removal of the sign above his locker that says "The Guy We Got For Nic Havelid."

Christoph Schubert - Schnitzel and The Best of Mike Meyers on SNL. I guess he's likes the "Sprockets" sketches.

Eric Boulton - PunchOut for Nintendo Wii, and a nice display case for Riley Cote's dignity.

Mark Popovic – Something to get the smell of borscht out of his gameday suit.

Johan Hedberg – Bah, he'll be happy with any kind of Spongebob something-or-other.

Ondrej Pavelec - A helmet that stays on.

Jim Slater - His recycling merit badge (finally).

From Chris to Oskars: Meet Your Philadelphia Flyers 2010 Olympic Hopefuls

Travis Hughes — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:40:04 -0000

Chris Pronger skates for Team Canada at the Salt Lake City games in 2002.

View full size photo »

If you ever poke around at the new SBNation.com (and if you don't, then what are you doing with your life?), you've no doubt noticed SBN Hockey's running feature over the last week or so. Each site on the network has taken a look at their respective team, noting which players are locks to make their national teams and which players have outside chances at traveling to Vancouver next month.

While most of the Flyers are Canadian -- seriously, it's absurd the number of Canadians on this roster -- and will have trouble cracking a stacked roster, there are some who will make it. Of course, there are also other players who will make the squad in other countries, and you might be surprised at who has a shot.

After the jump, we'll break down the Flyers roster and see who has a chance at representing their country in Vancouver this February.

Team Canada

The pressure is on for the host country. After a disappointing showing in 2006 at Turin that saw Canada come home without a medal, anything less than the gold will be unacceptable north of the border.

Chris Pronger: There's absolutely no doubt that Pronger will be representing Canada in Vancouver. He's an experienced Olympian, winning the gold with Canada at Salt Lake City in 2002. He also played for his country in the 2006 Turin games and the 1998 Nagano games, as well as in the 1997 World Championships and the 1993 World Junior Championships. Pronger, along with former Anaheim teammate Scott Niedermayer, will be expected to lead the Canadian blueline. Packing His Bags.
Mike Richards: It's hard to see how Canada could keep Richards off the roster. The captain of the Canadian team that won the World Junior Championship in 2005, Richards has played internationally on three different occasions. Packing His Bags.
Jeff Carter: While not as strong a lock as Richards, Carter still has a very strong shot at making the team this year. He's versatile, obviously proven in the NHL, and he's got international experience, winning the WJC gold with Richards in '05. A Solid Bet.
Simon Gagne: It appears that Gagne will be held out by injury. He was probably about as likely to make the team as Carter prior to sustaining his injury during the Flyers season, but considering he won't be playing hockey when Team Canada announces their roster this month, it's hard to imagine Gagne will get another chance to represent his country. It's a shame, too, considering he played for Canada in the 2006 and 2002 Games. Staying Home.
Also staying home: Arron Asham, Blair Betts, Danny Briere, Dan Carcillo, Riley Cote, Claude Giroux, Ray Emery, Scott Hartnell, Ian Laperriere, Jon Kalinski, Darroll Powe, Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parent

Team USA

USA is expected to ice a much younger team than they have in recent Olympic games. Only six players over the age of 30 were invited to their summer camp, and there's no guarantee that all of those players will make the team. Guys like Chris Chelios, Keith Tkachuk, and Brian Rolston were left out of camp as general manager Brian Burke tries to create a younger team that can bring USA Hockey back to the summit.

There are only three Americans on the Flyers roster. They'll announce the roster on NBC during the Winter Classic.

James van Riemsdyk: JVR wasn't invited to USA's summer camp and he wasn't even expected to make the Flyers this season. But to say the 19-year-old has been impressive in the early stages of his pro career is an understatement, and there's no doubt he's at least opened some eyes with the USA brass. Will that get him a roster spot, though? It's tough to say. It's true that the youth movement on the team is here to stay, but it might be a little too early for JVR. He's got a lot of other players to beat out, but he deserves consideration and he'll likely get it. 50/50.
Matt Carle: He wasn't invited to the summer orientation camp either, but when you lead NHL defenseman in plus/minus, you'll open some eyes as well. He'd be a dark horse candidate for sure, and he could be dismissed as a player padded by playing with Chris Pronger. But when you look at some of the other players that attended the summer camp -- Tom Gilbert, Ron Hainsey, Mike Komisarek, Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, -- you could see Carle getting a spot over some of those guys. A Possibility.
Staying home: Brian Boucher

Team Finland

Led by goaltender Antero Niittymaki, Finland won the silver medal at Turin in 2006, beating Canada in the process. They aren't favorites to medal in Vancouver, but to say they couldn't surprise would be severely underestimating the Fins.

Kimmo Timonen: Kimmo is an absolute lock for Team Finland. He's their best defenseman, no doubt. There's really not much else to say. He's to Finland as he is to the Flyers -- a solid rock of a defenseman that can be counted on to play huge minutes. Packing His Bags.
Mika Pyorala: He made the preliminary roster over the summer, and making the Flyers certainly helps his chances to make the Olympic roster. He's not a lock at this point, but general manager Jari Kurri has been to Philadelphia to watch Pyorala play and has said good things about his play -- "he's a smart player at both ends of the ice," "you know what you are getting with him." Solid endorsements. Wouldn't Be Surprised.
Former Flyers To Watch: Antero Niittymaki, Joni Pitkanen, Ossi Vaananen, Sami Kapanen

Team Latvia

Probably the weakest team in the Olympics, NHL.com didn't even bother to preview them in their series over the summer. It's understandable, though. They have very little NHL talent on their roster, but one of those players does play for Philadelphia.

Oskars Bartulis: Even as an AHL player, Bartulis was one of the best Latvian players in North America. Now that he's in the NHL and playing solidly, it seems as though Bartulis will suit up for his country in February. He's played in pre-tournament games for Latvia, but didn't play in the World Championships. Things have changed now that he's made the jump to the NHL, and you can be sure that the Latvian brass won't let Bartulis go unnoticed. A Strong Bet.

Team Norway

They surprised by qualifying for Olympics, but could they stage an upset or two? There is only one Norwegian in the NHL. He plays in Philadelphia.

Ole-Kristian Tollefsen: Tollefsen has been injured for most of the season, but he is expected to be fine by February, so it would be an utter shock if he wasn't named to Team Norway. Packing His Bags.
Former Flyers To Watch: Patrick Thoresen

Team Sweden

Former Flyers To Watch: Peter Forsberg