On the way home from work tonight, I was listening to 610 WIP ...and they reported that Simon Gagne will be in the lineup against the Rangers?

I didn't see anything on the front the page or another post about this, so I'm posting it.

If he is dressed for the game, how long do you think it will be before he's on the shelf again? one and done? or do you think he's fully heeled and will be able to return to "Simon Gagne"?

I know the Flyers are desperate to get on a roll and climb back into the race for the cup...but, well I was kind of hoping that Betts, Powe, and Gagne would hold off coming back until the Olympic Break. That would give the Flyers a long break to get down to business will Laviolette...and get heeled for the final sttretch of the season.

I did not see the entire Pittsburgh game.

But, now that the 6 - 1 loss is in the books; the Flyers have now allowed 6 Short-handed goals on the season!

Three of the shorties against have come during the Laloviette era, which is only 7? games old.

It's one thing if the Power Play is cold and goes like 0 for 25, and ya say well they just can't score. But, it's like, not only are they struggling to score on the Power Play..but they are being scored on.

For a team that did so well the last few seasons in preventing Shorties! How come they are giving up so many?

They are suppose to be better Defensively, right?

So, Why? any ideas?

**and on a side note: is it me or does it feel whenever the Flyers bring the puck into their offensive zone (whether they are at even strength or on the Power Play) the opponent just outnumbers them in personal. Like one of the Flyers skates into the offensive zone with the puck, and the other team has anywhere from 3 to all 5 players to gang up on him and there's never any Flyer for him to pass the puck too. So, he either gets a weak shot off, dumps it & turns the puck over or just gets his pocket picked.

Then when the opponent brings the puck into the Flyers' Defensive zone, the Flyers seem to not have enough personal.

Which is odd, because with the exception of tonights game, the Flyers normally out shoot their opponents...but they still seem to go through stretches where they just can't set any offense up. Is it the way they go about their line changing as opposed to the other?

I apologize to the board for this being my second post within 24 hours, but after watching tonights game - I thought I'd bring it up.

So, far this season the Flyers have had to defend against 10, 5-on-3's this season and have successfully killed off 8.

On the flip side, the Flyers have only had a crack at 3, 5-on-3 advantages and have only converted once. The most recent, being in tonights game against the Bruins, where the Flyers had 1:12 to work with.

Fortunately for the Flyers, tonight, the inability to convert on that two man advantage didn't come back to bite them, as their failed attempt against Ottawa did.

5-on-3's are rare and unlike a normal power play, which is commonly a full 2-minutes, they can range anywhere from a few seconds to a full 2-minutes. Now if a team gets 10-seconds of a two man advantage, then it's understandable if they don't convert, before the first penalty expires. But, if a team has a minute or more of 5-on-3, they should score! Especially with the kind of talent the Philadelphia Flyers have.

When I watched the Flyers 5-on-3 PP tonight, it was about as dull as a plastic butter knife. They set up in the "umbrella". Timonen was in the middle at the top, and a Forward at the top of the circle to his left, and Pronger at the top of the circle to his right. The Forward & Timonen would play catch, and then Timonen would pass the Puck to Pronger and he'd one time it (and his shot got blocked). They reset and tried the one timer again, blocked! Then Again..blocked! And eventually Boston gobbled up the puck and sent it down the ice. Matter of fact I can't even remember if the Flyers got one shot on goal, I bet Tim Thomas didn't even break a sweat. All three Bruins on the ice didn't have to move much out of that Triangle.

On a regular Power Play (5 on 4), if you lined up the players from each team. The short-handed team can place a skater across from 4 of the skaters on the other team, leaving one uncovered. However the short-handed team still has their goalie, so the one player uncovered would still have to beat the goalie.

On a 5-on-3, if you lined up the players from each team. The Short-handed team can place a skater across from 3 of the skaters on the Power Play team, leaving 2 uncovered. This gives that Power Play team the opportunity to out number the goalie! If they have over 1-minute of a two man advantage, they should patiently play without the puck and pass it around, until the goalie is outnumbered and all you need is a tap in, as opposed to trying a big blast & hope for a rebound.

The Flyers had very little movement away from the puck, and the 5-on-3 PP, didn't involve the two Fowards that were playing closer to the net.

I am happy the Flyers won tonight, but when they get the opportunity with a 5-on-3, they need to capitalize. Those are huge missed opportunities.

Hey, just sharing a stat sheet, both on the Last 5 Games (Leloviette's debut) and how the Flyers have shaped after 30 Games

Last 5 Games

Penalties: 32 (6.4 per game; 2 Fighting-Majors; 1 Game-Misconduct; 1 Misconduct; 1 Major; 1 Double-Minor; 26 Minors)

Penalty Kill: 20 for 28 (71%) (1 Short-handed Goal Scored); 5-on-3 PK (0:45 combined): 1 for 2 (50%); Major PK: 0 for 1 (allowing 2 goals)

Power Play: 4 for 19 (21%) (1 Short-Handed Goal Against); 5-on-3 (1:46): 0 for 1 (0%)

Face-Offs: 270 (54 per game)

Fece-Offs Won: 141 (28 per game)

Face-Off %: 52%

Give Aways:  41 (8.2 per game)

Take Aways: 38 (7.6 per game)

Hits: 47 (9.4 per game)

Blocked Shots: 60 (12 per game)

Shots Against: 120 (24 per game)

Shots For: 134 (26.8 per game)

Goaltenders

#29 Ray Emery: (1 game) 12 for 17 (Save %: .706; Wins: 0; Shut-Outs: 0; GAA: 10.00)

#33 Brian Boucher: 89 for 102 (Save %: .933; Wins: 1; Shut-Outs: 0; GAA: 3.20)

Goalies Combined: 101 for 119 (Save %: .849; Wins: 1; Shut-Outs: 0; GAA: 3.60)

Goals Against: 19 (3.8 per game)

Goals For: 10 (2.0 per game)

RECORD: 1 - 4 - 0

Points: 2 (out of 10)

AFTER 30 Games

Penalties: 200 (6.7 per game; 26 Fighting-Majors; 4 Misconducts; 2 Game-Misconducts; 2 Majors; 166 Minors)

Penalty Kill: 106 for 135 (78%) (2 Short-Handed Goals Scored); 5-on-3 PK (11:52 combined): 8 for 10 (80%); Majors: 1 for 2 (50%) (2 goals against)

Power Play: 27 for 129 (19%) (4 Short-Handed Goals Allowed); 5-on-3 PP (2:06 combined): 1 for 2 (50%); Majors (6:00): 0 for 2 (0%)

Face-Offs: 1,800 (60 per game)

Face-Offs Won: 890 (29 per game)

Face-Off %: 49.4%

Give Aways: 234 (7.8 per game)

Take Aways: 223 (7.4 per game)

Hits: 497 (16.6 per game)

Blocked Shots: 449 (15 per game)

Shots Against: 838 (27.9 per game)

Shots For: 944 (31.5 per game)

Goaltenders

#29 Ray Emery: 517 for 574 (Save %: .901; Wins: 11; Shut-Outs: 1; GAA: 2.83)

#33 Brian Boucher: 234 for 259 (Save %: .933; Wins: 3; Shut-Outs: 0; GAA: 2.53)

Goalies Combined: 751 for 833 (Save %: .902; Wins: 14; Shut-Outs: 1; GAA: 2.73)

Goals Against: 86 (2.87 per game)

Goals For: 85 (2.83 per game) (Flyers have been Shut-out...3 or 4 times?)

TEAM LEADERS

Minor Penalties: #19 Scott Hartnell with 19

Fighting Majors: #14 Ian Laperriere with 8

Face-Off Attempts: #17 Jeff Carter with 551 (Over 500: 2; Over 200: 1; Over 100: 2; Under 30: Rest of Team)

Face-Off Wins: #17 Jeff Carter with 284

Face-Off %: #42 Jared Ross (54%) **Note, of Flyers with a quality number of attempts: Mike Richards leads at 52%**

Give Aways: #5 Braydon Coburn with 29 (Note of the top 4 on the team; 3 of them are defensemen: Coburn, Pronger, and Carle)

Take Aways: #28 Claude Giroux with 24

Hits: #14 Ian Laperriere with 66

Blocked Shots: #20 Chris Pronger with 78

Shots: #17 Jeff Carter with 134

Plus/Minus: #25 Matt Carle with +12 (this is come way down, from +18 ten games ago); #48 Danny Briere is at the bottom with a -8

Assists: #20 Chris Pronger with 16

Goals: #18 Mike Richards with 13

OVERALL RECORD: 14 - 15 - 1 (Winning %: .467)

Standings-Points: 29 (out of a possible 60)

Division: Last Place

Conference: Tied at 2nd to Last with the Leafs

INJURIES

This team is just loaded with players that are either injured or suspended.

Carcillo is suspended, while Gagne, Betts, Powe, Ross, Tollefsen still?, and now Coburn & Emery out with injuries.

Danny Briere, Brian Boucher, JVR, Asham, and Parent have all missed games this season due to injuries or suspensions.

Coburn & Timonen

The Flyers have given up 86 goals this season. Coburn has been on the ice for 44 of them. Timonen for 46 of them. and they've been on the ice together for 38 of those 86 goals scored against.

It looks like Coburn might be out with an injury. But, no two Flyers have hurt the team more than these two.

The New Coach

I don't get why Stevens was fired. With all the injuries, and the Salary Cap being what it is. All these replacement players need time to develop and that's what Stevens is good at - developing players. Also Stevens has showed the ability to coach this team out of slumps. Just like everyone else, I wanna ring the players neck too for their play as of late....but, in reallity you need a calm & relaxed personality to help get them out of a slump. You want the firey personality when they are on a roll.

Stevens Special Teams (both PK & PP) have been in the top 10.

This Peter Leloviette has done nothing impressive yet. The team isn't very aggressive anymore, matter of fact I'd say they are Soft. They continue to be undesciplined. The PK nor PP have gotten better, in fact I think they've gotten worse.

General Manager: Paul Holmgren

While the Stevens firing is water under the bridge now. It seems to me Holmgren made the move to cover his own self.

No doubt that he assembled a good team (or at least the potential to have a good team). But, he also assembled an expensive one.

No one can predict injuries or how many a team will suffer over the coarse of the season. But, you can be prepared for them. This is where the Salary Cap comes into play, and apparently what Holmgren doesn't get.

This is the second season in a row where injuries are going to effect the roster.

Last season when Briere got injured .. the team got on a roll and suddenly, due to their limited cap space..they had to waive Glenn Metropolit (who was in rhythm and playing well enough that it took pressure off of the top guys - like Carter & Richards) and trade Scottie Upshall (who was also in rhythm).

Now this season, it looks as if the team may have to make a major move, that could not only effect the roster..but, perhaps even effect the Nucleus. Over the past week I've heard both Carter and Hartnell's name appear in trade suggestions. Especially now that a Goalie (the most expensive position in hockey) is needed.

I don't like the way this season has turned out or the direction it's heading...but Holmgren needs to look in the mirror and maybe resign. I don't know if Albert Einstein could figure out the Flyers situation.

Start the post off with a stat sheet of the last 5 games (it's ugly)

Penalties: 38 (7.6 per game; 9 Fighting-Majors; 0 Game-Misconducts; 2 Misconducts; 0 Majors; 1 double-minor; 26 minors)

Penalty Kill: 19 for 22 (86%) (5-on-3 PK (1:40 combined): 2 for 2 (100%))

Power Play: 2 for 17 (11%) (5-on-3 PP (0:14 combined): 0 for 1 (0%); (Majors (6:00 combined): 0 for 2 (0%))

Face-Offs: 304 (61 per game)

Face-Offs Won: 149 (30 per game)

Face-Off %: 49%

Give Aways: 39 (7.8 per game)

Take Aways: 56 (11.2 per game)

Hits: 84 (16.8 per game)

Blocked Shots: 69 (13.8 per game)

Shots Against: 132 (26.4 per game)

Shots For: 167 (33.4 per game)

#29 Ray Emery: 34 for 32 (Save %: .809; Wins: 0; GAA: 6.00)

#33 Brian Boucher: 84 for 90 (Save %: .933; Wins: 1; GAA: 1.75)

Goaltenders Combined: 118 for 132 (Save %: .894; Wins: 1; GAA: 3.00)

Goals Against: 14 (2.8 per game)

Goals For: 8 (1.6 per game!)

RECORD: 1 - 4 - 0 (Overall: 13 - 11 - 1 or 13 -12....they are one game above .500)

Fourth Place in Atlantic Division; 10th place in Eastern Conference

As for the title of my post. This team has a lot of talent, but so far this season they are playing like bums. Despite their play, I think I have to give John Stevens a pass. Due to injuries & suspensions, If you look at what Stevens has to work with, most of his players right now are either rookies (JVR, Pyorala, Laliberte, Bartulis, Syvret) in their second year (Giroux, Nodl, Ross), non-scorers (Asham, Laperriere, Carcillo), or Riley Cote. So, Stevens is faced with having to develop these newbies and figure out the best way to use them AND avoid falling too far behind.

Perhaps the 10-game losing streak, comes early this season.

"Biron" & "Nittymaki" 

Here we go again with the Goaltending. Like the past 2 seasons, the "number 1" is being out played by the "number 2". Boucher has given the Flyers a chance to win, in his last few starts. Emery on the other hand has given up 8 goals in his last 2 starts; 4 of his 8 goals against came in roughly 30-minutes of playing time.

If the Flyers are going to dig out of this slump, the goalies are going to have to go out and steal games, while the gimpy get healthy.

Fanning on the Puck

Is it me or do the Flyers have problems here? not just shooting, but with clearing pucks and pass attempts as well...they swing their sticks at the puck and they don't hit it crisply and it ends up traveling no where.

Power Play

The Flyers seem to have trouble keeping the puck in the attacking zone here. Especially when they "miss". (what I mean by "miss", is they create a scoring chance, but don't score..like the goalie makes a save, or they miss the net, their shot gets blocked, or they fan on it..etc.). Usually when they "miss", then they don't retrieve the puck and keep it under control in the attacking zone. The other team pounces on it and is able to send it down the ice, and send the Flyers in transition. Once the PK team can get the Flyers in transition then it takes them forever to get the Power Play reset before the penalty expires. When the PK team successfully "ices" the puck, it takes roughly 10 to 15 seconds to retrieve the puck, gain the centerline, carry or dump it in the zone (w/o being called offsides), fight for possession and then set up the Power Play. Usually the PK team gains control of the puck and is able to ice it, before the Power Play team can gain the attacking-blue line. Then the process repeats itself.

The players on the "point" are the key to keeping the puck inside the attacking zone. And for the Flyers, in most cases, it seems to me, the point man/men are never "home" when the puck comes out to the point.

The Penalty Kill is the opposite, the key to a successful PK is to get the puck out of the zone and send the Power Play team into "transition".

Well anyway, I can see there are posts already about 2010/2011... I wonder if Allen Iverson can skate? The Flyers need a scorer

The Flyers have reached the Quarter-Mark of the season....this is a stat track post of both the last 5 games and after 20 games.

LAST 5 GAMES (Buf, NJ, @LA, @SJ, @Phx)

Penalties: 35 (2 Fighting-Majors, 0 Game Misconducts, 0 Misconducts, 0 Majors, 1 Double-Minor, 32 Minors, 7 penalties per game) - Compared to the previous 5 games, Fighting Majors are down & Minor Penalties are up

Special Teams

Penalty Kill: 18 for 26 (69%) **1 Short-Handed Goal**; 5-on-3 PK: (facing 2:24 combined) 1 for 2 (50%) - Compared to 80% Kill over the previous 5 games, the PK is down

Power Play: a pathetic 2 for 16 (12%) (including 0 for 8 in the last 2 games) **1 Short-Handed Goal Against** - Compared to 26% conversion over the previous 5 games

Face-Offs

Attempts: 292 (58 per game)

Won: 146 (29 per game)

Percent: 50% (down from the previous 5 games)

Turnovers, Hits, & Blocks

Give Aways: 42 (8.4 per game) (even with previous 5 games)

Take Aways:  24 (4.8 per game) (down from previous 5 games)

Hits: 123 (24.6 per game) (up from previous 5 games)

Blocked Shots: 90 (18 per game) (up from previous 5 games)

Shooting, Scoring & Goaltending

Shots Against: 149 (29.8 per game) (down from previous 5 games)

Shots For: 139 (27.8 per game) (way down from previous 5 games)

#29 Ray Emery: 96 for 109 (Save %: .881; Wins: 1; Shut-Outs: 0; GAA: 3.25) (not a good stretch for Sugar Ray)

#33 Brian Boucher: (1 game) 37 for 39 (Save %: .948; Wins: 1; Shut-Outs: 0; GAA: 2.00)

Goaltenders Combined: 133 for 148 (Save %: .899; Wins: 2; Shut-Outs: 0; GAA: 3.00)

Goals Against: 16 (3.2 per game) (way up from the 1.4 per game in the previous 5)

Goals For: 12 (2.4 per game) (way down from the 4.6 per game in the previous 5)

RECORD: 2 - 3 - 0 (Winning %: .400)

Points: 4 (out of a possible 10)

AFTER 20 GAMES (The Quarter-Mark)

Penalties: 130 (15 Fighting-Majors, 1 Misconduct, 1 Game-Misconduct, 1 Major, 102 Minors; 6.5 penalties per game)

Special Teams

Penalty Kill: 67 for 85 (79%) **1 Short-Handed Goal Scored**; 5-on-3 (9:27 combined): 6 for 7 (86%); Majors: 1 for 1 (100%)

Power Play: 21 for 90 (23%) **3 Short-Handed Goals Allowed**; 5-on-3: 1 for 1 (100%); Majors: 0 for 0 (0%) (yes Flyers have had only one crack at a 5-on-3 all season long)

Face-Offs

Attempts: 1,226 (61 per game)

Won: 600 (30 per game)

Percent: 48.9%

Turnovers, Hits, & Blocks

Give Aways: 154 (7.7 per game)

Take Aways: 129 (6.4 per game)

Hits: 366 (18.3 per game)

Blocked Shots: 320 (16 per game)

Shooting, Scoring, & Goaltending

Shots Against: 586 (29.3 per game)

Shots For: 648 (32.1 per game)

#33 Brian Boucher: (2 games) 61 for 67 (Save %: .910; Wins: 1; Shut-Outs: 0, GAA: 3.00)

#29 Ray Emery:  471 for 515 (Save %: .915; Wins: 11; Shut-Outs: 1; GAA: 2.42)

Goaltenders Combined: 532 for 582 (Save %: .914; Wins: 12; Shut-Outs: 1; GAA: 2.50)

Goals Against: 53 (2.65 per game)

Goals For: 67 (3.3 per game)

Injuries (Players that have missed games due to injury; Bold indicates players currently out with injuries)

Brian Boucher, Blair Betts, Simon Gagne, James Van Riemsdyk, Danny Briere, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Darroll Powe, Arron Asham, Ryan Parent

TEAM LEADERS

Fights: Ian Laperriere with 6

Minor Penalties: Braydon Coburn & Scott Hartnell with 10

Face-Off Attempts: Jeff Carter with 370 (300+: 2 (Richie & Carter); 200+: 1 (Betts); 100+: 2 (Pyorala & Giroux); Rest of Team: 30 or less)

Face-Offs Won: Jeff Carter with 187

Face-Off %: Mike Richards with 52% (Blair Betts percentage has dropped like a fly to 49%)

Give Aways: Braydon Coburn with 21

Take Aways: Claude Giroux with 15

Hits: Ian Laperriere & Darroll Powe tied with 45

Blocked Shots: Chris Pronger with 62 (no one else on the team is close)

Shots on Goal: Jeff Carter with 88

Assists: Chris Pronger with 14

Goals: Mike Richards with 9

Plus/Minus: Matt Carle with +18; Braydon Coburn, Danny Briere, & Danny Syvret are at the bottom with -3.

OVERALL RECORD: 12 - 7 - 1 (Winning %: .600)

Standing Points: 25 (out of 40)

Division: Third Place

Playoff Picture: (Tied with Ottawa for 5th Seed) * The Devils currently own the 4th Seed*

COMMENTS

Danny Briere: With #48 in the lineup the Flyers are 8 - 8 on the season (.500 club)

Coburn & Timonen: For awhile there both seemed to be picking it up, their plus/minus have dipped from -9 & -10 respectively to -3 and -1 over the course of the past 10 games. However, of the last 11 goals against (Special Teams included) Timonen & Coburn have been on the ice for 5 of them, Coburn for 6 of them.

It's like "Cliff Lee" (Pronger & Carle) and "Cole Hamels" (Timonen & Coburn). "Hamels" was lights out prior to the arrival of "Cliff Lee", now inconsistancy has been a dark cloude hanging over the Flyers "Ace" defensive pairing.

DEPTH at Center

I wanted to write a whole post on this...

The Flyers are really thin at Center. Yes, they have 2 top quality Centers in Richards & Carter and a solid 4th line Veteran with Blair Betts (when he's in the lineup), but other than that there is no consistancy at the Center position. Giroux, Powe, Pyorala all have rotated as the third-line center, which neither have been really impressive at .Danny Briere is a seasoned Center, but Stevens prefers him as a Winger on one of the top 2 lines. Now that Betts (again) & Powe are out of the lineup, you now have voids at both the 3rd and 4th line centermen positions. Giroux is being plugged into a Centers role, and Pyorala is a rookie.

Over the course of the season, I felt the Flyers were missing something and after thinking about it...this is it, they are missing depth at Center, especially on the third line

Ray Emery

I also wanted to present this question...

Do you think, if it came down to it, Ray Emery could "Carry" the team...

You know ... like Martin Brodeur can "carry" the Devils, Roberto Luongo can "carry" the Canucks, Marc-Andre Fleury can "carry" the Penguins, Henrick Lundqvist can "carry" New York, Ryan Miller (when healthy) can "Carry" the Sabres, Evgeni Nabokov can "carry" San Jose.

If the answer is no.....and I'm not sure, if the team needed it, he could "carry" the team....then the team may just be mediocre.

What is everyones thought on the teams progress to this point?

This is just a "Rant and Rave" Post

This offseason, Flyers' General Manager: Paul Holmgren spent the offseason with the ambition to improve the Flyers defensively.

To take the "next step", the Flyers wanted to "tighten up" the D.

So, they've added new Goaltending: Ray Emery and Brian Boucher

Brought in new Defensemen: Chris Pronger, Ole-Krisitan Tollefsen

and new "Defensive" Forwards: Ian Laperriere & Blair Betts

This was done to add to the Flyers strong "Defensive" talent that was already on the team: Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn.

And subtracted the personal they've felt were hurting their defensive causes: Goalie Martin Biron, Defensemen Randy Jones...

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't defense in Ice Hockey, at its base, measured by the number of goals you give up? There's other catagories to measure defense: take aways, blocked shots, plus/minus, hits, saves, save%, shots against, etc. But, again, at its base...the measurement is goals against.

Now there's a lot more that goes into keeping goals off the board, besides those defensive catagories.

Face-offs: which is an issue that's been addressed quite a lot here at BSH. It's not just how often you win them, it can come down as to when and where you win them (or lose them). I don't beleive there are stats that break down how often a team wins/loss faceoffs in their own zone, neutral zone, attacking zone, etc. After icing calls, offside calls. But, winning a faceoff in your own zone gives your team the opportunity to breakout (this becomes even more crutial when short-handed). Winning face-offs in your opponents zone creates a scoring chance (especially on the power play). Face-offs won in the neutral zone, means you can either start a rush or chip into the opponents zone and get fresh legs on the ice. Face-offs allow you to gain or loss possession of the puck. It's hard for the other team to score when they don't have the puck.

With the Puck: What you do with the puck when you have it, can either aide your defensive efforts or put them in compromising positions. Give Aways (I wish there was a stat that seperated "forced turnovers" and "unforced turnovers" as well as turnovers in the different zones). Mishandles with the puck, telegraphed passes that get tipped or intercepted, mishandling a pass, fanning on the puck whether trying to pass it or shoot it. It's hard for the other team to score when they don't have the puck.

Penalties: When you take penalties yes it effects your ability to control the game and stop the other team from scoring. But, when the other team takes a penalty and you have the Power Play. The Power Play is not only an opportunity to score, but also an opportunity to keep the other team from scoring for 2-minutes.

other violations ,like offsides and icing, where you either ruin scoring chances or can't get fresh legs on the ice.

Positioning: Being out of position can effect your ability to stop the puck, like getting too deep in your zone. Leaving your area of the ice.

Awareness: Especially in your own zone when the other team has the puck, or when short-handed. Know where everyone on the other team is relative to both the goal and the puck.

The Flyers supposebly signed personal that would do all these little things that help keep the puck out of the Flyers goal. And only inhance the great scoring depth the Flyers have.

The thought was now the Flyers will be able to compete with the top teams of the NHL. They may not beat all of them, but they should beable to compete with them better than they have in the past.

Well apparently that's not the case.

The San Jose Sharks, may be a western conference team, but they are an NHL powerhouse and have been the last decade. This is one of the teams you'd think the Flyers could compete with. They may not beat them, but at least be able to compete with them, better than they have in the past.

Last season (with lesser "Defensive" personal). The Flyers faced San Jose twice and competed very well with them losing 2 games in over-time, I believe the final scores were like 5-4, 7-6. Giving up 12 goals in 2 games is a bit much, but they were able to score with them (scoring 10 goals in the two games). You'd figure with better "Defense" they'd be able to if not beat the Sharks, at least, keep the Sharks' scoring down. This season in 2 games the flyers with their "improved defense", have been outscored 10 to 4.

And it's the way they were dominated. Unforced Turnovers, Not clearing the "porch" for their goaltender (of the 6 goals scored against in last nights game, at least 3 were from point-blank rage). Forcing passes, not receiving passes, being outworked along the walls.  The Short-handed goal against, was a breakdown of fundamentals (you know with the Flyers "lesser D" last season, they gave up 1 shortie in 82 games; this season the much "improved D" has given up 3 in 19 games). Having 4 of your 5 skaters below the opposing teams goal line fighting for the puck is a mistake you expect to see 8 year olds make, not seasoned pros.

I hope the Flyers play smarter tonight, I hope they don't take the Phoenix Jets too lightly.

It's unfortunate, but the Flyers spent the offseason "improving their D" and through the first 19 games they haven't "improved on D". 

This is not meant to be a "stir the pot" post, just more of a "Food for thought"

Through the first 10 games the Flyers played, Danny Briere played in all of them and the team won half of those games. (Win-loss record of 5 - 5)

Then Briere suffered an injury and was scratched from the lineup for the next four games and the Flyers won all four (Win-loss record of 4 - 0).

Briere returns to the lineup and played in the last 2 games and the Flyers again win half (Win-loss record of 1 - 1).

I remember something like this happened last year, when the Flyers started off the season 0 - 3 - 3 (win-loss record of 0 - 6). Briere goes on the injury list and then the Flyers suddenly start to win consistantly.

I mean it's hard to complain about a guy who has scored 7 goals in 12 games played, but it's kind of ironic that Danny Briere parallels the inconsistancy.

Like he returned to the lineup and played well against Ottawa, and then against Buffalo, the team started the third period down 2 - 0 and then the Flyers get something going. They score to make the game 2 - 1, then get a power play opportunity that is suddenly wiped away when Briere gets a double minor for high-sticking. It was during Briere's penalty that the Sabres would score their 3 goal and put the game out of reach. And the Flyers go on to lose at home, against a team they thumped on the road.

I know Briere only plays one side of the ice....what do you think, about the Flyers inconsistancy mirroring Danny Briere?

Now the Flyers enter a stretch of games against some of the strongest teams in the NHL: New Jersey (who is not the same team you thumped 5 - 2 back in October; wow think about it, you thump Ryan Miller 5 - 2 on the road, then lose to them at home; you thump Martin Brodeur 5 - 2 on the road & now come home and possibly.....), Los Angeles (who are no push overs this season), San Jose (who the Flyers haven't beaten in at least the last 4 attempts), the Phoenix Jets (dangerous team), the Colorado Nordiques (playing very well), and then the New York Islanders (Ray Emery better watch out, Martin Biron will beat him up again).

The Flyers, who are currently 4 games over .500, could easily find themselves below .500 following these next stretch of games.

If someone else has posted any of this I'm sorry. I looked around and didn't see anything, so please forgive me.

This is just a progress report on some basic catagories on how the team is doing.

Penalties: 32 (6.4 per game; 6 Fighting-Majors, 0 Majors, 0 Misconducts, 0 Game-Misconducts, 26 Minors) *Penalties are up from previous 5 games*

Penalty Kill: 12 for 15 (80%); 5-on-3: 0 for 0 (0%) *No Shorties* 

Power Play: 6 for 23 (26%); 5-on-3: 0 for 0 (0%) (I believe the Flyers have had only 1 opportunity at a 5-on-3 advantage all season long) *No Shorties Allowed*

Face-Off Attempts: 289 (58 per game)

Face-Offs Won: 157 (31 per game)

Face-Off %: 54.3% (This is WAY up! from the last 5 games in which they were 46.8%)

Give Aways: 42 (8.4 per game) *up from the last five games*

Take Aways: 29 (5.8 per game) *about the same as the previous five games*

Hits: 81 (16.2 per game) *down from the last five games*

Blocked Shots: 84 (16.8 per game) *up from the last five games*

Shots Against: 152 (30.4 per game) *up from last five games*

Shots For: 159 (31.8 per game) *down from last five games*

#29 Ray Emery (Goaltending): 145 for 152 (Save %: .954, Wins: 5, Shut-outs: 0, GAA: 1.40) *Emery's numbers are much improved!*

Goals Against: 7 (1.4 per game) *Way down from the 3.2 per game from the last five games*

Goals For: 23 (4.6 per game) *Way up from the 2.6 per game from the last five games*

Record: 5 - 0 - 0

Points: 10 (out of a possible 10)

My own Observations

Mike Richards: Continues leading the team with 8 goals, but has only scored 1 goal since the Anaheim game (fifth game of the season)

Chris Pronger: I think so far this guy has been playing as advertised. He leads the team in Blocked Shots with 42 and Assists with 13. His Plus/Minus of +12 is second on the team, only to his partner Matt Carle. He leads defensemen in hits with 18. And he has 3 goals on the season (scoring 1 goal every 5 games so far).

Timonen & Coburn: Through the First 10 games, their Plus/Minus were like -9 & -10 (-19 combined). Since then, they've both played a lot better and have improved their Plus/Minus on the season to -3 for both. This Pairing needs to continue to improve and play the way they are capable of playing.

Simon Gagne & Danny Briere: When Simon Gagne's Team Canada injury finally caught up to him, I was initially worried because I remember the last time the Flyers lost Gagne to an injury, they lost 10 games straight.

As for Briere, I remember last year the team started off the season slow going 0-3-3 and as soon as Briere went down, the team started winning consistantly. Here we go again, Briere went down with an injury when they team was playing .500 hockey and suddenly they win 5 in a row. (I know Briere returned and played against the Senators..so the team won 4 in a row without his services).

Blair Betts: His return to the lineup has improved the Flyers Face-off %.

Overall Record

Record: 10 - 4 - 1 (10 - 5); Winning %: .667

Third Place in Division with 21 points!

If the playoffs started today they would have the fifth seed and be playing.....PITTSBURGH! (Can you believe the Devils are in first place?)

I haven't posted in quite awhile. But, this post isn't going to be a "stir the pot" post.

I looked around and the site and didn't see any of the following reported so, I am making this post to show where the team is at. So, please forgive me if I'm either raining on someone's parade or I overlooked a post.

This is just a stat report, some stats can be found on the site (like goals for/against, assists, plus/minus, etc. But other catagories like Face-offs, Turnovers, etc. I haven't found, so I'm just throwing everything together in my post here.

Last Five Games

Penalties: 24 (4.8 penalties per game; 4 Fighting-Majors; 1 Game-Misconduct; 1 Major; 18 Minor) *this is an improvement from the first 5 games*

Penalty Kill: 14 for 18 (78%) **no Short-Handed Goals** (This has declined from 88% through the first 5)

5-on-3 Penalty Kill (spent a combined 3:41 with 2-men down): 2 for 2 (100%)

Power Play: 4 for 18 (22%) **1 Short-Handed Goal Against** (This is down from 27% through the first 5)

5-on-3 Power Play: No opportunities

Face-Off Attempts: 331 (66 per game)

Face-Offs Won: 155 (31 per game)

Face-Off %: 46.8% (a very minor improvement from the first 5 where the team was 146 for 341: 46.5%)

Give Aways: 32 (6.4 per game) 

Take Aways: 30 (6 per game)

 Hits: 88 (17.6 per game)

Blocked Shots: 82 (16.4 per game)

Shots Against: 136 (27.2 per game)

Shots For: 185 (37 per game)

Goaltenders: 119 for 133 (Save %: .895; Wins: 2; Shut-outs: 0; GAA: 2.80)

Ray Emery: 95 for 105 (Save %: .905; Wins: 2; Shut-outs: 0; GAA: 2.50)

Goals Against: 16 (3.2 per game)

Goals For: 13 (2.6 per game)

Record: 2 - 3 - 0

Standing Points: 4 (out of a possible 10)

After 10 Games

Penalties: 63 (6.3 per game; 7 Fighting-Majors; 1 Misconduct; 1 Game-Misconduct; 1 Major; 53 Minor)

Penalty Kill: 37 for 44 (84%) **No Short-Handed Goals**

5-on-3 Penalty Kill (spent a combined 7:03 with 2-men down): 5 for 5 (100%)

Power Play: 13 for 51 (25%) **2 Short-Handed Goals Against**

5-on-3 Power Play: 1 for 1 (100%)

Face-Off Attempts: 645 (64 per game)

Face-Offs Won: 301 (29 per game)

Face-Off %: 46.7% (This needs drastic improvement)

Give Aways: 70 (7 per game)

Take Aways: 76 (almost 8 per game)

Hits:160 (16 per game)

Blocked Shots: 146 (almost 15 per game)

Shots Against: 285 (28.5 per game)

Shots For: 345 (34.5 per game)

Goaltenders: 254 for 282 (Save %: .901; Wins: 5; Shut-Outs: 1; GAA: 2.80)

Ray Emery: 230 for 254 (Starts: 9; Save %: .906; Wins: 5; Shut-Outs: 1; GAA: 2.62)

Goals Against: 30 (3 per game)

Goals For: 32 (3.2 per game)

Record: 5 - 4 - 1 (.500 winning %)

Standing-Points: 11 (out of a possible 20)

Team Leaders

Goals: Mike Richards with 6 (Keep in mind Richie & Carter have not scored in the last 5 games)

Assists: Matt Carle with 8

Plus/Minus: Matt Carle with +7 (Kimmo Timonen is the worst with -10; Coburn is right behind him with -9; Carter, Hartnell, & Briere are -5 each; Richie is -3)

Shots on Goal: Jeff Carter with 51

Fighting-Majors: Ian Laperriere with 4 (Riley Cote in 3 games has yet to find a dance partner)

Minor Penalties: Ole-Kristian Tollefsen with 6

Face-Off Attempts: Jeff Carter with 198 (Richie & Carter are the only Flyers with 100 or more FO Attempts; 5 Flyers have more than 50, including Blair Betts who has been out the past 7 games; All other Flyers have less than 25 FO attempts)

Face-Offs Won: Jeff Carter with 99

Face-Off %: Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, & Blair Betts are tied at 50% (No Flyer is better than 50% in the Face-off Circle)

Hits: Mike Richards with 12

Blocked Shots:  Kimmo Timonen with 15

Give Aways: Braydon Coburn with 12

Take Aways: Claude Giroux with 9

The Injury Bug

As it's been reported, Simon Gagne's injury with Team Canada has finally comeback to haunt him. Since Briere's arrival to the Flyers, the team has not had Briere & Gagne healthy for an entire season. The injury is the explanation for Gagne's lack luster in offensive production. However people should recognize how his defensive play will have the greatest impact and that is what will be sorely missed, he is one of the few Flyers with a Plus/Minus above 0 (+2).

Goaltending

There's nothing at all to be impressed with here. Emery has been ok. I think there's a lot of room for improvement here.

John Stevens

The ability to play with the lead is again continuing to haunt the team. Out of 10 games played, the Flyers have only trailed from begining to end in 2 games, the Pittsburgh & San Jose games. The Flyers have had only 2 games in which they've gotten the lead and protected it for the remainder of the game: the Caroline and New Jersey games. That means there have been 6 games in which the Flyers had at least 1 lead at some point during the game; of those 6 games the Flyers have won 3 of them. Remember how the Flyers had a 2 - 0 lead in last nights game against Washington, ahh the memories?

The play with the lead is still troubling the Flyers. And even with the new Goaltending & upgrade at the Defensemen positions, this is still a problem.

In general the Flyers are struggling to keep the opponents from scoring. For a team that's suppose to be better on Defense, it's certainly not showing.

Face-offs: This was a concern coming into this season and the team overall is 46% (so there isn't any improvement here). The team captain, Mike Richards, is something like a pathetic 46%. I wish there was a stat for this, but from my own observations both Richards & Carter (Who lead the team in Face-off attempts) get kicked out of the circle an awful lot. which may contribute a lot to the poor performances here. Winning Face-offs would contrbute a lot to keeping the puck out of their own net, and protecting leads. It's hard for the opponent to score when they don't have the puck!

The Special Team units aren't all that impressive, except 5-on-3. The team that lead the league in both Short-Handed goals for & Short-Handed Goals Against last season, has yet to score a shortie and has given up 2 shorties.

How long until John Stevens gets canned? I mean Pittsburgh canned their coach last season and went on to win the cup.

Coburn & Timonen

Two years ago this Defensive Pairing was very good. They've reunited this season, but the results aren't there. Together they are a combined -19. Timonen has the worst Plus/Minus on the team at -10 & Coburn leads the team in turnovers. Since Tollefsen has joined the lineup, I'd dare say that the pairing of Tollefsen & Syvret/Parent has even out played Timonen & Coburn (although that may not be a fair assessment, since Coburn & Timonen are usually going up against the best players on the other team).

Do you split them up? or give them the opportunity to try and recapture the chemistry they had 2 seasons ago?

Where they sit now

A Team with such high expectations coming into the season, has not lived up to them. I for one had (phrasing the late-great Harry Kalas) "High Hopes".

I got chastized for calling them forever .500's...but after 10-games they are exactly that. .500

Road Record: 2 - 2

Home Record: 3 - 3

Over-all: 5 - 5 (well 5 - 4 - 1, but that Ducks' game was still a loss)

Standing-Points: 11 (out of a possible 20; that's close to 50%)

Fourth Place in the Atlantic

Eighth Place in the Conference

Keep in mind, even though the "lowely" Islanders only have 1 win on the season, they have 7 points (5 over-time losses), so the Flyers are 4 points away from last place.

Eddie Snider is probably writing his pink-slip as I'm typing this.

Editor's Note: Small portions of this FanPost have been edited to comply with the community guidelines.

Ok, they may not be Cellar Dwellars as I originally predicted (although it's a long season, one just never knows). The Flyers thus far are playing like a .500 Hockey club.

It has only been 5 games (1/16th of the season) and the team is 3 - 1 - 1 (one win above .500), sitting in third place in the Atlantic and holding onto the 5th seed in the conference (at this point, Pittsburgh is holding the 4th seed).

Long before the season started, I claimed there was 3 Keys to the Flyers reaching the promise land. This is a look at those three, after the first 5 games.

1. Health

The Flyers have to stay healthy to be successful.

Simon Gagne - suffered a groin injury prior to training camp, while trying out for Team Canada. He hasn't missed a regular season game thus far, despite having 3 assists and a +3 (his +/- is tied for second best on the team with Chris Pronger, only Matt Carle's is better at +4) you have to wonder if the groin is bothering him at all

Brian Boucher - the back-up Goaltender, was injured during the preseason and has yet to see game action here in the regular season. If he's not at a point to where he is capable of playing (and playing effectively), that means starting Goaltender, Ray Emery, will be having to play a lot of minutes and you wonder how that may fair towards his conditioning once the post-season arrives.

Blair Betts - got hurt as soon as he got his 1-year deal. The Face-off specialist is lost for at least a month. When he's ready to comeback, you wonder how long it will take for him to shake off the rust and get used to the speed of the game again. He is an NHL veteran, but defense is the name of his game, and if he can't be effective defensively then what should the team do with him?

James Van Riemsdyk - the rookie sensation got injured, just three games into the season.  It's too bad, because he was playing pretty well.

Someone pointed this out in another thread - but, the Flyers haven't won a game since Blair Betts & JVR went down.

2. Goaltending

Defense wins championships.

(Stating the obvious) In Ice Hockey, Goaltending, is the last line of Defense.

So, far, the new Goaltender, Ray Emery. Well after his last 2-games, I think the Flyers need a new "Razor Blade".

For Emery has dulled quickly. Although his numbers aren't bad through the first 5 games, his play has become very shaky, ever since getting burned by Jamie Langenbrunner.

Emery's overall numbers:

Shots Against: 149; Saves: 135; Save %: .909; Goals Allowed: 14; Goals Against Average 2.75; Wins: 3; Shut-outs: 1

His numbers aren't bad, but he needs to be a lot better if the Flyers are going to make it to the promise land. Especially the way the team has so many defensive breakdowns. Of the Flyers 14 goals against, 6 of them have been the result of a breakaway (This is not counting the Selanne Shoot out goal). His goaltending has been so awful against breakaways, that it feels like an automatic goal against whenever the opposing team creates a breakway.

3. John Stevens

The team has stayed fairly healthy thus far. And the goaltending has been ok. But, it's going to be on John Stevens to put these guys in position to be successful.

So, far in his tenure, giving up the lead and giving up goals in under 2-minutes to play in a period or in the game have been chronic issues. In the first 5 games, the Flyers have squandered leads in 2 of them (vs. Washington and vs. Anaheim). (they squandered the lead 3 times alone in the Washington game). And only once, so far this season, the team has given up a goal with under 2-minutes to go (It just so happened to be a game tying goal as well; the game tying goal against the Mighty Ducks with 16-seconds to go in regulation). The Flyers could easily have been 4 - 1 - 0, but noooooooooooo! A complete defensive breakdown leads to a Shoot-out loss.

Despite the same old flaws haunting the Flyers, their have been other bone head coaching mistakes.

Defensive breakdowns, Line changing, match-ups.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the home team get the last change?So, how is it the Flyers are getting caught with mismatches during home games?

For example: The Flyers getting caught with JVR, Giroux, Syvret, and Parent on the Ice with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom? In a home game? All that inexperience agains the best hockey player in the world? I could understand the mistake if the game was in Washington, where the Caps get the last change.

The Defensive breakdowns are another problem. Kimmo Timonen not staying in his lane (see the Langenbrunner shortie). The Defense not protecting the middle of the ice or clearing the goal mouth (see the Malkin goal). Not being alert as to who and where opponents are on the ice (Selanne's second goal)? The number of breakaway opportunities for the opposing team. (Langenbrunner, Ovechkin, Semin, Guerin, Jordan Staal, Teemu Selanne).

The sloppy play with the puck. Pronger turn over leading to an Ovechkin goal. Coburn shooting the puck in his own net.

And the Flyers playing sluggish against the team they are trying to beat (the Penguins..at home!). I guess Sidney Crosby is in their head, for even Chris Pronger played awful in that game.

Stevens has a lot of things to clean up right now, this team is not playing smoothly. Especially from a defensive stand point.

As for the rest of the team here is how some of the key players are fairing:

Mike Richards, the captain, leads the team in Goals with 6, but he only has 2 assists and a +/- of 0.

Jeff Carter, the one trick pony, has 4 Goals and 4 Assists, and a +/- of 0.

Danny Briere, the cookie monster, has 3 Goals, 1 assist, and a +/- of -2.

Simon Gagne, has not scored a goal, but he does have 3 assists and an impressive +3.

Scott Hartnell has been awful, despite the game tying goal against Washington, and 2 assists, he's a -1 thus far.

Claude Giroux, has 2 assists, and no goals, and a plus/minus of +2.

James Van Riemsdyk, it's tough to be productive when you're injured, 3 assists, 0 goals ,and +1.

Ian Laperriere: leads the team with 2 fights, 1 goal, 0 assists, and a -2.

Dan Carcillo has the only other Flyer fight. 0 assists, 0 goals, and a -1.

Kimmo Timonen has 1 Goal, 4 assists, and is a lousy -2 (probably because he's paired with Randy Jones *cough* I mean Braydon Coburn)

Braydon Coburn (must have Jonesitus): 0 Goals, 2 assists, and a -2. (sorry I guess ya don't get credit for a goal when you shoot the puck in your own net)

Matt Carle has been the best Flyer thus far. He leads the team in assists with 7, and plus/minus with a +4. He also has 1 goal.

Chris Pronger, hasn't been too impressive although he has 1 Goal, 4 Assists, and a +3

Hopefully this layoff will give the Flyers sometime to heal up a bit and work out the kinks. Although the Stevens problems are continuing to haunt the team, hopefully they can fix that while they are enjoying the Florida keys.

Their next game is in Miami against a Panthers team that has only 1 win on the season. I hope the Flyers don't take them lightly, and give them win #2. This is a big game for the orange and black to redeem themselves after their 2 game slide.

Ok, they got a fluke win over the Carolina Whalers, I mean Hartford Hurricanes, I mean Carolina Hurricanes (sorry for the stuttering).

The Flyers caught a lucky break in the first period when a Carolina goal was waived off because the referee called a handpass by former Flyer, Andrew Alberts. If you looked at the replay, the handpass went off of Scott Hartnell, before a Hurricane player touched it. The referee made a mistake in the Orange and Black's favor, for had that goal counted it would have given the Hurricanes all the momentum and Emery would've lossed his confidence.

The NHL will give the Flyers a lot of breaks right now, because it's essential the Flyers be a strong team since they are in the Winter Classic. The NHL wants two top notch teams clashing at that event.

The Special Teams was practically flawless in the preseason and then in the opener went 8 for 8 on the PK and 2 for 5 on the Power Play (40%).

But, then the Special Teams, they ran into Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils. Now Brodeur was not very sharp and the Flyers Special Teams was as sharp as Brodeur. Of course I am referring the the short handed goal the bullies gave up in the lat e stages of the game. What a soft goal by Emery? What lousy defense by Timonen (guess he has issues now that he's not the #1 D-man). It's one thing not to convert on the Power Play or get beat when short handed, but t's another to get scored on when you're up a man. What happened to the team, that a year ago was masterful when short handed and didn't allow a Short handed goal in 81 straight games?

I can tell, that is going to get in their heads and you'll see a lot of Short-handed goals scored on them this season.

Lucky for the Flyers Martin Brodeur's best days are behind him, and John Madden has left for Shy town. (You know Chris Therian mentioned the other day that Brodeur throughout his career has been vulnerable from long distance, and 4 of the Flyers 5 goals were like from 10 feet or more away from the net?).

These are 2 fluke wins and you will see, as the Flyers will play a few real hockey teams coming up here. The Cap's with Ovechkin & Mike Knuble (remember when Knuble recorded his first Hat Trick? That's right, it was against the Anaheim Ducks! and who was on that team? why! Chris Pronger!) and the Penguins with Sidney Crosby. Chris Pronger better not lace his skates for the Pens, cause if he does, Crosby will beat him up and then score a 5-on-3 short handed goal.

Welcome to 2-2, the Flyers will be forever .500 this season.

THE TEAM

Games Played: 7

Record: 2 - 3 - 2 (6 standing points out of a possible 14)

Winning Percentage: 28%

Goals For (non-shootout): 16 (2.28 per game) (Briere lead the team with 4)

Goals Against (non-shootout): 21 (3.00 per game)

Shots For: 195

Shots Against: 194

Penalties:

Fighting Majors: 10 (Dan Carcillo lead the team with 3)

Minors: 41 (Darroll Powe lead the team with 7)

Double-Minors: 3

Majors: 1

Misconducts: 4 (Arron Asham lead the team with 2)

Penalties (w/ Flyers on Power Play): 4

Penalties (w/ Flyers Short-handed; giving opponents 5-on-3): 3

Penalty Kill: 35 for 39 (1 for 3 vs. 5-on-3) (89.7%); Did not score a short-handed goal

Power Play: 3 for 29 (1 for 2 5-on-3) (10.3%); Did not allow a short-handed goal

Shut-Outs: None

Got Shut-Out: 2

Blown Leads: 5 (2 in one game)

Goals Against in under 2-minutes: 3 (1 in under 1-minute)

INDIVIDUALS

#48 Danny Briere (Plus/Minus: +2, Assists: 2, Goals: 4, Goals Against Flyers: 3, Goals For Flyers: 7)

#18 Mike Richards (Plus/Minus: -1, Assists: 2, Goals: 2, Goals Against Flyers: 4, Goals For Flyers: 4)

#17 Jeff Carter (Plus/Minus: 0, Assists: 3, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 5, Goals For Flyers: 4)

#11 Blair Betts (Plus/Minus: -4, Assists: 0, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 4, Goals For Flyers: 0)

#36 Darroll Powe (Plus/Minus: -2, Assists: 0, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 2, Goals For Flyers: 0)

#19 Scott Hartnell (Plus/Minus: +2, Assists: 0, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 4, Goals For Flyers: 5)

#12 Simon Gagne (Plus/Minus: +2, Assists: 1, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 0, Goals for Flyers: 2)

#21 James Van Riemsdyk (Plus/Minus: -3, Assists: 1, Goals: 3, Goals Against Flyers: 6, Goals For Flyers: 4)

#13 Dan Carcillo (Plus/Minus: -1, Assists: 1, Goals: 1, Goals Against Flyers: 4, Goals For Flyers: 3)

#28 Claude Giroux (Plus/Minus: 0, Assists: 3, Goals: 1, Goals Against Flyers: 6, Goals For Flyers: 6)

#45 Arron Asham (Plus/Minus: -1, Assists: 0, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 3, Goals For Flyers: 1)

#32 Riley Cote (Plus/Minus: -1, Assists: 0, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 1, Goals For Flyers: 0)

#14 Ian Laperriere (Plus/Minus: -1, Assists: 0, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 2. Goals For Flyers: 0)

#27 Mika Pyorala (Plus/Minus: +3, Assists: 1, Goals: 3, Goals Against Flyers: 4, Goals For Flyers: 7)

#44 Kimmo Timonen (Plus/Minus: +2, Assists: 1, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 2, Goals For Flyers: 3)

#25 Matt Carle (Plus/Minus: +5, Assists: 3, Goals: 1, Goals Against Flyers: 4, Goals For Flyers: 9)

#5 Braydon Coburn (Plus/Minus: 0, Assists: 1, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 6, Goals For Flyers: 5)

#20 Chris Pronger (Plus/Minus: +5, Assists: 3, Goals: 1, Goals Against Flyers: 2, Goals For Flyers: 8)

#77 Ryan Parent (Plus/Minus: -3, Assists: 0, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 6, Goals For Flyers: 3)

#55 Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (Plus/Minus: -3, Assists: 0, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 3, Goals For Flyers: 0)

#26 Danny Syvret (Plus/Minus: -2, Assists: 0, Goals: 0, Goals Against Flyers: 5, Goals For Flyers: 4)

GOALTENDERS

#29 Ray Emery: (Shots Against: 135, Saves: 127, Save Percentage: .941)

#33 Brian Boucher: (Shots Against: 31, Saves: 24, Save Percentage: .774)

#30 Johan Backlund: (Shots Against: 28, Saves: 23, Save Percentage: .821)

The Biggest concern for me was the number of blown leads this preseason. The concern comes from the fact that this has been a chronic problem under the John Stevens regime. We've seen this team jump out to leads in the past, and not beable to sustain them in bigger and more crucial situations, like the post-season.

Another concern is goals given up in under 2-minutes of a period. This has been a chronic problem of a John Stevens' team, it's like they lose focus as the period comes to a close.

The young guys like JVR, Ryan Parent, & Giroux have been pretty impressive offensively, but they need to get better at their defense. JVR recorded 3 goals and 1 assist, but also was on the ice when the opponents scored 6 of the Flyers 21 Goals Against. Ryan Parent's defense is even scarier, the Flyers only scored 3 times with him on the ice while the opponents scored 6-times.

I hope veterans like Blair Betts, his defense I hope is better than what he showed this preseason.

Braydon Coburn was a little shakey too, but maybe because he was partnered up with stiffs like Randy Jones & Logan Stephenson.

As for the Goalies, Ray Emery has been sharp, but I still think he's got to prove himself and will see how consistant he can be over an 82 game season.

For now Johan Backlund's the back-up, I wonder what Roman Chechmanek is doing these days?

The stats for the Wild at Flyers Preseason Game is as follows, if anyone is interested.

FIRST PERIOD

Hits: 6

Wild: 2

Flyers: 4

Fights: 0

Penalties

Wild: 1

Flyers: 2

17:00 #8 Brent Burns of Wild for High Sticking, 2:00

10:46 #27 Pyorala of Flyers for Slashing, 2:00

3:00 #36 Powe of Flyers for Interference, 2:00

Special Teams

Wild: 0 for 2

Flyers: 0 for 1

Shooting

Wild: 6

Flyers: 10

Goaltending

Backstrom: 8 for 10 (.800 Sv%)

Emery: 6 for 6 (1.000 Sv%)

Scoring

14:37 #28 Claude Giroux (+1) (Flyers)

Assists: #25 Matt Carle

Wild on Ice: #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard (-1), #14 Martin Havlat (-1), #15 Andrew Brunette (-1), #3 Marek Zidlicky (-1), #55 Nick Schultz (-1), #32 Backstrom

Flyers on Ice: #27 Pyorala (+1), #45 Asham (+1), #26 Syvret (+1), #77 Parent (+1), #29 Emery

4:18 #27 Mika Pyorala (+2) (Flyers)

Assists: #18 Mike Richards

Wild on Ice: #21 Kyle Brodziak (-1), #25 Eric Belanger (-1), #3 Marek Zidlicky (-2), #34 Shane Hnidy (-1), #36 John Scott (-1), #32 Backstrom

Flyers on Ice: #18 Richards (+1), #12 Gagne (+1), #26 Syvret (+2), #77 Parent (+2), #29 Emery

SCORE: Wild: 0 – Flyers: 2

SECOND PERIOD

Hits: 14

Wild: 7

Flyers: 7

Fights: 0

Penalties

Wild: 2

Flyers: 3

17:57 #18 Mike Richards of the Flyers for High Sticking, 2:00

11:49 #18 Mike Richards of the Flyers for Roughing, 2:00

8:38 #22 Cal Clutterbuck of the Wild for Tripping, 2:00

8:38 #13 Dan Carcillo of the Flyers for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, 2:00

6:09 #36 John Scott of the Wild 10-minute Misconduct, 10:00

Special Teams

Wild: 1 for 2

Flyers: 0 for 1

Shooting

Wild: 8

Flyers: 11

Goaltending

Backstrom: 11 for 11 (1.000 Sv%)

Emery: 3 for 4 (.750 Sv%)

Backlund: 3 for 4 (.750 Sv%)

** at 8:38 Johan Backlund replaces Ray Emery in the Flyers’ Goal**

Scoring

10:58 #14 Martin Havlat (Wild – Power Play)

Assists: #9 Mikko Koivu & #8 Brent Burns

Wild on Ice: #9 Mikko Koivu, #15 Andrew Brunette, #8 Brent Burns, #3 Marek Zidlicky, #32 Backstrom

Flyers on Ice: #17 Carter, #19 Hartnell, #44 Timonen, #5 Coburn, #29 Emery

4:24 #8 Brent Burns (+1) (Wild)

Assists: #51 James Sheppard & #9 Mikko Koivu

Wild on Ice: #51 James Sheppard (+1), #9 Mikko Koivu (+1), #25 Eric Belanger (0), #34 Shane Hnidy (0), #32 Backstrom

Flyers on Ice: #17 Carter (-1), #19 Hartnell (-1), #27 Pyorala (+1), #25 Carle (-1), #20 Pronger (-1), #30 Backlund

SCORE: Wild: 2 – Flyers: 2

THIRD PERIOD

Hits: 8

Wild: 5

Flyers: 3

Fights: 1 (Braydon Coburn is decked by Owen Nolan)

Penalties

Wild: 2

Flyers: 2

18:32 #5 Braydon Coburn of the Flyers for Cross-checking, 2:00

18:32 #5 Braydon Coburn of the Flyers for Fighting, 5:00

18:32 #11 Owen Nolan of the Wild for Fighting, 5:00

11:45 #8 Brent Burns of the Wild for Slashing, 2:00

*10:36 #17 Jeff Carter of the Flyers for High Sticking, 2:00

*9:55 #55 Nick Schultz of the Wild for Holding, 2:00

Special Teams

Wild: 1 for 1

Flyers: 0 for 2

Shooting

Wild: 7

Flyers: 15

Goaltending

Backstrom: 13 for 15 (.867 Sv%)

Backlund: 5 for 7 (.714 Sv%)

Scoring

18:55 #18 Mike Richards (+2) (Flyers)

Assists: Simon Gagne & Braydon Coburn

Wild on Ice: #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard (-2), #11 Owen Nolan (-1), #17 Petr Sykora (-1), #5 Kim Johnsson (-1), #55 Nick Schultz (-2), #32 Backstrom

Flyers on Ice: #12 Simon Gagne (+2), #27 Mika Pyorala (+2), #5 Braydon Coburn (+1), #44 Kimmo Timonen (+1), #30 Backlund

17:03 #22 Cal Clutterbuck (Wild – Power Play)

Assists #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard & #5 Kim Johnsson

Wild on Ice: #96 Pierre-Marc Bouchard, #25 Eric Belanger, #5 Kim Johnsson, #55 Nick Schultz, #32 Backstrom

Flyers on Ice: #17 Jeff Carter, #19 Scott Hartnell, #44 Kimmo Timonen, #25 Matt Carle, #30 Backlund

4:40 #51 James Sheppard (+2) (Wild)

Assists: #8 Brent Burns

Wild on Ice: #20 Antti Miettinen (+1), #22 Cal Clutterbuck (+1), #6 Greg Zanon (+1), #8 Brent Burns (+2), #32 Backstrom

Flyers on Ice: #28 Claude Giroux (0), #45 Arron Asham (0), #21 James Van Riemsdyk (-1), #26 Danny Syvret (+1), #77 Ryan Parent (+1), #30 Johan Backlund

3:04 #48 Danny Briere (+1) (Flyers)

Assists: #17 Jeff Carter

Wild on Ice: #21 Kyle Brodziak (-2), #25 Eric Belanger (-1), #5 Kim Johnsson (-2), #36 John Scott (-2), #55 Nick Schultz (-3), #32 Backstrom

Flyers on Ice: #17 Carter (0), #19 Hartnell (0), #25 Carle (0), #20 Pronger (0), #30 Backlund

SCORE: Wild: 4 – Flyers: 4

OVER-TIME

Hits: 1

Wild: 0

Flyers: 1

Fights: 0

Penalties

Wild: 1

Flyers: 0

1:20 #5 Kim Johnsson of the Wild for Holding, 2:00

Special Teams

Wild: 0 for 0

Flyers: 0 for 1

Shooting

Wild: 3

Flyers: 2

Goaltending

Backstrom: 2 for 2 (1.000 Sv%)

Backlund: 3 for 3 (1.000 Sv%)

Scoring

No Scoring

SHOOT-OUT

Backstrom: 2 for 4

Backlund: 1 for 3

Wild Win Shoot-out: 3 to 2

TOTALS

Hits: 29

Wild: 14

Flyers: 15

Fights: 1

Penalties

Wild: 6

Flyers: 7

Special Teams

Wild: 2 for 5

Flyers: 0 for 5

Shooting

Wild: 24

Flyers: 38

Goaltending

Backstrom: 34 for 38 (.895 Sv%)

Emery: 9 for 10 (.900 Sv%)

Backlund: 11 for 14 (.786 Sv%)

FINAL SCORE: Wild: 5 – Flyers: 4

My own thoughts.

BLOWN LEADS! Once again John Stevens troops are unable to hold onto a lead. They blew a lead twice in this game. This is the fourth time this preseason the Flyers gained a lead on their opponents and allowed them to comeback and tie the score. Of the 4 games they've blown the lead in, they only managed to win one of them (the home game versus the Devils). This problem continues to exist under the Stevens regime, we've seen it for 2 full seasons now and it has yet to be fixed.

The Penalty Kill was a strong suit of the Flyers entering the Post Season tonight. I believe they've only given up 2 power play goals,  prior to tonight. Tonight however was a different story as the Penalty Kill allowed 2 P.P. Goals in 5 attempts for the Wild.

The Power Play on the other hand continues to struggle, I believe the Flyers have only scored 2, maybe 3 Power Play goals the entire Preseason. Quite a few of their Power Play attempts have ended due to their inability to stay out of the box, they end up taking a Penalty before the Power Play can gain any momentum. The Flyers third Power Play opportunity tonight was cut-short by a Jeff Carter Penalty.

The Flyers out shot the Wild 38 to 24. In addition to the Flyers 38 shots on goal, they've had 18 MISSED SHOTS! (meaning shot attempts that missed high or wide of the goal, this isn't even counting Flyer shot attempts that Wild players blocked).

Individual Performances

Pronger: For the first and only time this Preseason Chris Pronger was on the ice when the opponent scored an even strength goal. Pronger regrouped though, and was on the ice for Briere's game tying goal, late in the third.

Giroux: Scored his only goal of the Preseason. (Bust!)

Jeff Carter: Second in the NHL in goal scoring a year ago. No goals this preseason (Looks like Carts is a one trick pony)

Carter & Hartnell: Were on the ice for 3 of the Wild's four goals, including both of the Wild's Power Play Goals (Remove these 2 from the PK).

James Van Riemsdyk: Now that he's made the team, he doesn't need to play hard. He was very quiet tonight, he was on the ice for the fourth of the Wild's 4 goals tonight (Send him back to the minors, recall Randy Jones).

"The Captain" Mike Richards: Had a good game - scored a goal, recorded an assist. But, oh! he took a penalty that kick-started the Wild's comeback. (Looks like Carcillo's game is rubbing off on Richie. Please give Laperriere the "C").

Simon Gagne: Had an assist and was a +2 on the night. (It's nice to see he's showed up this season).

Danny Briere: Has 4 goals this preseason (looks like the "Cookie Monster" is back).

Ray Emery: Stopped 9 of 10 shots before leaving the game.

The Shoot Out. The Flyers weren't bad in the shoot out, they scored twice on four attempts. Unfortunately, Johan Backlund was treated like a Rookie by the Minnesota Wild and they scored three times on four attempts, and the Flyers tank in their final preseason game.

I remember last season when the Flyers lost to a minor league team (the Philadelphia Phantoms, now known as the Glenn Falls Phantoms) and then started off the season real hot, losing their first six games.

Here they lose there final preseason game to another minor league team (Minnesota Wild) and looks like another six losses to start the season.

THE TITLE of this Post.

Yes it's only Preseason. It's only 1 game. It's only 1 loss. For here in Flyers land, "Losing is acceptable".

It's a shame, Paul Holmgren brought in Ian Laperriere and Chris Pronger in hopes of changing that approach. Unfortunately it looks like Mike Richards philosphy is rubbing off on them.

2009-2010 Philadelphia Flyers, NHL's Cellar Dwellars.

Tonight (Tuesday) is the final preseason game for the Orange and Black. A home game against the Minnesota Wild.

I assume most of the regulars will play, to fine tune things for the regular season. I don't know how much Emery will play. I assume they might get Backlund in there, to get used to the NHL level incase he's needed while Brian Boucher is on the DL.

With Randy Jones being waived, the Flyers are planning to have JVR, Mika Pyorala, and Blair Betts on the opening roster.

So, I guess suiting up for tomorrow night and probably against the Hurricanes (assuming (hoping) no one gets injured)

So, I guess the roster will look like this

Forwards

Danny Briere

Mike Richards

Jeff Carter

Blair Betts or Darroll Powe

Simon Gagne

Scott Hartnell

Mika Pyorala

Dan Carcillo or Riley Cote

Claude Giroux

James Van Riemsdyk

Arron Asham

Ian Laperriere

Defensemen

Kimmo Timonen

Chris Pronger

Olle Kristian Tollefsen

Braydon Coburn

Matt Carle

Ryan Parent

Goaltenders

Ray Emery

Johan Backlund (until Brian Boucher is healthy)

I guess the line combos will be.

Gagne-Richards-Giroux

Hartnell-Carter-Briere

JVR-Betts-Pyorala

Carcillo-Laperriere-Asham

Timonen-Coburn

Carle-Pronger

Tollefsen-Parent

with Powe & Cote as healthy scratches?

I am not going into an indepth report on the game.

The Flyers lost 0 to 1 (since the Flyers were on the road, I'm mentioning their score on the left and the Devils score on the right).

This was the second game, this preseason that Chris Pronger did not suit up for and the second game the Flyers were shut-out in (see a parallel there?).

Brodeur stopped everything he saw. Or, is that the Flyers were either wide or high of the goal on every shot they took?

Brian Boucher was scheduled to start the game and he did, but only faced one shot and had zero saves.

The Flyers on ice for the loan goal of the game, by Zubrus, Claude Giroux (-1), Van Riemsdyk (-1), Asham (-1), Toffelsen (-1), Parent (-1), and Boucher.

Boucher left the game mid-way through the first period with a "lower body" injury

Emery took his place and not allow a goal.

The Flyers were perfect on the penalty kill and 0 for 5 in Power Play opportunities.

Of the regulars: Briere, Gagne, Carter, Timonen, and Pronger did not play.

Anyway not much news to report other than another loss in the state of New Jersey. Boucher is the biggest news coming out of this game, so that may mean Johan Backland will be called up from the minors to serve as the backup.

I got the opportunity to see the entire game last night. The Flyers played well, except for a little blemish in the third period.

For those who didn't see the game or want a little statistical report on it..

FIRST PERIOD

Hits: 11 (Devils: 2/Flyers: 9)

Fights: 1 (Dan Carcillo TKO'd "Smokin" Mark Fraser with one punch - this was the first fight this season in front of the home crowd)

Penalties (not counting fighting majors): Devils 2, Flyers 0 (yes that's right, 20-minutes of hockey and NO Flyer Penalties)

at 13:19 #63 Matt Halischuk of the Devils for hooking

at 10:11 Carcillo & Fraser go to the box for fighting

at 10:11 #25 Andrew Peters of the Devils for Boarding

Special Teams: Devils: 0 for 0/Flyers: 1 for 2 (The Flyers only managed 1 shot in their 2 PP opportunities; at least they made the most of it)

Shots: Devils: 7/Flyers: 8

Goalies:

Brodeur: 6 for 7 (.857 Sv%)

Emery: 8 for 8 (1.000 Sv%)

Scoring:

1. at 8:57 Matt Carle to put the Flyers up 0 to 1, on the "peco" power play.

Assists: Danny Briere and Jeff Carter

Devils on Ice: #9 Parise, #23 Clarkson, #6 Greene, #29 Oduya, #30 Brodeur

Flyers on Ice: #17 Carter, #11 Briere, #41 Patrick Maroon (making his debut!), #20 Pronger, #29 Emery

SECOND PERIOD

Hits: 7 (Devils: 4/Flyers: 3)

Fighting: NONE!

Penalties: 3 (Devils: 1/Flyers: 2)

13:25 #6 Randy Jones for Holding

7:39 #23 David Clarkson of the Devils for Interference

1:43 #5 Braydon Coburn for Tripping

Special Teams: Devils 0 for 2/Flyers 0 for 1 (this time the Flyers managed 3 shots on their loan PP opportunity)

Shooting: Devils: 11/Flyers: 7

Goalies:

Brodeur: 11 for 11 (1.000 Sv%)

Emery: 7 for 7 (1.000 Sv%)

Scoring: NONE

THIRD PERIOD

Hits: 8 (Devils 5/Flyers 3)

Fighting: NONE

Penalties: NONE

Special Teams: Devils: 0 for 0/Flyers: 0 for 0

Shots: Devils: 14/Flyers: 12

Goalies:

Brodeur: 12 for 12 (1.000 Sv%)

Emery: 13 for 14 (.928 Sv%)

Scoring:

1. at 11:43 #63 Matt Halischuk (+1) tied the game 1 to 1.

Assists: Nicklas Bergfors and Cory Murphy

Devils on Ice: #47 Tim Sestito (+1), #18 Bergfors (+1), #24 Bryce Salvador (+1), #28 Murphy (+1), #30 Brodeur

Flyers on Ice: #11 Betts (-1), #57 Laliberte (-1), #13 Carcillo (-1), #5 Coburn (-1), #6 Jones (-1; Actually his sloppy play in front of the net led to the goal!), #29 Emer

OVERTIME

Hits: NONE

Fighting: NONE

Penalties: NONE (yes the Flyers played 61:45 of hockey and only got called for 2 penalties)

Special Teams: No opportunities for either team

Shots: Devils: 0/Flyers: 1

Goalies: Brodeur 0 for 1 (.000 Sv%); Emery 0 for 0 (.000 Sv%)

Scoring:

1. at 3:15 #27 Mika Pyorala (+1) wins the game, 1 to 2, for the Flyers (with a game winning goal against the leagues best, Martin Brodeur)

Assists: Danny Briere and Chris Pronger

Devils on Ice: #18 Bergfors (0), #63 Halischuk (0), #6 Greene (-1), #29 Oduya (-1), #30 Brodeur

Flyers on Ice: #48 Briere (+1), #20 Pronger (+1), #25 Carle (+1), #29 Emery

TOTALS

Hits: 26 (Devils: 11/Flyers: 15)

Fights: 1

Penalties: Devils: 3/ Flyers: 2

Special Teams: Devils 0 for 2/Flyers 1 for 3

Shots: Devils: 32/Flyers: 28

Goalies:

Brodeur: 26 for 28 (.928 Sv%)

Emery: 31 for 32 (.969 Sv%)

FLYERS WIN! 1 to 2

My own personal thoughts.

Compared to the first three games of the preseason, this was a very clean game. Unfortunately for the home crowd, they've only seen 1 fight in 2 games. Carcillo lit up Fraser (no worries, it wasn't "Smokin'" Joe).

So, far this preseason the Flyers Penalty Kill remains a bright spot. In the first 5 games the PK has only given up something like 3 goals in 31 opportunities. You've seen them survive almost every short-handed situation you possibly could see in the first 5 games (regular 5-on-4s, double minors, one 5-minute major, and they are 1 for 4 versus the 5-on-3). Tonight the PK was perfect.

The Flyers biggest off-season acquisition, Chris Pronger, thus far this preseason has played in 4 of the 5 games (he did not suit up for the 0-4 sloppy performance in London) and the opposition has only scored once while he was on the ice (a 5-on-3 in the third period in the second game against Toronto). He has a goal and registered multiple assists. Hopefully his play will continue to live up to expectations, and carry over into the Regular Season.

The young guys, Giroux and JVR are continuing to play well. Patrick Maroon made his preseason debut and was on the ice when Matt Carle scored a PP goal in the first period.

I think Blair Betts, although he was on the ice for the game tying goal tonight, is the odds on favorite to make the Flyers opening day roster. I base this on his experience in the NHL and he's a strong face-off guy, something the Flyers need. He is also a PK specialist. And it looks like, with the way the team has played this preseason, they will need all the PK help they can get.

I have to believe JVR will be on speed dial, and will get the first call, as soon as the Flyers need to call someone up.

Goaltender Ray Emery was very sharp tonight, stopping 97% of the shots he faced. As good as he was, he needed to be 1 save better. With Martin Brodeur in the opposing net and Jacques Lemaire's system (which I like his style of hockey), the Devils aren't going to give up a lot of goals, and Lemaire's system produces his team a lot of shots. It's a tall order, but against New Jersey, you may have to win a game 1 to 0. Stopping 31 of 32 shots is impressive, but Emery needed to find away to prevent that game tying goal from going in. No surprise, for the third time in 5 games, the Flyers had a lead which they couldn't hold onto (unlike the last 2 however, the Flyers still got the win). Although that goal wasn't all Emery's fault, Randy Jones (no surprise) was very klutzy in front of the net.

It is only preseason, but had this been a regular season game, the Flyers would've given up a "standing point" to a division rival. Again ya might have to win one of these games, 1 to 0.

Despite giving up the lead (Again) the Flyers did pull the win out, must feel good for Mike Pyorala to score the game winner against Martin Brodeur.

The next game is tomorrow (Saturday) at New Jersey. This game will not be aired on TV.

The Game was broadcasted live on CSN-8, I got the opportunity to see the action from the Second Period on. In case anyone missed the game, here is a basic recap of the events.

FIRST PERIOD

Hits: 10 (Red Wings 6, Flyers 4)

Fights: NONE (See what happens when Riley Cote is not in the lineup)

Penalties: Red Wings 1, Flyers 1 (yes only 2 penalties in the period)

at 15:15 Rafaski was called for hooking (drawn by Richards)

at 3:52 JVR was called for Interference

Special Teams: Red Wings 0 for 1, Flyers 0 for 1

Shooting: Red Wings 8, Flyers 13

Osgood was 5 for 8 (.625 Save Percentage)

Emery was 12 for 13 (.923)

Scoring: There were four goals in the period

1. at 19:24 the Flyers opened the scoring when Danny Briere (+1) tallied an even strength goal to put the Flyers ahead 0 to 1. Scott Hartnell and Jeff Carter record the assists.

Red Wings on Ice: #33 Draper (-1), #17 Eaves (-1), #8 Abdekader (-1), #22 Lebda (-1), #52 Ericsson (-1), #30 Osgood

Flyers on Ice: Hartnell (+1), Carter (+1), Coburn (+1), Timonen (+1), Emery

2. at 12:59 the Flyers added to the lead when Mike Pyorala (+1) beat Osgood to put the Flyers up 0 to 2. Dan Carcillo (surprised?) and Claude Giroux get the assists.

Red Wings on Ice: #32 Newbury (-1), #50 Ryno (-1), #67 Tardiff (-1), #14 Meech (-1), #68 Kolosov (-1), #30 Osgood

Flyers on Ice: #13 Carcillo (+1), #28 Giroux (+1), #26 Syvret (+1), #77 Parent (+1), and #29 Emery

3. at 10:32, after Dan Syvret turned the puck over in the Flyers' end, the Red Wings' #52 Jonathan Ericsson (0) scored an unassisted goal to cut the Flyer lead in half 1 to 2.

Red Wings on Ice: #29 Williams (+1), #42 Ritola (+1), #8 Abdelkader (0), #22 Lebda (0), and #30 Osgood

Flyers on Ice: Briere (0) (suprised?), Carter (0), Hartnell (0), Syvret (0), Parent (0), Emery

4. at 4:56 the Flyers extend the lead, 1 to 3 when JVR (+1) cashes in. Pyorala and Timonen get the assists.

Red Wings on Ice: #29 Williams (0), #48 Emmerton (-1), #21 Leino (-1), #22 Lebda (-1), #52 Ericsson (-1), and #30 Osgood

Flyers on Ice: Pyorala (+2), Giroux (+2), Coburn (+2), Timonen (+2), Emery

SECOND PERIOD

Hits: 10 (Red Wings 4, Flyers 6)

Fights: 0 (Not even Carcillo dropped the gloves)

Penalties: Red Wings 1, Flyers 3

at 16:44 Detroit's #14 Meech was called for Interference (drawn by JVR!)

at 12:06 Carter went to the box for Tripping

at 5:26 Carcillo got called for Elbowing

at 1:21 Powe for Slashing (the Detroit P.P. carries over to the 3rd)

Special Teams: Red Wings 0 for 3, Flyers 0 for 1

Shooting: Red Wings 8, Flyers 9

Osgood is 8 for 9 (.889 Save Percentage)

Emery is 8 for 8 (1.000 Save Percentage)

Scoring: Only one goal in the period

1. (This is not a mistake) at 8:18 the Flyers add to their lead when DAN CARCILLO! (+2) scores to make it 1 to 4. Matt Carle and Chris Pronger get the assists.

Red Wings on Ice: Williams (-1), Ritola (0), Emmerton (-2), Lebda (-2), Rafalski (-1), #30 Osgood

Flyers on Ice: Jason Ward (+1), Giroux (+3), Pronger (+1), Carle (+1), and Emery

THIRD PERIOD

Hits: 6 (Red Wings 0, Flyers 6)

Fights: NONE! (I don't get it, they get in 100 fights on the road, but can't drop the gloves for their own fans?)

Penalties: Red Wings 0, Flyers 2

**note: The Flyers did start the Period short-handed due to a Darroll Powe penalty with under 2-minutes to go in the Second

14:30 Pronger goes to the box for Interference (I think this is Prongers first penalty of the preseason)

3:52 Ward goes to the box for tripping

Special Teams: Red Wings 0 for 2, Flyers 0 for 0

Shooting: Red Wings 14, Flyers 8 (mostly due to the Red Wings 2 Power Play opportunities)

Osgood is 7 for 8 (.875)

Emery is 13 for 14 (.928)

Scoring: 2 goals are scored in the third

1. at 17:24 the Flyers score again to make it 1 to 5, scoring his second goal of the game is JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK (+2). Chris Pronger and Claude Giroux get the assists

Red Wings on ice: Draper (-2), Eaves (-2), Abdelkader (-1), Meech (-2), Lebda (-3), Osgood

Flyers on Ice: Pyorala (+3), Giroux (+4), Pronger (+2), Carle (+2), Emery

2. at 2:36 after Kris Draper depantses the Flyers, Kris Newbury (0) gets a slam dunk to cut the lead to 2 to 5. Draper and Meech get the assists.

Red Wings on ice: Draper (-1), Meech (-1), Tardif (0), Ledba (-2), Osgood

Flyers on ice: Pyorala (+2), Giroux (+3), JVR (+1), Carle (+1), Syvret (-1), and Emery

RECAP

HITS: 26 overall (10 by the Wings, 16 by the Flyers)

FIGHTS: None

PENALTIES: (this was a clean game compared to the previous three) Red Wings 2 minors, and the Flyers 6 minors

Special Teams: Neither team capitalized on their Power Play opportunities.

Shots: Red Wings 30, Flyers 30

Goaltenders: Osgood 25 for 30 (.833 Sv%); Emery was outstanding 28 for 30 (.933 Sv%)

FLYERS WIN 2 to 5

My own thoughts.

It's nice to see the Flyers finally get a win, even though this is only preseason. Red Wings didn't have their full force in there, but Lidstrom, Draper, and Rafalski played.

In Gagne's first in game action, he really didn't do much. Nothing happened for or against the Flyers when he was on the ice, and hopefully he didn't tweak anything.

The Flyers got the lead and they kept the lead, they didn't let the Red Wings catch them at all.

Claude Giroux, JVR, Pyorala, DAN CARCILLO! all had very good games. JVR scored 2 goals and drew a penalty, and Claude Giroux had 4 assists. Emery played outstanding, stopping 93% of Detroit's shots. One of the goals he let in, he could do nothing about, Draper just made a great play.

The only real blemish was for the last 4-1/2 minutes of the game, the Flyers didn't muster a shot.

Oh and there was one play in the 3rd period, where the Flyers were taking a defensive zone draw, and I think it was Giroux, won the face-off, but in doing so he swept the puck towards his own net. Nothing major happened on the play, Emery was alert and just covered the puck up. But, that's something for the future the Flyers want to becareful of doing. Whenever taking a defensive zone draw you never want to sweep the puck towards your goal, sweep either behind you or to the corner, or just neutralize the other guys stick and let one of your forwards come in and get the puck.

Overall it was a better performance, nice to get the win. Hopefully they can build on it and we can start to see some consistancy.

What do y'all think?

First of all, I'd like to apologize to the board for my previous post, titled "Cellar Dwellars". I feel embarrased for not proof reading it before I "published" it, because some of the sentences didn't make sense.

Anyway, the point of that post was an attempt to point out how the Flyers were playing. For the game tonight, I was listening to the broadcast via Radio on my way home from work, and Chris Therian (Bundy), summed up what I was trying to say in my previous post.

The Flyers were not playing with effort or passion in London.

Yes it's Preseason, but they still need to go out there and play with effort. Play because they love the game. And it's Mike Richards' (The Captain's) responsibility to go out there and inspire the team to play. That's why I jumped all over him, for the teams efforts in London.

Tonight the team played better, this was the first time that Mike Richards and Chris Pronger suited up together. For 2 periods tonight, Mike Richards was a different animal, and I wonder how much Pronger had to do with that.

On to last night's game. (For those who didn't see or hear it).

The Flyers had a lot of their regulars in the lineup tonight, except for Gagne, Timonen, Carter, and Asham.

The only positives so far this preseason has been the Penalty Kill and was it in full force tonight.

FIRST PERIOD

Hits: 11 combined (Flyers: 4/Leafs: 7)

Fights: 3 (Colton Orr beat up Riley Cote; Lee Stempniak beat up Dan Carcillo; and Garnet Exelby beat up Ian Laperriere)

Penalties: (not counting Fighting Majors) both teams combined for 11 penalties

with 5:37 left in the first period, there were 6 penalties called-

Exelby for Roughing, Leperriere for charging, Stempniak for Fighting, Carcillo for Fighting, Jason Allison for Roughing, and Darroll Powe for Roughing (so no power plays here)

Special Teams:

Flyers had only 1 Power Play opportunity, at 12:28 when Colton Orr went to the box for interference. The Flyers made the most of their opportunity and scored 1:03 into the Power Play (this was the Flyers first PP goal of the preseason)/

Maple Leafs were 1 for 5 in Power Play opportunities. When Matt Stajan scored on the Leafs first PP opportunity. **it should be noted, that the Leafs 5th opportunity, which began at 1:29 left in the period (after a Powe Roughing call), would carry over into the Second Period, which the Flyers successfully kill**

Shooting:

Leafs out shot the Flyers 11 to 7 in the Period

Ray Emery stopped 9 of 11 shots (.818 save percentage)

Vesa Toskala stopped 6 of 7 shots (.857 save percentage)

Scoring:

1. The Leafs opened the scoring with 16:33 left in the period, when Matt Stajan scored a Power Play Goal to put the Leafs ahead 0 to 1 (I believe this is the first PP Goal given up by the Flyers this preseason). Tomas Kaberle & John Mitchell recorded the Assists.

Riley Cote was in the box for roughing, the remaining Flyers on the ice for Stajan Goal were: Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, Braydon Coburn, Randy Jones (why is he on the PK?), and Ray Emery

2. The Flyers answer back with 8:35 left in the period, when Mike Richards scores on the "Peco" Power Play to tie the game at 1 to 1 (I believe this is the Flyers first PP Goal of the Preseason). JVR and RANDY JONES! get the assists.

On the Ice for the Flyers for Richards Goal: David Laliberte, JVR, Coburn, Jones (surprised?), and Emery.

3. with 1:47 left in the Period the Leafs retake the lead 2 to 1, when Alexei Ponikarovsky scores an even strength Goal. (yes John Stevens' team again gives up a goal with under 2-minutes to go in a period). Mike Komisarek and Rickard Wallin record the assists.

On the Ice for the Flyers for Ponikarovsky's Goal: Richards (-1), Laliberte (-1), JVR (-1), Coburn (-1), Danny Syvret (-1), and Ray Emery

Flyers end the Period down 1 to 2, and down a man to start the Second.

SECOND PERIOD

Hits: 13 combined (Flyers: 7/Leafs: 6)

Fights: 1 (Mike Komisarek destroys Darroll Powe)

Penalties: (not counting Fighting Majors) both teams combined for 10 minor penalties in the period.

at 16:14 left in the period, the Leafs' Jay Rosehill is called for Roughing and is charged a double-minor.

50-seconds after the first Rosehill minor expires, Francois Beachemin is called for tripping, giving the Flyers 1:10 of 5-on-3.

with 5:55 left in the period, five penalties are issued (a fighting major to both Darroll Powe and Mike Komisarek, Powe gets an extra 2, Riley Cote picks up an Unsportsmanlike penalty, and Jay Rosehill is called for charging

with 0:59 left in the period, Briere is called for Roughing, but suckers John Mitchell and Luke Schenn into taking roughing calls as well, giving the Flyers a PP, that if necessary would give the Flyers 1:01 of PP time to begin the 3rd.

Instead, the Flyers 0:59 PP ends at the buzzer, when Matt Carle picks up a Boarding minor and Dan Carcillo gets a 10-minute misconduct.

Special Teams:

Flyers had lots of Power Play time in the Period. The Flyers were 1 for 4 in the period, on PP opportunities. They took advantage of the 5 on 3 opportunity to tie the game at 2 to 2.

The Leafs were 0 for 1 in the second Period on the Power Play.

Shooting:

With all their Power Play opportunities the Flyers dominated the Leafs in shooting, 16 to 3.

Ray Emery was 1 for 1 in the period.

at the 10:26 mark, Emery was replaced in net by Brian Boucher. (Emery finished his night stopping 10 of 12 shots, for a pathetic .833 Save Percentage)

Bouch stopped the only 2 shots he saw in the Second Period.

Scoring:

1. At 13:07 left in the period, and with a 5-on-3 advantage the Flyers tied the game 2 to 2, when Chris Pronger scored his first goal as a Flyer. Matt Carle and Mike Richards get the assists.

On the ice for the Flyers when Pronger scored: Richards, Briere, Hartnell, Carle, and Emery.

2. at 8:41 Danny Briere (+1) scored an even strength goal, to give the Flyers a 3 to 2 lead. Claude Girouxe is credited with an assist.

Flyers on the ice when Briere scored: Giroux (+1), Powe (+1), Bell (+1), Pronger (+1), Carle (+1), Boucher

3. at 3:02 left in the period Danny Briere (+2) scored another even strength goal to give the Flyers a 4 to 2 lead. No assists on the goal.

Flyers on the ice for Briere's second goal: Dan Carcillo (+1), Scott Hartnell (+1), Braydon Coburn (0), Syvret (0), and Boucher

The Flyers end the Second up by 2 goals (4 to 2), the Third will start 4 on 4 Hockey and at 19:59, the Leafs will have 0:59 of PP time.

THIRD PERIOD

Hits: 13 combined (Flyers: 6/Leafs: 7)

Fights: None.

Penalties: The teams combine for 6 penalities (Flyers 5, Leafs 1)

at 17:07 Colton Orr & Scott Hartnell both get roughing calls, Orr gets an extra two. This would be the Flyers loan PP opportunity of the Period.

at 8:32 Briere gets called for tripping

at 5:49 Mike Richards, from his own end, shoots the puck out of play and goes to the box for Delay of Game.

with 50-seconds expired in the Richards Penalty (the 4:01 mark in the game), Braydon Coburn is called for holding and gives the leafs 1:10 of 5 on 3. (with Richie! your best penalty killer, unavailable)

Before Coburn's Penalty can expire, Darroll Powe is called for hooking (at 3:40) Darroll Powe is called for hooking, giving the Leads 1:39 of more 5 on 3 (at least Richie was out of the box for this one).

Special Teams:

The Flyers Power Play was 0 for 1 in the third.

The Leafs Power Play was 1 for 4 in opportunities.

Shooting:

With much of their time on the Penalty Kill, the Flyers are out shot 4 to 10.

Boucher is 8 for 10 in the Period (.800 Save percentage)

Toskala is 4 for 4 in the Period (1.000 Save Percentage)

Scoring:

1. At 10:08 left in the Period, Niklas Hagman cuts the Flyers lead in half, when he scores an even strength goal to make it 4 to 3. Matt Stajan and Colton Orr get the assists.

Flyers on the Ice for Hagman's goal: Ian Laperriere (-1), Riley Cote (-1), Blair Betts (-1), Jones (surprised? -1), Bell (0), Boucher

2. with 3:50 left in the game and the Flyers with 2-men in the Box, complete the comback when Francois Beachmenin burns Boucher to tie the game 4 to 4. (Yes! John Stevens' team again can't hold on to a lead. I know it's preseason, but we've seen this for the past 2 regular seasons, the past 2 post seasons...my god! when is enough, enough?) Tomas Kaberle gets the only assist.

Flyers on the ice for Beachmenin's goal: Laperriere, Pronger (first time #20 is on the ice when the Flyers get burned), Matt Carle, and Brian Boucher

Three Periods is not enough to settle this preseason contest, so we go into Over Time!

OVERTIME PERIOD

Hits: 2 combined (Flyers: 1/Leafs: 1)

Fights: None.

Penalties: NONE!

Shots: Flyers 1/Leafs 1

Toskala is 1 for 1 in OT

Boucher is burned on the only shot he faces (0 for 1)

Scoring:

at 3:37 in OT Niklas Hagman scores his second even strength goal of the game, and the Game winner. The goal is unassisted.

Flyers on the ice for the death blow: The Captain (-2), JVR (-2), Coburn (-1), Jones (I cannot believe it! -1), Boucher

FLYERS Lose 4 to 5!

RECAP!

Hits: 39 overall (18 Flyers/21 Leafs)

Fights: 4

Penalties: 36 between both clubs (8 Fighting Majors, 1 misconduct, 27 minors)

Special Teams: Flyers 2 for 6 (1 for 1 on 5-on-3 opportunities); Leafs 2 for 10 (1 for 2 on 5-on-3 opportunities)

Shots: Flyers: 29/Leafs: 24

Goalies: Emery (Flyers): 10 for 12 (.833 percentage); Boucher (Flyers): 10 for 13 (.769 percentage) - Losing Goalie; Toskala (Leafs): 24 for 28 (.857) - Winning Goalie

My thoughts:

The Flyers played with much better enthusiasm in this game. Unfortunately they didn't play 60 minutes. No surprise that John Stevens team couldn't hold a lead. The Penalties by Richards & Coburn in the clutch was the dagger. Brain lapse like that is not something you want to see out of your captain. 

Ray Emery needs to get better, 10 of 12 in 1-1/2 periods of work is not gonna get it done. And Brian Boucher, doesn't look like the guy who was backing up Evgeni Nabokov last season. You have to make those OT saves.

With the amount of penalties the Flyers are taking. I wonder, if they are out of shape? I wonder if they are taking those penalties so they can go catch a breather, cause they didn't spend the offseason staying in shape. Maybe Stevens needs to spend the rest of the preseason just whipping these guys into shape, instead of installing systems.

What do you all think?

I know it is only preseason, but there are a lot of things to be concerned about with this team.

How would everyone feel, if despite making the offseason moves they did, adding Pronger, Boucher, Emery, Lapperriere.

The Flyers ended up having a repeat season of the 2006-07 season? This team doesn't look like the team, I invisioned we had.

The number of penalties is a great concern. The only thing that's been strong this preseason has been the penalty kill. In last nights game the Flyers were short handed on 7 occassions. So, in the last two games the Flyers were short handed 13 times. They are 13 for 13 in Penalty Kill situations. They survived two double minors against Detroit, and I believe survived a couple 5 on 3 situations against the Maple Leafs.

The Flyers power play may of had 2 or 3 chances against the Maple Leafs, so between the 2 games, they've had at the most 7 Power Play opportunities. The Flyers Power Play has come up empty thus far. Although one of the Flyers Power Plays last night ended in about 10 seconds, when Arron Asham took a 5 minute charging major & game misconduct penalty late in the 3rd period. (It's quite possible Asham could be suspended for the hit).

Dan Carcillo. This guy has me concerned. I know he's willing to drop the gloves and fight and all that. But, I really he gets aggitated to easily. If I was an opposing coach, I would tell my players, to hit and pester #13 often, because he will lose it and either take a penalty or drop the gloves (stopping the play) in a crusual situation (like when Jeff Carter is on a break away).

But, 5 on 5, the Flyers gave up 7 goals in 2 games and only scored once.

Brian Boucher, his confidence is fragile as it is, it looks like he will start the season with no confidence at all.

Boucher allowed 2 goals on 6 shots against the Maple Leads (.333 Save Percentage)

While Johan Backlund stopped 12 of 14 shots (.857 Save Percentage)

In the game against the Maple Leafs, the Flyers out shot the maple leafs 28 to 20. The Flyers did not score at all, but the Maple Leafs scored on 4 out of 20 shots.

It is scarey when the Flyers have Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, Jeff Carter, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, and James Van Riemsdyk playing and Blair Betts is the best player for the Flyers in the game.

The Flyers really need to strip Mike Richards of the "C"

Claude Giroux looks like a total bust

Jeff Carter is not going to come close to scoring 40 goals.

This team just looks pathetic, like their heads aren't in it. John Stevens & Paul Holmgren are walking on thin ice. I know it's preseason, but they need to turn things around in a hurry.

This season is looking ugly.

I initially thought this team would be contending for a division title, but now I don't even see them making the playoffs. They are too undeciplined, and too uninterested in trying to make a push for the cup.

Stevens & Holmgren will be fired by November.

Tonight the game is on NHL Network.

The Flyers roster tonight looks like this

Forwards: "The Captain" Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, James Van Remsdiek, Dan Carcillo, Riley Cote, Darroll Powe, Claude Giroux, Arron Asham, Matt Clackson, Jared Ross, Blair Betts, Mika Pyorala, & John Kalinski

Defensemen: Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parent, Danny Syvret, Logan Stephenson, Oskars Bartulis, Joonas Lehtivuori

Goaltenders: Johan Backlund and Brian Boucher

It is being reported that Backlund will play in periods 1 and 2, and Boucher will play the 3rd.

I hope the Flyers continue the hitting clinic that they had in the first game against Detroit.

But, I hope they cut down on the penalties. Stay perfect on the Penalty Kill and see if they can get something going on the Power Play (should they get any opportunities).

The game is being played in London, Ontario and the Flyers are 4 - 1 in London (a winning percentage of .800)

I know the game doesn't count, but win the game anyway.

What are your thoughts?

The Flyers woes in Detroit, MI continued as they dropped their preseason opener 3 to 1.

The first period saw both teams combine for 15 hits (Detroit 8 hits/Flyers 7 hits; even Briere had a hit)

Penalties: Red Wings got called for a bench minor at 9:14, this was their only penalty of the period; the Flyers Power Play did not capitalize.

at 7:19 Scott Hartnell was called for 2 penalties, one for Roughing & one unsportsman -like conduct, which gave the Wings a 4-minute Power Play, the Penaltly Kill unit stood tall and killed it off

at 1:29 Andreas Nodl was called for hooking, so that meant the Flyers would start the second period down a man. The Penalty Kill again was successful.

So Penalties (Red Wings 1/Flyers 3) - Power Plays (Red Wings 0 for 3/Flyers 0 for 1).

The Red Wings out shot the Flyers 7 to 5 (mostly due to the 3 Power Play opportunities).

Neither team scored by the end of 1, so Emery was 7 for 7 in save opportunities.

The second period (Flyers again start the period short-handed, but killed off the Nodl penalty)

There were 18 hits in the second period (Red Wings 6/Flyers 12)

Penalties: at 14:26 Lehtivuori was called for a high stick, this penalty was a double-minor, giving Detroit another 4-minute Power Play and the Flyers killed the penalty off

at 8:38 Kolanos was called for high sticking; once again Detroit's power play did not capitalize.

the Detroit Power Play for the Kolanos penalty came to a screeching hault when at 8:19 Jakub Kindl took a hooking penalty(this was Detroit's only penalty during the second period, and second of the game). The Flyers Power Play did not cash in on the 19 seconds of PP time they had.

at 4:40 Bartulis was called for hooking, Detroit's Power Play again failed.

So, Penalties (Flyers 3/Red Wings 1); Power Plays (Flyers 0 for 1; Detroit 0 for 3).

The Red Wings again out shot the Flyers 19 to 7 (again due to the amount of Power Play time they've had), Detroit scored on 2 shots, and the Flyers scored on 1. (Emery stopped 17 of 19 shots in the period)

Emery finished his night at the end of the 2nd Period, and stopped 24 of 26 shots (92%).

Scoring!

The Flyers opened the scoring when James Van Riemsdyk scored an unassisted, even strength goal to put the Flyers ahead 1 to 0. On the ice for JVR's goal (Carter, Hartnell, Pronger, Carle, and Emery for the Flyers; Datsyuk, Franzen, Holmstrom, Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Howard)

John Stevens' team jumped out to a 1 to 0 lead, but no surprise, Stevens' team could not protect the lead (much less add to it).

Detroit tied the game 1 to 1 when Kris Draper scored an even strength goal at 10:24, Rafalski and Ritola got the assists. On the ice for Draper's goal (Briere (shocked!), Giroux, Bartulis, Jones (surprised!), Lehtivuori, and Emery for the Flyers; Ritola, Tardif, Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Howard).

Detroit took the lead 1 to 2 when Jamie Tardif scored an even strength goal at 1:52 (another John Stevens' trait, giving up goals with under 2-minutes to go in a period), Justin Abdelkader recorded loan assist. On the ice for Tardif's goal (Briere (-2 already), Giroux (-2), Van Riemsdyk, Lehtivuori (-2), Parent, and Emery for the Flyers/Pitola, Abdelkader, Meech, Ericsson, and Howard).

The Third Period begins with Emery replaced by Brian Boucher

There were 15 hits (8 by the Flyers, and 7 by the Red Wings)

The Period also saw one Fight between Ian Laperriere and Jamie Tardiff (Tardiff is an assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick)

asside from the fighting majors, there were only 2 penalties in the third period both on Detroit (surprise!), the Flyers failed on both Power Play attempts

So Penalties for the thd (Flyers 1 major; Detroit 1 major & 2 minors) - Flyers Power Play 0 for 2

Each team recorded 9 shots in the period. Detroit was the only team to find twine in the period.

Boucher stopped 8 of 9 shots (89%)

The Red Wings extended the lead to 3 to 1, when Jason Williams beat Boucher at 16:25, Jakub Kindl and former Flyer, Andy "The Donkey" Delmore got credit for the assists. On the ice for Williams goal (Blair Betts, Andreas Nodl, Bell, Jones (surprised! -2), Bartulis (-2), and Boucher for the Flyers/ Emmerton, Ryno, Kindl, Delmore, and Daniel Larsson for the Red Wings)

Basically Penalties were the Flyers doom. The Flyers found themselves short handed 6 times in the first two periods, including having to deal with 2 double minors. Lucky for the Flyers they were able to kill off every penalty they've faced. Detroit was only called for 3 penalties, but 1 of their 3 only cancelled out a Flyer penalty.

Emery looked good, stopping 24 of 26 shots and dealing with 2 double minor penalties.

JVR recorded a goal against some good competition with Datskyuk, Franzen, Holmstrom, and Lidstrom on the ice.

Unfortunately JVR was also on the ice for one of detroit's 3 goals.

Briere and Randy Jones were both a -2. I guess it would be a good idea for John Stevens to avoid having Briere and Jones on the ice at the same time.

There were plenty of hits and one fight.

The Flyers are back at it tomorrow night for their second Preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, I believe the game will be televised on the NHL network..

so, what do you all think of my report? :D

Finally after the long layoff, since that Season ending Game 6 loss in the Quarter Finals round to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins - Flyers Hockey is back!

The orange and black travel to the "Joe", to open the preseason against the Detroit Red Wings.

The game is not televised, but it is being broadcasted via radio on 610 WIP with Tim Saunders and Bundy.

The expected Lineups

For the visiting Philadelphia Flyers

Forwards: Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell, James Van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, Ian Laperriere, Jared Ross, Andreas Nodl, Mika Pyorala, Mark Bell, Blair Betts, and Krys Kolanos.

(It is being reported that Briere, Giroux, and JVR will play together)

Defensemen: Matt Carle, Chris Pronger, Randy Jones, Ryan Parent, Oskars Bartulis, Joonas Lehtivuori

Goaltenders: Ray Emery and Brian Boucher

And for the defending Western Conference Champions, Detroit Red Wings!

Forwards: Johan Franzen, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Kris Draper. Justin Abdelkader, Patrick Eaves, Mattias Ritola, Kris Newbury, Jan Mursak, Johan Ryno, Cory Emmerton, Jeremy Williams

Defensemen: Nicklas Lidstrom, Jakub Kindl, Derek Meech, Brian Rafalski, Jonathan Ericsson, Andy Delmore (former Flyer)

Goaltenders: Jimmy Howard and Daniel Larsson

With Franzen, Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Draper, and Lidstrom in the lineup...this should be a good test to see where the Flyers are at.

Keep in mind, even though this is preseason, the Flyers have not won in Detroit since 1988 (yes that was a real year).

For the guys trying to make the big league roster, I expect  JVR is the front runner. For the rest of them, if you want to make the Broad Street Bullies, I suggest dropping the gloves every chance you get. And deliver a "Steve Downie" style hit, to say Lidstrom or Draper, that's right a 25-gamer. See, what it did for Downie? He stayed on the Flyers roster for a full season and 1 month.

So lots of fighting and lots of hits where they leave their feet and you will impress the Broad Street Bullies.

Prediction: Flyers 2, Detroit 5

Tomorrow, Wednesday (September 16th), opens the 2009-2010 preseason for the Philadelphia Flyers. The team goes on the road, to play the Detroit Red Wings. Unfortunately, I believe the game is not televised.

Now, there's probably a lot of people who don't like preseason, since the result of the game doesn't factor towards making the post-season or being eliminated, and the top players for the Flyers don't play much.

I on the other hand, really enjoy preseason. You get the opportunity to see how the prospects are doing, and just watching the lesser talented, battle out hard to try and make the team...and the games matter a lot to these guys. I just enjoy of watching hockey for hockey and not worry about the heart aches of whether the Flyers are going to win  or not.

So, anyway. What do you guys expect from the Flyers in this first preseason game. If I'm right, the top Flyers players won't play tomorrow at all. Usually the prospects and rookies play on the road, and the top players for the team will see time at home games.

So for the first period anyway, the Red Wings top players should play against the Flyers' prospects and rookies, right?

So just to see what your opinions are...what will ya be looking for and expecting from the Flyers as they open the Preseason on Wednesday?

This post is really has nothing directly to do with the Flyers, but I thought it was news worthy to see what all of your opinions are.

Ottawa Senators, Left Winger Danny Heatley along with a draft pick was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Right Winger Jonathan Cheechoo, Left Winger Milan Michalek, and a draft pick.

Of course the Sharks being out west, won't effect the Flyers unless of course both teams made it to the Stanley Cup finals.

The Ottawa Senators may not be in the Flyers' division but are in the Eastern Conference...so what do you think of the additions of Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek to the Ottawa Senators?

NHL . com reports that Simon Gagne suffered a groin injury while practicing with Team Canada for the olympics?

Whatever happened to the days that the olympics was for amateur athletes only? I mean they stripped Jim Thorpe of all his medals, because he played professional Baseball (I know they gave them back to him, long after his death..but) Oh yeah 1992 with the USA Basketball "Dream Team".

So, if Gagne isn't able to participate with the Flyers....what happens? I mean Gagne is one of the Flyers prize players...and it kind if disheartening to receive news, that Simon suffered an injury that had nothing to do with preparing to play for the Flyers.

And this is a groin injury, they take forever to completely heel. This could take 6 months or even more. Gagne could weeks feeling fine, but they reinjure with such ease if not giving the proper time to fully heel. So, could we see another season where Gagne is in and out of the lineup?

When, if ever, will us Flyer fans..get the opportunity to see Briere & Gagne play together for a fullseason?

I am sure this has been asked before.......

But, an off topic discussion from the expectations of the upcoming seasons.....

Who are your favorite Flyers' of all time....?

I am a fan of goaltenders, I don't think I hockey team can survive without strong goaltending play....so my favorite Flyers are Bernie Parent and Ron Hextall...

Bernie was before my lifetime, but his numbers are mindboggling, for the few seasons he was healthy. And hey he's the only Goalie to bring Philadelphia its only 2 Stanley Cups...and inspiring over 2 million people to line up on broad street to celebrate the Champs. The 1973-74 Championship was no easy feat, the Flyers swept the (Atlanta) Flames and the New York Rangers in 7 games to reach the finals and then the Flyers had to overcome, Phil Esposito, the great number 4 Bobby Ore, and the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals. In game 6 - that clinched the Cup, Bernie shut the Bruins out to preserve a 1 - 0 victory. That year, Bernie allowed 1 goal or less in 7 of the 17 post season games they've played, including 2 shut-outs.

For the 1974-75 Championship team, they defeated the Maple Leafs and Billy Smith and the Islanders to reach the finals and then faced the Buffalo Sabres in the Stanley Cup Finals. and of the 17 post season games the Flyers played, Bernie allowed 1 goal or less in 9 of those games, including 5 shut-outs. He also clinched the cup with another shut-out performance, defeating the Sabres 2 to 0 in Game 6.

Had Parent been healthy for the 1975-76 season, the Flyers may have threepeated. Wayne Stephenson played well, including that 4 - 1 win over the Soviet Union Red Army, but the Flyers were swept by Guy Lafleur and Ken Dryden's Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals. Despite being swept the Flyers lost 3 of the 4 games by 1 goal. The Canadiens would go on and win 4 straight Stanley Cups following this defeat of the Flyers. Had Bernie been healthy and in goal for that series? maybe the Flyers would've been the ones to win 4 straight...but that's only hypothetical.

Ron Hextall is my second favorite Flyer. The first goaltender to score a goal on a shot attempt and he did it twice, including once in the post season. Now all the top goalies try to match the feat, like Brodeur, Nabakov, Luongo..etc.

Ron Hextall also fought and slashed people, and has the all-time record for penalty minutes for a goaltender right? Who can forget his MVP performance in the 1986-87 Stanley Cup Finals against Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey, Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers. The Flyers beat the Rangers, Mike Bossy & the Islanders, and Patrick Roy & the Canadiens to get there.,,on their post-season journey to the cup finals...of the 19 games they've played, Hextall allowed 1 goal or less in 5 of those games, including 2 shut-outs.

Then against the Oilers, the Flyers were without Tim Kerr for the series. Hextall was unbelievable in the series, but the Flyers were unable to protect a 2 to 1 lead in Game 2, and got dominated in Game 4 at home. If they were going to win this series, let's face it...they would've had to win all of their home games and they didn't do it. Despite that, they rallied back to win Game 5 in Edmonton and Game 6 back in Philadelphia. Then of course Hextall let in that heart breaking third goal in the late stages of Game 7...and the Flyers miracle run was stopped short of the ultimate prize.

Unfortunately after 1987, the Flyers started entering the dark years of the teams history where they missed the playoffs like 4 or 5 seasons in a row. However, Hextall was involved in a trade with the Quebec Nordiques, that brought Eric Lindros to Philadelphia. Now we all know how the Lindros era ended bitter-sweet...well just bitter..but during Lindros's run here, he did turn the Flyers around and make us playoff contenders again. Soon, Hextall returned to the Flyers, and he split time in net with Garth Snow, and the Flyers returned to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Flyers defeated the Penguins in 5, Martin Brodeur & the Devils in 5, and Wayne Gretzky & the Rangers in 5 to get the Finals. Unfortunately, Hextall lost his 1987 glory somewhere and the Flyers were no match for Brendon Shanahan, Steve Yzermann, and the Detroit Red Wings and were swept.

But, Hextall was an exciting player as well as a good Goaltender. And the Flyers haven't had solid goaltending since. Boucher played well in 1999-2000, and Robert Esche? in 2003-04, and Biron in 2007-08..but no one has been stellar like Hexy and Bernie.

First of all...I again apologize if this topic has been covered in another area of this forum.....I am new here and haven't gotten to read everything ..... so please forgive me, I'm just trying to create discussion and not step on any toes...

Over the summer, the Flyers have made some adjustments to their hockey squad...they gave a huge boost to their Defensemen...by adding longtime NHL veteran and former Stanley Cup Champion, Chris Pronger...they also added gritty veteran forward, Ian Laperriere. (oh and somewhere in the last week or so they added Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, another defensemen....)

They made a goaltending change....by subtracting both Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki and adding controversy Goaltender Ray Emery (of everything Emery is charged with, it does not include animal cruelty) and former Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher...

With the additions, the Salary Cap started adding up and then came the subtractions

Right Winger Joffrey Lupul was lost in the deal for Pronger

and Right Winger, NHL veteran, and former Stanley Cup Champion Mike Knuble cause the team just couldn't afford to keep him...

So what has happened is the team got a boost to their Defensemen...and their Forwards took a hit and look lop sided right now...

at Left Wing the team looks good.....Simon Gagne and Scott Hartnell are studs..both are terrific goal scorers and one is a tremendous playmaker and the other is a hardnosed, stir the pot, gritty type player .... Left Wing also features the team's enforcer in Riley Cote and then Daniel Carcillo, who adds more fisty cuffs, but I guess has some offensive potential....

at Center.....Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are very solid at ever aspect of the game....but after that? Danny Briere, Darroll Powe, Jared Ross, Claude Giroux? one is a true center, who only has played in 16 NHL games (10 regular season and 6 post season) and the others are either centerman who were changed to wingers or wingers changed to centerman. Briere played center his entire NHL career until 2008-09 when he was made a perminant Right Winger, Darroll Powe came up from the minors and moved from Center to winger, and Claude Giroux played most of the regular season as a winger, but then in the post season played Center.

at Right Wing...like center....who plays Right Wing and who plays Center? Claude Giroux is a right winger....but they moved him to center....Briere is a center who played last year at Right Wing...Powe is a center who saw time at Right Wing...then there is Asham who is a pure Right Winger and they've added Ian Lapperiere who plays Right Wing. Asham showed some flashes of playmaking ability, but no one knows if he can do that for an entire season..since he's like Daniel Carcillo from the Right side. Laperriere is an Asham style of Right Winger, who is defensive minded.

So right now there's an uncertainty at the 3rd and 4th Center positions and Right Wing is puzzling from top to bottom...

Whoever takes on the role of Right Wing 1 and Right Wing 2 has a some big skates to fill (I mean big both literally and figuratively) ..... this is a look into what the Flyers lost at Right Wing and need to replace...

#22 Mike Knuble

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 230 lbs (the Flyers lost their heaviest forward)

NHL Debut: 1996-97 season (11 season Veteran, entering his 12th season with the Caps; some interesting trivia...for the 1996-97 & 1997-98 seasons Knoobs played for the Detroit Red Wings...who did Detroit beat in the 1997 Stanley Cup finals & who did they beat in the 1998 Stanley Cup finals?)

(The following stats include the past 4 regular seasons...all spent with the Flyers)

Games Played: 310 (including all 82 in the 2008-09, 2007-08, and 2005-06 seasons)

Ice Time: 5,965 minutes (about 19:24 per game)

Power Play Time: 1,251 minutes (they will miss this Power Play weapon)

Penalty Kill Time: 556 minutes (he killed penalties too)

Face-off attempts: This stat is so low I'm not even going to bother with it, it's well below 1 face-off per game. and he's something like 38% victorious)

Minor Penalties: 134 (about 1 out of every 3 games Knoobs was called for a penalty; so he had issues here)

Major Penalties: 0

Give Aways: 132

Take Aways: 121

Hits: 272 (averages about 68 hits per season; he did have 89 hits last season, which for the season was better than 1 hit per game)

Blocked Shots: 157 (averages about 39 per season, not a Knoobs strong suit)

Plus/Minus: +29 (he even recorded a +2 during the 2006-07 campaign; he had a -3 during the 2007-08 campaign; for his career he is a +62...that averages to about +5.6 per season for his career)

Assists: 107 (about 1 out of every 3 games Knoobs recorded an assist; he has 214 assists for his career, averagine 19 assists per season for his career)

Shots on Goal: 727

Power Play Goals: 49 (67 for his career)

Short-Handed Goals: 3 (4 for his career)

Goals (overall): 114 (that's about 1 every 3 games; he has 215 goals for his career)

If ya think about it, Mike Knuble for his career, which he's played in 804 games...1 out of every 2 games he recorded either a goal or an assist

They really don't have anyone on the current roster who can do what Mike Knuble did, but let's face it, they just couldn't afford to keep him. Mike Knuble earned the money he is getting from D.C. ).

#15 Joffrey Lupul

 Height: 6'1"

Weight: 205 lbs

NHL Debut: 2003-04 season (5 season Veteran)

(The following stats include the past 4 regular seasons...last 2 spent with the Flyers; 2006-07 with Edmonton, and 2005-06 spent with Anaheim Mighty Ducks)

Games Played: 297

Ice Time: 4,869 minutes (about 16:48 per game)

Power Play Time: 1,000 minutes (he contributed to the Power Play)

Penalty Kill Time: 145 minutes (he killed penalties too)

Face-off attempts: Like Knuble this stat is so low in both quality and percentage it's not worth exploring.

Minor Penalties: 83 (about 1 every 7 games he is called for 2 penalties)

Major Penalties: 4

Give Aways: 148

Take Aways: 107

Hits: 284 (averages about 71 hits per season; a little less than 1 hit per game)

Blocked Shots: 97 (even worse than Knuble)

Plus/Minus: -39 (in his 2 seasons with the Flyers, Lupul was a +3....but that's still about -9.7 per season over the past 4 seasons, so he's a liability here; for his career he's a -45..goes to show how good Carter & Hartnell are defensively)

Assists: 88 (about 1 out of every 7 games he records 2 assists)

Shots on Goal: 838

Power Play Goals: 30 (34 for his career)

Short-Handed Goals: 2

Goals (overall): 89 (about 1 every 7 games he records 2 goals; he has 102 goals for his career)

So other than some defensive issues, that didn't handicap him with the Flyers (most likely cause of his teammates)...Lupul brings a lot of scoring punch to the table. ...

I think Lupul will be less missed than Knuble....especially if Claude Giroux plays up to expectations...Lupul for Chris Pronger is a good trade.....Pronger adds a whole other dimension to this hockey club....

But I think Knuble's absents, which Knubles departure had a lot to do with the addition of Pronger....will be missed. Knuble played a style of game, and brought experience on top of it, that the Flyers do not have at Right Wing.

With the Flyers' salary cap situation it will be difficult for them to pick up a Knuble replacement...so they may have to just deal with what they have or call up a prospect from the Phantoms to replace Knoobs.

I mentioned before that I think Darroll Powe, due to his weight and style of play, could try and fill in those big skates left by Knuble. But, if he doesn't..what other Right Wing do we have that could play that "infront of the net" game?

I was going to add this as a "reply" to my "Depth Chart 2009-2010" post from a few days ago....but as I was thinking about what I wanted to say...it occurred to me more and more to make this a fresh new topic....there's a few Powe supporters and a few Powe neigh-sayors....

With the loss of Right Wingers Mike Knuble and Joffrey Lupul in the offseason and Scottie Upshall late last season...the Flyers are really thin at Right Wing....they are pretty strong at Center (depending where ya place Danny Briere..)...and they are strong at Left Wing (Gagne, Hartnell, and Carcillo, with Cote as your enforcer)

But at Right Wing...there is Claude Giroux, who is projected to have a bright future, despite having just 48 NHL games (including playoffs) under his belt, but after that? Arron Asham..a lot of NHL experience, but mostly as an aggitator or goon, and Laperriere another one with lots of NHL experience, but mostly an aggitator or goon....

so right now...unless the Flyers' front office is able to make a move and find someone on the market....Darroll Powe seems to be a wild card....like Claude Giroux, Darroll Powe played in his first NHL season last year, but unlike Claude Giroux..Powe didn't make a lot of noise.......so this is a little run down of how this career AHLer faired in the NHL and what he brings to the table from an athletic standpoint...

This is Powe's NHL performance in the 2008-09 regular season and some other basic information..

According the Philadelphia Flyers website...
Darroll Powe is 5'11" and weighs 212 pounds (he's not very tall, but of the 12 forwards listed he is currently the second heaviest forward on the team, behind Riley Cote at 220 pounds)

According to Steve Coates (Coatsie) the Flyers ace insider...

he says Darroll Powe is the fastest skater on the team....so I guess that means from goal line to goal line he's the fastest Flyers' forward...
So that means he is big and fast!

So his weight gives him the potential to be a Power Forward on one of the lines....

According to the scouting report on this website, under "Flyers" --> "Choose a Player: Darroll Powe" and "Grading the Flyers: Darroll Powe" under the "archeives section"

Darroll Powe skates hard, fights for pucks in the corner, is tough to knock off the puck......aren't those are the basic credentials of what you want from a Winger in Ice Hockey?

So, now to what he actually did in the NHL....(this is regular season only and the stats are from NHL . com)

Games Played: 60 (about 73% of the season)

Ice Time: 632:20 (about 10:32 per game)

Power Play Time: 2:52 (so he didn't play Power Play)

Penalty Kill Time: 60:24 (about 1:00 per game)

Face-off Attempts: 263 (about 4 Face-offs per game...so he didn't play Center much)

Face-offs won: 128 (49%....so on average he took 4 face-offs per game and won 2 per game)

Give Aways: 14

Take Aways 21

Hits: 124 (almost 2 per game)

Blocked Shots: 31

Minor Penalties: 15 (1 out of every 4 games he was called for a penalty)

Plus/Minus: -8 (so the flyers were scored on, more than the flyers scored when Powe was on the ice)

Assists: 5 (1 out of every 12 games he recorded an assist)

Shots on Goal: 72

Power Play Goals: 0

Short-Handed Goals: 0

Goals (overall): 6 (1 out of every 10 games he scored a goal)

The more I think about it, this becomes important to analyze too.....here's Powe's post season performance:

Games Played: 6

Ice Time: 84:10 (about 12:12 per game)

Power Play Time: 2:11 (so he didn't play Power Play)

Penalty Kill Time: 8:45 (about 1:30 per game)

Face-off Attempts: 13 (6th on the team in face-off attempts for the playoffs; 2 per game)

Face-offs won: 5 (38%).....I assume he playing wing, and whoever was taking the face-off must have gotten kicked out of the circle and switched with Powe; this was probably the same scenario for most of the regular season.

Give Aways: 2

Take Aways 0

Hits: 16

Blocked Shots: 8

Minor Penalties: 1 minor penalty (1 minor penalty in 6 post season games..against the Pens....that shows poise!)

Major Penalties: 1 Fighting Major (so man power wasn't effected)

Plus/Minus: 0 (in this catagory, he improved in the playoffs, compared to his regular season performance)

Assists: 2 (1 out of every 3 post-season games he recorded an assist)

Shots on Goal: 10

Power Play Goals: 0

Short-Handed Goals: 0

Goals (overall): 1 (so he recorded a playoff goal)

So, with his statistics......he wasn't a complete stiff.

My Analysis

Based on his NHL performance...he wasn't a complete stiff. It's not a great first season...but I think you could say, it's a good first season...there is room for improvement....

But, with the Flyers weaknesses.....and Powe's physical assets, his speed, his 66 NHL games (regular & post season) as well as his overall performance in those games....I think he could aid one of the lines as a powerforward..

his height might be tough to screen a tall goalie....but his weight, and being tough to knock around...he could possibly be able to plant himself in front of the net and look to clean up rebounds or tip in shots from the point....to go along with it he has speed...whether he can utilize it in all phases of a hockey game at the NHL level remains to be seen, but he deserves a chance...

Maybe at best he's a third liner....but I think he has some projected capabilities that he could aide a scoring line. Maybe if he would play a lot of minutes, NHLers would exploit parts of his game....but, doesn't he deserve a chance?

I still think he could fit on a line with Danny Briere, and Simon Gagne....he could help them, and they could help him...the key is if he can play a power forward role, like Mike Knuble did....

This is just a thought......of course the front office could make a move and I will completely change my mind....but right now, with what the Flyers have.....what do ya think?

So he's now entering his third full season as General Manager of the Orange and Black...

If you had to grade Holmgren on his performance as the GM? how would you do it?

2006-07: The Beginning

Holmgren became the GM, taking over for Bobby Clarke, back in 2006-07 when the Flyers got off to an awful start and ended up finishing with the worst record in the entire NHL. On his watch, John Stevens, former Calder Cup winner with the Philadelphia Phantoms, was promoted to Flyers' Head Coach in relief of former Stanley Cup Champion (with the Dallas North Stars) Ken Hitchcock.

Then they added Goaltender Marty Biron, which was an upgrade from Robert Esche and put less pressure on Antero Nittymaki. The Flyers were out of playoff contention by then, so there was no pressure on Biron and he could show the Flyers' management what he was capable of. Defensemen Braydon Coburn and Winger Scottie Upshall was added and they focused on developing talent like Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, RJ Umberger, Randy Jones, etc and this game Holmgren an idea of what the team had and what they needed.

2007-08: The Miracle Turn-Around

Then for the 2007-08 season Holmgren went on to add Center Danny Briere, Left Winger Scott Hartnell, Right Winger Joffrey Lupul, and Defensemen Kimmo Timonen and Jason Smith. The team played well for the most part that season, despite injuries and 5 suspensions (to Steve Downie, Jesse Boulerice, Randy Jones, Scott Hartnell, and Riley Cote)...the team also had Ben Eager, Jim Vandameer, Jarclov Modry, Ryan Parent, and Patrrick Thorsden at various times throughout the season.

Late in the season the team added Vaclav Prospal....for their playoff run, to replace the injured Simon Gagne.

The result was a complete 180 from the season before.

By the end of January of the 2007--08 season, the team was in first place in the Atlantic Division and seeded 3rd in the Conference, but they hit a bump in the road in February where they dropped 10 straight....but at the end of the 10 game slide, they were still in the Playoff picture..and they got on another hot streak in March and finished the season with 42 wins, and 95 points, good enough to earn the 6th seed in the Conference. In the post-season, during the Conference Quarter-Finals, the team jumped out to 3 to 1 series lead, but then it took them until game 7 to final finish off Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals.

The team then faced #1 seeded Montreal Canadiens in the Conference Semi-Finals and knocked them out in 5 games, to advance to the Conference Finals against arch rivals, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers defeated the Penguins in 5 out of the 8 meetings in the regular season, but were only 1 - 3 in Pittsburgh, 0 - 2 in Pittsburgh when Fleury played..and 2 - 2 overall against Pittsburgh when Fleury was in net. To make matters worse, Defensemen Kimmo Timonen was put on the DL with a blood clot...and the team went down 3 to 0, and eventually would see Timonen return for Game 5, but the Flyers lost the game 6 - 0 and were eliminated 4 games to 1.

Despite not bringing home the Stanley Cup or not even making th Stanley Cup Finals...I think that season was a big success, considering where they were the previous season....so Holmgren's 2007-08 offseason moves looked brilliant...but caught up to him for the 2008-09 season.

2008-09: The Cookie Monster goes down and the Cap Kills

With the NHL Salary Cap looming and the Flyers overboard..Holmgren couldn't keep the team together and add to the weaknesses, instead he had to make moves to keep the "core of the team" which created other weaknesses.

The Flyers were forced to say good bye to "Captain Gator" Jason Smith, as well as "The Penguin Killer" RJ Umberger, Veterans Vaclav Prospal, Jim Dowd, and Sami Kapanen.

The Priority was to sign, former first round draft pick and up and coming star, Jeff Carter to a long term deal (and did that move pay off!)

Then Holmgren started the season by bringing in Defensemen Steve Eminger and Ossi Vanaanen, promoting Defensemen Lasse Kukkonen, and having the pleasure of starting the season with Defensemen Darian Hatcher, Ryan Parent, and Randy Jones all on the disabled list (Hatcher would remain there the entire season...only to announce his retirement at seasons end...Homer didn't see that coming did he?). Center Glenn Metropolit was added, fan favorite Steve Downie appeared to perminantly be replacing Sami Kapanen, and Right Winger Arron Asham was added to the club

The offseason was more about freeing up cap space, then improving the club and it showed in the first few games as the Philadelphia Flyers roared out from the gate, losing their first 6 games. Their prize acquisition from the 2007-08 offseason, The Cookie Monster, got injured and Steve Eminger and Steve Downie both got traded. Captain Mike Richards almost broke out into tears on camera and Holmgren made threats about bringing in NHL Veteran and Flyer nemessase, Brenden Shanahan...but that turned out to just be a bluff (I guess Ed Snider was breathing down Holmgren's neck like a fire breathing Dragon). The Flyers acquired Defensemen Matt Carle. Promoted Forwards: Darroll Powe, Andreas Nodl, Josh Gratton, and Claude Giroux. Lucky for the Flyers, Jeff Carter caught on fire and roared out to lead the league in goals scored. The Flyers also jumped out to leading the league in short handed goals, they had trouble killing off penalties at the sametime, or staying out of the box...but the good thing for fans of hockey...one of the teams would score when the Flyers were short handed. The Flyers seemed to turn the season around and looked like they were heading in the right direction as they were locked in the 4th seed slot for quite sometime. It looked like they would surely get home ice advantage in the first round of the post season.

But! the Salary Cap struck again, as the Cookie Monster was getting healthier and healthier a roster move needed to be made, and Holmgren managed to con Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix-Winnipeg Jets-Coyotes in trading Goon Daniel Carcillo for scorer Scottie Upshall. They also had to trade, productive Center, Glenn Metropolit to free up cap room. Then Phantoms' Center from Alabama, Jared Ross, was in and out of the line up.

At this point in the season, the Flyers suddenly started to be unable to beat teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, slumping Montreal Canadiens, slumping New York Rangers, slumping Ottawa Senators, or unable to play well when having the lead.

They started being satisfied with getting the 4th seed, instead of winning the Division..which the New Jersey Devils gave them every opportunity to do so. So, instead they slumped and gave the 4th seed to the Pittsburgh Penguins and got the 5th Seed instead. They finished with 44 wins, and 99 points (they could've easily have had 100 points on the season) . The team did impove on the 2007-08 season in Regular Season wins and points, but not in the post season.

In the Post Season, the inability to play with the lead haunted them, as in the Conference Quarter-Finals, they blew a late game lead against the Penguins in Game 2 and blew a 3 goal lead against the Penguins in Game 6, and were eliminated 4 games to 2.

So, the lack of leadership and the Salary Cap nipped Holmgren's brilliance.....from the season before...

And I think we saw a negative side of Holmgren and he seemed to be a "Back Seat Coach" at times ....

So, this coming season...

2009-2010: A New Offseason (The Penguins/Sidney Crosby are Champs)

Again the Salary Cap strikes...but the team also has a lot of areas which needs improvement. The Goalkeepers the past 2 seasons, were better than what they had in 2006-07, but they weren't going to help ya take the next step. So, the first thing was to find new Goalkeepers and they did...in Ray Emery and Brian Boucher.

They were persistant on adding a Defensemen....and they did....in Chris Pronger and Olle-Kristian Tollefsen.

The tradeoff was losing veteran Right Wingers Mike Knuble and Joffrey Lupul (Lupul was traded for Pronger, and Knuble left for cap reasons). Then they brought in Right Wing veteran Ian Laperriere. Then the team is content on developing Darroll Powe, Claude Giroux, Jared Ross, and Ryan Parent

I just hope....that if the Flyers are playing well come January.....and all their cards are in the lineup, that hey don't run into a Salary Cap issue where they have to get rid of a productive player, that could spoil the chemistry. Or, Ed Snider sees it as an opportunity to go "all in" and try and win it this year, by grabing something at the trade deadline which would require giving up too much of the current roster (the Flyers do this a lot).

But, so far......what do you think of Paul Holmgren....as a GM?

I give him an A- .... the A is for turning the team around, the minus is because he got sacked by the Salary Cap and in my opinion "Back seat coaches" too much.