Philadelphia Flyers

After 40 Years, Flyers Still Goons?

In 2007-08 the Flyers intended whole heartedly to come back into the NHL with a sense of vengeance. It wasn’t necessarily a plan to beat up physically and mentality anyone who stepped on the ice with them, but bitter after the worst season in franchise history, the Flyers had an impressive parade of five total Flyers that watched some games instead of skating on the ice due to suspensions. Steve Downie and Jesse Boulerice were the first to fall to the trend, Boulerice with 25 games for a clearly dirty cross-check to the face of Ryan Kesler (video) and Downie with 20 games for a black and white call for leaving his feet when he lunged into a check on Dean McAmmond even though the result was far worse than the intention (video). While those were clear cut with their intentions to punish a certain player on the ice, two other suspensions to Randy Jones (video) and Scott Hartnell (video) didn’t show any true intent to injure. Both were hits when the player was in a vulnerable position and nobody wants to see that in the NHL of course. Still it’s clear that league cracked down more on the result because these are just penalty worthy offenses in an ordinary game when no one is hurt. The Flyers in fact have taken quite a few of these in the past two season and bounced right back up to not even a powerplay. It’s a shame that the league works this way, but there’s not much that can be done about it. The last of the Flyers to see time on the suspension list was Riley Cote with three games on a hit from behind on Dallas Star blueliner Matt Niskanen.

Salary Cap World: Preparing For The Offseason Fallout

The season may be winding down, but there’s still the playoffs lurking right around the corner. It may seem like a short time, but the offseason is a long way off. While some teams will undoubtedly be looking at the 09-10 season sooner than others one thing is certain; the elite teams that have spent up to the salary cap ceiling will have to do some creative work to hold together for next year.

Future In The Balance: Top Prospect James van Riemsdyk

When teams have a terrible season the eventual payoff for a year at the bottom can change a whole team’s fate. The Carolina Hurricanes turned their 2nd overall selection in 2003 into a Stanley Cup Championship on the back of Eric Staal. The Columbus Blue Jackets got Rick Nash 1st overall in the 2002 Entry draft and the Washington Capitals got Alexander Ovechkin 1st overall in 2004. The Chicago Blackhawks scored Jonathan Toews 3rd overall in 2006 and Patrick Kane 1st overall in 2007. Pittsburgh has reshaped the entire face of its organization with Marc-Andre Fleury (1st overall in 2003), Evgeni Malkin (2nd overall in 2004), Sidney Crosby (1st overall in 2005), and Jordan Staal (2nd overall in 2006).

News Flash: Mike Richards Is Good

To say that Mike Richards is good just may be an understatement. In his last game Mr. Richards became the first player in NHL history to score 3 shorthanded goals when killing a 5 on 3 powerplay. That’s no small accomplishment when you think about Richards turning 24 early in February. Tonight against Buffalo he put another record up on his big board. This was not an NHL record like his incredible goal last weekend. Instead it was a personal best. Richards put up 5 points against the Sabres in Philadelphia while adding yet another shorthanded goal to his career total. He has had plenty of four point nights but never an extra one. His important 5th point came on a steal late in the game where he carried it from the blueline to slice it into the Sabres’ empty net. In fact he was either a part of of scored each of the Flyers’ goals tonight except for the final empty netter scored by Darroll Powe who pulled a Richards-esque steal at the blueline to wrist the puck in finishing the Buffalo Sabres completely.

Goalie Controversy? What Goalie Controversy?

Flyers head coach John Stevens remained cool, calm, and collected the other day as he announced no actual goalie controversy in Philadelphia. He said Niittymaki had the hot glove, and he was in fact going to ride that glove until it cooled down. Of course he didn’t have to wait very long as the Flyers brand new starting goaltender for little under a week let in 5 goals against the struggling Ottawa Senators tonight only managing to fend off 18 of the 23 fired shots in his direction.

The Legend Of Thor Grows: 2010 Olympic Teams Set

It’s a rare thing to see a young undrafted player with only 106 (130 counting playoffs) NHL games under his belt over the course of two seasons become a legend. In fact those looking at his stat line or his brief NHL stint would hardly call a kid like PatrickThoresen a legend. After all he only accounted for 3 goals. That’s not exactly important in the eyes of millions of fans watching some players score 40 a season without breaking a sweat. Still there are two areas of the world that believe in the Legend of Thor. One is the great city of Philadelphia and as of February 8th, 2009 the other is the entire country of Norway, the country Thoresen calls home.

Sbisa To Hurricanes

Don’t panic Flyers fans, and certainly don’t rejoice you Carolina fans. Yes, Sbisa after 39 games with the Flyers will be moving on to the Hurricanes, but these are the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL, strong contenders not only for the Western Hockey League title but maybe even the Memorial Cup as well. Today on the Flyers website there was an announcement claiming that the now 19 year old first round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers from the 2008 Entry Draft will no longer be with the organization for the remainder of the season.