Point/Counterpoint is a new weekly series which argues both sides of a topic relevant to the Philadelphia Flyers. Today, Nick D and Bob H will tackle the new “radical” realignment plan the NHL will implement next season. Point – Nick D: The National Hockey League will realign for the 2012-2013 season. There will no longer be two conferences with six divisions in each conference, and five teams in each division. Now there will be four “conferences” made up of either seven or eight clubs each. All teams in the league will see each other at least twice, with intra-conference teams meeting six times apiece, …
Future Flyers Report 12/19/11
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects. Nick Cousins had a big week in juniors with 6 points over 3 games (2 g, 4 a) to push himself back into the top 20 scorers in the OHL. Brendan Ranford recorded a point in each game to finish with 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games. Defenders Ricard Blidstrand and Colin Suellentrop each picked up an assist on the week. Marcel Noebels scored 4 goals and assisted on 5 goals in 5 games with Germany in the Division I U20 World Championships. Ben Holmstrom was …
3 on 3 for the week of 12.18.2011
Welcome to 3-on-3,where we look back on the the week that was for the Philadelphia Flyers from a statical point of view. The Orange and Black went 2-1 last week, watching their seven-game winning streak come to an end against the Bruins, but maintaining the overall lead in the Eastern Conference with 43 points. A rash of concussions to key players like Claude Giroux and Chris Pronger has forced other players to step up and contribute. Let’s get to this week’s “hot” and “not”: 3 “hot”: Wayne Simmonds — The 23-year-old right wing had a good week, scoring two …
Minor League Update: 12/11-12/17
The Adirondack Phantoms lost their first game of the week before winning last night to make their record 3-3-1 in the month of December. Since their four-game winning streak was snapped at the beginning of the month, the Phantoms two wins in their last six games have both been one-goal victories. With Christmas taking place next weekend, the Phantoms play today and Wednesday while not playing on Saturday for only the second time all season. In their first game of the week, the Phantoms lost on the road 3-1 to the Binghamton Senators (the Ottawa Senators’ AHL affiliate). Rob Klinkhammer potted …
Flight Plan 12.18.2011
The Philadelphia Flyers had won seven straight and were rolling along despite missing their best forward, their best defenseman, and a few others. Saturday afternoon, that all came to a head. The Flyers were blanked, blown out by the Boston Bruins in the Flyers’ final home game of 2011, by a score of 6-0. If that wasn’t sobering enough, Philadelphia has almost certainly lost another center to a concussion as 19-year old rookie Sean Couturier took a shot in the back of the head from Kimmo Timonen. If, or more likely when, Couturier is diagnosed with a concussion that will …
Bruins Trample Flyers 6-0
The Bruins scored early and often in their 6-0 beating of the Flyers earlier today in Philadelphia. Benoit Pouliot netted the game-winner in the first minute of the game as Tim Thomas denied 31 shots in his fourth shutout of the season. Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled 7:06 into the second period after he allowed his fifth goal on the 20th shot he faced. Zdeno Chara had the Goride Howe hat trick while Rich Peverley had three assists as the loss ended the Flyers’ seven-game winning streak and improved Boston’s winning streak to four games. Boston may have scored six goals, but all they …
Point/Counterpoint: Barry Hanrahan, not Paul Holmgren, deserves blame for cap mismanagement, bad contracts
Point/Counterpoint is a new series which argues both sides of a topic relevant to the Philadelphia Flyers. Today, Nina G and I discuss who deserves the blame for cap mismanagement and the bad contracts that have been handed out to players. Point By Marcello De Feo In theory, when something goes wrong within an organization, the blame should ultimately fall to the person at the top, the one in charge of making all final decisions. In this case, that would be Paul Holmgren. He is the general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers and the one who signs his name on …
Final Call Part One
So it’s finals week at the school I teach at and today I just gave my very first objective/essay final. My brain is mush. I’m not exaggerating. I believe it is a cross between porridge and pudding. I have essays to grade coming out of my ears and christmas presents to wrap and…I’m making excuses, I know. I am not finished with Kerry Fraser’s The Final Call. I will be by next week because school is out on Tuesday. But going through the book this slowly and then having to write about it is making me far more specific than …
The case for Ryan Suter
Allow me to preface this column by stating that I believe the Flyers have no urgent need to add a defensemen. Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle, Andrej Meszaros, and Braydon Coburn are more than capable of shouldering the load with the likes of Marc-Andre Bourdon, Kevin Marshall, and Erik Gustafsson eating up some minutes as well. However, if the Flyers do, indeed decide to pursue a defender at some — the trade deadline seems to be the most realistic option — then Ryan Suter could be the primary target for the Flyers. The 26-year-old defender for the Nashville Predators comes from …
Let’s Be Honest Here
The Lulz feature was originally inspired by the lolcats site but features hockey pictures with funny, quirky, ironic or just plain mean captions. This feature should run weekly on Fridays; TGIFWL (Thank Goodness It’s Friday With Lulz).