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Then and Now: Martin Biron

Four goaltenders were picked in the first round of the 1995 NHL Draft. Two of those goalies, J.S. Giguere and Marc Denis, never played for the Philadelphia Flyers. The other two went on to serve as the starting goaltender for Philly at one point in their careers. One of those goaltenders was Brian Boucher. The other goalie was Martin Biron. Picked 16th overall by the Buffalo Sabres, Biron went on to see part-time duty for the organization between the seasons of 1995-1996 and 1998-1999. In 1999-2000, Biron suited up in 41 games for the Sabres during the regular season, but …

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Future Flyers Report: Kessel’s Offensive Weekend

Blake Kessel is regarded as one of the better defenseman on the Trenton Titans. At 6’2″, 203 pounds, Kessel does a great job in his own end of the rink and can pitch in offensively as well. In his final two years at the University of New Hampshire and his time with the Adirondack Phantoms last season, Kessel posted a total of 16 goals and 67 assists in 133 games. This weekend, Kessel had a three-assist game on Saturday and a two-point game yesterday. Thanks to Stephen Schultz’s four-goal game on Saturday, Kessel showed his ability to start a scoring …

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Atlantic Watch: Season Preview

After a painful 3 1/2 months, the NHL will finally return to action this weekend. That being said, the schedule is much shorter, which makes every game that much more important. If you want to make the playoffs, you most likely won’t be able to afford any losing streak of severe length. Since no games have taken place yet, let’s take a look at the Flyers’ schedule for the next week and recent news related to the team, as well as what the rest of the division has done lately. For the Flyers, several stories have occurred this week that …

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Trenton Update: 12/14-12/20

The Trenton Titans started to climb out of the ECHL’s Eastern Conference cellar this week by winning three of their four contests. In addition to the six points they gained in their three victories, the Titans earned a point in their only loss this week, which came in an overtime defeat at home. Trenton also showcased their offensive abilities by scoring 18 goals over the four-game span, as they potted at least four goals in each tilt. The Titans look for more points this week when they take on the team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, a team …

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Then and Now: Jon Sim

Jon Sim became a member of the Philadelphia Flyers’ organization during the 2004-2005 season, when he became a member of the Philadelphia Phantoms in exchange for Peter White. After he played in 10 games alongside Keith Ballard, Kiel McLeod, and Fredrik Sjostrom for the Utah Grizzlies in their final season in the American Hockey League, Sim joined the 2005 Calder Cup winners for the final 63 regular season games of the title year. He recorded the second-most points for the Phantoms with 35 goals and 26 assists for 61 points, four shy of R.J. Umberger’s total. The difference was Umberger …

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Then and Now: Petr Nedved

Dennis Seidenberg has had a respectable career. He has represented his native Germany three times at the Olympics and won the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011. In addition to that, Seidenberg helped the Carolina Hurricanes make a deep and unexpected run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2009. The blue liner was snagged by Philly in the 2001 draft and was dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes during the first season back after the last lockout. In exchange for the 24-year-old defenseman the Flyers acquired a 34-year-old center in Petr Nedved. Philly completed the trade with Phoenix in …

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Then and Now: Freddy Meyer

In May of 2003, the Philadelphia Flyers signed defenseman Freddy Meyer to an entry-level contract. The mobile d-man was coming off a season at Boston University where he had five goals and 16 assists in 38 games as the Terriers’ captain. During the 2003-2004 season with the Flyers’ organization, Meyer spent the majority of the campaign in the AHL with the Philadelphia Phantoms. He had the second-most goals for a blue liner on the team with 14 goals in 59 games, while John Slaney led the team with 19 goals in the same number of tilts as Meyer. The American defender also had 14 helpers, 50 PIMs, …

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Then and Now: Lasse Kukkonen

One of the many trades Paul Holmgren made during the 2006-2007 season was one that resulted in Lasse Kukkonen coming to Philadelphia from the Chicago Blackhawks. In exchange for Kyle Calder, the Flyers acquired Kukkonen and Chicago’s third-round draft pick in the 2007 NHL Draft, with which Philly picked Garrett Klotz. After he posted five goals and nine assists in 54 games for the Hawks, Kukkonen went pointless in his first 20 regular season games for his second different NHL team. In May of 2007, Kukkonen signed a two-year contract to stay with the Flyers. The blue liner cost Philly a cap hit of $875,000 for both of the seasons …