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2013 Year In Review: Danny Briere

It pains me to write Danny Briere’s year in review. Briere came to Philadelphia in the offseason of 2007, the year after the Flyers had just missed the playoffs, bringing with him a new attitude for the Flyers franchise. Along with Briere was a much-scrutinized contract that would pay the five-foot-ten, 179-pound player 52 million dollars over eight years with an annual cap hit of 6.5 million. Briere’s worth was proven immediately as he recorded the second-highest point total of his career, registering 31 goals and 41 assists in 79 games. It was not Briere’s regular season performance that would …

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2013 Year in Review: Scott Hartnell

When someone leads the team in scoring and pushes the 40-goal plateau, expectations will be high on that player to maintain such a pace. It becomes an even bigger focal point when that player signs a massive contract extension that could potentially make him the highest paid forward on the team. Unfortunately for Scott Hartnell, the showman failed to deliver in a year where all eyes were on him. It all started last season, when the winger enjoyed his best year in the National Hockey League to date. Playing alongside Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr, he placed career bests in …

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Flyers Year In Review: The Ugly

Ah yes, we get to the fun part of my three-part year in review: The Ugly. I’ve discussed the Good and the Bad, but now it’s time to look at everything that was just so horrendous and led to the Flyers missing the playoffs. Without further ado… Ilya Bryzgalov: I told you that there would be more on Bryz later. This ugly version of Bryzgalov has nothing to do with his performance on the ice, but rather what happened to and with Bryzgalov off the ice. Since Bryz stepped foot in Philadelphia, he has been a lightning rod of criticism. …

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2013 IIHF World Championship – Quarterfinals – USA manhandles Russia, Canada is heading home

5/16/2013 Finland-Slovakia 4-3 Vaananen 1+0, 14:40 TOI Kukkonen 0+0, 9:06 TOI Radivojevic 0+1, 15:59 TOI Slovakia’s struggles against Finland continue. Despite being down by three, the Slovaks found a way to tie the game. Juhamatti Aaltonen had the go-ahead goal, which ultimately was the game-winning one. Team Slovakia had some chances throughout the game but were unable to capitalize on any of them. Finland survived the final power play and they will face Sweden on Saturday. Russia-USA 3-8 Bryzgalov 20 SA, 16 SV, 38:12 Carle 0+0, 19:19 TOI, +2 The most entertaining game of the day took place in Helsinki …

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2013 IIHF World Championship – Group battle ends

5/12/2013 USA-Germany 3-0 Carle 0+0, 18:33 TOI Noebels 0+0, 13:18 TOI The Americans won easily against Germany. They got off to an early lead with two goals scored by Butler and Stastny. Gionta added the last one in the third stanza. Gibson made 30 saves and earned his first shutout after letting only one goal against Finland. Canada-Czech Republic 2-1 Giroux 0+0, 17:46 TOI, 72.73% FO Read 0+0, 13:33 TOI, -1 Schenn 0+0, 7:55 TOI, 25 PIM Simmonds 1+0, 14:08 TOI, -1 Voracek 0+0, 17:25 TOI, 2 PIM, -1 The Czech team lost the last game before playing the crucial …

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2013 Year in Review: Brayden Schenn

When a team trades their captain, it is inevitable that a lot of pressure will be placed on the players that come back in return. Brayden Schenn has yet to play a full season in the National Hockey League, but it’s hard to believe it based on how high expectations are on the young forward to contribute. Starting last season with injuries before finally getting a chance to stick with the club, this lockout-shortened year was his first opportunity to play an NHL season from start to finish. Though he may have fallen short of becoming a reliable secondary scoring …

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2013 Year in Review: Jakub Voracek

There weren’t too many bright spots to pick out of the Philadelphia Flyers’ 2013 season, but the production and growth of Jakub Voracek could be one of the biggest positives to take away from the non-playoff campaign. With impressive numbers offensively and being considered one of the more consistent players for the Orange and Black throughout their 23-22-3 season, Voracek exceeded the expectations many had for him before the start of the shortened year. Out of his five seasons in the NHL to date, Voracek’s 46 points were tied for his second-lowest point total for a season. However, considering there …

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2013 IIHF World Championships: Giroux excels, Gustafsson logging near 30 minutes

5/10/2013 Slovakia-Austra 1-2 SO Radivojevic 0+1, 16:54 TOI, +1 Austria beat Slovakia after 17 years and made another big surprise at the World Championships. Slovenia-Czech Republic 2-4 Voracek 0+2, 17:29 TOI Slovenia played more than an equal role for the first 40 minutes of the game. The struggling Czechs couldn’t find a way to score against team Slovenia. Luckily team Czech Republic scored two quick power play goals in the third which helped them to gain another important three points in the standings. Russia-Finland 2-3 Vaananen 0+0, 15:43 TOI, 2 PIM Kukkonen 0+0, 11:36 TOI Bryzgalov – backup This was …

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2013 IIHF World Championship: Read with two assists, Schenn with a goal, Gus remains strong

5/7/2013 Austria-Germany 0-2 Slovenia-Switzerland 1-7 A red hot Swiss team won another game against Slovenia. That was the fourth straight win for them after beating Sweden, Canada, and struggling Czech Republic. Swiss forward Hollenstein was the best player of the game recording four points (two goals and two assists). USA-Finland 4-1 Carle 0+0, 17:48 TOI Vaananen 0+0, 12:52 TOI, -1 Kukkonen 0+0, 8:43 TOI Team USA strengthened their hopes for the quarterfinals after a victory over Finland. The US team is now in second place in Group B. Finland is third. 19-year-old rookie John Gibson showed strong performance allowing only …

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2013 Year In Review: Claude Giroux

The story of Claude Giroux as a Philadelphia Flyer will forever be a success for one simple reason: it could have been Bobby Sanguinetti. As the infamous story goes, the Flyers desperately wanted the American defenseman. The New York Rangers, sitting one spot ahead of the Flyers, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft chose Sanguinetti, leaving the Flyers to frantically chose Giroux with the 22nd pick. The draft announcement by then-General Manager Bob Clarke was even better, as he forgot Giroux’s name. Giroux is one of the homegrown stars in the NHL and, more specifically, the Flyers. He signed a …