simmonds scar

An Open Letter to Wayne Simmonds

Hey, Simmer. I’m not sure if you know this, but when you first came to Philadelphia, I wasn’t your biggest fan. It wasn’t your fault, really. You were the other woman, so-to-speak. I was reeling from the trades of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, two of my favorite players and the guys who had been at the core of the organization. You, Schenner, Couturier, and Jake took some heat from me because I was bitter. Everyone kept talking about how great of a player you were. How gritty you were, how you would be a perfect fit in Philadelphia. I …

Ilya Bryzgalov lays face down on the ice after making a save against the Boston Bruins during the game on March 9, 2013 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts - Image Courtesy of Jared Wickerham/Getty Images North America

Crashing the Crease: Ilya Bryzgalov Cannot Succeed in Philadelphia

This week’s Crashing the Crease comes to you with a somber tone, as the Flyers’ season appears primed to crash and burn. Some of the same wretched storylines we’re so used to being beaten over the head with are creeping into view: “Should [insert Flyers coach] be worried about his job? Who should the Flyers next goalie be? What major move will the Flyers make to fix this?” Part of the issue, in my mind, is this overly reactive approach from the top down. Don’t get me wrong — I love and respect what Ed Snider did for the city …

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CBA Explained: Cap Advantage Recapture penalty

This week CBA Explained will dive into one of the more unique aspects of the new collective bargaining agreement; the “Cap Advantage Recapture” provision. It is designed to penalize teams for signing players to “back-diving” contracts that serve to reduce a player’s cap hit. It has the potential to haunt teams that signed players to these cap circumventing deals, even if those players were traded away. This led to some worry for Flyers fans in the cases of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. As stated in the summary of terms: “For all existing SPCs with terms in excess of six (6) …

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Hockey Hilarity: #HartnellDownNoMore?

Friday funnies brought to you straight from hockey’s own players, media personnel, and broadcast botches. We’ll be mucking it up every week right here, examining puck ups, puns, tweets, and more! As many of you wonderful FlyersFaithful.com readers know, Philadelphia Flyers winger Scott Hartnell is on the verge of coming back into the lineup. It’ll be a huge boost to a team, both on and off the ice, as Hartnell is not only a very likable dude, he’s also fresh off his best year in the NHL and will bring even more balance to the lineup. And with the unfortunate injury …

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Assembling a Stanley Cup winner; breaking down the last seven Cup teams

It’s no secret that after losing the 2004-2005 NHL season due to a lockout, the dynamic of assembling an NHL team changed dramatically. With the implementation of a salary cap, there were a myriad of new limitations and restrictions placed on teams and how they spend their money. Rich teams could no longer try to buy themselves a Stanley Cup, while poor teams felt like they could finally compete. But is there a formula for building a Stanley Cup winning team? When you have no restrictions on how much money you can spend, there’s really limited concern about spending wisely. …

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On Mike Richards, captaincy, and booing

With Claude Giroux being named the 19th Captain in Philadelphia Flyers history, it will naturally bring up some talk of Mike Richards. Some people fear naming Giroux Captain at age 25, after his fourth NHL season, after having named Mike Richards to the same post at age 23, after his fourth season. I’m not here to debate the merits of those concerns, but rather, the discussions brought to memory something I wrote at another time and place. I wanted to bring it here to Flyers Faithful. So, please forgive me for bringing up Mike Richards…again. We may never get away from …

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Flyers luck out with “cap-recapture” system, Richards and Carter deals won’t haunt Flyers

Yesterday I posed my top remaining questions about thew new CBA, and one of those questions was whether or not the “cap-recapture” system which was proposed at some point during negotiations, would ever come to fruition. Dubbed the “screw you Paul Holmgren rule” by Travis Hughes of Broad Street Hockey, it was designed to penalize teams for signing players to “back-diving” contracts that serve to reduce a player’s cap hit. As it turns out, that “cap-recapture” rule is officially a part of the CBA. While not all of the details are known, what is known is that it has the potential …

Claude Giroux is awesome, even with a creeper 'stache

Even with lockout, 2012 a headline-packed year for Flyers

Admit it, even with a mustache, Claude Giroux is awesome but coming into his own was just one of the many big stories coming out of the Flyers’ organization this year. (N.B. Leaving Mark Howe’s overdue number retirement out of this post was a complete oversight on my part.) 10. Flyers lend a hand with Operation Hat Trick and Team Pennsylvania 2003 “We want to be playing,” said Scott Hartnell in a Puck Daddy article. “It’s unfortunate that we’re not playing right now.” Fortunately, former Flyer, Joe Watson, had the idea to help out the victims of Superstorm Sandy and suggested …

Homer’s Do’s and Doh’s: A Closer Look

Paul Holmgren became the interim General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers on October 22, 2006. That interim title was removed only weeks later on November 11. Holmgren was able to take a team that finished last in the National Hockey League, and rebuild it to make a deep run all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals the very next season. Yes, some of Holmgren’s moves have been amazing, but he’s also a guy who has gotten this organization into some hot water with the salary cap and was forced to make deals that were head scratchers to say the least. If you enjoyed …

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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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