Minor League Update: 11/27-12/3

The Phantoms started off the week with a pair of wins before finishing with a one-goal loss. The loss was the Phantoms’ first loss since last Thursday and the game concluded violently. The Phantoms have one more road game before returning back to Adirondack for a pair of home games on Saturday and Sunday. After having three days off, the Phantoms grabbed a 4-3 win at home over the Syracuse Crunch (the Anaheim Ducks’ AHL affiliate) on Wednesday to extend their winning streak to three games. Scoring the game-winning goal with only 5:12 left in regulation, Jason Akeson had a two-point night …

Minor League Update: 11/20-11/26

As part of a new weekly article, I’ll be taking a look at all the action that happened surronding the Flyers’ AHL affiliate (Adirondack Phantoms) and ECHL affiliate (Trenton Titans). The Phantoms went 2-2-0  in their games this week losing both their road tilts before coming home to win a pair. After losing on Sunday, the Phantoms had off from Monday to Wednesday before playing three consecutive nights on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Saturday. Michael Leighton recorded both of the wins for the Phantoms as the club looks to gain the top spot in the Northeast Division with three games against two East …

Flyers Drop Hectic, Offensive Game To Jets 9-8

Overcoming a four-goal deficit, scoring three goals early in the third period, and taking part in a game with 17 goals overall unfortunately meant just one thing for the Philadelphia Flyers tonight – an incredible 9-8 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Tanner Glass, Blake Wheeler, and Nik Antropov all had three points for the former Thrashers tonight as the visitors registered a symmetrical three goals in each period. Despite allowing seven goals on 43 shots and being pulled once, Ondrej Pavelec got the win for Winnipeg, which was kicking off a seven-game road trip which will take it through the Southeast Division.  Kimmo Timonen (4A) and …

Canadiens Blow Out Flyers 5-1

Despite a solid performance in the face of adverse circumstances on Monday,  the Flyers failed to sustain that momentum and suffered a shocking 5-1 loss to the Canadiens in Montreal tonight. Max Pacioretty continued his hot start, posting two goals and an assist while David Desharnais had two assists on the evening. Carey Price saved 21 of the Flyers’ 22 shots tonight to give the Canadiens their second win of the season (2-5-2) and more importantly to stop a paralyzing six-game losing skid. Jaromir Jagr had the only Philadelphia goal on the evening and Ilya Bryzgalov struggled again — making just 23 …

But what does it mean?

N.B. I apologize in advance for this stream of consciousness post. I need some more time to organize my thoughts on the roster changes and will likely edit this post this afternoon. This morning, the Flyers announced that Brayden Schenn was recalled and Zac Rinaldo and Harry Zolnierczyk were loaned to the Phantoms. That leaves the Flyers with a glut of centers and some big questions about where everyone fits in the lineup. Through five games and a 4-0-1 record, the Flyers have been firing on all cylinders. They lead the league in goals per game (3.80) and have given up …

Flyers waive three, some thoughts

TSN confirms that the Flyers placed forward Blair Betts and defensemen Matt Walker and Oskars Bartulis on waivers today. Paul Holmgren confirmed that Brayden Schenn was sent to the Phantoms as well. Cap reasons aside, there’s no reason to rush Schenn. Giving him some time in the AHL where he can play more minutes per game until he completely dominates the league is a worthwhile decision for such a precious investment. It worked wonders for Claude Giroux and should do the same for Schenn. It’s a surprise to see Betts waived, as his $700k salary made him the most affordable …

Bring Back Gagne? A look at the pros and cons.

We have 25 days until free agency and I’m sure each and every one of those days will be rumor laden until July 1 arrives. Paul Holmgren was fairly active last season, adding Andrej Meszaros, Sean O’Donnell, Jody Shelley and Nikolay Zherdev, while retaining Darroll Powe and Daniel Carcillo. However all of that activity caused casualties of the cap. Arron Asham signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent and Simon Gagne, the longest- tenured Flyer at the time, waived his no-trade clause in a much maligned deal with Tampa Bay, while we took on Matt Walker — or more precisely, his two hip surgeries.  …

RICE & MICE: Labrum tears…It’s all in the hips

Ok, so there’s a labrum in the shoulder, but I’m talking about hips so, for right now, it’s all in the hips. It seems that hip injuries are all the rage these days and not just in the NHL. Hip labrum injuries can also occur in golf, baseball, soccer and basketball as well as hockey. However, hip labrum tears are almost an epidemic in hockey over the past several years. Goaltenders are especially prone to labrum tears. This can be attributed in part to the butterfly style that most goalies use, however it’s not an injury that’s excusive to butterfly …

An open letter to Paul Holmgren

Dear Paul, We’ve had our differences in the past. The lack of value you see in draft picks and prospects worries me. Your willingness to give picks away in trade, and hand out no trade clauses like candy  was mystifying at one point, but now I have become numb to it. Additionally, the idea of putting all of your eggs in one basket, like you did this season, is far from an approach I prefer take. There’s still no guarantee that you’ll win the Stanley Cup, as we saw, and now we’re left in the same spot where we always seem to …

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