Then and Now: Nikolay Zherdev

By Craig F
Posted on 06/12/2013 at 6:38 pm

Many of the biggest names in today’s NHL were selected in the first round of the 2003 draft. After Marc-Andre Fleury, Eric Staal, and Nathan Horton were picked with the first three overall picks, the Columbus Blue Jackets picked Nikolay Zherdev. Thomas Vanek, Milan Michalek, and Ryan Suter were the next three players to be picked after Zherdev, as the group of Braydon Coburn, Dion Phaneuf, Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, Brent Seabrook, Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf, Brent Burns, Ryan Kesler, Mike Richards, Brian Boyle, and Corey Perry were also taken in the opening round of the draft 10 years ago. …

2013 Year in Review: Mike Knuble

By Craig F
Posted on 06/11/2013 at 1:00 pm

If there is any question as to whether or not Mike Knuble had a productive season with the Philadelphia Flyers, one just has to take into consideration where the forward was after the Orange and Black were blanked by the New Jersey Devils on January 22. With just three goals in their first three games, the Flyers reached out to Knuble, who was playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, and signed him before the weekend. After the Flyers’ 2-1 win over the New York Rangers two days later, Knuble joined the Orange and Black in Florida for …

Flyers need to address faceoff-dot issues

By Kevin Christmann
Posted on 06/10/2013 at 11:00 am

Forgetting the back line for a moment, one of the Flyers’ most glaring weaknesses is in those eight little circles found throughout the ice surface…the faceoff dots. While Claude Giroux continued to improve in that department, to the tune of 54.5 percent this past season — good for 19th in the league — he was pretty much the only option the club had when they needed to win a draw. Subsequently, nobody in the entire league took more faceoffs than Giroux. Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn took the second and third most draws on the team, but only won them …

Image courtesy of Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Then and Now: Oskars Bartulis

By Craig F
Posted on 06/05/2013 at 11:00 am

In 2004, the Philadelphia Flyers handed the Tampa Bay Lightning a fifth-round pick and two sixth-round picks in the 2004 NHL Draft in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2005 NHL Draft. The Bolts selected Brandon Elliott, Jan Zapletal, and Karri Ramo with the picks Philly made in the deal. The Orange and Black took defenseman Oskars Bartulis with the final pick in the third round. The only Latvian player to date to play for the Flyers, Bartulis spent a season with the Moncton Wildcats and a season with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL before he played for …

2013 Year in Review: Sean Couturier

By Craig F
Posted on 06/04/2013 at 1:00 pm

The simple answer as to whether Sean Couturier had a good 2013 season would be no. If you look at his general statistics, Couturier had a poor year. However, when grading Philly’s first-round pick in 2011 one should consider these things: his defensive play, a possible sophomore slump, and the expectations for him following the 2012 playoffs. When you consider these things for Couturier’s overall 2013 rating, did he really have that poor of a season? Let’s starts with his point production. In 45 games, Couturier finished with just four goals and posted 11 helpers. He also produced 10 PIMs …

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