homerfrown

Point/Counterpoint: Holmgren’s best move to date

Welcome to another edition of Point/Counterpoint, where a pair of Flyers Faithful scribes square off, debating an issue with their own unique style and flair. This week, Kevin C and Steve J debate what has been Paul Holmgren’s best move during his tenure as General Manager. Point, Kevin: The signing of Claude Giroux to his current three year $11.25 million is Paul Holmgren’s best move to date. It’s probably an unconventional choice. I’d expect that most people would pick the flashy acquisitions: Pronger, Hartnell and Timonen, Briere, Voracek, Couturier and Cousins. I get it, they are the sexy picks. I, however, am a risk averse …

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NHL proposal, as is, hurts Flyers

On Tuesday, the NHL made a new proposal to the NHLPA in which they offered a 50/50 split of Hockey Related Revenue, down from their initial proposal of 57/43. It was seen by many to be the first step towards some real progress in coming to an agreement on a new CBA, and saving an 82-game season. Yesterday, NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr sent a letter to all players and agents in which he explains why he is less than thrilled with the proposal. Personally, I’m not the least bit surprised by the response. In fact, I think anyone who …

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The Phantoms player I’m most interested to follow during the lockout may surprise you

In three seasons covering the Adirondack Phantoms, only two players made me stop and say, “Wow.” Brayden Schenn and Matt Read belonged in a different league from their first shifts. Instead of rookies, they looked like 16-year-olds with forged birth certificates who faked their way into some 13-and-under house league. They were the only sure things. And you didn’t need to be a hockey genius to see it. If you asked me, however, who was the third most impressive forward I covered, I bet you’d be surprised by the answer. This time last year, Matt Ford was a third-liner for the …

Sean Couturier has room to grow in many areas

The Lockout – Who wins, who loses?

Now that games have officially been cancelled, it’s no longer possible to think of the Flyers roster as a whole. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of room to speculate how the time away from the Wells Fargo Center will affect each individual piece of it. So who stands to benefit the most and the least from the lockout on the Flyers roster? Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn A package deal based on their status amongst the Flyers forwards as baby-faced rookies, these two budding forwards actually might be able to gain a lot from their time in the …

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The Downside of the “Big” Guys Playing for the “Small” Club

As the chances of the lockout coming to an end anytime soon get smaller and smaller, NHL players are flocking to other teams left and right. Some are going overseas to play in European leagues, while others have the opportunity to play for their team’s AHL affiliate, such as a few of the Flyers. I touched briefly on the downside of having NHL players joining other teams abroad in last week’s Point/Counterpoint, but now I’m going to focus on the effect it may have on players in the minors. The AHL is a stepping stone, the last stop before a …

Sean Couturier

Short Shifts: Couturier on the point?

With the lockout basically in full effect and the two sides farther apart philosophically than our US Presidential nominees, the National Hockey League and its respective talking points have been all over the map — both in a literal and figurative sense. Because of this, these posts will be focusing on a wide array of topics with quick bits to get you in, out, and back on the bench in 30 seconds or less. What’s the Point? I wasn’t there, but it’s well documented that Sean Couturier was manning the point in the Phantoms’ Tuesday afternoon exhibition loss to the …

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CBA 101: Why isn’t Matt Read playing with the Phantoms?

I’ve opened up CBA 101 to mailbag questions as I had more or less covered the critical topics with respect to the, now expired, Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). I had received a question about NHL player eligibility for the AHL during the lockout from reader Will Heineman, and then more specifically, from reader Tom Ciaverelli, “why isn’t Matt Read playing with the Phantoms?” The answer ultimately comes back to waiver eligibility, which I covered in my very first CBA 101 article. Without re-hashing the entire contents of my article on waiver eligibility, the crux of the topic comes down to A) when a player …

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Podcast: Episode 41, Eurotrip with Bill Meltzer

On this edition of the Flyers Faithful podcast, Steve and Hal talk to Bill Meltzer from Hockeybuzz and NHL.com about the players who are going over to Europe and down to the minors during the lockout, including Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn, and Sean Couturier among others. Flyers Faithful Podcast Episode 41 You can also download it from iTunes here!  If you’re enjoying the show via iTunes we would very much appreciate it if you could rate it and leave a review on there! We’re also on Stitcher if that’s how you listen to your podcasts! If there’s any other way you listen to podcasts …

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The one where I get angry, irrational, and devious

  This time tomorrow, the NHL lockout will be underway and there’s nothing we can do about it as fans. We can swear up and down that we’ll turn away and protest games but it does not matter what we say. Most of us will keep coming back and, now that the NHL has a longterm deal with NBC, the sport will reach a larger audience once it does return. Just think about all that pent up anxiousness and desire all coming to a head with the tease of two of the NHL’s most storied franchises, the Detroit Red Wings …

Photoshop courtesy of the awesome Geoff Mang.

Lockedupations

You know those polls at sporting events that they put up on the jumbotron where they ask the athletes what they’d do if they weren’t an athlete? We all laugh with glee at the thought of alternate universe Bernie Parent hosting a variety show or Dan Carcillo as a high school janitor. With a lockout looming on the horizon, Kim and Steve have speculated what the current Flyers will end up doing with no hockey to play. Scott Hartnell & Kimmo Timonen: Fighting crime as The Orange Hartnell and Kimmo When Scott Hartnell decides to take the law into his …