To finish off 2011, the Adirondack Phantoms closed out their rough December with a 2-1-0 week. The Phantoms may have needed a shootout and overtime to pull off both of their victories, but the pair of wins improved the club’s record to 5-6-1 for the final month in the calender year. As they play a pair of road games this week, the Phantoms look to extend their current two-game winning streak. The Phantoms extended their losing streak to three games with a 5-2 loss on Wednesday in Adirondack to the Binghamton Senators (the Ottawa Senators’ AHL affiliate). Rob Klinkhammer recorded a …
Our 2011 Christmas wish list
Amid the gift-buying hype of the holiday season, we would like to step back for a minute and continue our tradition of compiling a list of our top ten Flyers-related Christmas wishes. It goes without saying that we want the Flyers to win the Stanley Cup. So, we will just leave that one off the list and assume we are all on the same page there. 10. Continuation of improved communication between players and fans Two events that occurred on Twitter this season reaffirmed my belief in humanity. Neither was particularly Earth shattering but both deserve recognition. The first was …
The case for Ryan Suter
Allow me to preface this column by stating that I believe the Flyers have no urgent need to add a defensemen. Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle, Andrej Meszaros, and Braydon Coburn are more than capable of shouldering the load with the likes of Marc-Andre Bourdon, Kevin Marshall, and Erik Gustafsson eating up some minutes as well. However, if the Flyers do, indeed decide to pursue a defender at some — the trade deadline seems to be the most realistic option — then Ryan Suter could be the primary target for the Flyers. The 26-year-old defender for the Nashville Predators comes from …
The need for D
Over the past 110 regular season games stretching back to the beginning of last season, Chris Pronger skated for a mere 63 of those games. A plethora of differing injuries kept him out of the lineup for long stretches. Now, he is out indefinitely with what is being called “concussion-like symptoms”. Or you know, as the rest of us call it, a concussion. Barely into the second season of his seven-year contract extension, he rarely looks like his typical, grade-A self. The older he gets, the more he cuts back, playing a less physical and less aggressive style, likely in an …
Future Flyers Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects. Brendan Ranford was the top scoring Flyers prospect once again this week. He kicked off the week with a pair of goals and ended the week with a pair of assists on Sunday. Nick Cousins assisted on a goal in each of his two games. Marcel Noebels was selected to Team Germany for the upcoming World Junior tournament and is off training with the team. Defenseman Ricard Blidstrand scored his 2nd and 3rd goals of the season. The Phantoms had trouble putting the puck in the net this …
Flight Plan 12.11.2011
The Philadelphia Flyers have now won five games in a row and are sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings with 39 points and 101 goals scored, being the first team in the NHL to reach 100 goals this season. Peter Laviolette’s club has overcome a lot of criticism and adversity through these first 28 games to get to this point, but they may have to push forward without two more of their best players in Claude Giroux and Ilya Bryzgalov. Giroux is currently leading the NHL in scoring with 39 points, three points ahead of resurgent Toronto Maple Leafs winger …
Future Flyers Weekly Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects. Forwards: In juniors, Brendan Ranford kicked off the week with a goal on Wednesday. He also scored a goal and assisted on another during Saturday’s game. Derek Mathers scored a goal in each game this weekend. Marcel Noebels also tallied a goal and an assist this week. Meanwhile Nick Cousins went pointless as the Greyhounds only managed to score two goals in two games. Brayden Schenn began his conditioning stint with the Phantoms and did not disappoint. He picked up an assist in his first game back from …
Flight Plan Week of 11.27.2011
The Philadelphia Flyers won two of their four games this week. They were able to record comeback victories over the New York Islanders and the Montreal Canadiens, but they lost and were thoroughly outplayed by both the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers. It seems as if ever since Brayden Schenn broke his foot by blocking a shot, the rest of the team has been dropping like flies, missing a few games or weeks here or there. Chris Pronger has missed the last four games with a virus, Jaromir Jagr was out with a lower-body injury before returning too soon …
The ‘How’ of Homer
When Paul Holmgren took over as the general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers on October 22, 2006, I received numerous messages from my friends who grew up as fans of the Hartford Whalers. Those messages ranged from, “Good luck with that,” to “What a terrible choice” to the simple but poignant, “Bwahahahahaha.” These were people jaded by the abysmal record that the Whalers posted during his tenure as Hartford’s coach and his brief stint as GM in the years that eventually led up to Hartford’s relocation to Carolina. (His DUI and stint at Betty Ford likely did not help matters …
Future Flyers Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects playing in the various hockey leagues. Forwards: Nick Cousins remains the Flyers best scoring prospect in juniors. He collected his 26th-30th points with a goal and 3 assists over two games. Marcel Noebels and Brendan Ranford each picked up an assist this week. Jason Akeson led the Phantoms prospects in scoring with 4 goals and an assist in three games. He now sits at second in goals, assists, and points for the Phantoms. Mike Testwuide exploded with a 4 assist weekend after a slow start to the season. …