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Future Flyers Report: 11/19

Derek Mathers is one of the tougher prospects in the Philadelphia Flyers’ system. With 47 penalty minutes in 24 games, Mathers is currently 14th in the Ontario Hockey League in time spent in the sin bin. He’s engaged in three fights so far this season and he’s won two of them in convincing fashion. In a Peterborough Petes’ 5-1 loss to the Oshawa Generals, Mathers took out his frustration on Scott Sabourin in the Flyers’ prospect’s first fight of the 2012-2013 regular season. After he fought the Owen Sound Attack’s Daniel Zweep in an even bout in Peterborough’s 5-4 shootout loss …

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Homer’s Do’s and Doh’s: Coburn trade v. Forsberg trade and Eminger trade v. Klotz

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 …

Kirsten with Ian Laperrière.

Locked-Out Future? The lockout through the eyes of an NHL intern

With all of the focus surrounding the NHL and its players during the current lockout, it’s easy to forget that there are many others who are affected by the work stoppage, such as team employees and concession workers. Some of those team employees are student interns, who are not only missing out on the opportunity to gain experience working in the field they aspire to enter upon graduation, but whose academic records are jeopardized when their internships are threatened. 20-year-old Kirsten Swanson is a senior at Temple University who was hired as an intern with the Philadelphia Flyers this past …

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Let’s talk about Allentown. Really, it’s OK.

The Phantoms made a major announcement Wednesday afternoon about the future of their franchise. Once they move to Allentown at the start of the 2014-15 season, they’ll be known as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. There’s a new logo, some tweaked colors, and of course, merchandise for sale. Wait, you missed the big hullabaloo? Me too. As far as I can tell, the news release went out to an Allentown-specific media list that bypassed the usual sources to disseminate information. I find no mention on the team’s official Twitter or Facebook or web pages, and none of the reporters I checked …

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Homer’s Do’s and Doh’s: Our favorite and least favorite deals under Paul Holmgren

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 …

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Then and Now: Joe Sacco

Joe Sacco played for four different teams in the NHL over 12 seasons before he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers’ organization in January of 2003. Sacco split time with the Flyers and the Philadelphia Phantoms during the 2002-2003 campaign. After producing four goals and three assists in six games in the AHL, Sacco was called up to the Flyers and spent the rest of the season in the NHL. He had a total of six points in 34 games for the Flyers with five assists along with 20 PIMs and an even plus/minus rating. The right winger’s only …

Courtesy of DelCo Times.

To amnesty, or not to amnesty: and who, is the question

Last week, Larry Brooks reported that the NHL and NHLPA were discussing the possibility of allowing an amnesty clause. For those that may be unaware, an amnesty clause would allow an NHL team from buying out a player without any salary cap repercussion; effectively eliminating a bad contract. It’s been discussed in many hockey circles for some time; in fact it was something we asked in an older iteration of our Five Questions series. However, I don’t intend to rehash the argument for or against the amnesty clause. For my purposes, let’s speculate what might make sense for the Flyers …

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Future Flyers Report: 11/12

  The Flyers used two of their seven draft picks in this year’s draft on forwards. The first was center Scott Laughton, who they selected in the first round at 20th overall. The second was Taylor Leier, the only winger selected by Philly in the draft, in the fourth round at 117th overall. Although Laughton plays with the Oshawa Generals in the OHL and Leier plays in the WHL with the Portland Winterhawks, both skaters have participated in the same number of games due to Laughton in the midst of a 10-game suspension. With 14 games apiece, Leier has produced 14 …

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Hockey Hilarity: Classic Mix-up 2.0

Friday funnies brought to you straight from hockey’s own players and media personnel. We’ll be mucking it up every week right here, examining puck ups, puns, tweets, and more! You may recall a couple of months ago, Philadelphia Flyers forward Jake Voracek sent out a tweet about how he was mistaken for one Claude Giroux while hanging out in Montreal. You can read that snippet by clicking here. Well, it happened again, but this time with a twist. Claude Giroux was falsely identified as one Jake Voracek in Prague. Gotta love hockey players. Hope everyone has a nice week and comes back …

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Lindros to enter Philly Sports Hall of Fame

While his enshrinement into the Hockey Hall of Fame will be a widely-debated subject, Eric Lindros will take the first steps towards legitimacy in our town later this evening. That’s when the 39-year-old Oshawa, Ontario native will be inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, one of 15 people from across the sports world who have made an impact here. The ninth inducted class also includes Phoenixville native and catcher Mike Piazza as well as former Sixers player and current head coach Doug Collins. A walking, talking lightning rod ever since he spurned the Quebec Nordiques, who selected him …