2013 Draft Eligibles: Buyers beware of the Crosby comparison for Nathan MacKinnon

By Tom Zulewski
Posted on 04/30/2013 at 1:00 pm

The argument over the top prospect in this year’s draft has been going on for over a year now and will continue up until draft day most likely. As hockey fans know it centers on Halifax Mooseheads center Nathan MacKinnon, Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones and MacKinnon’s teammate in Halifax, Jonathan Drouin. Seth Jones is my number one overall prospect followed by Drouin and then MacKinnon. Some people may call me crazy for having MacKinnon at number three. Everyone knows that he’s a potential franchise player in the NHL with all the tools to succeed at the next level. However, …

Podcast Episode 62: On the Outside Looking In with Travis Hughes

By Estebomb
Posted on 04/30/2013 at 11:00 am

On this edition of the Flyers Faithful podcast, Steve and Hal talk to Travis Hughes from Broad Street Hockey and SB Nation NHL about the media’s treatment of Ilya Bryzgalov, potential offseason moves for the Flyers, and take a look at the upcoming NHL playoffs. The guys also find out what teams you’re rooting for in the playoffs with the Flyers out of it and manage to work some Jean Claude Van Damme talk into things. Flyers Faithful Podcast Episode 62 You can listen to the episode by following the link above, or by right clicking on it and saving it to your computer as …

Photo courtesy of http://seattlethunderbirdsphoto.wordpress.com

Around the Net April 30, 2013: Birthday edition

By Dain S
Posted on 04/30/2013 at 9:01 am

Welcome to Around the Net, a weekly look through linkage at the Philadelphia Flyers and other news from around the NHL. Just a quick note, today is my birthday. Don’t ask me how old I am, just know this, I was 27 days old, the last time the Flyers won the Stanley Cup, so it’s been awhile. The young man on top of today’s blog is Shea Theodore, ranked number eleven by North American Central Scouting. He is a left handed defenseman, read more about him here: [NHL.com] Clean out day thoughts I hate clean out day, now we have …

2013 Draft Eligibles: Is Aleksander Barkov the Finnish Eric Lindros?

By Jared Abbott
Posted on 04/26/2013 at 12:00 pm

If the 2013 draft did not headline a trio of top-tier prospects, Aleksander Barkov would be getting a lot more attention. Unfortunately, with the consensus number one overall pick in Portland Winterhawk Seth Jones, and the next two picks coming from the Halifax Mooseheads (Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon) little attention is being focused on European talent. My good friend Tom Zulewski earlier profiled Finnish defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who is the top-rated defenseman among European skaters. Ristolainen’s countryman Aleksander Barkov is the number one draft-eligible European skater on NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking that was released Wednesday. Despite conflicting rankings …

Image courtesy of www.eliteprospects.com

Draft Eligibles 2013: Rasmus Ristolainen, the European Seth Jones?

By Tom Zulewski
Posted on 04/16/2013 at 1:00 pm

Big, mean and Physical. Normally these are words one uses when describing a player from either Canada or the United States. However, for Finnish defensive prospect Rasmus Ristolainen these are the qualities that make him one of the best defensive prospect in the upcoming draft. In fact, many are comparing the game of Ristolainen to the consensus number one overall Seth Jones. I don’t think that’s a fair comparison at all, but I do see similarities in playmaking and skating ability. Seth Jones is a much better two-way player than Ristolainen in my opinion. At 6’3 210 pounds, scouts are …

What Thornton was about to do to Bryzgalov, Bryz later did to the media

Saturday Morning Musings*

By Marcello De Feo
Posted on 04/13/2013 at 11:30 am

Something, something, intro paragraph. Fluff, yay! Let’s start off by facing the cold, hard truth. There is something like a 1% chance (with a 1% margin of error) that the Flyers could make the playoffs this season. Pointless wins are meaningless. Planning for next year is significantly more important at this point. So, what does that mean? Well, for starters, it does not mean that your loyalty as a fan is not contingent upon whether or not you want the team to win the remaining games of the season. The rational choice is to do what it takes to make …

Sanctions will not tarnish Winterhawks’ season if they win the Memorial Cup

By Jared Abbott
Posted on 04/13/2013 at 11:00 am

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time of giving and appreciating the bounties accumulated over the past year. Less than a week after this gluttonous holiday, the Western Hockey League presented the Portland Winterhawks with a trip to the backyard deep fryer. WHL commissioner Ron Robison announced on November 28 that the league suspended the Winterhawks for a series of violations of WHL regulations. Over the past four seasons Portland has been skating by without penalty, but now that they are the best team in the WHL the sanctions emerge, seemingly at a peculiar time. The league found that Portland …

Will fate send Seth Jones to Colorado, or will Philadelphia find its future?

By Jared Abbott
Posted on 04/09/2013 at 1:00 pm

At first glace it would appear that Joe Sakic and Seth Jones have very little in common. Sakic was born in Burnaby, BC, with the sole purpose of playing ice hockey. Jones was born in Plano, TX to a former NBA player. Now an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets, Popeye Jones was a budding professional basketball player in 1993 when his career took him to Dallas. Coincidently, the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, becoming the Stars that same year. Mike Modano provided scintillating performances for the new …

Big thank you to the great Estebomb for the photoshop

Hey Flyers, Quit Playing Games With My Heart

By Hal G
Posted on 04/05/2013 at 1:00 pm

I’m not taking the bait. I don’t want to. It is not happening. I refuse! I love my Flyers, but I will not begin to now believe that this team is hitting their stride and will make the playoffs. No way, no how! I said it two weeks ago: a loss to the Penguins and Rangers and the season was done. Finished. Caput! What did the Flyers do? Lost in overtime to the Penguins and got dismantled by the Rangers, so not exactly out of it then. The Flyers followed that Rangers loss with a shootout loss to the Islanders!??! …

Looking forward: Who goes?

By Marcello De Feo
Posted on 04/04/2013 at 8:00 am

Prior to curating your opinions last week, I ran down a list of the players that the Flyers should keep heading into next season. This week, I will take a different approach, stating not what should happen but what may actually happen. Throughout yesterday’s trade deadline, the team remained relatively quiet, surfacing only to claim Adam Hall off of waivers to fill Max Talbot’s spot and to swap backup goalies. The front office openly acknowledges there are many holes to fill but the restraint shown today is an indicator that Paul Holmgren is not going to overpay for players just for the sake of …

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