No matter what the outcome, Simon Gagne’s return to Philadelphia for the first time since being traded in mid-July was going to be the story of the contest. It wound up that Bolts defenseman Pavel Kubina netted the game-winning score early in the third period to back 24 saves from Dan Ellis as the Tampa Bay Lightning clipped the Philadelphia Flyers by a 3-2 count on Thursday night. Other than witnessing the sting of seeing the Flyers losing the game, the sellout crowd on South Broad Street was treated to a montage of Gagne’s best moments as a Flyer during …
Flight Plan: Week of 10.10.2010
Flight Plan is a new column that will take a more in depth look at the Flyers’ upcoming opponents every week here at Flyers Faithful. This week the Philadelphia Flyers open the same old building with yet another brand new name: The Wells Fargo Center as they are set to start a five game home stand. The Colorado Avalanche, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are all due to visit Philadelphia and try to give the Flyers their first regulation loss. Of course there have only been two games, but still, getting three out of four points on …
Mixed bag: 10.10.10
Mixed Bag is an infrequent column that features a collection of opinions and observations about the Flyers. In the grand scheme of things, two games makes for a small sample size. There’s no reason to make any significant changes at this point or even begin to declare that some things may or may not be working well. These are just general observations and nothing more than that. So far, Mike Richards has lost 16 of the 29 faceoffs he’s taken, putting him at 44%. Jeff Carter, who was the team’s best faceoff man last season, has only taken 13 faceoffs …
The morning after: Flyers @ Leafs 9.24.10
“The morning after” is a review of the previous night’s Flyers’ game which, in theory, provides a more objective perspective on the game. Michael Leighton played an average game in net last night and suffered a back injury during the game. It’s hard to say exactly how this affected his play but it was far from the first time that Leighton was unable to steal a game when the team in front of him was playing poorly. Fortunately, Nikolai Zherdev and Claude Giroux had instant chemistry last night and helped the team rally back. Zherdev scored two goals and Danny …
The morning after: Leafs vs. Flyers 9.23.10
“The morning after” is a review of the previous night’s Flyers’ game which, in theory, provides a more objective perspective on the game. James van Riemsdyk is transforming into an exciting player to watch but that needs to start translating into points too. Bill Guerin was much more visible tonight than he was against the Devils, scoring a goal in regulation and one in the shootout, and playing a strong game on both ends of the ice. Ben Holmstrom continues to win me over. I hope he develops into the next Manny Malhotra. Oskars Bartulis played a solid game and …
Flyers’ stockpiling makes Guerin signing more difficult than it should be
I realize that none of us has the inside knowledge of the game, or the experience of an NHL general manager, but I have a couple questions that need to be answered. What would you do if you knew there was a free agent forward, already deemed expendable by his club before the season concludes, who has won two Stanley Cups and will most likely be playing for his final contract? Would you sit idly by and let 29 other teams get a crack at him while you stockpile bodies for depth just because of his salary? Or would you take the opportunity and …
Dancin’ Shawny’s story
Give us a little backstory. You had season tickets. You started dancing during a mass exodus in the ’07 season. Simon Gagne scored. Then what? How did you get noticed? Well it was pretty instant that I got noticed. After I appeared, then Gagne scored, a representative (a sales one I’m guessing) told me that they liked my enthusiasm, and hoped I would return next game. The next game I was there and when I saw the camera I decided to do it again, apparently that’s what they were looking for and it’s grown ever since. I just wanted to …
NHL 11 demo: A brief review, system comparison
A few days ago, I downloaded the NHL 11 demo on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms. Much like Pro Hockey Talk did earlier today, I would like to share some thoughts on the game. Immediately, I was impressed by the intro and the cleaner interface. The new faceoff engine is a nice feature and there is much greater detail to the players in the circle now. I broke about five or six total sticks during the handful of times I played the demo. Three times came during one game but none lead to any scoring chances. Seeing the …
Are the Flyers a better team?
This question was recently asked on the Flyers Forum and, admittedly, it caught me off guard. For all of the knee-jerk reactions we are accustomed to giving as fans of Philadelphia sports teams, I had a hard time saying no to this question. I wanted to lash out about how management backed themselves into a corner with the cap and it forced them to trade the beloved Simon Gagne for garbage, or about the illogical acquisition of overpaid defender, Andrej Meszaros, while plenty of good free agent defenders were available. I had a million reasons to complain about how I …
Offseason analysis: Offense
Contracts of note: Carcillo (RFA), Powe (RFA), Asham (UFA) Top prospects: Maroon, Legein Needs: 1st line RW, possible 3rd line RW According to Sam Carchidi, GM Paul Holmgren stated the other day that it is “highly unlikely” the current roster will remain unchanged in the offseason. At this point, the Flyers have two options up front: Do they sell high on superb postseason performers with high salaries (Gagne, Brière, Hartnell) or do they move Jeff Carter, who struggled throughout parts of the regular season as well as the playoffs and had two fractured feet? Daniel Brière Brière is a proven …