rickmac19

Like the Flyers he does, as he continues to hand out contract extensions like an usher hands out programs... Can you think of a Flyers player not under a significant deal? I hope Jagr's words prove prophetic, that this team works very well together, because they seemingly will stay together. Ironically, the Flyers have no top d-man after this year without Timonen extended. I hope all of this does not send negative messages to him. I also hope he does not end up in the "Gagne vortex," where he wants the same or more when his value clearly hovers at about half of his current earnings... If it's easier to ask forgiveness later, isn't it time to lock up "The Franchise" for a very long time, before someone offer sheets him with three rooms at Fort Knox and half the state of Montana? I dunno. I do like all of those players, but it seems like the Flyers lost flexibility if someone "falls down," ...err, "tanks."

1. Shows everyone that the Flyers will not rest until they become the best. 2. Locks up a potential Hall of Famer in the years he makes a case for the Hall, not years after he did all the heavy lifting (leave Paul Coffey out of this!). 2b. Teams need Hall of Famers to win Stanley Cups. 3. Assures the Flyers that Weber will play for (not 28 other, but) one of two teams: the Flyers or the Predators. 4. Uses the Flyers’ wealth in their favor: instead of having a small-market team hamstring them by waving the “cap” in their face, broke free by offering a huge signing bonus/up-front sum. 5. Created the anti-Doan deal by not bidding against themselves (by financing the NHL to bid for Doan with some of the Flyers’ own money). 6. Created a way to keep Couturier and Brayden Schenn, two players whom I believe will develop into stars. 7. Kept Weber out of the Eastern Conference. 8. Forced Poile and the Predators’ hand (how long would this thing drag out, anyway?). 9. With Pronger gone, replaced the hole any loss of Timonen (injury/retirement/not re-signed) creates next year. 10. Got the guy to sign the deal—Shea Weber just signed a deal to play for the Philadelphia Flyers. He might not, but at least he agreed that he would like to wear Orange and Black if things work out. Yeah!

I'm happy with the Flyers free agency so far. If either Parise or Suter had taken their offer, they would have had to blow up the team to fit one under the cap. They really want and need Weber, anyway. I'm not a Carle detractor; not a big fan, either. He seems to me an enigma--I just can't figure out what the guy does. Head-man pass, yes, I will give him that. Seems average at everything else. Glad the Flyers didn't just blow 5 large on him for half of forever. Jagr--it all looks like a good idea until he wears out in another playoff. Then the Flyers will scratch their heads and say, "Guess he didn't have as much left in the tank as we hoped." I think the Flyers need to take a deep breath. Couturier and Brayden Schenn could break out this year. They have a lot of talent on their team. Hopefully Luke and Brayden push each other, as they say about one another. Losing Meszaros cost them the Devils series this year. He can help a lot if he stays upright. The Flyers have five good defenders, and I like Gustafsson a lot. Holmgren can't win them the Cup, the players have to do that. They have enough talent on their team that if everyone makes winning their sole focus, they can.

He's worth about what he makes right now and he'll never take that, plus, somebody will blow up the vault to get him, so I think we're wasting key strokes here. I can't see a team paying him 1 money and expecting him to be the 1 guy, unless it's a team that will hang around the basement for a few years. So Matt'll have to decide: some money on a contender or big money on a struggling team (not that I know who that team is, unless it's trying to come up to the salary floor)

The Flyers won today. I think the Flyers, Schenn and Simmonds included, have done great. As I just posted, if they would body check properly and incessantly, they can beat any team in the NHL. Schenn and Simmonds have filled needs on the roster. Richards' act needed a new stage. Flyers fans would have moaned through many seasons of the 10-year deal with his attitude. I feel as if the Flyers amply replaced him.Glad Richards came; glad he's gone. The Flyers deserved to lose game 4. Game 3? Tossup. Truthfully, they could EASILY (right or wrong) have won both. If Briere manages that 2-on-1 break perfectly, Sunday ends tied 3-3 and goes to overtime. If the Flyers get a break or two, no one has this "Richards vs. 10&17 trade" conversation.

Flyers players touched Devils Sunday evening, but few of the checks gained a “seal,” which: 1. Gives the checker a competitive advantage (one cannot make a play with 80% of his body smushed against the boards) 2. Wears the opponent down physically 3. Makes the puckhandler get rid of the puck a 1/2 second quicker, not follow through on his pass, and may even create “deer-in-the-headlights” decision-making. So why did the Flyers rarely put an outlet pass on the tape of a teammate in the neutral zone on Sunday? Good Devils checking. Why did the Devils rarely struggle to exit their own end? Ineffective (non-committed, half-executed) checking by the Flyers. If the Flyers refuse to check with effective technique (100% effort to seal Devils into the boards), then I will have no problem waving goodbye to the 2010-12 version—as much as I feel proud of them and enjoyed them. The Flyers miss Pronger in this regard, who in 2010 sealed up about every guy he hit. If they had so much as a drain stopper in net…

The fact that neither goalie has bus tire treads on their gear indicates to me that Holmgren is working furiously to try to trade one of those goaltenders. The "good guys," "work hard in practice" speech showcases them to some other team that might buy the "change of scenery" line of thinking and even consider eating Bryzgalov's contract. What's your over/under on what it will cost for the Flyers to get out of the Bryzgalov contract? (By that, I mean, the player the Flyers need to add over and above fair market value just to get rid of his top-five goalie contract [for a player not even in the top five in his own DIVISION!].)

I would rather see Sidney Crosby torch the Flyers for 10 goals in a playoff series and lead the Penguins to the next round than see Sidney Crosby get another concussion. For his own sake and that of his young life, if his body is not recovering from this latest concussion for this long, the next one will make him sorry he ever returned. And there will be a next one. I love the Flyers, I'm not a big fan of the Kid as a hockey player, but as a human being, I wouldn't wish this on an enemy. I do not wish these feelings and symptoms and problems on anyone, and I hope somebody in his life with enough "pull" gets him to congratulate himself, realize that life goes like this, and become a great ambassador for the league. But he has no business out there with the big boys again. It could condemn him to a lifelong hell of headaches, nausea, depression, and as we continue to learn, even suicide. Tragic that such a great career got cut short, but at least now he has the ability to determine how it ends. Return to play, and... not so much.

I'm with you, Canoli, about guaranteed money and years. Wow, I love the NFL's setup--you can have a big contract and get cut in the third week of the season. The owners in the next CBA have got to get some "out" clauses for these contracts. I admit that I will enjoy seeing Kovalchuk in a wheelchair playing for the Devils in 3073, but as for the rest of the league, I think every team needs a way to get rid of dead weight. Maybe each team gets a "my bad" either in-season or after the season, We all understand the purpose of the long-term deal: to circumvent the salary cap to lock up the current superstar player. But if that guy bags it night after night in a few years or gets a flat tire and plays only like a shadow of himself, NHL teams need an "out" like the NFL teams have in order to stop paying ridiculous money ($275,000/goal?) to certain players. As a fan, that just aggravates me on principle.

I love what Homergenius did to the lineup, but how about... Versteeg off for the hat tonight and has 8 markers already! Do we really consider him a Flyer? He seemed to do more harm than good (and I was so pumped about the trade for him, too!)

Do you think the Flyers can jam both of their raises under the cap, and if so, do you see someone else's salary coming off the cap?

Coburn's extension means a.) The Flyers have chosen him over Carle and will move Carle or let Carle walk at the end of the year. b.) The Flyers signed Coburn at the right market price and, locked up in an NHL deal, will trade him. c.) The Flyers have secured Coburn and will seek to sign Carle to an extension as well. What think you, Flyers faithful?

Sources seem to want to leak that Penn State will send him on his way even within the week--wow! I don't usually like to mix personal morality and sports, but if he knew and let Sandusky roam the campus... well, let's just say that 840 wins wouldn't overcome that, and I would vote Bonds into the BBHOF before any kind of lifetime honor for Paterno; how do you call yourself a human being if you swallow your tongue over abuse like that?!! Very curious to see how this plays out; prepare for a "spin" storm!

Hey, Poulin 20, thanks for bringing this over! It took on a life of its own and ran for a couple of years! For old times' sake, I have to take a crack. Lock-down Defense by Wayne Gretzky Press Conference Pointers by Roberto Luongo

I got mad at both of them for letting it get so ugly. I saw both of their points, but in the end, only we Flyers fans lost. It's about time.