brelic

I'm pretty happy with the trade too. It makes the Richards trade easier to take because Simmonds has been just ok, and Schenn hasn't been a factor at all yet.

I think the more disturbing trend, as Meltzer points out, is that we've been spotting the opposition an early 2 or 3 goal lead.

From http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Bill-Meltzer/Flyers-Gameday12311--Coyotes/45/40209 PREVIEW 3:30 AM EST There is no time for the Flyers (14-7-3) to celebrate their comeback victory last night in Anaheim. The team is right back in action tonight, traveling to Arizona to take on the Phoenix Coyotes (13-8-3). The game starts at 8 PM EST and will be broadcast locally on Comcast Sportsnet Philly. This is the second and final meeting between the teams this season. On Nov. 17, the Flyers downed Dave Tippett's team, 2-1. In that game, Matt Read netted the game winner with just 13.6 second remaining in the third period, sending the Flyers to victory. Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves in defeating his former club, while the club in front of him turned in workmanlike all-around performance. James van Riemsdyk tallied the other Philadelphia goal. Mikkel Boedker tied the game for Phoenix at 3:38 of the third period off a rebound into the short side of the net. The Flyers enter this game coming off a dramatic comeback victory last night against the Anaheim Ducks, while the Coyotes were idle. Phoenix lost in Winnipeg, 1-0, on Thursday night. Mike Smith made 25 saves in a losing effort, while Phoenix was blanked on by Ondrej Pavelec on 29 shots. I will post lineups later today. ********* It may be a good thing that the Flyers had five nights off preceding the game in Anaheim. Trailing 3-0 in the game past the midway point in regulation forced Peter Laviolette to shorten his bench earlier -- including going exclusively with four defensemen and leaving rookies Marc-Andre Bourdon and Kevin Marshall on the bench after just 14 and 11 shifts respectively. That was not the ideal way to kick off a month in which the team plays 16 times (13 on the road), but all that matters right now is that Philly somehow found a way to put two points in the cash register to kick off the month. Whenever a team has a long layoff, you can pretty much toss things like power play and penalty kill trends and individual hot/cold streaks from before the break right out the window. However, it a concern that the Flyers have only scored first in one of the last six games and trailed after the opening stanza each time (getting outscored by a combined 11-2 margin). That needs to end immediately. The Flyers scored three power play goals (in 9 chances) in Anaheim and killed off 2 of 3 penalties, including one late in regulation. The Ducks' power play goal was one that Bryzgalov should not have given up. The Flyers won in Anaheim despite -- not because of -- their goaltending. Bryzgalov was was not very good in the game, struggling with rebound control and puckhandling while only really having to make a couple "big" saves (including a very nice glove save on Teemu Selänne in the first period when the game was already 2-0 in the Ducks' favor). Andrew Cogliano's power play goal was shoveled on net with one hand and got through the five hole after Bryz missed an attempted pokecheck. Selänne's goal was unstoppable, as Braydon Coburn got caught in no man's land and Saku Koivu found him near the opposite post. On Andrew Gordon's goal that made it 3-0 in the second period, the Flyers got caught with Marshall and Bourdon out on the ice at the same time, albeit against the fourth line. They didn't exactly provide textbook coverage on the rush. However, it was a fat rebound Bryzgalov allowed into the opposite slot off a side angle shot by Ben Maxwell that created a situation where the puck went in off Gordon's skate (and possible Bourdon's leg as well). There was no kicking motion at all by the goals scorer, but the play was briefly reviewed after Bryzgalov squawked immediately. Last night, Laviolette started started seven rookies: forwards Matt Read (who generated a good shorthanded scoring chance early in the game but was otherwise quiet), Sean Couturier (who appeared OK after being boarded dangerously by Matt Beleskey), Brayden Schenn (some good shifts), Zac Rinaldo and Harry Zolnierczyk plus the two defense callups from the Phantoms. While there was a plethora of rookies in the Flyers' starting lineup, it was the veterans who stepped up to carry the team to victory. The Flyers top forward line, defenseman Kimmo Timonen and Danny Briere accounted for all of the club's goals and assists. Believe it or not, the plays where Jaromir Jagr (2G, 1A) tallied his two goals that brought the team back to within 3-2 were actually not even his best chances of the night. He was buzzing around the offensive zone all game, showing no ill effects from the groin pull that basically has kept him out (except for one abortive attempt to play on Long Island) since getting hurt early in the first period of the Phoenix game. Jagr's first tally was more along the lines of a Scott Hartnell (or Gary Dornhoefer) type of power play goal where he got between the circles and had Kimmo Timonen's point shot bounce off his pants and re-direct past Jonas Hiller. The second one was a low and scorching one-timer from the circle off a nice, flat pass from Timonen. Jagr has collected a couple hundred similar goals to the second in his NHL career, but he was denied by Hiller on an even more lethal-looking one-timer in overtime. Timonen, meanwhile, was an absolute beast in the Anaheim game. He logged huge ice time (25:33), played tremendous hockey in all three zones and generated three primary helpers. That was an All-Star level performance all the way around. Hartnell (1G, 1A) had an outstanding game along the walls, especially over the latter portion of the game and attacked the net. He was finally rewarded by taking Timonen's feed from behind the net and quickly putting it home before Hiller could react. Claude Giroux (1G, 1A) absolutely buried the overtime power play game winner past Hiller. One facet of the game that could have gotten overlooked -- after going just 1-for-6 on faceoffs in the first period, Giroux went 12-for-18 (66.7%) on draws over the rest of the game. That played a big part in why Philly spent so much time in the offensive zone over the latter part of the game. Briere (2A) quietly played a role in Philly clawing their way back into the game on special teams. He rotated the puck to Timonen on the second Jagr goal, as the Flyers got well set up after some missed opportunities. He also got the primary assist on the game winner. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the work of some of the Flyers' supporting-cast defensemen in the game. I thought both Matt Carle (22:57 played, 3 blocks, 0 giveaways) and Andrej Meszaros (21:02, 4 hits, 1 block) were outstanding. Braydon Coburn got off to a brutal start in the first period, but got much better as the game moved along. He nearly causing a shorthanded breakaway for Cogliano on the Flyers' first power play. Before the period ended, he was late to peel off the side boards and react to the sequence that led to Selänne's goal. However, he recovered as the game progressed and went to log 23:45 of ice time with 3 shots on goal, 2 hits and 2 blocks. ********** The Flyers' win last night marks the club's second win of the season when trailing after two periods. They had just one all of last year. The last time the Flyers came back from a three-goal or more deficit to win a game was December 11, 2008 vs. Carolina, when they trailed 5-1 after two periods and came back to win 6-5 in a shootout.

Something to consider from last night: we dressed 7 rookies. Yup, 7, including 5 forwards! That's pretty much HALF our forwards. Schenn Couturier Read Rinaldo Harry Z Bourdon Marshall

Totally!

LOL, that was some entertaining reading. Fans of all teams think the refs are against them. Of course, in our case (1st in PIM/G) and Anaheim (3rd in PIM/G), we're right But seriously, regardless of whether or not calls are weak, a player/team/coach should *know* that those weak calls are what constitutes penalties in this league, and stop doing it! Apparently, the Flyers are too dumb to adapt. "I don't understand... I was driving 25km/h over the limit, I get pulled over and get a ticket." Then the dude pulls away, driving 25km/h over the limit. EDIT: This one cracked me up too

This cracks me up: Dude's been there like 24 hours, probably had one practice with the team, and his system is already in place.

Not good news! From Panotch at http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Tim-Panaccio/Pronger-I-Never-Felt-Like-This/2/40164 Chris Pronger held a conference call this morning to update his status. Most of us thought it would surround his left knee that was surgically repaired this week. But the surprise was, Pronger admitted he is concerned about a lingering virus that won't go away despite numerous medical and blood tests to determine why he doesn't feel well. Pronger has classic concussion symptoms but doesn't remember taking any kind of hit that would have induced such and said he passed a baseline test. Here is the transcript, courtesy of the Flyers: Q: When did you have your surgery and how are you feeling? A: I had the surgery on Tuesday afternoon. I’m feeling okay just ice and elevation, trying to get the swelling out and I start my rehab tomorrow Q: Holmgren said the other day that you would be out for 4 weeks. Are you optimistic that it will be four weeks? Do you think you could be back sooner than that? A: I have no idea. Again, I had surgery two days ago, so once I start getting my rehab going, as I progress through that I’ll know a bit more. Gauging off of when I had my other knee done a couple of years ago, a month sounds about right, but again, it may be 3 weeks, it may be 6 weeks, I don’t know. We just kind of gave a ballpark number because we don’t really know. Q: You mentioned the other surgery and that one took about 9 weeks. Homer said he thought that one was more involved…did the doctors tell you what was different about this surgery compared to the one you had two years ago? A: There was a little bit more damage on the one a couple years ago. There were pretty big chunks they took out and it was not as clean as this knee was. The doctor was pretty pleased when he got in there to see what exactly was involved and was pretty please with what he saw. Q: Did you feel like you were almost ready to come back from the virus and then this whole thing with the knee came up? A: Well, my knee had kind of been bothering me. It’s gradually gotten worse since I came back from the eye injury. When I stopped skating, as I started to try to work out, it started to bother me. I’d do daily workouts and try to do legs every other day and it got to a point where I couldn’t do my leg workouts so I knew something was wrong. I went and got the MRI and got a plan to get it fixed very quickly as opposed to last time, Tim, when you got mad at me for doing it so late. Q: Was there anything that you did when you played that would have contributed to this injury? A: Not that I know of. I don’t remember ever getting hit; I don’t remember ever catching it in a rut or doing anything. I don’t know what it’s from…I have a couple suspicions, but I don’t really know. Q: How frustrating is this for you? Last year you said was the season from hell and this year so far you’ve had three different issues. How tough it for you mentally now with this kind of start? A: Again, I was pretty pleased with how my summer went with training and obviously got in a preseason game and felt like I got a pretty good start to the season. When you have a fluke injury where you get slashed in the face with a stick and now the knee, it’s a little disheartening. But I felt like I was playing pretty well when I got hurt the first time. It just sets you back. You’re just starting to get your rhythm, you’re starting to get in your groove and you’re comfort level is very high and this kind of sets you back. I have to go through that whole process again whenever I do get back. Q: How scary was the virus? When we asked Paul he didn’t really know what it was. He said there were tests but it wasn’t anything overly-serious… A: I just didn’t feel well. I didn’t know what it was, we said it was a virus but I didn’t know what it was. I had never felt like that before, where I had headaches and nausea and all the rest of that stuff. So I had a concussion test. I took the baseline test and passed that… I’ve just never felt like this where you get lightheaded, you have headaches, you’re nauseous...It’s been a bit of a mystery with what exactly is going on. I did some blood-work and we’re trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Q: Is this one of those things, with your surgery, where you might’ve been able to play but you wanted to take care of it so that when it comes time for the games that really matter—the playoffs—you can be 100 percent? A: I think if it was the playoffs or the Stanley Cup Final, I could play, but it was to the point where I wouldn’t have played very well. We can always say we can play but at what level and at what detriment are you playing? At this stage in the season, not knowing the other side of it, it was prudent to get it done now so that if I’m able to return in 4 weeks, let’s say, then I’m able to get 3 weeks in before the all star break and then put the hammer down after that, as we get into the playoff stretch. Q: When you go through something like this-- when you’ve had so many surgeries-- do u do any soul searching and say, my body’s breaking down here, how long do I want to go through this? Or do you say to yourself, hey, I did have a fluke injury with the eye but now I have both of my knees taken care of so they should be good to go for a few more years…? A: Well you have to look at the injuries in their totality. I got hit with a puck and I broke my foot. I got hit with a puck in the hand and I broke my hand. I got slashed in the face and hurt my eye. The knees are things that, you know, I hurt my knee in the game against Boston in the Stanley cup playoff and this one was from I don’t know what. The only one that was really perplexing was the back. I don’t really know how or what happened there and probably never will. It’s just one of those things. You look at the number of the injuries and they would seem to be kind of fluky. Three of them I got hit with the puck or a stick. Are those everyday hockey occurrences? Yeah, it could happen to anybody. When you play the game hard and you play a lot of minutes you’re that much more inclined to have something happen to you because you’re always out there. So you still have to take a look at it as, yeah, I’ve had a lot of surgeries and it takes a toll on your body but you’ve got to continue to follow rehab protocol and follow guidance of the doctors and try to make sure that you’re doing the best you can to take care of your body and take care of your mind at the same time to prepare yourself to be ready when you do get back. Q: Just to be clear, are you still dealing with the effects of the virus? Or whatever you said you wanted to call it? A: Yeah, I’m not quite…again, we’re still trying to ascertain what’s going on, and like I said, I’ve never felt like this before so...I don’t really know what’s going on.

Looking forward to seeing Schenn again... Now's his time to shine

From http://www.hockeybuz...-Ducks/45/40183 PREVIEW 9 AM EST It has been six long days since the Philadelphia Flyers (13-7-3) last played a hockey game. Tonight, the club opens a brutally difficult December schedule that will see the team play 13 of 16 games on the road. The opponent will be the Anaheim Ducks (7-13-4), with new head coach Bruce Boudreau making his debut less than 48 hours after replacing former Stanley Cup winning coach Randy Carlyle behind the bench. The game starts at 10 PM EST (7 PM PST) and will be broadcast locally on the Comcast Network (not CSN Philly). The game marks the only meeting of the season between the two clubs. Last year, the Flyers played the Ducks twice, with Anaheim winning both times (3-2 and 5-2). The first game last season was a heartbreaker at home for Philly, as the Flyers battled back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 on goals by Scott Hartnell and Claude Giroux to take the game late into the third period tied. With 1:46 left in regulation, Ryan Getlzaf put the Ducks ahead to stay. The second meeting took place in Anaheim on New Year's Eve. The Ducks built a 3-0 lead, which the Flyers (Andreas Nodl and Jeff Carter) whittled down to a single goal by early in the third period. Anaheim struck right back, as Bobby Ryan quickly restored a two-goal lead and Philadelphia never really mounted another challenge. Lubomir Visnovsky added some additional insurance late in the game. In preparation for tonight's game, the Flyers took advantage of the lengthy schedule break to fly out to California a full two days in advance of the game, which eliminated the three-hour time change being a potential factor. Meanwhile, Bruce Boudreau ran the Ducks practice yesterday. The Flyers expect to have Jaromir Jagr (groin pull) back in the lineup today. He has not played a full game since suffering the initial injury in the game against Phoenix. The club will also have Brayden Schenn in the lineup for the first time since rehabbing a broken foot. If Matt Walker clears re-entry waivers today, he is expected to be in the starting lineup in place of rookie Kevin Marshall. James van Riemsdyk (upper body injury) appears likely to miss the game. Defensemen Chris Pronger (LTIR, knee surgery and illness), Andreas Lilja (LTIR, high ankle sprain) and Erik Gustafsson (LTIR, hand/wrist surgery) are all out for lengthy stretches. PROJECTED LINEUPS FLYERS Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr Schenn - Briere - Read Voracek - Talbot - Simmonds Shelley - Couturier - Rinaldo Timonen- Coburn Carle - Walker/Marshall Bourdon - Meszaros Bryzgalov [bobrovsky] DUCKS Ryan - Getzlaf - Perry Cogliano - Koivu - Selanne Hagman - Maxwell - Smith-Pelly Beleskey - McMillan - Gordon Fowler - Lydman Beauchemin - Sbisa Brookbank - Guenin Hiller/Mason **********

Good point MD. To be fair though, they did rebuild quickly and were within two wins of a Cup. So they held up their end of the bargain. But at this point, I agree with you that he would waive for a contender. He'd have a better chance elsewhere I think. But I would hate to see him go.

I'd say Friday

For Kimmo, it would only make sense being traded to a contender. Could be a smart move for both sides. Of course, most contenders are a cap strapped as we are so it doesn't seem to be a likely scenario at this point.

I guess my thinking is for the future. I'm thinking trade TImonen now while he has value. I don't think we're a Cup team this year or next year, so why not use some chips to boost an area of weakness long-term? Fowler has top pairing potential and PP quarterback. He's only 19. That being said, I doubt Anaheim moves him. ANd as much as I would hate to trade Bob, as you say, he's one of the only appealing chips that we have, and we have to accept that Bryz is the starter for the forseeable future. So, again, why not use Bob in a package if that means a backup goalie in return as well as a future top pairing defenseman?

Maybe Homer's doing him a solid, like he did Randy Jones

The reason you move Timonen now is because he has value. Two more years left on a contract with a cap hit of $6.3M, but only $8M total cash value ($5M and $3M). A team looking to make a serious post season run would love to have Timonen on the blueline, and are only committed to one more year. Unless you really believe our team is a contender, even with Pronger in the lineup, why not make the move for a player who will be 38 at the end of next year and will, in all likelihood, retire? I love Kimmo. But the business sense says move him now while the team is 'retooling' and try to get yourself a top 2 defensive prospect and a capable backup. Carle would also be good trade bait, but his value, IMO, is a fair bit lower than Timonen because a) he's not as good, and B) he's a UFA at the end of the year. Briere would also have great value, as much as I would hate to trade him. But you gotta give up quality to get quality in return.

Looks like Anaheim is in real trouble. Wonder if there's any way we could get Fowler from them. Their problem is offense, defense, goaltending... all around, basically. Fowler and Ellis for Bobrovsky and Carle or Timonen. Problem is they're cap-strapped too, so they wouldn't be able to take back so much salary.

Surgery went well, Homer believes Pronger will be back within 4 weeks, hopefully before that.

Nodl was ok, but I think we seriously upgraded that role with guys like Read, Z, and Rinaldo. And the first two seem to have more offensive spunk than Noodle.

Well there ya go. Can a mod change the topic title to Nodl waived / claimed by Carolina or something like that?

Getting a top 2 young defenseman is going to cost you more than picks. It will cost you an established roster player. Depending on the team, someone like JVR, Briere, Bobrovsky (still wouldn't call him established, though), Timonen, Carle, etc.

This is from Seravalli yesterday... http://www.philly.co...ck-to-back.html There are two ways you can take Bob's quotes. One, that he is driven and ambitious and will fight for number 1 even if we're supposed to have a bona fide number 1 with Bryzgalov. I like that attitude. It shows that he wants it, and Laviolette seems to be the kind of guy that rewards that kind of attitude when it's backed up by solid play. Honestly, I don't agree with Seravalli at all that Bryz should basically be handed the keys to the team. If he wants to be number 1, then he needs to play like it. Period. The other way you can take Bob's quotes is that if he doesn't become number 1 over the next few years, he could be very frustrated. Doesn't seem like the type to be happy in a backup role. Plus, I find it a bit odd that he's not willing to learn from Bryz. So much for Russian mentorship. Anyway, poor article from Servalli in my opinion. Just sounds like an apologist read for the Bryz signing.

Great Little girl is 3 1/2 now, time flies! How about you? Nice to see you on this board! I love reading your random stories

Remember the last knee surgery Pronger had? It was in July, and he just made it back in time for training camp. Not saying this is the same, but I wouldn't be surprised if Homer is downplaying the seriousness and recovery time to not look too desperate, lol.

LOL, that's a good point. If you can be that goofy with each other and put it out in public, you're pretty damn comfortable