Digityman

Jagr on Giroux:

I kind of want to play for him,” Jagr said. “All the years I was in the NHL, guys were trying to play for me … I want to be for him. I just want to be a good help for him.”

After the Flyers’ 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes Monday night, Jagr was asked what it is about Giroux that’s enabled the duo to find such chemistry on the ice. Jagr had nothing but glowing praise for his linemate.

“I love to play with him,” Jagr said. “I think he’s the top – I don’t want to say he’s the best right now in the league, but he’s top three for sure. I never thought at the end of my career I was going to play with a guy like that. And that’s what’s made me happy.”

Who is this Jagr? Plays all zones. Helping others?

Homer, you look like a genius.

1st Period - Start strong, end the period slow and get a late goal scored against.

2nd Period - Start strong, end the period slow and *almost* get a late goal scored against.

3rd Period - stay tuned.

The question was pretty simple.

Would the Flyers support any kind of NHL realignment that would see them lose the Pittsburgh Penguins to another division?

“No,” came the reply from one Flyers source. “And the chance of it happening are slim and none.”

The Penguins feel the same way.

There’s a lot of debate right now about what is going to happen at the NHL Board of Governors meeting next month in Florida.

Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman reported recently that there is growing support for a total realignment of the NHL based on geography.

It would see rivalries disrupted, among them, Flyers-Penguins because Pittsburgh would be shifted to one of four new divisions.

All of this fuss is to accommodate where to put Winnipeg next season and how to appease the Detroit Red Wings who want to: A. move back to the Eastern Conference; or B. remain in the west, but with a more favorable travel schedule outside the eastern time zone.

Friedman broke down the four divisions, which would see Washington, Carolina, Florida and Tampa Bay from the Southeast all join the Flyers in a group that also included the Rangers, Devils and Islanders.

What the proposal does not account for, some say, is the possibility that a year or two from now, the NHL could be facing two more franchise shifts with Phoenix and Florida.

League sources say the debate there is whether it makes more sense to wait until there is some finality on those franchises’ futures before doing a full, 30-team re-alignment.

Our source says virtually all 15 clubs in the east favor keeping things as they are with their own clubs.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman needs 20 votes from his BOG to make this realignment happen, and right now, even if all 15 teams in the west support such a move, there is a feeling he doesn’t have five votes from the east.

“Gary Bettman never goes into a BOG meeting without having something already set where he knows he has some support,” a source said. “Now whether he has support for this or something else in mind, we don’t know.

“He likely has a backup plan though. But again, there is a feeling that this may not be the right time for full realignment because of the situation in Phoenix and Florida.”

Simply put, I don’t like any realignment that loses a great rivalry like the one the Flyers have with the Penguins.

But I also understand that’s a minor consideration in the broader view.

“Both teams react to this rivalry,” said Max Talbot, who has seen the rivalry from both the Flyers' and Penguins' side.

“They need to think about rivalries when they make up divisions. I doubt the Flyers will create a rivalry with the Florida Panthers equal to that of the Penguins. It’s hard to re-create rivalries. It takes years to do that. It would be sad if they killed this rivalry.”

The Flyers and Penguins would still meet twice a year, but not as often as they meet now, which is six times.

Yet there’s a lot of agreement that teams out west have issues that need to be resolved. For instance, Dallas plays every game outside the state of Texas in another time zone and is in the Pacific Division.

Detroit and Columbus play many games outside their time zone, as well. In short, the issues (travel distances, late games, etc.) among clubs in the west far outweigh things like a Flyers-Penguins rivalry.

Jaromir Jagr admitted he didn’t know much about this plan. His reaction may surprise you.

“On one side, it’s kind of sad,” Jagr said. “On the other, they probably want to save not only money but for some teams, the traveling part. They want to make it best for teams not traveling. Sad? Probably.

“It’s not going to affect me much. Too bad they didn’t do it this year. I would save a lot of boos when I go to Pittsburgh.”

Jagr was laughing when he said that.

E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net

And then this article by Tim P today.

TORONTO -- Flyers chairman Ed Snider believes the NHL needs total realignment and predicts it will happen.

Snider, speaking at the red carpet ceremony during the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Monday night, said emphatically that the Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins will remain in the same grouping of teams regardless of how many divisions/conferences there are.

“There has to be,” Snider replied when asked where he stands on total realignment. “But our traditional rivalries will always be with us no matter how it is realigned. I’m pretty confident of that.”

Multiple sources told CSNPhilly.com earlier this month that the Eastern Conference clubs want traditional rivalries to remain intact and that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman did not have the 20 votes necessary to approve a realignment plan that would see Pittsburgh and the Flyers split into different conferences (see blog post).

Sources said here there are numerous proposals that will be presented at the BOG.

The league’s Board of Governors will meet in December in Pebble Beach, Calif., to discuss the issue.

“We’ll be together without question, if under a four conference set-up,” Snider predicted of the Flyers-Penguins. “We will have all our traditional rivals and some others in a four-conference setup.”

Asked whether he feels the four-conference setup will win out, Snider hedged.

“I don’t think I should be commenting on that,” he said, adding while laughing, “I don’t need any fines.”

E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net

Moved topic (and repopulated). See responses below. Sorry for the confusion.

Sabres looked soft going after Lucic

Real soft. He should have been jumped by 5 guys and some guys off the bench.

15 seconds before another Flyer came to his rescue. That's sad.

@Phlyer1 With the length of the contract and how much he gets a year, it's not to crazy to think those should be stopped.

Honestly, through the first month or so of the season, I'm still trying to figure out if the Flyers have upgraded skill in net as much as they invested in salary.

Right now I'd have to say no.

@Vincent05

His job is to be physical out there and make things happen. That's really his job. He's 21 and is getting his first real taste of the NHL but I agree that he needs to start choosing his hits better. That takes time though. Carcillo has been in the league since 2006 and still hasn't figure that out. I'd give Zac some time to adjust his game and figure it all out. I do think he has a brain to do that, where Dan just can't figure it out.

He seems overly casual in the way he plays the puck, and in goal

I feel this way also. However, maybe it's because we are used to ML, Bouch or other scrambling in the net. He plays a calm style which we aren't very used to as Flyers fans...?

shot from that angle shouldn't go in, he was being forced wide so Pronger was doing his job

I agree. Pronger did what he needed to do. There really was no angle to shoot at. The only thing you could say there was if Pronger was faster he could have forced him wider.....but that's neither here nor there.

SUNRISE, Fla. - With his entire bottom lip sliced open down the middle after being tomahawked by Panthers defenseman Jason Garrison late in the third period last night, Max Talbot was irate. But he didn't have time to ask referee Stephane Auger for an explanation about why Garrison didn't receive a high-sticking penalty.

That's because Talbot was too busy searching for the other half of his left front tooth on the BankAtlantic Center ice.

"I took a hockey stick right across the face," Talbot said. "I was not able to get an explanation, I was looking for my tooth and there was blood everywhere. But I would like to be able to hear what he has to say."

Talbot never found the other half of his tooth, and was left with a gashed lip that required stitches to close.

Flyers captain Chris Pronger relayed the message that Auger - and the other referee, Kelly Sutherland, and two linesmen - did not see Garrison's blatantly obvious whack to the face.

Somehow, Talbot was given a 4 minute, double-minor penalty earlier in the third period for high-sticking Panthers defenseman Brian Campbell.

"I find it funny that I not even clip a guy in the face in the third and he bites his lip and I get 4 minutes," Talbot said. "Then, something like this happens and there are four refs on the ice and they don't even see it. I know they are human and they don't see everything, but I find it ironic."

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20111114_Flyers__Talbot_looking_for_lip_service.html

All he does is run around and hits, he has a bullseye on his back and the refs are watching. In every game that I watch he has taken atleast 1 penalty in each game he's played.

That charging penalty in the first period was absolutely absurd from what I saw. I agree that he has a target on his back but that shouldn't matter. The refs shouldn't see names or numbers, only the play that's in front of them.

I wish that video was longer. Would love to hear what Jack Edwards Andy Brickley said about that. I can't stand Jack Edwards.

I know this has to be a penalty in the current league, but it shouldn't be.

Exactly. The goalie should only be protected in his crease. Every where else, he is a skater and should be allowed to be hit within the rules.

I don't like how the video feed is so low. Seems about 30 feet lower than most others. Tough to see the play on the near boards.

I do but on gamecenter tonight. Not a good feed. Lots of pauses and what not. Never had a frozen account. Sorry

Again professional, amateur or other.

I have to think more but my first is easy

1) 5/2/2006 - Philly vs buffalo. Lost 7-1. Drove down in the morning and came back and worked the next day. 18 hours of driving in 24 hours to see the flyers give up.

Games that you've been at. Professional, amateur or other.

I saw Clemmenson play in Portland about 2 years ago. That guy was on fire. He lit up while Marty was on the shelf. Weird how they go up and down like that.

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Jaromir Jagr's impact in Philadelphia has been felt inside the dressing room, on the ice, and up and down the Flyers' lineup.

Claude Giroux is off to the best start of his young career. Scott Hartnell is redefining his role as a power forward.Jakub Voracek's dream of playing with his boyhood idol is coming true. Peter Laviolette is thrilled to have a veteran with Jagr's status to point to as an example of how a strong work ethic can pay off in goals and wins.

Jagr has 6 goals and 9 assists through 14 games, including 11 points over his current seven-game point-scoring streak. He's serving as the right wing on the Flyers' top line with Giroux and Hartnell. They quickly have formed one of the NHL's most dominant lines this season.

"He's an elite player, he really is," Laviolette said of Jagr.

"He was the only one that knew (what teams) I was talking to beside my agent. And he knew I was talking to probably five or six teams, coaches and GMs, but the Flyers were not involved. Every time I talked to the GM, what they told me I told my friend. Then two days before free agency I was talking to the Flyers. After that I talked to my friend, and he said, 'That's it.' I don't know what he knew, but he said, 'You're talking to me about them differently than other teams.'"- Jaromir Jagr

But according to Jagr, the only reason he brought his elite talent to Philadelphia is because his closest friend of more than 30 years told him that's what he should do.

He wouldn't divulge any information about his friend other than to say he lives in the Czech Republic, but Jagr credits his friend with convincing him to accept the Flyers' one-year, $3.3 million contract offer.

"He was the only one that knew (what teams) I was talking to beside my agent. And he knew I was talking to probably five or six teams, coaches and GMs, but the Flyers were not involved," Jagr told NHL.com Tuesday. "Every time I talked to the GM, what they told me I told my friend. Then two days before free agency I was talking to the Flyers. After that I talked to my friend, and he said, 'That's it.' I don't know what he knew, but he said, 'You're talking to me about them differently than other teams.'

"I cannot tell you what, but he sensed in me it was a different feeling. I've spent about 30 years with him and he knew because he knows me and he saw the difference, could tell the difference."

Jagr, though, still came to Philadelphia without any preconceived expectations or thoughts about what he might be able to accomplish as a 39-year-old who hadn't played in the NHL since 2008.

He just wanted to see if he could make it work at this level again after spending three seasons in the KHL.

"Good or bad, I was going to play through it," Jagr said. "That's why I didn't expect anything. No matter if it was bad or good, I wanted to play."

So far it's been all good for Jagr, who is playing well and cementing opinions of himself to others.

For instance, Laviolette had no idea that Jagr was such a preparation nut.

"The way he trains, the time he puts in to prepare himself to play, I don't think you get to see that when you're on the opposing bench," he said.

That work ethic has rubbed off on the Flyers' younger players like Giroux and James van Riemsdyk.

"When he came here I didn't know what to expect," Giroux said. "But when he came here he was the one that worked the hardest and gave the young players like me and van Riemsdyk a wake-up call to see that if we wanted to be one of the best we had to work at it, that it wasn't just going to come."

Voracek is happy to report that the image he had of Jagr when he was a child who used to hang posters of No. 68 on his bedroom walls matches what he now sees from his favorite player and teammate.

"I think we click pretty well," Voracek told NHL.com. "We live pretty close to each other so we keep in touch every day off the ice, as well. It's very cool to be with him."

Hartnell commented after a recent game that he still finds it surreal that Jagr is even on his team.

"That hasn't worn off yet," he said. "It's fun."

Jagr himself looks to be having a blast, as well. That much was obvious Tuesday after the Flyers came off the ice after practice.

Jagr and Voracek were laughing and telling jokes in their native tongue. Jagr was smiling and having fun with the Flyers' equipment managers. He even joked about the upcoming Flyers-Rangers Alumni Game that will be played Dec. 31 at Citizens Bank Park.

"They probably thought I was going to play in that game," Jagr said, laughing at his own joke. "I surprised everybody. Obviously I wasn't invited for that game. So I chose to play in the NHL game."

Not without the help from his anonymous friend.

"Sometimes you cannot listen to yourself," Jagr said. "You need the people around you to help you make a decision like this."

The Flyers are ready to write a thank-you letter.

"His smile when he plays the game is almost infectious," Laviolette said. "He's happy to be here. He's happy to be a Flyer. He's having a terrific start to the season. And he shows by the way he smiles."

http://flyers.nhl.co...vid=DL|PHI|home

Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 6. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer.

Whenever I think about Ian Laperriere, I also immediately think about a little girl named Ellie Rolfs.

You see it all the time and it's still a good thing: athletes visiting sick kids on team outings, athletes giving money to sick kids, athletes saying all the right things about perspective when talking about sick kids. But, really, that's usually as far as it goes. These guys are busy, under a lot of pressure, and have families and troubles of their own.

"Lappy" had all of the above -- and still does -- when he played with the Colorado Avalanche. But he found time -- lots of it -- to give to Ellie, who in 2008 was diagnosed at age 2 with Stage IV Widely Diffuse Anaplastic Wilm's Tumor -- an aggressive, rare form of pediatric kidney cancer.

Following the diagnosis, this little girl spent 90 days in the hospital, received 40 blood transfusions, had a tumor removed from her lungs, underwent more than a dozen high-radiation treatments, and had yards of tubes anchored to her frail body.

But you want to talk about hockey tough?

Ellie today is two years in remission, her once bald head now covered by beautiful long, blonde hair.

"I'm not even close to her on the toughness side," Laperriere said recently. "Not even close." This from a guy with a deserved reputation as a warrior who will do whatever it takes to help his team win, even if it means stopping shots with his face.

Ellie liked to watch the Avalanche during her illness, and the guy with the crooked nose, the guy they called "Lappy" on the TV, was her favorite. He blocked shots, he fought with guys half a foot taller, he practically danced a little jig after scoring a goal, and he had an endearingly funny French accent and liked to tell jokes with it.

Yup, Lappy was her favorite all right. When word got back to him about Ellie and her situation, the veteran right winger immediately reached out to her family. He arranged for her to visit the Avs' locker room, but she was shy around her hero. Not the next time, though.

There hasn't been a day in Lappy's playing career when he didn't have a nick or cut on his face, and when Ellie spotted one during her next visit, she took out one of her Dora The Explorer band-aids and put it on his wound. Too bad Ellie didn't have any Kleenex handy, because her gesture brought tears to the eyes of a lot of people in the dressing room -- Lappy included.

Laperriere spent hundreds of dollars on toys and clothes for Ellie, and visited her in the hospital every chance he got. He recruited many other teammates as well, and from there Ellie and the Avs had a mutually beneficial relationship. She was buoyed by their encouragement, and all through the Avs' miserable 2008-09 season, Ellie's locker room visits cheered everyone up.

Laperriere left Colorado in July 2009 to sign with Philadelphia, but he remains in regular contact with Ellie and her family. She faces future challenges from her condition, but is living a reasonably normal, happy life.

The gritty winger has been facing his own struggles: he hasn't played since June 2010 because of concussion symptoms caused by a blocked shot to the face from New Jersey's Paul Martin in a first-round playoff game. It was the second shot Lappy took in the head that season. He suffered a broken orbital bone and needed 70 stitches, but he returned to play for the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Final vs. Montreal and Stanley Cup Final against Chicago. By the following September, though, his symptoms and vision problems left him unable to skate in training camp. He ended up sitting out the entire 2010-11 season.

While he's fought to recover his health and normal eyesight, his memories of Ellie's toughness have helped. "What I'm going through is nothing compared to what she's gone through," he says.

Since being sidelined, Laperriere has helped the Flyers' scouting department by working with prospects and minor leaguers, a main reason why he was awarded the NHL's 2011 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy as the player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."

At the awards ceremony in Las Vegas last June, Laperriere said, "My kids are so excited. Plus, it's the only way I could have ever won a trophy in the NHL. Get two pucks to the face. That's the way I play. That's who I am. I don't regret anything. It's too bad I still have symptoms from it, but I wouldn't change anything."

Ellie Rolfs isn't the only kid out there Lappy has helped. He's deeply involved with The Ronald McDonald House and too many other charities to list here. He remains a devoted husband to his wife, Magali -- they've been together since their first date at age 15 -- and father to their sons Tristan and Zachary.

Laperriere, who has played with five NHL teams in his 16-year career, feels he's the luckiest man alive. There is nobody -- nobody -- who ever played with or against him who didn't have a good word to say about him.

"Tremendous man, tremendous teammate," former Avalanche captain Joe Sakic says. And to kids in need like Ellie Rolfs, a tremendous friend.

That's why Ian Laperriere deserves to be SI's Sportsman of the Year.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/magazine/sportsman/11/07/ian.laperriere/index.html#ixzz1d9rgyCxR

@Spinorama I was wondering the same thing.

Cindy is on the ballot but what if the fans actually thought about it before voting and decided that he shouldn't be there.

Would Gary step in ?

Probably. LIttle Napoleon he is.

@Spinorama That's very true. The combo makes it much easier to say no. If it was just one....well....there's always babysitters!

To far and dad duty. Won't make it

I'll drive.

Why do people keep getting concerned with decreasing offense? Scoring doesn't necessarily make a game entertaining... sheesh, the three blowouts that we had this season were terrible terrible hockey.

That's American sports though unfortunately. Points make us excited and feel good. We must feel good all the time (see % Prozac use).

We watch it because it's entertaining. The trap isn't. The NHL needs to make a decision. Intervene in the natural progression of the game for the sake of popularity and money or let it go it's own course and let the game evolve untainted.

It's a tough decision.