radoran

The Markov of two years ago? Yes. The Markov who missed most of last season and hasn't played this season because of his knee? Not so much.

http://sports.yahoo....=ap-winningwild How far can the Wild go?

I would hope so, too.

I like what CSN had with Laviolette before the game talking about Lavy wanting to get Voracek more ice time, but with the top six clicking it washard to get him in. That he was happy to be able to give him more minutes and seemed confident he could take advantage of them. The fifth goal didn't mean much in the end, but it was a reflection of a strong overall game from Voracek. I've long thought that Columbus just gives up on any player not named "Nash" too soon. They also expect far too much early. The Flyers have the luxury of putting players like Voracek and Simmonds into roles in which they can develop at a reasonable pace. Hopefully to step into bigger roles as the veterans move along. You're looking for a Coburn or Carle to step into Timonen's role; Jagr's a UFA and Hartnell's up after next season so talented developing forwards are a terrific asset.

That was a great play - and he got the assist on it, too. Sure, it was a lame secondary assist... ;-) Coburn is moving into the place where most coaches think defensemen are finally able to be "NHL defensemen" - late/mid 20s. A nice asset to have signed for four years at $4.5M.

$1M in cap space immediately and both are UFAs at the end of the year. That's about it. I think I was pretty clear I wouldn't want Gill prior to that post, but I was searching in the dark for some sort of rationale. So "IF" they "had" to move someone to get Gill... Which they don't. Thus - "but with Carle taking up minutes and elevating play - why bother? "

They're coming from the Bleacher Report - which I wouldn't necessarily take without a salt lick. it's statements like this: That reveal the gaps in the "analysis." The Flyers' top five contracts all have NTC/NMCs on them. That makes the "IF" in that sentence the operative word. That, and the fealty to Kaberle - who IIRC the Flyers were considering trading LINDROS for backinnaday (to give some perspective on the last time Kaberle was worth squat) and who today is chopped liver who was a hanger on in Boston and a complete bust in Carolina - displays the utter lack of seriousness in this "trade proposal." Scott Hartnell is not taking a trade to Montreal. Book. It. Neither is Briere, Timonen, Bryzgalov or Pronger. I *might* ship Carle out for Gill - save some cap space this year and both are UFA - but with Carle taking up minutes and elevating play - why bother?

Bryz was solid and you could tell was upset at giving up the shutout. JVR had some nice moments, but needs to do a lot more to emerge. I wouldn't call both secondaries "lame" but they weren't "write home to mom now" types either. Voracek was a monster. More ice time, please.

don't expect it. don't rule it out. Watch the season. Enjoy the games. Flyers are showing that they did get better, cheaper and younger with their offseason moves. I like it.

I've been keeping track of numbers I notice frequently during games (for good and bad). 14 and 24 were noticeable for the good for virtually all of last night. Couturier has some developing to do, but his hockey sense is undeniable.

I guess I don't see how they fit Gill ($2.25) or Campoli ($1.75) if they can't fit walker ($1.7) I'd have had more interest in Spacek. Gomez is making $7.3M each for the next two seasons after this. ANYONE who picks that up is fundamentally insane and should be put in the Mike Milbury Home for Idiot GMs.

NO on Kaberle. NO NO NO NO NO. And I don't think that Gill or Campoli bring anything to the table for the Flyers. Gill is -5 after 29 games. Campoli has played two games this season. Just don't see the point.

I think this is part of the "trade Semin" talk that's going around - breaking up the Caps' CCP... It's got to be something more than "just" the players because they do have some talent on that team. They're just not playing worth a damn. Also, Knuble's 9 points in 29 games would earn him a nice healthy sized cup of shutthehellup around here.

One would almost have to be a poster on an internet forum to find something to complain about with this team. Oh, wait... They have youth, depth, experience, skill and, it appears, drive. The latter being sorely lacking from the Capitals, for reasons which escape me. Do the Caps just not care any more? They were getting embarassed at home and could barely manage any emotion at all. "Fighting back" to 5-1 with 6 to play doesn't really cut it, If the Flyers are forced to give Marshall and Bourdon any big minutes in the playoffs, then there will be issues. In December, I'm not as worried. This team was put together to not immediately "miss" many big pieces - the crucial one obviously being Pronger (of course). They have players who obviously want to win. That's just great to see.

He could have plowed right into him and resulted in potential serious injury to BOTH players. The person who made the mistake here - as Jackson points out - is Giroux, who missed a check. That said, I don't *blame* anyone for this. It's an accident. Accidents will happen*. Again, if you can tell me what Simmonds "should have done" in this situation to avoid any and all contact with Giroux, I'm happy to hear it. I'm not saying this isn't unfortunate. It's a split-second, bang-bang play. In short - it's hockey. It's just not anybody's "fault". * TM Elvis Costello

If someone call tell me what Simmonds is supposed to do here that he doesn't do in trying to avoid Giroux, please let me know http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3AjW0Vc_AA It's an unfortunate accident. And these situations are always made worse when players are caught unawares - it's like being in a car accident you're not expecting.

You might check out "Crosby, Sidney" and "Kunitz, Chris" adding in "Penguins, Pittsburgh" just for good measure...

In fairness, even the people in Binghamton don't want to be in Binghamton. In that respect, it might have been TOO MANY minutes in the A... If it's a choice between making relatively the same money in your home town (speaking your own language) or stuck in a backwater lower central New York town - what decision are you making? The fact that he couldn't crack OTTAWA's lineup is telling, though. The guy seems to have Daigle levels of dedication and commitment.

One might argue they haven't done much with developing Nash, either. I'd say Nash was a prohibitive #1 in 2002 (Lehtfourin, Bouwmeester, Pitkanen, Whitney, Upshall, Lupul followed). He was billed as a can't miss goal scorer and he's been a can't miss goal scorer. He's never been much else, though. Goals per season: 17-41-31-27-38-40-33-32 He scored 40 in his second season. I don't think Columbus "developed" him at all. If anything, IMO, they're sucking the life out of his career.

Lindros and Primeau far predate Crosby. If it's a karma thing, it dates to long before now...

It's really incredible how 10 top ten picks have turned out for Columbus. 2000 - Rostisalv Klesla (4) - no longer with team 2001 - Pascal Leclaire (8) - no longer with team 2002 - Rick Nash (1) - duh 2003 - Nickolai Zherdev (4) - no longer with team; um, yeah 2004 - Alexandre Picard (8) - no longer with team; no, not *that* one, the *other* one 2005 - Gilbert Brule (6) - no longer with team 2006 - Derrick Brassard (6) - oddly enough, still with the team 2007 - Jakub Voracek (7) - no longer with team 2008 - Nikita Filatov (6) - no longer with team 2009 - John Moore (21) - in AHL 2010 - Ryan Johansen (4) - still on roster 2011 - no first rounder (transferred to Philadelphia - Sean Courturier)

Hartnell's NTC had kicked in. Richards' and Crater's had not. They could move Richards and Crater without needing their approval. They could not move Hartnell without his. The Giroux/Jagr pairing with Hartnell is perfect for him. Like many/most power forwards, Hartnell is a product of the line he's on. With a creative C and a solid guy on the other W, it opens up the ice for Hartnell to play his game. He can be almost a forgotten third man as teams focus on trying to shut down Jagr and worry about Giroux.

these are people who habitually lose track of rooms...

I would not have minded Vokoun at all - as a vet to "bridge" to a mature Bobrovsky, for example. The Flyers don't look for that. They're a quick fix team - they don't rebuild, they "retool." Not my preferred way, but the way it is. I don't think Bob has "inferior" stats to Bryz - I think they have basically the same stats both this season and over their careers. Bryz has five times as many games and is the more "proven" commodity. "Proven" is what the Flyers as an organization were looking for. "Potential" has only taken them so far. Bryz' regular season #s don't bother me - it's how he handles the playoffs. I'm not going to truly evaluate this signing until we have that look (but it was a bad signing for too long and too much lol)