Clarke2Leach

I'm pretty sure we'd still have Richards if Briere didn't have an NTC. We wouldn't have gotten Simmonds and Schenn back for Danny, but that contract would be gone. Briere should at the very least be moved to right wing, because he isn't responsible enough at centre. No argument with dumping Shelley, but the rest are almost impossible to get rid of without changes to the CBA. I think Detroit is making room for Suter, so I doubt Timmonen is in their plans, especially at his age and cap hit.

Excellent article. Thanks! My apologies to the OP and Nick Cousins for the massive thread derailment.

I SAID we were a little bit sensitive about these things.

Thanks again. I really appreciate the background info. I see lately he's projecting to go 13-18, depending on who you read. First ever Latvian in the 1st round is exciting for all of us.

FC, if you EVER call a Latvian a Russian again, I will hunt you down and ..... Sorry, we're a little bit sensitive about that. Invasions, Siberian Death Camps etc etc and all. A little blurb about Arturs Irbe to illustrate: "Along with the gear, which these men can personalize, is something they cannot: the uniform. Irbe reluctantly started his career in Soviet red -- even though the mother country once came to his mother's house and nearly sent his grandparents to Siberia. He whooped with his fellow 13-year-olds in 1980 when the Soviets fell to the U.S. in Lake Placid. And he risked his career when the mortally wounded Red Army advanced on his hometown in 1991 to prevent a revolt. Irbe sat in the frigid town square overnight as the tanks rolled in, signing a referendum for national independence and singing songs of freedom. When the tanks left, Irbe watched his neighbors topple a statue of Lenin into hundreds of pieces. Irbe picked up a chunk of the statue, clutched it in his trapper hand, then went home to crush his little piece of history with a hammer. When he got to New York later that year -- playing for the Sharks -- Irbe checked into a hotel, turned on CNN, watched George Bush formally recognize Latvia as a country and sobbed." http://www.freewebs.com/goalieguy56/artursirbepics.htm

Blocker! As a Latvian-Canadian, I'm very excited to see how Zemgus goes in the draft and it's very cool to "know" someone who knows him. I believe the education aspect stems from his Latvian roots as they have been one of the most literate and highly educated countries since the early 1900's. It's good to see a young Latvian with so much size as it will bode well for future World Championships and I can only hope Ted Nolan re-ups as coach for the National team. Give my best to Zemgus and his family from a Latvian across the border.

The second hardest shot in the league!

The difference being that Carcillo was liked by his teammates. I'll pass on PK but would consider drafting his brother.

That's the first I've heard about Suter wanting to stay. EVERYTHING I've read and heard says that if he wanted to stay, he would have already re-signed. Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong, though.

This one's simple. Since Weber > (Almost anyone else) it doesn't matter to me who's contract goes except Giroux's. Weber is a special player. I think you can also do defense by committee - in fact I'd rather do that than chase Suter.

Is it a requirement of bloggers to pretend the salary cap doesn't exist? Sorry Jim, this article is the equivalent of writing a letter to Santa. Balanced team scoring is IMHO preferable to a high-priced UFA sniper. The key is to draft one.

I'm not a big fan of this shoot for the moon mentality but in Weber's case I make an exception. IF Weber can be had,get him and then start shedding salaries accordingly.

Point taken about "Number 1 Centre money" and I agree that Richards is more suited to #2 Centre. But also remember Briere (with an NMC) at 6.5 per year and Giroux's next big contract that will expire in 2014. Richards will still have 6 more years on his contract then. I suppose if you keep Richards, you pass on Cooter and take Dougie Hamilton, but hypotheticals don't matter when you're discussing business moves in hindsight. While Richards is a well-suited (if not smallish) #2 Centre, he isn't going to do you much good if you don't have decent wingers to play him with. I'm not sure we could have had both in a short time window. Well, we might have if Snider didn't stick his nose in things, but we wouldn't have Simmonds and Schenn.

"The bottom line here is what's done is done. Also, from my point of view at least, those who crow with gleeful negativity in bad times and then disappear when things go well aren't worthy of attention. When all cap-related and reputed locker room issues are put aside, I think the Flyers did fine for themselves from an on-ice hockey standpoint." I think I can paste this in almost every thread until the new season starts.

I'm not sure why anyone thinks the Jets will give up Bogosian or Kane. They have more caproom than we could dream of and are committed to the young-team-building-slowly philosophy. Both of those guys are going to be 5+ big ones a year in the very near future and I'm not yet convinced that Kane will be worth it.

It made sense in that Richards was being paid #1 centre money and Giroux will be the number one centre for as long as the club can foresee. It made sense because we had too many centres and not enough wingers. It made sense because the return was solid. Schenn will assume Richard's role (not saying he will completely fulfill it) and Simmonds is the physical right winger with some scoring touch that are really hard to find. And both are YOUNG. If LA would have bit on Briere (and if he would have waived his NMC), I'm sure the Flyers would rather have kept Richie. Events and circumstances dictated that Richards was the guy LA wanted enough to give up what we got. That trade was purely business and sometimes the business of hockey sucks for everyone involved.

I don't even see a direct quote that says he's "fed up". Hater's are going to hate and certain writers are going to distort and embellish in order to get more attention. I'm disappointed with Bryz, but I said long ago (maybe wrongly then too) that he's not a bad goalie - he's a good goalie that's playing bad. I expect him to be better next year, but I can't say how much better.

I don't think we need or can afford a superstar d-man. Jamie Mcbain types would fit in well without blowing the cap to smithereens.

G does not strike me as a capable liar. Probably made the difference.

It's pretty hard to say Homer was wrong when we're referring to 1/10 of the Kings roster. The best trades are when both teams get better. It is conceivable that the Jackets could have wrecked Coots (IF they drafted him) and that Voracek could have devolved if he had stayed in Columbus. Stuff happens and time marches on. I don't think Flyers management has anything to fear about those trades. The Flyers sure could use Richie this series though. Maybe. See? It's hard to know.

Trotz is a truly classy and nice guy from everything I've learned. He's also from Dauphin, Manitoba which is near our family farm. Would not be upset if the Preds took it either. They play like a bunch of old school farm boys and I can appreciate that.

Well, it all started way back when during the World Juniors (of course). I think the guy has contributed a lot of goals to the cause while being defensively responsible. Also had the bad luck to get injured at almost the worst possible times by doing silly things like blocking pucks. He could be frustrating to watch, but try and name me a Flyer in the last week who isn't. For sure he lacks snarl, but I really don't think that's the kind of thing a player can effectively fake. If you look for the bad you can find it. Same goes for the good.

If there is a suspension it should equal roughly the punishment doled out to Neal for his jumping/7 seconds too late/ head shot and the Malkin targeted elbow to Grossmann. I think the 60 seconds between shifts that Giroux takes should pretty much cover it. If Neal's explanation worked, than Giroux should be able to argue that he missed his hit ever so slightly, which is actually what it looks like.

Absolutely. I'm an unapologetic Richards and Carter fan. And please show me any PROOF that Carter whined his way out of Columbus? Did he mope and cry hysterically after the trade? Likely. But does anyone remember him complaining publicly about anything? I don't. The guy was voted most gentlemanly player in the OHL. Sorry that he refused to put a stick in someone's eye as a Flyer. The guy is/was hated more for what he wasn't than appreciated for what he was. It's the Jean Beliveau syndrome. Montreal wanted Beliveau to be the second coming of the Rocket (he that hit people over the head with hockey sticks) and that just was not going to happen. Not to mention Gagne and Hextall although I'm not sure Gagne has enough games (I think he's 7 games short) to get his name on the Cup. If the Kings earn the championship, I have no problem at all with any one of those players winning it. Even lazy-ass Penner has come to play.

Lindbergh and yourself have nailed it. I don't see any hate out there. I see more fear of screwing up, especially on the power play. The Devils (with the exception of Clarkson) are a tough team to hate though. They play whistle to whistle and are very disciplined. I don't want to see any cheap Penguin tactics, but I do want to see the Flyers show the Devils that they don't like them. I do know that the Flyers always always do things the hard way. I won't give up on them until they're done. They have to regain that "compete" mentality somehow. I think Hartnell, Simmonds and Schenn have to step things up to at least make the Devils hate the Flyers. Once the hate is on, things will fall into place.