jammer2

It's the perfect time to see what these kids have.....up their minutes and see how they respond. Injuries are opportunities to access organizational depth IMHO.

On the surface, it appears to make things easier for the Flyers....but it might just be six of one, half dozen of another. On one hand, we only play elite teams like Boston twice instead of four. But the weak sisters like Ottawa, Leafs, Sabres....we play them less. Having to play the Canes six times a year is a clear advantage in the short term. These things are cyclical, teams will get weaker and stronger, depending on salary cap management and more importantly drafting. If they are going to have this type of drastic change, I'd like to see all the conferences wiped out and have 1 play 16 and 2 play 15 etc. That would be really interesting. From a season ticket holder/fan perspective...it's refreshing to know we will see every team at least once. Every star comes to Philly at least once....which is huge. Some teams out West only see Crosby once every two years, and if he's hurt for that one game, they could potentially only see him once in four years...that is wrong. This fixes that permanently. Games against the Caps are always close and that could be really exciting to see them 2 extra times a year. I do believe the conferences will be expanded due to expansion....which will even it all out eventually. I like Dallas getting out of that Pacific group, they were the ones getting screwed LARGE with road games against Van and all the west coast teams. That makes perfect sense to me.

Nice article on the latest Cole Harbour native to make waves (yes, McKinnon is from Sid the Kid's hometown). Most have heard, the young 16 year prodigy has been recently snubbed by Team Canada for an invite to the World Jr's tourny upcoming in late December. Kid has amazing skill (as the video shows) and the very next game after the snub he responded by scoring 5 goals in a game, tying his all time franchise record. Really smart and super classy, this kid said all the right things. http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/juniorhockey/blog/buzzing_the_net/post/QMJHL-Nathan-MacKinnon-proves-a-point-with-5-go?urn=juniorhockey-wp4377

Some of these moves make sense, which is why it's totally unrealistic from a Betteman point of view. The little midget troll will *still* not admit defeat in Phoenix, so having him give up on his dream of hockey in Florida in one fell swoop is madness.....just not gonna happen. The other factor not brought up is the NHLPA, do you think they will be in favour of having their ranks drop drastically overnight?....I'm thinking they would be a roadblock to this plan also....in fact they would try to block any plan that included teams folding and not re-locating.

With the emergence of Mike Smith in Phoenix this season, it's looking more and more like it was Dave Tippet and his system that yielded Bryz's stats last year. Smith was less than stellar last year, even mediocre and now vollah....he is solid as hell. A solid defensive system can make a goalie look really good. Just ask Mr.Halak and Mr.Elliot....once Hitch showed up, their stats went crazy after stinking it up in Oct and early Nov.

@RonJeremy One of my big problems with Homer is over-reaction to perceived weakness, either due to depth or injuries. We hardly ever let a kid step in and give him a whirl....at least on defense. It's the regular season and the team is near the top of the Eastern conference, a perfect time to see what these kids have. If we spiral, sure....things have to be re-thought. I often wonder why we even draft these guys, most of them never get a sniff of the NHL. Buried behind NHL journeymen like Lilja or Baumgartner etc. I would not give up Schenn right now, admittedly he has not looked awe inspiring, but he is a talented piece of the puzzle. I don't think we could even get what he is worth right now as far as an established NHL d-man.....nor could we afford the cap space for an established d-man.....so it would be prospect for prospect in the harsh cap world....and that does not really fix the problem we have anyways. Stay the course, fill in with organizational depth and keep ALL our assets. Let Homer do what he does best, that's pluck young stars with our first round picks. Please, no Kurvers for Niedermeyer type deals....lol.

I'm against any type of trade that gives up future assets for a defensive upgrade. This is why we have kids like Bourdon and Marshall hanging around. Throw them in the fire and see what they have before you make any type of foolish reactionary move. Bordon looked impressive during his last stint, let's see what the hell he has when playing top 6 minutes in the NHL. Walker should also be in this mix, that's why smart teams stockpile d-men, so they don't get raped when having a spike in injuries. I'm not in favour of giving up any first round picks.....or any other assets. The other thing I wanted to say on this topic...there is another reason to play the kids right now.....when Pronger comes back he should play NO back to backs and have his ice time limited so he's fresh for the playoffs. This necessitates breaking in a kid anyways (or at least Walker)....we need to see if these kids can play, for more than just a fill in for Pronger during the injury, we need insurance against Pronger getting re-injured once he comes back. I think Bourdon can provide that, along with a nice physical presence that we are short on.

I think a big part of it is that silly little delay, half spin he does to rag the puck around in a vain attempt to create space and time. It worked when he first got here, coach's caught on and taught players how to defend it....mainly by planting him into next week when it starts the Leino shuffle (claiming TM on that one...lol)

I'm not devastated or anything close, but it does suck to devote years to developing a kid and lose him to cap mismanagement. I always thought Nodl never broke out of his shell as a Flyer. He showed flashes of offensive prowess, but never got the ice time needed to boost his confidence with the puck. Nice work ethic and very respectable wheels....he could very well become a top 6 forward in Carolina someday. Just sickening we could not cut Shelley before somebody who can actually forecheck and provide the odd goal.....wtf!!!

The other factor in the Huberdeau/Couturier debate is the depth on their respective teams in front of them. Couts might inevitably take playing time away from Briere, but is effectively blocked from the top pp unit by Giroux. Huberdeau has no such limitations....he will easily surpass Weiss when the time is right. Like both your lists, but just off the top of my head I would include Johannson from Columbus and Benn from Dallas. Benn just keeps getting better and better. Edit...some may laugh, but Henrique has an outside shot at this list. *If* he keeps the top center job in New Jersey, he will start lighting the lamp on a regular basis. I do think he will keep that job, based on the fact he is a natural born leader, is a Jersey type player (ie defensively responsible) who is teamed with a known floater in Kovalchuck, so it offsets his cherry picking ways....but most importantly, is super smart as far as hockey sense/positioning goes...and this will only get better. This kid is the real deal with a stars skill set....mark my words.

Seems like Lavi consistently out coached by wiley veteran counterparts much, much to often. Is it just me, or does his linematching ability suck donkey balls. Seems like the other coach can find a match-up he likes and Lavi does not respond....basically making the mismatch permanent. I think Saturday was a bit of being unprepared, a bit of being outcoached, and a bit of a tenacious Ranger team that cared a lot more about winning one on one battles...especially in the last half of the game. Late in the third they seemed desperate to preserve Lundy's shutout....and sadly, the Flyers could not match that desperation. Rangers will be a TOUGH team to knock out of the playoffs. The d has one more year of experience and the young promising forwards are all hard workers. Lundy speaks for himself....put a solid core of defensemen in front of him and good things will happen. That's the big difference between this Ranger team and ones from recent memory....the defense does not allow many second chances and they seem very calm and cool in their own zone.

This shutout is all on bak....and maybe a bit of help from Lundy Rangers (like I expected) are an improved squad. The kind of team that is constructed for the playoffs...

I could see Carter being a good fit in Toronto...which would make me ill. Don't get me wrong, glad he's long gone, but seeing him light it up in TO, that's a bit much to stomach.

Wow, do the Habs look WEAK down the middle. They are not going to the playoffs with that line-up. They have needed a legit #1 center since Koivu got cancer (which, was not his fault....lol).

I liked what the kid brought. He will never be mistaken for a speed demon, but I'll give up the lack of speed for physicality....as long as his positioning is ok. Flyers don't have enough d-men that make forwards look over their shoulder before going into the corner to retrieve a loose puck. Another thing I liked about Bourdon, nice accurate break out passes. The book is still out on him, but so far, so good.

I'll take albertaflyer's analysis on Peckham, he certainly gets to see more of that team than most of us. In a nutshell, it just seems like trading Bob would create a bigger hole than we are trying to fill. Sure, we need physical, good skating d-men....so does the rest of the league. I say be patient, try to develop what you have and fill in the hole with Phantoms if necessary. The difference between a respectable back up and a bum is playoffs or no playoffs... just to much at risk for my liking. Trading Bob is trying to get to cute....keep him unless a "knock your socks off" offer comes over Homer's desk. The other factor is Bryz's meltdowns....what if this happens during the playoffs? Do we really want to go to Leighton or some other stiff in an elimination situation? Mind you, Bob has little playoff experience, but I trust him much, much more than anything we have currently in the system.

Sorry bro, just found this section, still navigating around this place seeing what is what. Have not gone to many games of late, work is killing me. I heard from a few buddies Ex looked awesome, he will only get better.

Don't remember the score off hand, but Ryan Vanderbussche was taking cheap shots at our younger players/ non fighters all night, Sullivan tried to fight him several times but the ref and linesmen were persistent in stepping between them....finally Tom got his chance and ...lol, made the best of it. Pretty sure it was mid 3rd period when it broke loose.

I didn't get a chance to see him before his NHL debut, so I was taking all the Read talk with a grain of salt...have to say, legit hockey sense, legit moves, scintillating speed....he is indeed the real deal. The whole damn package...right down to the Giroux like never say die, never quit work ethic....a kid you can go to war with....one of the best free agent signings in recent memory.

I'm voting for this fight, mostly because I was there in person to witness it....Tom Sullivan played defense for the Windsor Spitfires and just happened to be the Golden Gloves Champ for the state of Michigan. We all know Ryan Vanderbussche from his NHL stint(s). Anyways, tremendous fight...lasted a full 1:18 which is an eternity for a hockey fight....both guys landed shots that should have ended the fiasco...just have to scroll down a bit to access it. http://liveflashscor...sportsnet-host/

Good to see you 29...was wondering where you were....

Have not gone back once to even peak at that horrid site....good riddance!!

Let me start off my saying, I hated TIe on the ice...and yes, he was undeniably afraid of Sandy. Nice guy when you meet him in person though. My best friend is Tie's first cousin, I have stayed at Tie's Mom's house In TO, used his luxury suite for concerts....really, really genuinely a nice guy....would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. Guy could throw'em...that's for sure. The bouts with Probie were classics, ditto for the Grim Reaper and Tony Twist.

I think the determining factor for a re-signing will be his play in April/May...as long as he does not stink out the joint I find it hard to believe he won't get a raise, as long as he only wants a one year deal.

I think the Bolts should feel free to employ any system they want (as much as it sucks). The onus falls on opponents to expose it and exploit it. If they are going to stubbornly stand flat footed like that, bring all five Flyers back, get a great head of steam and create an odd man rush with perfect short passes. They will get caught slowly skating backwards and get burned. That will discourage it more than talking about rule changes IMHO. If you're not moving, or slowly skating backwards you are no match for a player flying at full speed.