OH1FlyersFan

I sure hope nobody thinks there is, Bak. Especially nobody in Flyers management. Ha. Who would want to take on that contract? Apparently Toronto has been rumored to be interested, but they deny it.

I agree. He never wanted to be here. You could tell just by watching him play......and what it took to even get him here in the first place after they delivered the devastating news. The Jackets are a disaster.

Let's just hope he doesn't come back to Philly........

http://www.bluejacketsxtra.com/content/stories/2012/1/22/priest-howson-look-safe-with-jackets.html

Yahoo Sports is reporting the same thing.

Nah, it's not like it's hard work! Be fun to hang out with friends, family, and I'm sure being there with everyone is as much a pleasant distraction as, say, Costa Rica

You mention family. What I really appreciated in the game against Boston was that his pop was there to see his hat trick. The guy looked older but clearly was having a great time and looked really happy for his son. Who knows how much longer he may be able to enjoy watching his kid play. I agree with you. Do it, share the experience with family, create those memories, and make your dad proud.

Pretty sure people were screaming for his head (yet again) at the beginning of this season.

Well, hopefully they've put down the pitchforks and torches for a while. Or if not, down, then at least use them to march on Bryz and give Hartnell a break. Ha!

Actually, at this point I think the president has to do this. Every president since who knows when has invited Super Bowl champs, WS champs, Olympic gold medalists, etc... to the White House. Obama doesn't want to be the guy who breaks the tradition (worthless as it may or may not be) and says, "screw the Bruins, nobody cares about hockey anyway. I'm gonna go play basketball". Of course politicians are in the business of self-promotion but most Americans probably wouldn't even have known that this particular event was happening until Thomas made it a story. Heck, I live in Boston (well, right outside) and I didn't even know they were doing it.

All good points.

Who'da thunk it! Scott Hartnell going to the All Star Game! Remember just a couple of seasons ago when he couldn't seem to stay on his skates? When he was taking all those bone-headed penalties? What an amazing turnaround. And I say that with all sincerity. Congrats to Hartnell! It's a well deserved honor this season. Glad he's getting the recognition he deserves and I wish him the best......for the rest of the season, especially.

@Podein25 - quote from that article:

"But yesterday was not about politics and government until Thomas made it about politics and government".

Bingo. But now that I think about it, if Thomas is so opposed to our federal government (ours, not yours) then he should probably refuse to play in Washington DC. I'm sure Caps fans would support him in his crusade.

Maybe I'm just too cycnical, but everything is always about politics and government all the time for these guys.

I think people put way too much stock in these White House visits. Do you really think in the immediate and near aftermath of winning the Stanley Cup they thought about going to the White House to meet Obama? Not a chance. I highly doubt his teammates look at him any differently for exercising his right by not going and if they do it speaks to their own insecurity and they are the ones with the issue not him.

I wish politicians would just stay out of the whole thing and not inject themselves into celebrating these victories on behalf of the team - in any sport. The parade's enough in my opinion.

That may be true for a state senator, my guess is most people in this country couldn't name their state senators anyway. Doesn't really hold for the president though. Nobody is going to vote for Obama because he met the Boston Bruins at the White House. The President of the USA doesn't need a hockey team to get in the news. Every president does this, and everyone knows it. It's not going to bring any benefit to Obama.

Yeah, I agree. You assume everyone knows the Presidents name, and they probably do. But that doesn't stop these guys from taking each and every opportunity they can to promote themselves. It's like a drug. Under your theory, why would the President need to spend probably $1 billion - no exaggeration - by the end of this 2012 campaign? He's already in the news every day. But that's my point. This is just another opportunity for him to get on tv smiling and shaking hands. This is free media coverage. Bonus. Benefit. I don't know that someone won't vote for Obama because he honored the Bruins. I'm not saying it's a bad thing for him to take advantage of this free coverage. Good for him. But don't kid yourself that these types of events aren't done for self-promotion purposes.

The president choosing to honor this team at the White House is a political event from which the president will gain visibility. These events are orchestrated and designed specifically to gain maximum exposure for the pols involved - that's why it's a "tradition". It's all carefully calculated and planned. The president knows what he's doing. They don't do this as a private meeting between parties. They do it publicly. Everyone benefits. That's political. In my opinion, if he can politicize the event, then so can Thomas by choosing not to go, being part of the spectacle, and being used in that way.

In my old job as a legislative aide to a state senator, it was my responsibility to round up winning sports teams, athletes, you name it, so that we could honor them with a resolution on the senate floor. Troop them all in for the presentation, shake the hands, take the pictures, the works. It was totally intended to get the member's name in the paper, as a reason to issue press releases, to maximise exposure with constituents, increase name recognition, play to the fans of the team.

I read the article over on Yahoo Sports. Sounds like he doesn't support the President's politics. Good for him for sticking with/to his own principles/beliefs. I may hate him in goal, but I respect him for this - even though it's not the politically correct thing to do.

Passive? That may be an understatement. I was honestly worried about the guy - like somebody go poke him with a stick or something to make sure he's still breathing worried. Ha.

If I'm going to be positive, then I'd say Read and Coturier have been awesome. and it's fun to watch them play. Same with Harry Z. Exciting group of rookies. Can't wait to see how they do next season with all the experience they're getting. Hang in there, Giroux!

Why is Simmonds picked for a shootout?

I didn't get that either.

I agree Canoli. This would have been THE game for Bryz to steal. Thomas looked human. This was our chance. We had the momentum and a great chance to pick up two points - against a tough team. This would have been a huge win. Think of the momentum and what it would have done to boost morale and confidence. All we needed was for Bryz to play up to his "credentials" and that $51 million contract and make a save. Just one. The offense gave him 4 goals. Hartnell alone gave 3. The Flyers were energized and hitting like crazy. It was really good to see. They should have been rewarded for that effort. Now I'm worried they'll be terribly deflated. We'll see how they rebound......

Sure wish we had one of those goalies. Should have put Bob in. He looked good against all those breakaways earlier this week.

Yes on every point you've made!

Man, he just kills me. That go ahead goal was all on him. He needs to work on following the puck. Yes, there's going to be traffic, but man he's frustrating. This is what I get for lauding his play yesterday. Is it too much to ask for a solid, consistent, goaltender??

On the plus side, he did manage to hold the lead Hartnell gave us for about a minute before giving up the tying goal. That's progress. I suppose.

So no Jagr tomorrow and no Briere... 2nd game of a B-2-B, an afternoon start no less, against the hottest goaltender in the NHL and probably the best team. Safe to say this one is going to be a challenge...

....the perfect storm. At least we got 2 points today. If they can pull off a win tomorrow, well, that's just the icing on the cake.

Good for Bryz. I'm actually glad to see this. He's gotta exorcise the damn media from his head.

Thanks, Rad!

And @ Doom - thank God for those rookies. Without them we'd really be hurting. Great goal by Read this afternoon. And Bryz is actually looking pretty good too. If I didn't just jinx him. I'd love to see Shelley and Rinaldo pick up the physical game in the third period.

Briere has scored 9 of his 13 goals in the 19 games at home (and 4 in 23 on the road) and he's on a Point Per Game pace (19 for 19) at home. 11 in 23 on the road.

That's the best home production he's had since his injury in 08-09.

Yeah, but what have you done for me lately?? Briere has 3 goals in the last 12 games. I guess 1 goal every 4 games isn't bad -- not everyone can be Steven Stamkos with his 31 goals in 45 games --18 of which were scored at home. And Danny's 3 goals came in just one game, granted it was a home game, meaning he's been scoreless in 11 of the last 12 games, 5 of which were at home, so not quite half. Going back a little further, he has 4 goals in the last 16 games. That ain't so great. I still say -- because, Danny, you're not scoring.

The time off between Florida and Winnipeg is due to the All-Star break.

Ah. Got it. That's something we couldn't really help, but hope it doesn't ding us. I ain't gonna hold my breath.

And totally agree with everything you said. If they had played the entire game with the urgency they showed in the last 8 minutes, the outcome would have been different. We didn't do enough to wear the Islanders down over the course of the game.

"I really don't know why our home record is not as good as we would expect," Danny Briere said after last night's mistake-riddled, 4-1 loss

.....because, Danny, you're not scoring.

I'd be more excited if Jagr and Giroux could find a way to break out.