Nonis Mouths Off

"I think we have a free agency age that is a joke," said Nonis. Speaking before the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Vancouver Canucks GM Dave Nonis let fly with his feelings about the free agency and the league's collective bargain agreement. I can certainly see his side of things, where teams invest a ton of dollars into the development of players only to run the risk of losing those players just as they enter their primes. From a fan's perspective, this argument also holds a lot of water. On the other hand, I think I completely agree with Eric McErlain's take on the matter: Then again, asking players to delay free agency for a period longer than seven years after being drafted seems excessive to me. Think about having to wait seven years before getting a shot to choose your employer and negotiate the best deal you can make. I don't know about anybody else, but it makes me sick. Seven years is long enough.

Flyers Blank Chicago, 3-0

Last night's game was one of sharp contrasts. The Flyers dominated the first period, the Blackhawks the second, and the Flyers again in the third. The outcome can definitely be looked at in contrast also, as the positive can be that the team beat the kind of opponent they're supposed to -- an injury-riddled team on a four-game losing streak that hadn't scored a goal in better than two games -- and the negative is that the team they beat is the kind of opponent they're supposed to. What's the big deal in beating an injury-riddled team on a four-game losing streak that hadn't scored a goal in better than two games? If nothing else, the win should serve as a confidence booster for the team as a whole and goaltender Robert Esche in particular. Esche played very well in the second period, holding Chicago scoreless on 15 shots (26 for the game) -- some from point blank range. (He also got some help from the iron as one of the Blackhawks rang a shot of the crossbar that came down at a funny angle and then bounced off the post.) Notes: Both Randy Jones and Freddie Meyer made their way back into the lineup last night as Lars Jonsson and Alexandre Picard were the healthy scratches. The Inquirer's Tim Panaccio says fans should expect this rotation to continue for a while until two of the four solidify their position. This makes no sense to me as Derian Hatcher and Dennis Gauthier -- last night's play on former Flyer Patrick Sharp notwithstanding -- have looked terrible all season. Does anyone realize Hatcher is a -14 through 11 games so far? He's on pace for a -104 season. For a team that is stressing defensive play, how can he be considered anything but a liability? See: Daily News See: Inquirer See: Chicago Sun-Times See: Chicago Tribune See: Yahoo/AP

Game #11

See: Game Notes See: Preview

How Does This Make Any Sense?

In just his second year in the National Hockey League, the Philadelphia Flyers looked no further than second-year forward, Dave Poulin, to succeed Bobby Clarke as captain when the future NHL Hall-of-Famer hung up his skates following the 1983-84 season. When Clarke announced that he was stepping down as the Flyers general manager on Oct. 22, it seemed only natural that Poulin's name would be one of the first, along with former Flyers Ron Hextall and Pat Quinn, to possibly replace Clarke. Such is what David Unkle of Slam!Sports is reporting today. (Poulin is apparently a hot topic right now, as ESPN's John Buccigross interviewed him last week.) I have two minds of thoughts on this: on one hand, this makes no sense whatsoever. Poulin has no experience running an NHL team. None. He has no experience running any level of team, for that matter. The closest experiance that he can call on is as the coach of the Notre Dame ice hockey team and as a part-time scout for the Anaheim Ducks. How this qualifies someone to be an NHL general manager -- well, I just don't know. Now, on the other hand, for the Flyers and Ed Snider this move makes perfect sense. Poulin is a former Flyer -- and a captain, no less -- who was the heart and soul of the team for years. If he is at all interested in the job, this is all he would need to say to Snider in the interview. If hired, he would be the second former captain to be named the team's general manager, following in the footsteps of Clarke -- as Unkle mentions in the article. In the end, there's no way this can prove to be true. This would be even worse than allowing Holmgren to stay on. To follow a general manager who, by his own admission, wasn't fulfilling his responsibilities to one who isn't even trained for them is absolutley asinine. Hire a new general manager who has no ties to the organization, one who has a clear vision -- not like our current interim GM -- and isn't afraid to implement the plan he puts in place. Poulin is not the answer. (Thanks to James Mirtle for the heads up.)

Flyers Clip Thrashers In Shootout

Same, but different. Such was game the Flyers played last night in beating Atlanta 3-2 in a shootout. They still looked sloppy in their own end at times, had trouble with some breakout passes and also with getting shots on net (who knew Andy Sutton was such a beast?), but on the whole they played solidly and with a tenaciousness -- especially on the penalty kill -- that had been lacking. Disturbing still, though, is the Flyers inability to get the puck on net, with 30 shots being blocked by the Thrashers and another 23 missing the net entirely. They must find a way to get more shots on goal and force opposing goalies to actually work for their saves. Making a solid NHL debut last night was defenseman Lars Jonsson. He had 14:58 of ice time, seeing time at both even strength and on the power play. I was particularly impressed with a play he had on the power play in the second period. Receiving a pass from Peter Forsberg at the right point, Jonsson deftly moved from the point through the high slot and got a wrist shot off just above the faceoff circle -- all the while using his body to protect the puck from an opposing player harassing him. I know it's only one game, but Jonsson looks like he belongs and I give credit to whomever was responsible for picking him up -- Clarke, Holmgren, or even Santa Claus. See: Daily News See: Inquirer See: Yahoo/AP

Game #9

Hyperbole aside, this is a completely different era for the Flyers. While it may not necessarily wind up as the Holmgren-Stevens era, I think we can all agree that it's definitely the post-Clarke era. The early word from the Flyers is that new coach John Stevens runs a looser ship than Ken Hitchcock and stresses fundamentals a little more. (This is probably prudent considering how much younger the team is now.) Also given extra attention in practice has been the power play -- which the Flyers have been successful on four times in 55 opportunities. Antero Niittymaki will be in goal, while 24-year-old rookie defenseman Lars Jonsson should see his first game action tonight (there's no word yet on who he will be paired with). Captain Peter Forsberg will be a game-time decision, though his coach seems to think he'll be in the lineup. The Flyers -- yet again -- will be shuffling the lines. Tonight's combinations are believed to be Peter Forsberg (if he plays) centering Simon Gagne and rookie Stefan Ruzicka, Mike Knuble with Jeff Carter and Randy Robitaille, Mike Richards centering Kyle Calder and Sami Kapanen, and R.J. Umberger centering Triston Grant and Geoff Sanderson As for Atlanta, they come into tonight's game in second place overall in the Eastern Conference -- first in the Southeast Division -- with 16 points in 10 games. Tonight is their second game in two nights, having lost 5-4 in overtime in Carolina last night. The Thrashers are firing on all cylinders right now, with right wing Marian Hossa leading the league in scoring (15 points). The dynamic duo of Hossa and left wing Ilya Kovalchuk have combined for 16 goals and 29 points in 10 games. (Compare that to the Flyers who have scored a total of 15 goals.) See: Game Notes See: Preview Side Note: Tonight is Breast Cancer Awareness Night, with various activites going on throughout the game: Fans will be encouraged to wear pink to the game to show support for the cause. Those that wear a pink item to the game may enter to win a pink Flyers “Official Reebok Women’s Fashion Jersey” signed by Knuble. Fans may also have their nails painted pink that evening (courtesy of Sheartique in Ridley Park, PA) in the Flyers “beauty salon” in the Hall of Fame Room for only $5. Funds raised through the sale of exclusive items at the Flyers Charities table, such as pink ribbon pins, pink Flyers hats and pink Flyers drawstring bags, along with all proceeds from Flyers “beauty salon” services, will go to the Flyers Charities to support women’s health initiatives. Also, in the Hall of Fame room that evening, fans can receive information and free samples from Lindi Skin, a line of skin-care products for patients going through chemotherapy and radiation, created by Lindy Snider, daughter of Flyers Chairman Ed Snider.

Q & A with Paul Holmgren

New Flyers GM Paul Holmgren sat down recently with Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Tim Panaccio for an interview. Most of the questions and answers were about what you'd expect, though this exchange has me a little worried: Q: In your conversation with John Stevens, did you tell him the mission here is to save the season or just get this team situated to win some games? A: In my conversations with John, we have not clearly identified what we want to do or what is expected. You mentioned earlier that we all believe we're not as bad as we've played. We have talked about that. We do need to play better long-term if we're going to make the playoffs. We have a lot of catching up to do. Which comes first? Well, you've got to crawl to walk. So, we have to take some baby steps and try to improve our play. If we do that, we should put ourselves in position to win some hockey games, and then we'll see where we go next. I understand that Holmgren's been the general manager for less than a week, but come on. Holmgren has been the assistant GM under Clarke for seven-plus seasons and, by Clarke's own admission, was performing most of the general manager duties by the end of Clarke's tenure. If that's the case, how has he "not clearly identified what we want to do or what is expected?" This is the very nature of his job. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Perhaps it's the way everything went down; perhaps it was the news itself (which we're still stunned about, by the way). Whatever the reason, everything we've started to write has wound up being deleted. Even this post took a while to get out. Anyway, apologies to everyone that expected a post. We're suffering from a massive case of writer's block. We've been trying to work through it to no avail. Tomorrow will be here soon, thankfully, and with it the Flyers return to game action and a more normal schedule. Look for more then.

Day 2, P.C. (Post Clarke)

One of my friends said the first person he thought of when he heard the news was me. Another said that he thought I would've been popping champagne bottles yesterday morning. My own brother had this comment: "More details to follow"? You gotta be kiddin' me. The entire reason this blog was created was so one day you could dissect the corpse of Bob(by) Clarke, General Manager. No time? Not in the mood? I don't care. The great reckoning is upon you. Sorry to disappoint, but I still have nothing to say. Actually, that's not true. I have a lot to say -- almost too much. I'm still trying to gather my thoughts into something resembling a coherent post. Rest assured that I will have a post (-mortem?) up sometime today.

Clarke Resigns, Hitchcock Fired

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bob Clarke has resigned as general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers and Ken Hitchcock has been fired as head coach. Paul Holmgren will take over as GM and John Stevens will be the new coach. More details to follow. Thanks to Chris for the heads up.

Lightning Crashes, Beat Flyers 4-1

(It's 6:30 in the morning and we've already been awake for almost two hours. We apologize in advance if we're not in the greatest of moods today.) The Flyers stretched their losing streak to four games last night, looking terrible yet again in a loss to Tampa Bay (who have, by the way, won nine straight against the Flyers). Of the three new additions to the team -- Ben Eager, Alexandre Picard, and Stefan Ruzicka -- Picard and Ruzicka looked solid and appear to be ready to contribute at the NHL level. Eager showed me nothing. 4:22 of ice time, -1, 17 penalty minutes (all from one fight he had after Tampa scored to go up 3-0). What a waste. Another brilliant personnel move by Clarke, et al. Adding injury to insult, as it were, Peter Forsberg left last night's game with a sprained wrist and will not play in tonight's game. Thankfully -- for him and for those of us watching -- after tonight the Flyers won't play again until next Thursday at home against Atlanta. See: Daily News See: Inquirer See: St. Petersburg Times See: Yahoo/AP

The Truth Hurts

"Typical Philadelphia Flyers hockey game there. We got behind the eight ball, we had a little bit of pressure on us, and we folded." Ouch. These were the words from 21-year-old Mike Richards, a second-year player for the Flyers, after the Tuesday Night Debacle. Man, if this is what Richards -- probably the captain-in-waiting -- thinks about this team in only his second year . . . not good, people, not good.

Game #7

Well, there's not much left to say about the season. The Flyers look terrible on the ice and are now scrambling off it. They go into Tampa tonight losers of three straight. Antero Niittymaki should be in goal, while all three of the players called up from the Phantoms should make their season debuts as well. The Lightning, meanwhile, are not fairing much better than the Flyers this season. They have started off 2-4-0, and have only scored 11 goals -- one fewer than the Flyers. See: Game Notes See: Preview

I've Been Blinqed

Surf over to Blinq, Daniel Rubin's blog on the Inquirer web site. Just this morning he posted about the reaction around the blogosphere to the Tuesday Night Debacle in Buffalo. In said post, he just happened to link to us here at There It Is, among others. We were going to respond in the comments section, but realized that our response was way too long for just a comment. Thus, we decided to turn it into a post instead. So, check out Blinq and then click back here for our response. Mr. Rubin, thanks for the link. In my defense, it wasn't Tuesday night's game that brought about my feelings on Clarke. I have been saying this to anyone who will listen -- and to a lot of people who won't; the Buffalo game just brought everything to a head. Hopefully, the team will reach a point of critical mass in the next few days and there will be some positive results. Right now, they're not even close to a playoff team, though -- as I noted in my season preview -- the Eastern Conference is so wide open this year anything can happen. Now, Thompson, I'm afraid I must comment on some things you mentioned. Year after year, since the five-year drought in the early 1990s, this team ends the season with a hundred points in the standings, a winning record and a berth in the playoffs. Clarke is almost universally revered for always getting the better end of a trade (when was the last time the Flyers got fleeced in a trade?), is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and a Hall of Famer. Who do you replace him with? . . . He's Bobby Clarke, and that means Flyers to me. Eight times since 1993-94 have the Flyers finished with 100 points or more (I prorated 1994-95's 60 points to 102.5); the other three seasons they finished with 95 (1997-98), 93 (1998-99), and 97 points (2001-02) -- good seasons all. In those 11 years, they have been to the finals once (swept by Detroit), lost in the Eastern Conference Finals three times, lost in the second round twice, and lost in the first round five times. Five times. This is not even close to being a good playoff record. Clarke is not universally revered for anything. He is, in fact, almost universally reviled for being a spend-happy, big-market GM that throws money at a problem to gloss over it instead of actually trying to find the right piece to fit the given hole. As for when was the last time the Flyers got fleeced in a trade? That's hard to quantify, since player value can be entirely subjective. However, I think the argument could be made that last year he got fleeced -- twice -- in the Petr Nedved deal (from Phoenix for Dennis Seidenberg, a young defensemen who can move the puck -- sound like a team need?) and in the Niko Dimitrakos deal (from San Jose for a third-round draft choice). That amounts to a young, skilled defenseman and a third-round draft choice for two players that are no longer on the team. Yes, Clarke is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and a Hall of Famer -- for what he did on the ice, not for what he has done off of it. He can build a solid team that can win in the regular season -- but fold in the playoffs. Not exactly Sam Pollock, is he? Who do I replace him with? Well, back in April I was arguing for Clarke to go and for Snider to hire Dean Lombardi -- who, by the way, was already employed by the team. Right now, I'd be willing to consider Neil Smith, though I think I would rather see someone from another organization who is a little younger and a whole lot hungrier.

Heads Start To Roll

Less than 24 hours removed from their most embarrassing loss in better than five years, the Flyers have waived forwards Niko Dimotrakos and Petr Nedved along with defenseman Nolan Baumgartner. If all three clear waivers, Dimotrakos and Nedved will be assigned to the Phantoms while Baumgartner will remain with the Flyers. Forwards Stefan Ruzicka and Ben Eager, along with defenseman Alexandre Picard, have been recalled to take their spots. There It Is take: This is a move that's unfortunately necessary. The team could not have continued to play without making any moves as this would give the players the hint that there would be no accountability from management about poor job performance. That being said, are these three players the right ones to move or are they just fall guys for the rest of the team? I think it's a bit of both. Dimotrakos never really clicked here like Clarke thought he would, despite registering nine points in the last 19 games of the season last year. By playoff time, he was being benched by Hitchcock and it was made clear during the preseason that he needed to get going if he wanted to stay around. Well, he didn't and he won't. The 27-year-old is making $675,000 and is in the final year of his contract. At the end of the preseason, Nedved was charged with becoming the club's shutdown center in the wake of the retirement of Keith Primeau and the trading away of Michal Handzus. How you can ask a 34-year-old who has never been a team-first player to completely change his game is beyond me, but the Flyers did and the results are obvious. Nedved is making $2.356 million this season. Baumgartner was a free agent who was signed merely because the Flyers needed a right-handed shot from the blueline. He was a former number one pick (1994, Washington) who was never able to earn regular playing time in the NHL until last season. Baumgartner is, at best, a depth defenseman. The only reason I can possibly fathom that he wouldn't be assigned to the Phantoms is as insurance in case there are any lingering injury concerns about Lars Jonsson and/or Mike Rathje. He will make $1.2 million this season and next. All told, the moves will save the team $4,231,000 in cap space. This will give the Flyers some flexibility if they would want to try to make a move. Meanwhile, James Mirtle asks some very good questions: This season, the Flyers have simply looked positively awful, to the point where you have to wonder how low this club could sink this season. If Niittymaki's not going to be good to go, where does GM Bob Clarke turn in goal? And what does this poor start mean for Philadelphia's playoff aspirations? The only question I want answered is when will it be Clarke's turn? UPDATE: Click here for more on this from James. He seems to be on top of this.

Flyers Humiliated By Sabres 9-1

Just about the only thing that looked good last night was Buffalo's jerseys. They wore this season's third jersey -- an homage to their original unis that are one of the best the league has ever seen. Other than that, there was nothing to look at. The Flyers are what we thought they are -- thank you Dennis Green -- a collection of players rather than a team. Get used to it, Flyers fans -- there is absolutely no help on the way. What about Rathje and Jonsson, you say? Well, what about them? Rathje is a capable defenseman but is slow like Hatcher and is coming off a shot to deal with pain in his lower back and leg. Jonsson is a rookie defenseman who was brought in for his offense, not for his defense. None of this helps with the chemistry problem, anyway. Coach Hitchcock talked in the preseason about building chemistry and took the team to Annapolis to try to foster a team/us-vs-them atmosphere in the locker room. This clearly hasn't worked. What might, you ask? Well, why not talk to Hitchcock's boss about actually building a team? The Buffalo Sabres sport 14 players on their roster that they drafted and developed, against eight they acquired either in trades or via free agency. Add in that they have the longest tenured coach in the NHL in Lindy Ruff and you get what we saw last night. Every player on the roster is clearly on the same page. They move swiftly around the ice and no one player seems to have the puck for anything more than three strides. They get the puck, skate, then pass the puck along, and move again. You never see a Sabre standing in one spot waiting for the play to come to them -- they go and get it. They have a system that works for them and every player plays it. Compare that to the Flyers -- wait, I can't. I can't find any information on their web site, nor on the NHL's, about how any player was acquired. By my estimation, though, no fewer than 16 of the Flyers players have come to the team via free agency or trades. Throw in the fact that in Bobby Clarke's second run as GM of the team they have had six coaches (Terry Murray, 1994-95 through 1996-97; Wayne Cashman, 1997-98; Roger Neilson, 1997-98 to 1999-00; Craig Ramsay, 1999-00 to 2000-01; Bill Barber, 2000-01 through 2001-02; Ken Hitchcock 2002-03 to present) and that's not exactly a model for team building, now is it? It's going to be a long season in South Philadelphia. The only good news is that with the team almost up against the cap, there's really not much they can do to go out and get someone to help in the short term. Hopefully, Clarke will realize this and not make any disastrous stop-gap moves designed to get the team in the playoffs. See: Daily News See: Inquirer See: Yahoo/AP

Oh Captain, My Captain

Damien Cox, in a special to ESPN.com, writes about the boom of European captains in the NHL. It's a subject James Mirtle also touched on this morning, oddly enough. We would also hazard a guess that whenever the Capitals finally name Alexander Ovechkin captain Eric McErlain will post about it, too.

Game #6

The Flyers will visit their old nemesis, the Buffalo Sabres, tonight in their latest effort to get the season going. Buffalo is off to a hot start, winning each of their first five games, while the Flyers have struggled to a 1-3-1 record. The Sabres knocked off the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs last season, going 3-0 in the games played in Buffalo. The Flyers are 1-6-1 in their last eight games in Buffalo, dating back to the 2001-2002 season. Robert Esche will get the start in goal tonght, while Coach Hitchcock shuffles his lines yet again. Mike Knuble will be dropped to the second line -- he'll play with Jeff Carter and RJ Umberger -- while Kyle Calder moves up to play with Peter Forsberg and Simon Gagne. As far as injuries go, both Lars Jonsson and Mike Rathje are in Buffalo and skated with the team yesterday. Jonsson is still listed on the team's website as day-to-day, while Rathje, listed as out indefinitely, is hoping to play Thursday night in Tampa. See: Game Notes See: Preview See: Weekly News & Notes

A Man, A TV, A Hockey Game

Stop by John Buccigross' column this week for a running commentary of the Ducks-Stars game from Sunday night. Here's my favorite passage: 10:17 p.m.: There's 10:43 left in the game. And as I was about to type that it is still 3-1, when Niedermayer roofs one to make it 3-2. He received a pass from his brother, Rob. Scott is pulling in $6.7 million this season; Rob is making $2 million -- $8.7 million worth of sons. That takes the pressure off on the ol' "What do we do if the ol' 401K dries up?" thing. Bucci's incredibly knowledgeable about the sport and can bring the funny. He's a great read each Monday during the regular season.

The More Things Change . . .

The Flyers went to North Jersey Saturday night and, by all accounts, played well enough to win. Unfortunately, they came away with a 3-2 loss. Such is the state of the team these days. The wins are hard to come by -- they have just one in five games -- but Ed Moran points out that, despite what every pundit -- including There It Is -- thought, the Flyers are back to being a one-line team and the younger players just aren't producing. The problem is that it is a one-line team right now, and most NHL teams can deal with that. What the Flyers need is for the up-and-coming stars to find the net. No intentional disrespect here to Jeff Carter or Mike Richards. They play hard every game, especially Richards, who does more shift to shift to lift this team than six forwards together. Carter likewise is going hard and taking shots. But they are not scoring, and that has to start happening. For the Flyers to play the fast-paced team game Hitchcock wants, they need four lines and at least three of them have to be scoring from game to game. I wonder what could be done to get these guys going? Could the answer possibly include allowing linemates to gel as a unit instead of switching off after every game -- sometimes even during a game? Team chemistry doesn't form on a two-day trip to Annapolis, let alone overnight. These are still young players who are learning how to play in the NHL. Hitchcock needs to give these guys the time and space they need to grow into their roles, instead of forcing it on them as if they were (playoff) battle-tested veterans. The talent is clearly there, but it needs to to be nurtured and not pushed. Notes: Defensemen Lars Jonsson skated yesterday for the first time this season, while Mike Rathje should begin skating today. Both players will accompany the team to Buffalo for tomorrow night's game, though it's not certain that either player will play . . . also banged up is captain Peter Forsberg, who is nursing a bruised shoulder. Forsberg injured the should on an awkward fall after being hit by Devils' defenseman Brian Rafalski . . . only four teams have scored fewer goals than the Flyers (11) -- Boston (10), Ottawa (10), Colorado (10) and Calgary (9).

Game #4

Sorry, no time for an in-depth preview today. Just a quick couple of notes -- despite what Chuck Gormley says in his blog today, The Flyers won their first game of the season last night, thereby avoiding their first 0-3 start since 1994. The penalty kill let in its first goal last night, but managed to kill the rest and is now 17-for--18 on the season. Antero Niittymaki gets the start in goal again tonight -- his third straight, making me agree with Gormley -- while the Canadiens appear to have a goaltending controversy of their own brewing. Les Habitants will start David Aebischer tonight in place of Christobal Huet. See: Preview See: Game Notes

Game #3

The Flyers finish off their home-and-home with the Rangers tonight, visiting Madison Square Garden in a nationally televised game (Versus, 7:00). In an effort to avoid losing the first three games of a season for the first time in 12 years, coach Ken Hitchcock will change the lineup again tonight. Jeff Carter will move back to center and reunite with his linemates from the end of last season, Niko Dimitrakos and RJ Umberger. Antero Niittymaki will get the start in goal again. The Flyers will be trying to continue their early season penalty killing prowess; so far, they are 10 for 10 in killing of penalties. For the Rangers, they'll be looking to start a season with three straight wins for the first time in 17 years. Their power play continued its ineffectiveness on Saturday, going 0-for-6 to move to 0-for-9 on the young season. In other news, Tim Panaccio updates his article from yesterday about Brian Leetch by throwing in this little tidbit: Many NHL observers believe that Leetch, who reportedly is not in playing condition, will retire. He would need time to get in shape. So, let's sign a 38-year-old player who's out of shape and won't be able to contribute right away, if at all. Oh, I forgot to mention that Panaccio believes it would take a base salary of around $1 million to sign Leetch while the Flyers have less than $2 million in cap space. This sounds like a great plan. See: Game Notes

Report: Flyers Show Interest In Leetch

Accoring to a report from Tim Panaccio posted on philly.com, the Flyers have contacted the agent for free agent defenseman Brian Leetch. "Brian has not made any decisions about the season so far," (Leetch's agent, Jay) Grossman said today when reached by telephone in New York. "We've been contacted by a number of teams about playing this season. There are a number of things Brian has to sort through. He's made no decision in his personal situation." This is a move the Flyers would have made without thinking twice in the pre-salary cap days. The problem is we're in a salary cap era with an incredible amount of parity. Take your lumps for a year -- two, tops -- and then go from there. Don't sign a 38-year-old simply because there are no other options out there. Look at what happened with New Jersey a week ago. The Devils had to trade a first-round pick to San Jose -- in order to get them to take one of the Devils' players. A team should never put itself in that position. The best-case scenario for this to have a shot at working out is for Clarke to sign Leetch to a one-year deal for the league minimum and load the contract with easily reachable incentives. Since incentives don't count against the cap, Leetch would be able to make a decent amount of money while at the same time saving the Flyers from any salary cap headaches. That being said, I'd rather not see the team sign Leetch. He's way, way, waaay past his prime and I think his contributions -- even on the power play -- would be infinitesimal, at best.

Weekend Headlines

Pitkanen is ready for more responsibility. Flyers shuffle lines after debut. Herniated disk sidelines Rathje. Flyers fall in 26-shot shoot-out. On the NHL | Sly Devil: Lamoriello escapes from cap crunch. Rathje injury could have Flyers dealing. Flyers shutting off the power.

Pens Blank Flyers To Open Season

Pittsburgh stomped on the Flyers last night, 4-0, to open what could be their last season in Steel Town. Fresh off the news that Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie agreed to purchase the team for $175 million, the Penguins showed why they have such a bright future. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, the first overall pick in the 2003 draft, stopped all 40 Flyers' shots he faced in recording his third career shutout. 2005 number one pick -- and one of There It Is' better half's faves -- Sidney Crosby continued his dominance over the Flyers, notching a goal and an assist to bring his total to eight goals and eight assists in just nine games. Also playing in the game was Pittsburgh's first pick in the 2006 draft -- number two overall -- 18-year-old Jordan Staal who did not look out of place on the ice. Throw in injured rookie Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins will have a lineup featuring three number one picks and a number two pick inside of four years. There is good reason to believe Pittsburgh will be a good team in the not to distant future and as much as I would like to see another team in Canada, here's hoping they find a way to stay in the Three Rivers area -- I love Penguins-Flyers games. As for the Flyers, last night could not have been any more dismal unless they didn't bother showing up. An abyssmal 0-for-9 on the power play, the team looked completely lost out on the ice. There was a clear lack of communication as time and time again breakout passes were off the mark and assignments were missed in the defensive end. Confusion was the order of the day, but don't let that completely absolve goalie Robert Esche. At least two of the goals were shots he should've have stopped or shouldn't have been taken in the first place if he'd managed to hang onto the rebound. Also deserving some blame for last night is new captain Peter Forsberg. In 16:39 of ice time, Forsberg was a quiet -2 with no shots on goal and two penalty minutes. This is the exact opposite of what will be required of Forsberg if the Flyers are to make any noise this season. The lone bright spot was Geoff Sanderson's play at the point on the power play. Fans have agonized for years while watching the Flyers with the man advantage and waiting for someone to shoot the puck. That won't be the case anymore as Sanderson isn't afraid to shoot from anywhere on the ice. Sanderson finished with three shots and was even in 16:05 of ice time. As I mentioned in my season preview yesterday, coach Ken Hitchcock will have to play an offense first system with this team. The defense is way too slow and was exposed as such in last night's lost. The Penguins, when they wanted to, were practically skating circles around the defensemen, beating them to loose pucks and slipping with ease out of the corners. With the hated New York Rangers in town for the home opener on Saturday -- the day before the Eagle's Biggest Game Of The Season, man what a weekend for Philadelphia sports -- there's a lot of work for Hitchcock to do. Recaps: Ed Moran -- Philadelphia Daily News Tim Panaccio -- Philadelphia Inquirer Dave Molinari -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Game #1

The Flyers open their season tonight on the road in Pittsburgh to face the Penguins. (Who knows how much longer the Penguins will be in Pittsburgh?) Tonight would have marked the debut of the newest Penguins' rookie sensation, Evgeni Malkin, but he was injured in the a preason game with the Flyers. As it is, Sidney Crosby will be leading the Penguins against the Flyers, who fill premier a new captain tonight in Peter Forsberg -- the first European captain in Flyers' history. Forsberg will be the story of the Flyers season. Last season, the Flyers went 35-16-9 when he played and only 10-10-2 when he did not. Considering he hasn't played a full 82-game season since 1995-1996, it is imperative for the Flyers to improve their record when he's not in the lineup.

2006-2007 Philadelphia Flyers

The shortened offseason last year saw the Flyers make their usual free agent splash -- adding all-world center and former draft pick Peter Forsberg, along with two hulking defensemen in Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje. GM Bob Clarke was banking on the empirical evidence that suggested the league would not follow through on its promise to crack down on obstruction and stick fouls. Until the halfway mark, the Flyers were one of the best teams in the league. Then came the Olympic break, along with a string of injuries the likes of which the team had never seen before (I can't find a comprehensive record of man-games lost -- if anyone has any info on this I would appreciate it), and the continued vigilance by the league in enforcing the rulebook. The team struggled the rest of the way, limping to a record of 45-26-11 and finishing second in the division behind New Jersey. This finish earned them a first-round playoff date with Buffalo, who embarrassed them in six games -- marking the Flyers fifth first-round playoff loss in the last eight seasons. The summer saw a lot of activity -- some moves for the better, some for the worse, and some that won't go anywhere. Team chairman Ed Snider made it known that the team would not be going after every high-priced free agent anymore. He wants the team committed to building with youth and will no longer accept the trading away of draft picks and young players for quick fixes designed to help the team in the moment. If he can force Clarke to stick to this, Snider is on the right track. With the advent of the salary cap and the lowered age of free agency, teams have no choice but to continually seek younger, inexpensive players to fill out their rosters. Forward For the first time in a long time, the Flyers will not be a one-line team. Their top line, and one of the best lines in league, will still be new captain Peter Forsberg centering Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble. The trio clicked last season and will be counted on to provide the bulk of the team's scoring again this season. The team's second line -- the so-called "CCR Line" -- features youngsters Mike Richards (C), Jeff Carter (RW), and the newly acquired Kyle Calder (LW). The rest of the forwards are a speedy, somewhat skilled lot that are a mix of younger players and veteran role players. The most significant player will be center Petr Nedved. With the retirement of Primeau and the trade of Michal Handzus to Chicago (for Calder), Nedved will be the team's shutdown center. It will fall to him to stop each team's top line, night in and night out. It's a new role for him and it will be interesting to see if, at 35 years old and in a contract year, he will be up to the challenge. R. J. Umberger will be looking to build on his 20-goal rookie campaign, while Geoff Sanderson, Randy Robitaille, Sami Kapanen, and Niko Dimitrakos will be asked to chip in around 10-15 goals each while playing sound defensive hockey. No. Name Pos Age 8 Geoff Sanderson LW 34 12 Simon Gagne LW 26 15 Niko Dimitrakos RW 27 17 Jeff Carter C 21 18 Mike Richards C 21 19 Kyle Calder LW 27 20 R.J. Umberger C 24 21 Peter Forsberg C 33 22 Mike Knuble RW 34 24 Sami Kapanen RW 33 27 Randy Robitaille LW 30 28 Boyd Kane LW 28 33 Riley Cote LW 24 93 Petr Nedved C 34 First call-up: Stefan Ruzicka Defense The late word from training camp is that Hitchcock is going to play offense/defense with his defensive pairings by putting together Hatcher and Rathje for a shutdown pairing and Joni Pitkanen and Freddy Meyer for an offensive pairing. Time will tell if this works or not, but I like the idea though it does have its drawbacks. Rathje and Pitkanen will be asked to gel with a new partner for the second time in two years -- not an easy task. Hatcher and Rathje are the team's two slowest defensemen so it's imperative for them to improve their positional play in order to minimize any mistakes they make. Meyer and Randy Jones will need to continue their progress in becoming everyday NHL defensemen. Denis Gauthier will be asked for nothing more than a big hit every now and then and to be solid in his own end. He showed he could provide this after his acquisition last year and there's no reason to expect anything different this year. The wildcard in the group in Lars Jonsson. He's a 24-year-old rookie from Sweden who will need to learn quickly. He has a hard, heavy shot from the point will be asked to do some damage on the power play. Hitchcock would be wise to just let the forwards get the puck to Jonsson on the point and have him blast away. No. Name Pos Age 2 Derian Hatcher D 34 3 Mike Rathje D 32 5 Nolan Baumgartner D 30 6 Randy Jones D 25 23 Denis Gauthier D 30 34. Freddy Meyer D 25 43 Lars Jonsson D 24 44 Joni Pitkanen D 23 First call-up: Alexandre Picard Goaltender Another year, another goaltending controversy. Year in and year out, it seems the Flyers have two goalies who can play adequately, but are not spectacular enough to carry the team. Not since Ron Hextall's heyday of the late 80s and early 90s have the Flyers had an honest-to-goodness number one goalie. (Some would put John Vanbiesbrouck in this category, but not me. I don't remember him ever really leading the team the way Martin Brodeur or Miikka Kiprusoff do.) So here we are again this year, with Robert Esche and Antero Niittymaki in between the pipes. Esche has the playoff experience, though lets his emotions get the better of him sometimes. Niittymaki, while a better technical goalie than Esche and certainly a lot cooler, has yet to prove himself in the NHL despite his success on the world stage. I have been arguing for Niittymaki for a long time now, but Esche will once again be given the chance to take the bull by the horns. Niittymaki was felled during the preseason with another torn labrum in his hip, this time on the left side. It was originally thought that he would be out around three months, but after an examination by the doctor that repaired his previous torn labrum, it's believed that with a few cortisone shots during the season and a rigorous strength and conditioning regimen he will be able to compete fully in time for the start of the season. (The down side is that the cortisone shots and training program will only delay the inevitable, as Niittymaki will have to have the labrum surgically repaired in the offseason.) No. Name Pos Age 30 Antero Niittymaki G 26 42 Robert Esche G 28 First call-up: Martin Houle Coaching Newly signed to a two-year contract extension, Hitchcock will be in charge of renovating the team from a veteran-laden squad that would produce but not contend each year to a younger, quicker team that will be in a position to contend every year. It won't be an easy transition, but the core is there with the likes of Pitkanen, Carter, and Richards, among others. Defense has been the hallmark of Hitchcock's teams and that will be put to the test this year. Deep up front and thin on the back end, Hitchcock would be wise to play a more aggressive, attacking scheme than he has in the past. I fear that this will not be the case, however, as Hitchcock will force the Flyers to play a team defense and shackle the talent his forwards have. Front Office Bob Clarke returns for his 11th season in his second stint as general manager of the team he played for. There have been many trials and tribulations during his tenure and I'll be honest -- I'm not a fan of his. That being said, I thought he did a good job this offseason in recognizing that there would be no way to upgrade the team's biggest problem -- quickness on defense -- and instead focusing on adding smaller, quicker forwards who can chip in offensively and who also know how to play in their own end. He also gets bonus points for acquiring Calder who, by all accounts, meshed extraordinarily will with Richards and Carter at this year's World Championships in Latvia. The test for Clarke will come later in the year when there will be the annual cry to make a trade for some immediate playoff help. The team has slightly less than $2.5 million of cap space, making it tough to acquire any pieces for a playoff run. He would be wise to let the season run its course and save the cap space for the future. The team has eight players who have the potential to be unrestricted free agents after the season, along with another four who can be restricted free agents. Clarke will have to find a way to bring back some of those players at reasonable cap numbers along with pressing his scouts to find players who will fill the rest of those slots cheaply. This will not be an easy task and I don't envy him for it. Key Stat Last season's key stat is 79.1% -- that was the Flyers' penalty killing efficiency (or inefficiency, if you prefer), good for 27th in the league. Coupled with their 18.0% power play efficiency -- 16th in the league -- and the team was just awful on special teams. Given the amount of time that is played on special teams these days, those numbers must improve if they wish to contend this season. 2005-2006 Season At A Glance 2005-06 Finish: 45-26-11, 5th East General Manager: Bob Clarke (11th Season) Head Coach: Ken Hitchcock (4th Season) 2005-06 Goals For: 267 2005-06 Goals Against: 259 2005-06 Power Play: 18.0% (16th) 2005-06 Penalty Killing: 79.1% (27st) Points Leader: Simon Gagne (79) Goals Leader: Simon Gagne (47) Assists Leader: Peter Forsberg (56) Summary The Flyers appear to be stuck in limbo -- too good to rebuild but not good enough to seriously contend. That being said, this is a team that could do some damage in the playoffs if they catch enough breaks. On the other hand, they could also slip to 12th or 13th in the conference and miss the playoffs entirely. Barring any injuries, the Flyers have arguably the deepest group of forwards in the league. Unfortunately, they will be asked to do a lot this season. Not only will they be expected to produce offensively, they will be forced to contribute defensively as well. Hitchcock will stress a team defense approach as his defensive corps is just not good enough to get the job done. Unless Freddy Meyer or Randy Jones steps up with a monster breakout, it's going to be a long season on the back end for the Flyers. The easy way out is to pick the Flyers to finish third in the Atlantic Division and scratching their way to a playoff spot. There are just way too many ifs on this team to predict what will happen with any real certainty. If things go the right way for them, they could challenge for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. If they get hammered with injuries and/or not play up to their abilities, they could finish as one of the worst teams in the conference. There's just no way to be sure, so I'm forced to hedge my bets and pick them to finish third in the division -- behind New Jersey and the Rangers and just ahead of Pittsburgh -- and ninth in the conference, missing the playoffs by two points. Prediction Divsion Conference Total Points 3rd 9th 87

2006-07 Season Opens

The NHL drops the puck on a new season tonight with a very light schedule. Just three games are on the docket, though they should be good ones. First up is a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference final, pitting the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes against the trendy 2007 Stanley Cup-pick Buffalo Sabres. Next up is a renewal of the Battle of Ontario, as Toronto hosts Ottawa, followed by Dallas at Colorado. There are plenty of previews and predictions to be found on the internets. Among them is John Buccigross (East and West), TSN (East and West), Sports Illustrated (East and West), and The Hockey News (East and West). (Also, take a look at James Mirtle's picks here.) I'll have a Flyers' season preview up at some point tomorrow, so please check back for that. Until then remember -- it's a good day for hockey.

What Now?

ESPN.com's Scott Burnside penned -- typed? -- a series of articles about Year 2 AL (After Lockout) in the NHL. He takes six areas of the game and compares how things used to be to how they were last season, then postulates on what needs to be done to continue building the game and to foster success in those areas. What now for ... the league? What now for ... the officials? What now for ... the coaches? What now for ... the GMs? What now for ... goalies? What now for ... skaters? Also, be sure to stop by the ESPN.com Season Preview front page. There is a ton of information on here, from predictions to news.

Southeast Rising

Man, I sure hope they score a ton of goals in the Southeast Division this year. My fantasy league (see left sidebar for standings) held our draft yesterday and I somehow wound up with seven players from the Southeast Division on my roster. Here's how my team shapes up: Forwards Defensemen Mark Bell (SJ) Jay Bouwmeester (FLA) Todd Bertuzzi (FLA) Bryan McCabe (TOR) Daniel Briere (BUF) Dion Phaneuf (CAL) Kyle Calder (PHI) Mathieu Schneider (DET) Marian Gaborik (MIN) Marek Zidlicky (NAS) Ales Hemsky (EDM)   Marian Hossa (ATL) Goaltenders Jaromir Jagr (NYR) Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) Ilya Kovalchuk (ATL) Marty Turco (DAL) Vincent Lecavalier (TB)   Patrick Marleau (SJ)   Brad Richards (TB)   Martin St. Louis (TB)   I'm obviously hoping that 2004 was no fluke for Tampa Bay, and that Todd Bertuzzi has found some new life in Florida (along with the rest of the Panthers now that Mike Keenan has left town). My worries are that McCabe is not in a contract year and will revert to his pre-2003 form, along with a dearth of scoring in Atlanta and Tampa Bay. Only time will tell and the clock starts Wednesday.

Phils Finally Fall

This sums up my mood right now. Maybe I'll have something a little more hopeful to add at some later point, but for right now this will do. Be sure to check the other Phloggers for their season-ending posts, as I'm sure they'll be able to do a much better job of breaking down the season than I could.