http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4873 Recent articles about Daniel Briere en-us Amidst all the free agent signings and trades, the Flyers also found time to sign a pair of restricted free agents yesterday, defenseman Randy Jones and forward Riley Cote. Jones signed a two year deal worth 5.5 million overall while Cote signed a three year deal worth 550,000 per year. These signings likely round out the Flyers roster, which, if the season started today, would look something like this: Gagne/Briere/Hartnell Lupul/Richards/Giroux Upshall/Carter/Knuble Cote/Metropolit/Downie Timonen/Coburn Hatcher/Jones Eminger/Parent Extras: Vaananen, Kukkonen, Thoreson (?), Kane The Flyers have plenty of defensemen but they seem to be one quality forward short. Patrick Thoreson is listed as an extra skater because he has yet to sign with the Flyers, although he is a restricted free agent. Signing him, if they have the money, would push Cote to a lesser role, meaning he could suit up only when an enforcer is necessary. Barring a trade, the Flyers appear to be done making moves this off-season. There is still a possibility that Derian Hatcher could retire, which would free up 3.5 million dollars to sign another player, but that doesn't seem likely at this point. What you see above is probably what your 08/09 Philadelphia Flyers will look like. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:38:16 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285110 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285110 The Flyers continue to make moves and that's keeping this blogger busy. After making a trade with LA and signing Ossi Vaananen, the Flyers have added a pair of forwards to the mix, Glen Metropolit and Nate Raduns. They also signed another defenseman, Sean Curry. Metropolit signed a two year deal with the Flyers for a million dollars a year. Metropolit is a solid defensive forward who will replace Jim Dowd as the Flyers fourth line center. He has played 262 career NHL games with 5 different organizations, including last season with the Boston Bruins. He scored 33 points last season with Boston but he is known as a hustle guy and a great penalty killer. He will be locked into the fourth line center spot with Danny Briere, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter ahead of him, but he can also play any forward position. Raduns is a less exciting player. He played last season with the Worcester Sharks in the AHL, picking up 27 points in 56 games. He is 24 years old and figures to be a Phantom for the foreseeable future. Curry is another player destined for the Phantoms. He played last year for the Providence Bruins of the AHL and has never played an NHL game in six professional seasons. He is huge at 6 foot 5 and 227 pounds, but slow. What's next, Holmgren? Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:39:18 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284789 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/284789 It hasn't been officially announced yet, but several reports have surfaced that the Flyers have signed restricted free agent Jeff Carter to a 3 year, 15 million dollar deal. While this removes the possibility of losing Carter to another team this off-season, 5 million a year for a player who has never scored 30 goals is a little steep. It also may price them out of signing any decent free agent defenseman, or even from bringing back R.J. Umberger, who continues to be the subject of trade talks. I do like that Jeff Carter is coming back next year, and he did show flashes of brilliance in the playoffs, but I worry that the Flyers might have overpaid here. Carter has had a problem with consistency in his career, something that no player making 5 million a year should have. With Mike Richards and Danny Briere in the mix, Carter will also never be anything more than a third line center. Let's hope the Flyers don't end up regretting paying him like a first liner. Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:35:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280429 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280429 The Flyers traded forward Vaclav Prospal back to the Tampa Bay Lightening Wednesday for a seventh round pick in this year's NHL draft and a conditional draft pick in next year's draft. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:06:01 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279685 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279685 Paul Holmgren did it again, this time getting something for nothing. Vaclav Prospal, who the Flyers acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in February, was sent back to the Lightning for two draft picks: a 7th round pick this year and a conditional pick next year. Prospal had no interest in coming back to the Flyers and it was unlikely that the Flyers could afford him, so Holmgren essentially picked up some late draft picks for nothing. Prospal had a good run as a Flyer last year, but he was wildly inconsistent. Prospal and Danny Briere clicked at times to make for a dominant top line but they also would go silent for long stretches of games. Prospal will be replaced on the top line by Simon Gagne who hopes to return following a series of concussions. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:17:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279497 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/279497 Flyers pulled off a win last night, and now may be getting back their 2 top defenders, timonen and coburn, they still need to play three really tough games to get to the cup, but i'm becoming optimistic, nothing is over until we decide it is, who's with me? Fri, 16 May 2008 13:05:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267674 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267674 The Flyers of the first two rounds showed up tonight when they absolutely had to. Down 3-0 in the series and facing elimination at the hands of their cross-state rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers played inspired hockey and pulled out a 4-2 win to keep their slim Stanley Cup hopes alive. The Flyers jumped out in the first period and absolutely dominated the Penguins. Feeding off the booming home crowd, the Flyers scored three goals in the first period. Joffrey Lupul started off the scoring and Danny Briere and Jeff Carter both added power play goals as the Flyers offense showed more energy and intensity than it had all series. Philly looked like they were going to steamroll the Penguins as Pittsburgh could do little else but sit back and withstand the onslaught of the Flyers. Click the link for much more on the game, including highlights. Thu, 15 May 2008 21:41:19 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267494 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267494 The Flyers may be playing their last game of the season tonight. In an effort to shake things up and get a spark, Coach John Stevens has rearranged the Flyers forward lines to look like this: Richards - Briere - Hartnell Umberger - Prospal - Lupul Upshall - Carter - Knuble Thoresen - Dowd - Kapanen Braydon Coburn also will not play tonight. Click the link for more on these latest moves. Thu, 15 May 2008 14:03:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267339 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/267339 The Penguins don't like playing in Philadelphia, and have made that known. However, that didn't stop them from playing spoiler for the frantic Philadelphia faithful. Two quick goals by the Penguins took the roar out of the crowd. The first came from Ray Whitney on a Pittsburgh power play after a questionable hooking call on Derian Hatcher (see below). Then Marian Hossa took the puck from blue line to blue line and put a wrist shot behind Martin Biron. The Flyers would come within one after an RJ Umberger goal half way through the first period. The crowd got back into it, but that would be all the offense the Flyers could muster. For all the praise the Penguins get about their offense, their defensive prowess has been on display in this series, shutting down a strong Philadelphia team. Through the first two periods in game 3, the Flyers were only able to make 8 shots on goal. The Penguins have been able to disrupt the Flyers passing and have prevented them from getting much traffic in front of Marc-Andre Fleury. Traffic in front of the opposing goaltender was one of the keys to the Flyers success in the first two rounds. Ryan Malone scored midway through the third period and Hossa netted his second of the game with an empty net goal to cap the Penguins 4-1 win in Philadelphia. The Flyers are now down 3-0 in the series. If they are to win this series, they will have to make history. Only two teams in NHL history have come back from 3-0 series deficits, the 1975 NY Islanders and the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. Wed, 14 May 2008 10:48:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266812 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266812 The Keystone Clash crossed the state to Philadelphia on Tuesday night, but the game looked very similar to the previous two. The Penguins looked better in nearly every facet of the game, dominating the Flyers 4-1 in Game 3 to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. The Flyers were over-matched from the beginning when the Penguins got two quick goals in the first 8 minutes. The goals were a bit fluky with the first going in off a Jason Smith's foot and the second coming when Martin Biron was screened, but the Penguins managed to take the Flyers right out of the game. Philly responded with a goal by R.J. Umberger, but from there on they barely challenged Marc-Andre Fleury, finishing with a mere 18 shots. The Penguins sealed the victory with a goal halfway through the third period and an empty netter at the end of regulation. Click the link for much more on the game, including video highlights with reactions from John Stevens and Mike Richards. Tue, 13 May 2008 21:35:59 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266677 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266677 After another tough loss for the Flyers, the Live Blog will be back on tonight at 7:15 for Game Three in the Battle of Pennsylvania. Come and discuss the game as it happens with fellow Flyer fans as Philly looks to get back into the series. Click the link at 7:15 to participate in the Live Blog. Tue, 13 May 2008 16:08:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266563 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266563 In any playoff series , in any sport, when a team is down 0-2 the blame game starts with one person and ends with another. The Flyers situation is no different. Down 0-2 and headed home. They played badly game one, maybe even giving the game away to the Pens. Not taking anything away front what the Penguins do but the Flyers truly beat themselves in game 1. In game 2 the Flyers put up a good effort, cut down on the mistakes and played a physical brand of hockey. However, still a two goal loss, why? Are the Penguins that much better? Some idiotic reporter in Pittsburgh things so. I believe he said something to the effect of " Can't this one be over in 3?" Going on to say that he doesn't feel that anyone thinks this series will go more then five games. First with Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals, then with the heavily favored Montreal Canadians, and now with the "face" of the NHL Sidney Crosby the Flyers are once again the very very very unpopular pick. Tue, 13 May 2008 00:35:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266328 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266328 The Live Blog is back! After missing Game One, a tough loss for the Flyers, the Live Blog will be back on tonight at 7:15 for Game Two. Come and discuss the game as it happens with fellow Flyer fans as Philly looks to even up the series before heading home. Click the link for the Live Blog. Sun, 11 May 2008 13:48:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265743 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265743 There are some people around the National Hockey League who think the-powers-that-be really, actually wanted to see a Canadian team win the Cup for the first time in 15 years. But despite some pretty dicey calls during their second-round series, the Flyers did away with that dream in quick order. Meanwhile, over in the Rangers-Penguins second-round series, anyone with functional eyes could see the NHL's brightest star, Sidney Crosby, flailing his arms and losing his footing at every choice opportunity to draw penalties. He often actually succeeded in fooling the most established of referees, and he wasn't the only Penguin to benefit from some dubious calls. In the series-deciding game, Ryan Malone from the Pens clipped Chris Drury in the face and drew significant volumes of blood yet somehow no call was made and the game was lost by one goal. Conspiracy theorists start your engines, because this tomfoolery will not end when Philly and Pittsburgh square off starting this Thursday night. Amazingly, the Flyers come into a series with their in-state rivals in a wonderful position. Unlike most years in Philly, nobody thought the Flyers could get to where they are, and they are certainly not done learning, growing and fighting as a team to realize their potential. Unlike past Flyers teams and most every year's Eagles teams — the Flyers are playing in a consequence-free environment much as a golfer always performs better in a "scramble" tournament, where each shot isn't so pressing. "Why not win?" is this team's mantra. Blow a two-goal lead — "who cares?" — we've won like that before. Down a few goals? We have the firepower to fight back. Moreover, the Flyers have the mental advantage over Pittsburgh in that many on the team think that by benching Crosby for the last game of the regular season, Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien was purposefully tanking to avoid playing the bruising Flyers (especially the angry Derian Hatcher, who is always looking for No. 87). Paul Holmgren says there is no way the Penguins tanked to avoid the Flyers to instead play the flailing Senators. Conspiracy theorists, back to your blogs. The Flyers have to know that their early season suspensions and Broad Street Bullies reputation from over 30 years ago will likely follow them into this series. Crosby will dive until some referee makes a point of calling him for it and he stops. The Flyers' second-ranked power play from the regular season could make that meaningful point with a few pucks behind Fleury if so desired. And with the dead and rotting carcasses of Washington and Montreal waiting for burial, the Flyers have every reason to believe they can beat (and beat up) a young and highly talented Pittsburgh team. Crosby is good, but they already know they could shut down Alexander Ovechkin. At the same time, the Flyers must crank up their preparation to another level if they have plans on playing in the Finals against one of the powerhouse teams from the West. The idea of blowing a game like they did in Game 1 vs. Montreal isn't going to fly when you are eight playoff wins from hoisting the hardware. The Flyers need to adopt the idea of playing the game with high energy without gross stupidity (see: Derian Hatcher's hit on Francis Bouillon). The refs will be looking for reasons to get Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa on the power play, and so ultimate discipline will be an absolute key to the series. If the Flyers can accomplish this, there is no reason the league shouldn't be calling PETA to report some animal abuse, because the Penguins can be beaten. Fri, 09 May 2008 08:23:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265142 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265142 The Eastern Conference Finals features the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with the Philadelphia Flyers. This match up is extremely tough to call and could easily go seven games. Let's take a look at how the teams have done thus far throughout the playoffs and how they match up. Thu, 08 May 2008 14:37:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264897 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264897