Yardbarker: Joffrey Lupul

The Metropolitician Drops His Gloves, Carter Rings Up Another, But Flyers Lose

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:31:04 -0500

The streak had to end sometime. I was hoping it might get to the 8 or 10 win mark, but we'll have to settle for 6. Not bad considering what the Flyers looked like before shredding through every opponent for 2 weeks.

It was a weird and chippy game, one that saw both Jeff Carter and Marty Biron ...

Flyers End Streak With Loss To ‘Canes

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 11:01:11 -0500

Flyers End Streak With Loss To 'Canes

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:57:33 -0500

The Flyers ended their six-game winning streak on Friday with a loss in an overtime matinee against the Carolina Hurricanes. Sergei Samsonov scored with 1:07 left in the extra period to put the 'Canes up 3-2. "You try to get as much speed as you can to avoid the pokecheck," Samsonov said of his winning goal. "Once I got to the net, I had more room than I thought, so I just tried to squeeze one by." Samsonov used his incredible speed to fly down to the goalmouth and put a forehand shot against the still reeling Martin Biron. The win ended another streak, a three-game losing streak by Carolina. The goal caught the Flyers' netminder off-guard. "I thought that he was going to go around me to the glove side a little further out, but he made a quick shot right away," the goaltender said. Patrick Dwyer and Tuomo Ruutu also scored for the Hurricanes. Joffrey Lupul and Jeff Carter each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers. Carter's goal was his league-leading 16th of the season. Unfortunately, Carter also suffered a shoulder injury. He was driven into the wall behind the Carolina net by former Flyers defenseman Joni Pitkanen in the third period and suffered a right shoulder contusion, according to general manager Paul Holmgren. Luckily, he is expected to only miss one game. Despite the loss, the Flyers have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend, as they have won eight of their last nine games; have points in each of their last nine games; have killed off 52 of their last 54 penalties for the best power play in the NHL; and after starting the season a weak 4-6-3, are 11-6-5 and are third in the Atlantic Division, just two points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers look to start another winning streak Saturday in Toronto against the Maple Leafs, who are last in the Northeast Division. The puck drops at 7:00PM

Tonight's Top Scorers - November 28

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 02:24:49 -0500

Goals

Michael Ryder - Boston Bruins - 2

Sidney Crosby - Pittsburgh Penguins - 2

Paul Gaustad - Buffalo Sabres - 2

Drew Stafford - Buffalo Sabres - 2

Fedor Tyutin - Columbus Blue Jackets - 2

Marian Hossa - Detroit Red Wings - 2

Dan Boyle - San Jose Sharks - 2

Assists

Ryane Clowe - San Jose Sharks - 3

Matt ...

Coach Stevens Ain't Messin' Around, Benches Hartnell

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:50:13 -0500

Not long after Joffrey Lupul's lackluster play landed him on the Flyers fourth line, his good friend Scott Hartnell was benched for the third period of a close game in which another forward left with an injury.

Writing for Comcast Sportsnet's impressive new web site, Tim Panaccio says the moves ...

3 in a row! Flyers thrash Atlanta

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:49:56 -0500

Who needs baseball? Hockey games don't get postponed, so at least one of our Philly sports teams played on Tuesday night. And, boy, did they have a great game. The Flyers put together their best effort of the season in destroying the Atlanta Thrashers 7-0. While few of their goals were very "pretty", the Flyers got two goal nights from Mike Knuble, Simon Gagne and Joffrey Lupul and Antero Niittymaki pitched a shutout in net. Glen Metropolit also added a goal and two assists. More importantly, the team played better defense and continued to show more energy and jump. Slowly but surely, this team is straightening things out and started to get rewarded in the win column. Also having a great game on the night was Luca Sbisa who showed great poise in the back end and.... Click for more on Sbisa and the Flyers......

Philadelphia Flyers: Orange And Black...Almost Back

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:08:13 -0500

After an exciting, yet unexpected run to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Philadelphia Flyers are almost back for their 42nd season in Philly. The team will have 30 of its rookies on the ice starting Monday, but many wonder if the team added enough pieces to the puzzle this off-season. Other than the addition of some younger, more athletic defensivemen, the Flyers didn't really make a marque offseason addition. Meanwhile, the Penguins still have Evgeni Malkin and Sid "The Kid" Crosby....

Busy week for NHL signings

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:33:46 -0500

This week has seen plenty of signings in the NHL with teams finding or locking up the players they believe to be key elements in their success for the upcoming season.

Lupul To Sign Four-Year Extension On Monday

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:09:30 -0500

Joffrey Lupul will repportedly sign a four-year extension, keeping him in Philadelphia through the 2012-13 season. TSN reports the announcement will be formally made Monday morning.

Flyers extend Lupul for 4 more years

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:24:21 -0500

Joffrey Lupul, who would have been a restricted free agent following the 08-09 season, signed a contract extension with the Flyers that will keep him in Philly for four more years. Terms of the deal have yet to be announced, but expect Lupul to get a raise from the 2.3 million he will make this season. Lupul has been a key member of the Flyers offensive attack ever since he was acquired from Edmonton last off-season with Jason Smith for Joni Pitkanen and Geoff Sanderson. Lupul finished his first season in Philadelphia with 46 points in 56 games and had several key goals in the Flyers playoff run, including the one that vaulted them past the Capitals and into the second round. While the amount of money he will receive has not been announced, this is another good move by the Flyers, who now have their core forwards of Danny Briere, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell and Lupul locked up through the 2010-2011 season. As long as the Lupul deal averages out to about 3 million a year, the Flyers made an excellent move. UPDATE: Lupul's contract is reportedly worth 4.25 million a year, making him the 6th highest paid Flyer. That's quite a bit of money for an oft-injured player, but Lupul is still young so the Flyers will be getting his best years.

Flyers fill out their roster by signing Jones, Cote

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:38:16 -0500

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.

It ain't over yet: Flyers hold off Penguins to stave off elimination

Thu, 15 May 2008 21:41:19 -0500

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.

Canadiens Take Game One, Flyers Blow Another 2 Goal Lead

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:19:27 -0500

In some games, the bounces seem to go your way, and in others they don't. That's one way you could describe the first game in the second round match up between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens. Early in the first period, Montreal would have some excellent chances, however, the bounces didn't go their way. One shot went through Martin Biron's five hole, but the hit post and bounced away from the net. Shortly after that, another shot would get behind Biron, but hit the post as well. The bounces were going the Flyers way early in the game. Highlights Included.

Sacrebleu! Flyers Drop Game 1 in OT

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:18:53 -0500

The Flyers, after battling back from bad breaks and bad calls all game, were under 1 minute away from taking game 1 impressively on the road at Montreal. Could they finish?

Flyers Win Dramatic Game 7 Against Capitals, Move On To Second Round To Face Montreal

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:50:58 -0500

After blowing a lead in the third period of game one, the Flyers came back and won the next three, only to blow that lead and have the series tied after 6 games. After the Washington win last night in game 6, many thought that the Flyers were finished and the Capitals had all the momentum they needed to win the game tonight and move on to play Pittsburgh in round 2. The Flyers came out and looked like the team that won games 2, 3, and 4. They weren't flat-footed like they were in the second half of last night's game. But they decided to make it hard on themselves by taking two penalties and giving Washington an early 5 - 3 power play. Highlights included