According to TSN, the Flyers have signed defenseman Ossi Vaananen to a one year, $1 million dollar deal. The Flyers are also reporting they have signed free agents Glen Metropolit, Nate Raduns and Sean Curry. Metropolit's and Curry's contracts are two year deals. Raduns' deal is for one year.

At 6?4?, 215 lbs, Vaananen was drafted in the second round, 43rd pick overall, by the Phoenix Coyotes in 1998. After 4 seasons with the Coyotes, he spent 3 years with the Colorado Avalanche. Last season, Vaananen spent the season with Djurgardens IF of the Swedish Elite League.

At 34, Metropolit spent last season with the Boston Bruins, scoring 11 goals and 33 points over 82 games. A veteran at the forward position, Metropolit has logged 262 NHL games over six season.

TSN is reporting the Flyers have waived defenseman Denis Gauthier. The Flyers acquired Gauthier at the trade deadline in 2006 from the Phoenix Coyotes. Gauthier failed to make the Flyers roster out of training camp last season and spent the 2007-08 campaign with the Philadelphia Phantoms in the AHL. This move takes his $2.2 million off the organization's books for the coming season.

The Flyers announced that they have acquired defenseman Tim Ramholt from the Calgary Flames. Left wing Kyle Greentree was sent to Calgary in exchange for Ramholt. In 2007-08 Ramholt played in 77 games for the AHL's Quad City Flames compiling 4 goals 20 assists and 73 penalty minutes. He played in one game for the Calgary Flames last season.

The Flyers are also reporting that newly acquired defenseman Janne Niskala has been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 6th round pick in 2009.

Today the Flyers signed defenseman Steve Eminger to a one year contract. The Flyers acquired Eminger at the NHL draft on June 20 in exchange for the 27th overall pick. He was scheduled to become a restricted free agent on July 1st. According to Paul Holmgren, "Steve is a young two-way defenseman that will fit in nicely with our group."

Eminger was the Washington Capitals' first round pick in 2002. He has 6 goals and 43 points in 212 games with the Capitals over the past 5 seasons.

This evening the Flyers sent center RJ Umberger as well as the 119th pick overall to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for the 19th and 67th picks in this year's draft.

Today the Flyers dealt Vaclav Prospal back to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The fact that Prospal is leaving the Flyers again should come as no surprise to anyone. He made it no secret that he enjoyed playing in a warm weather city and wanted to go back to one this summer. There were also rumors floating around last week that he was interested in returning to Tampa Bay since John Tortorella was fired.

Even if Prospal wanted to stay here, there was slim chance the Flyers would have the cap space to sign him and other free agents Jeff Carter, RJ Umberger, and Randy Jones. So with all that in mind, GM Paul Holmgren was able to get some draft picks for him, namely a seventh round pick this year and a conditional pick in the 2009 draft.

The Flyers didn't waste much time this offseason working to improve their defense. On Friday Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren announced they acquired defenseman Danny Syvret from the Edmonton Oilers. According to Holmgren,

"Danny is a puck-moving defenseman that sees the ice well and will improve our depth," said Holmgren in making the announcement. "He had some success playing with Jeff Carter and Mike Richards at the 2005 World Junior Championship as a member of the Team Canada.

Often times you hear people joke, saying that they would trade a player for a bucket of balls, bag of pucks or some other piece of equipment. John Odom in the United League was actually traded for bats, "10 Prairie Sticks Maple Bats, double-dipped black, 34-inch, C243 style" to be exact.

General Manager of the Laredo Broncos was quoted as saying "They just wanted some bats, good bats - maple bats."

This has to be the best commercial I've seen for the NHL in a good long while. No doubt Gary Bettman had nothing to do with this.

The Flyers got some good news last night. Following the Flyers 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kimmo Timonen updated his injury with the media. Timonen met with his doctor earlier in the day and was cleared to skate today. According to Timonen,

"I'm going to skate tomorrow. I met [Dr. Ronald Fairman] today and we took another ultrasound. Based on that, the doctor said I have a green light to give it a try. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to skate [Friday] and see how it feels.

"If I feel tomorrow that I'm good to go for Sunday, then I'm good for Sunday," he said. "There is nothing to prevent me from playing. I may have numbness in my toes, but if I can deal with that then I can play.

There is also a good chance that Braydon Coburn could be back as well for Game 5. Getting these two back in the lineup would be a huge boost for the Flyers.

Philly.com and 610 WIP are both reporting that Braydon Coburn is not going to play in tonight's game 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. According to Flyers Coach John Stevens,

"We really hoped he could play," Stevens said. "He practiced yesterday, but we made the decision that he is just not ready."

Coburn has been out of action since he was injured in the opening minutes of game 2 when he took a puck to the face. The wound required more than 50 stitches and his left eye was swollen shut.

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.

After suffering a facial injury as a result of being struck by a puck, Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn is currently listed as doubtful for tomorrow night's pivotal game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Accoring to Flyers GM Paul Holmgren,

"We're still waiting to hear word on how his eye actually is. Right now, it's swollen shut, there are no fractures and he's doing better," said Holmgren. "We have no reason to think that there's anything wrong with the eye itself.

"I would say for the game tomorrow, he's probably doubtful."

With Timonen out indefinitely and Coburn's return in question, the Flyers are without their top defensive pairing.

After Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, many said it was the worst game the Flyers played so far in the playoffs. Many of the players agreed with that assessment. For the Flyers to take game 2 they could not get caught standing still and letting the likes of Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa, and Sidney Crosby skate freely in the their end of the ice. They had to stay out of the penalty box and play a consistent game.

The game did not start well for the Flyers. Philadelphia was already without the services of their best defenseman Kimmo Timonen, when Braydon Coburn took a puck to the face and left the game. Coburn did not return but is a possibility for game 3.

"My left eye is swollen shut right now," he said. "I will keep the ice on it and get the swelling down and see what happens [Monday]."

The Eastern Conference Finals between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins is going to be unbelievable. That is all I have to say, just unbelievable. If you have any friends or family that don't watch hockey, sit them down and have them watch this series, they'll love the sport after seeing it. This series is going to have everything that hockey has to offer. Hard hits, two teams with incredible scoring punch, and two teams that hate each other (the fans hate each other as well).

The Flyers won 5 out of the 8 meetings between the two teams this season. If like most of things this postseason, the season series will mean nothing. The "experts" realize that too, and are looking at the Flyers as underdogs. The underdog role is fine with me. It makes winning feel even better.

The Flyers suffered a major blow to their defense today. Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia is reporting that Kimmo Timonen will be out for the rest of the playoffs with a blood clot in his left ankle. This is terrible news as Timonen was the Flyers best defenseman and was usually matched up with the best players on the opposing team. The Flyers are set to open the Eastern Conference Finals tomorrow night in Pittsburgh.