Simon Gagne No Longer a Flyer

The Flyers traded Simon Gagne today to the Tampa Bay Lightning, which ends Gagne's time as the longest tenured Flyer. The Flyers traded Gagne to the Lightning in exchange for defenseman Matt Walker and a 4th round draft pick.

The move was not necessarily done to bring is equal talent value, but was done to get rid of the contract of Simon Gagne. The Flyers needed to and were able to make this move after they signed Nikolai Zherdev last week. Zherdev is the man who will take Gagne's spot at the forward spot. By getting rid of Gagne, they Flyers are able to get back under the salary cap. Gagne was owed $5.25 million this season, and was under contract for 1 more season.

Even though Gagne was oft-injured, and appears to be older than his current age of 30, Gagne still will be missed simply because he has been on the Flyers for 10 years. Gagne was a former first round pick of the Flyers in 1998. And in today's sports, it is rare to see a player stay on the same team for even close to that amount of time. In fact, only David Akers can claim he was on a Philadelphia team for longer than Gagne currently up until today.

Gagne leaves the Flyers ranked 10th in both career games played for the Flyers, and 10th in career points for the Flyers. Even though it just happened very recently, Gagne will always be remembered as scoring one of the best goals in Flyers history - the Game 7 goal against the Boston Bruins that put the Flyers ahead 4-3 in the game, capping off the 3-0 series and 3-0 in game deficit.

Flyers Face Another Must Win Tonight

The Flyers play the Blackhawks tonight in a must win game 4 at the Wachovia Center tonight. The Flyers took back some momentum and should have plenty of confidence going into tonight's game.

The Flyers won an amazing game on Wednesday night 4-3 in overtime. Claude Giroux put in the game winner about 6 minutes into overtime to give the Flyers the needed win. This Flyers team, as we know, had lived on the edge a lot in this postseason, and Game 3 was no different.

The Flyers did really control most of the game, including basically all of the 3rd period. However, the Flyers still found themselves down in the 3rd period after Patrick Kane put in his first goal of the series on a breakaway. The Flyers could have really packed it in at this point, and given up. They did just the opposite. The Flyers scored just 20 seconds later, as Ville Leino had the pick bounce to him with a wide open net.

The 2nd line continued their unbelievable play this postseason. Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, and Ville Leino were a solid line again, as all 3 players scored goals. Hartnell, who I have been very critical of, was one of the best players on the ice in Game 3, and had an unbelievable assist on the Briere goal. Matt Carle, Chris Pronger, and Claude Giroux also had very strong games.

The top line, mostly Jeff Carter, and Daniel Carcillo did not have good games. The top line has yet to show up this series, and Richards, Carter, and Gagne need to step up their games. Carter played one of the worst games I've ever seen anyone play. He looked horrible out on the ice, and there is no reason that Carter, at 6'4", 220 should be as soft as he is. That top line needs to step it up if the Flyers want to win this series, and if they do step it up, the Flyers could definitely win the Stanley Cup. I hate to seem like I am ripping Jeff Carter, because he is probably still somewhat injured, but if he plays well, that first line can succeed, and that would go a long way.

Daniel Carcillo is a guy who you really like to have on your team. He gets in opposing player's heads, he can fight, and is an annoying guy to face when you are on the other team. All of that said, he isn't very good at hockey. Carcillo needs to be scratched again, and go back to James van Riemsdyk. van Riemsdyk is young, and untested, and may never live up to his #2 overall pick status, but he still has a lot of skill, much more than Carcillo. Giroux has been playing on a line with Carcillo and Asham, and Giroux's skill level is somewhat lost with those 2 on his line. JVR hasn't put up many points this postseason, but he has a lot of speed, and puck handling skills, and needs to be out there. The team actually knows that Carcillo doesn't give them much, since Carcillo has yet to play in either of the last 2 games 3rd period. And these are 2 periods that the Flyers have dominated.

In fact, my sources are telling me that JVR will suit up, but I am not sure who will not play in his place. The only person who makes sense would be Carcillo.

Flyers Brought Back Down to Earth

The Flyers lost last night in Montreal 5-1, but still hold a 2-1 series advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Well, I guess it was wishful thinking to think the Flyers would never allow another goal in the playoffs, and just win every game on their way to their first Stanley Cup since the 1970s. The Flyers lost against a motivated, and spunky Montreal Canadiens teams, in front of a raucous/annoying crowd of French Canadians singing soccer chants.

The Canadiens took control from the beginning of the game, and never looked back. In the first 5 minutes of the game, the Flyers actually had 2-3 decent chances to score, including a power play, but Halak made a few nice saves, and kept the score tied at 0. Montreal got on the board halfway through the first, when Mike Cammalleri put in a rebound off the back boards to break Michael Leighton's shutout streak, and finally give the Canadiens some momentum, and their first lead of the series. The Canadiens put in 3 more, before the Flyers were able to get a goal in the 3rd period to avoid the shutout. And in classic Broad Street Bullies fashion, the Flyers just beat the crap out of the Canadiens at the end of the game. Simon Gagne continued his hot scoring streak, and scored the lone goal for the Flyers.

The Flyers defense really was the reason they lost this game, and it was most notably Matt Carle, and Chris Pronger. Quite frankly, Carle, and Pronger were horrible in this game. Carle and Pronger were both guilt of defensive let downs, turnovers, and not picking up guys going to the net all game long. It is hard to blame Leighton for most of the Canadiens goals, the Canadiens just flat out outplayed the Flyers all game long.

The Canadiens also outshot the Flyers for the 3rd straight game, which is disconcerting. The Flyers need to do a better job of keeping the play in the Canadiens end, and doing a better job cycling in the offensive zone. If the defense can play better, and the Flyers can cycle the puck and keep it down low, they should be more effective in Game 4.

A loss in this situation isn't necessarily the worst thing that could happen. The Flyers weren't going to sweep through everyone. You knew they were going to lose a game at some point, and it happened on Thursday night. Losses are not always necessarily the worst thing that can happen. The Flyers can not re-group, move on from their solid 6 game winning streak, go back to the drawing board, and pretend that this series is tied going into Game 4. If the Flyers can win Game 4 in Montreal, they still will be in command of this series.

Flyers Continue Momentum in Game 1

The Flyers beat the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in convincing fashion, winning the contest 6-0. I really was not sure what to expect from this series, as the Flyers came in after dominating the Devils, and then having the historic comeback against the Bruins. The Canadiens entered the game as the #8 seed, but beat the #1 seed Capitals, and the defending champion Penguins.

The Flyers scored early and often in this game, taking a 1-0 lead on the power play just 4 minutes into the game as Braydon Coburn, who has been solid all postseason got rewarded with his first goal of the postseason, much like van Riemsdyk's tally in Game 7 against the Bruins. Speaking of James van Riemsdyk, he had another good game, and put in a goal in the 2nd to make it 2-0. The Flyers continued the onslaught from there, and added goals from Briere, and Gagne in the 2nd period, and then Hartnell and Giroux in the 3rd period to win the game 6-0. Matt Carle and Ville Leino both had 2 assists in the game.

Obviously scoring 6 goals will be the big story of the game, but Michael Leighton obviously stopped every shot that came his way, and played a great game. He wasn't challenged a whole lot, but did make some very nice saves early, including 13 in the first period alone to keep the Flyers head, and allowed the Flyers to put the game away.

The game wasn't necessary as lopsided as the score way, both teams had chances and opportunities to score, the Flyers just took advantage of theirs, and Leighton greatly outplayed Halak, who was pulled after the Flyers 4th goal. You have to be encouraged with the way the Flyers played, and I didn't even mention Mike Richards and Chris Pronger in the summary.

Hopefully the Flyers put this game behind them quickly, and move onto Game 2, and hold down home ice. They still need to come out and continue their strong forechecking and get to the Canadiens when they are not playing well. We have seen numerous times where the Flyers will score 6 goals one game, and then 0 or 1 the next, so hopefully the Flyers come out and play well in Game 2. The Flyers have now outscored their opponents 10-0 since going down 3-0 in Game 7 against the Bruins. Either way, very positive and encouraging sign to start the series with.

Flyers Win!!!!!

The Flyers capped off a historic comeback, one of the best in playoff sports history, to beat the Bruins 4-3, in a game that featured an unbelievable comeback of its own.

Only 3 teams in the history of sports, and 2 teams in the history of the NHL had ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit. The Flyers not only did that, but also fell behind the Bruins by a score of 3-0 in the 1st period, only to still come back and win the game 4-3 with a 3rd period goal.

The Bruins were all over the Flyers in the 1st period, and the Flyers took 2 stupid penalties, both of which the Bruins capitalized on to make it a very quick 2-0 lead. The Bruins then had numerous chances to make it 3-0, and then finally did that on Lucic's 2nd goal of the game.

At that point, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette called a timeout, in what turned out to be one of the best timeouts in Philadelphia sports history. He told Michael Leighton to calm down, and if he did not allow a goal the rest of the game, the Flyers would win. He also said that someway they needed to get a goal before the 1st period was over.

The Flyers would do both of those. James Van Riemsdyk, who has been very back this postseason, scored on a semi-fluky goal that slid under the pad of Tuukka Rask. This accomplished exactly what the Flyers needed by getting the score back to a manageable 3-1 deficit going into the first intermission.

The Flyers came out on a mission in the 2nd period, and really dominated this period and got back in the game. Scott Hartnell jumped on a rebound early in the 2nd period and roofed a backhand to make the score 3-2. Shortly after, Danny Briere threw a puck in front of the net, which somehow deflected into the net to make it 3-3. The Flyers actually appeared to score again later in the period, and it was reviewed, but was not called goal. Sure looked like a goal to me.

The game went to the 2nd intermission tied at 3, and the Flyers had all the momentum. The Flyers continued to play well into the 3rd period, and even though the period was fairly even, the Flyers did have the majority of the scoring chances.

A too many men of the ice penalty gave the Flyers a power play a little more than halfway through the 3rd period, and Simon Gagne scored as the power play was winding down. The Flyers held off the Bruins the last 8 minutes of the game to cap off one of the best moments in sports history.

I would say that this victory ranks up there among the top 10, possibly top 5 Philadelphia victories I have ever watched in my lifetime. Just flat out unbelievable. Down 3-0 in the series, then down 3-0 in Game 7 in Boston, only to come back and win against a team that supposedly locks it down defensively when they get a lead. Incredible.

Hopefully the Flyers can continue this little momentum and run they have going now. It helps that they have home ice advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals as the #7 seed, because the #8 seed Montreal Canadiens await them. Game 1 of that series is Sunday night at the Wachovia Center.

Flyers Force Game 7

The Philadelphia Flyers are on the verge of making history Friday night by attempting to be the 3rd hockey team ever, and 4th professional team (NHL, NBA, MLB) ever to come back from a 3 games to 0 deficit. The Flyers won Game 6 at the Wachovia Center, in front of a raucous crowd, which included myself, and forced a game 7.

Teams have gone down in playoff series 3-0 in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and the National Basketball Association 281 times. Only 3 times has a team ever come back from such a deficit to win the series. It has happened twice in the NHL, and once in MLB. The last time it happened in the NHL was 1975. The Flyers still have their work cut out for them though, and obviously it goes without saying that to win any game in the playoffs on the road, in a Game 7 is an extremely difficult task.

The Flyers jumped out of the gates quickly in Game 6, and really dominated the play in the first half of the first period. Some great forechecking, and great work around the net to keep the puck alive by the Richards-Carcillo-Gagne line led to the first goal of the game by Mike Richards. Kimmo Timonen also did a good job pinching in on the play getting the puck out in front of the net to Gagne. The Bruins then had their chances as they took control late in the first period, and into the 2nd period. Michael Leighton was up to all the challenges though, including a first period breakaway that he saved.

Late in the 2nd period, the Flyers were about to have a long 5 on 3 power play when Chris Pronger knocked Zdeno Chara to the ice and got called for a weak penalty. However, on the 4 on 3 power play, Danny Briere blasted a shot over Rask’s shoulder and into the net. The two goal scorers in Briere and Richards continue to play really well in the playoffs.

Michael Leighton, making his first start since March 16th, played amazing. He made save after save in the 3rd period when the Bruins were really pressing. The Bruins did finally get a puck past Leighton with exactly 1 minute left in the 3rd period, but they didn’t get much pressure in the final minute, and the Flyers left the ice with a 2-1 victory, and all the momentum going into Game 7. However, momentum can change quickly, especially when you go on the road.

The Flyers need to jump out quickly, like they have the last 2 games, and get a first period lead. The last 2 games, the Flyers have scored in the first period, and it has forced the Bruins to play from behind, something they are not good at doing. The Bruins are not an offensive power; they are a physical, defensive team that likes the get the lead and sit on it. The Flyers need to make sure this doesn’t happen in Game 7. That will be easier said than done.

Flyers Make It a Series

The Flyers won last night 4-0 in Boston to actually make this 2nd round series competitive. The Flyers still are up against the wall, and still need to take 2 more in a row, starting tomorrow night in Philadelphia.

The Flyers really outplayed the Bruins in Game 4 in Boston from start the finish. The Scott Hartnell-Ville Leino-Danny Briere line did most of the damage, as Ville Leino was flying all over the ice. Take a look back, and you can see that we reported during the first round series against the Devils that Ville Leino should be playing, and possibly taking Scott Hartnell's spot in the lineup. Leino got the Flyers on the board in the first, and did most of the damage on the next 2 goals, getting an assist on 1, and skating circles around the Bruins to keep the puck in the offensive zone for a Hartnell goal the other time. Beisdes Leino, and Hartnell, Simon Gagne had 2 goals to close out the game.

Speaking of Scott Hartnell, he finally showed up for a game. He scored for the first time in 22 games, and did have a good game overall, skating better, and being more aggressive. This line will need to continue the strong play if the Flyers want to win the series.

The game was somewhat strange in that you had the Flyers really dominating, the Bruins taking dumb penalties, and then giving up in the 3rd period taking cheap shots at the Flyers the entire period. The Flyers, being the most hated team by officials in sports, would have gotten suspensions thrown their way if they had done some of the things the Bruins were doing in the 3rd. Claude Giroux was boarded late in the 2nd period, continued to play for the rest of the 2nd, but then sat out the 3rd period. It looks like this was more precautionary and that Giroux will be good to go Game 6.

Brian Boucher, however, will not be good to go for Game 6, and will probably miss the rest of the playoffs with a strained MCL. Boucher has been very good in these playoffs, and will definitely be missed, but I'm not so sure Michael Leighton is much of a downgrade from Boucher, even though Leighton does not have the playoff experience that Boucher does. Leighton saved all 14 shots he faced after he entered the game last night, but the Flyers did a very good job defensively, really for the first time all series.

Game 6 will be important, and the home crowd will need to get the Flyers into the game. Kotite's Corner will be present in the crowd cheering on the orange and black. Game 6 will start at 8 o'clock.

Flyers Take 2-1 Series Lead

The Flyers beat the Devils 2-1 in overtime Sunday night to beat the Devils and take a 2-1 series lead in this best of 7 first round series. The Flyers outplayed the Devils most of this game, especially as it went on, and finally solved Brodeur in overtime to put the game away.

This game was easily the most nerve-racking Flyers game all season, and one of those games we as fans are all too familiar with - watching the Flyers dominate the entire 3rd period, and then having them lose on a fluke goal. Well, the Flyers did not let that happen, and even though they couldn't solve Brodeur in the 3rd period, they finally put one past him in overtime.

Daniel Carcillo got the game winner, a little over 3 minutes into overtime on an open net stuff in. The goal came just 5 seconds after a Devils penalty expired making the goal an even strength goal. Mike Richards had the puck at the side of the net and just tried to stuff it into the corner. Brodeur had the corner covered, but the puck popped out in front of the net and Carcillo was there uncovered, and stuffed it in. Gagne was in front of the net also. That line had combined for the 2nd Flyers goal of the game, when Gagne made an unbelievable forechecking hit on a Devils defenseman who gave up the puck. Carcillo immediately swooped in, grabbed the puck and played it out in front to Richards who scored easily. Claude Giroux continued his stellar postseason with the other Flyers goal in the 1st period off a nice pass from Kimmo Timonen.

The Flyers really played well from the start, and benefited from being in front of the home crowd. It seemed to really give the Flyers a boost to play in their own building. The Flyers only got better and more dominant as the game moved along. The 3rd period was completely controlled by the Flyers, and the Flyers seemed to have a legit scoring chance every minute. Brodeur had to show why he is the best goalie of all time to keep the Devils in this one. Even in overtime, the Flyers came right out and had a few scoring chances before Carcillo put the game away.

The Richards, Carcillo, and Gagne line had a superb game. Richards continues to play well this postseason, as he has done the past 2 years. The Giroux, Van Riemsdyk, Asham line also continued to play very well. Giroux has been the best player on the Flyers thus far, besides maybe Pronger, and possibly Boucher. We still need for Jeff Carter to step it up and score a goal. The threesome of Carter, Briere, and Hartnell really need to start playing and give the Flyers something, because they haven't yet in the playoffs. The defense is playing solid for the most part, as Pronger, Timonen, and Coburn had strong games.

The work isn't done yet, the Flyers need to come out with the same intensity that they had at the end of Game 3, because you know that the Devils will be coming out firing on all cylinders. Also, if Brodeur plays like he did tonight, we are going to need to dominate the game just to have a chance to win, similarly to tonight.

Philadelphia Flyers All-Decade Team

The Philadelphia Flyers all-decade team is decent, but not nearly as good as their 1990s team would have been. Determining who should be on the first line between Keith Primeau and Mike Richards was hard, and we went with Primeau because of his leadership skills, and his amazing playoff run where he carried the Flyers to the Eastern Conference finals. Because of his leadership skills, Primeau is named the team captain for this team.

The goalie was the hardest to choose from. Personally my favorite goalie in this decade was Boucher, who had the great playoff run to the Eastern Conference finals the first year of the decade. Ultimately, Boucher didn’t have enough time though. It then came down to Roman Cechmanek, Robert Esche, and Marty Biron. The numbers and games played are very similar between all 3 players. Cechmanek has the best numbers of these goalies, and has played the most games in this decade. However, because if his attitude, and his horrible playoff performances, and quitting on the team, we went with Marty Biron. Biron has very solid numbers, and stepped his game up when it came to the playoffs.

Here is our Philadelphia Flyers all-decade team--

First Line
Forwards: Simon Gagne, Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi
Defense: Eric Desjardins, Kim Johnsson

Second Line

Forwards: Jeremy Roenick, Mike Richards, John LeClair
Defense: Kimo Timonen, Dan McGillis

Third Line
Forwards: Peter Forsberg, Jeff Carter, Michel Handzus
Defense: Joni Pitkanen, Braydon Coburn

Goalie: Martin Biron

Coach: Ken Hitchcock

Team Captain: Keith Primeau

Close Calls: Sami Kapanen, Roman Cechmanek, Robert Esche, Brian Boucher

Flyers Penguins 1st Round Preview

The Flyers take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1st round of the NHL playoffs, with Game 1 getting under way tonight in Pittsburgh. The Flyers lost out on home ice advantage in this series by losing in the season finale to the Rangers.

Unfortunately, much like football and the NFC East, I am not too happy that the Flyers play an Atlantic Division foe in the Penguins. Going into the playoffs, I would have rather played any other team in the playoffs than the Pens, Devils, and even the Rangers. The Flyers are 2-4 against the Penguins this season, with one loss coming in OT, and another coming in a shootout. These two teams also met up last season in the Eastern Conference final, with the Penguins winning the series and advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Ohhh yeah, and these two teams don’t like each other too much. Anytime you play a team as much as the Flyers and Penguins do throughout the season, and meet up in two consecutive playoff series’, there is going to be a good rivalry. These two teams have forged one of the better hockey rivalries as of late, with the cross-state teams both being among the elite in the Eastern Conference.

If the Flyers want to have any chance in advancing in these playoffs, and this series, they need to start playing better hockey than they have been down the stretch. The Flyers have been playing average hockey to end the season, while the Penguins have been playing very good hockey. The Flyers are just 3-4-1 in their last eight games. The offense hasn’t been poor for the most part, but the defense hasn’t been great, and Biron has been very inconsistent. All of that said, the Flyers still could have had home ice in this series had they just beaten/lost in OT to the Rangers in the last game of the regular season. They had a 3-2 lead in the 3rd period on home ice, and ended up losing the game in regulation. Good teams don’t let that happen. Teams that will go far into the playoffs don’t let that happen. I’m not saying the Flyers can’t do it, because I believe they can, but they will need to rebound quickly in order to even hang with the Penguins in this series. They will need to rely on their offense to do so. The Flyers offense is dangerous, with six 25 goal scorers in Carter, Richard, Gagne, Hartnell, Knuble, and Lupul. Throw a healthy Briere, and rookie Giroux in the mix, and the Flyers offense is among the best in the league. The defense, beyond Timonen, and Coburn is just average, and Biron will need to have another playoffs like last season for the Flyers to be successful.

The Penguins on the other hand have a record of 18-3-4 since February 15th, when Dan Bylsma became the interim head coach. Bylsma is obviously getting the most out of his players, because when he took over, the Penguins weren’t even in the playoff picture. No matter how the Penguins are playing, they are still an extremely scary team, as they feature two of the top three players in the world on their roster. Evgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby are a lethal combination. Malkin finished the season as the NHL scoring champion, compiling 113 points, which Crosby was 3rd with 103 points. Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins goalie, always seems to own the Flyers also no matter when or where they play.

No matter what the outcome, it will be an exciting series for the fans to watch. These two teams always play each other well, and like I stated before, have a great rivalry going on right now. The Flyers can make it even more fun to watch by winning the series and advancing. Even if the Flyers play well and lose the series, a first round loss is not what we are looking for out of this team. The Flyers are too good, and have too many good players, that a first round loss is considered a disappointment, especially considering where this team went last season in the playoffs. The Flyers are still a young team, but do have enough talent to win this series against the Penguins.

Picks
Mr. Green: Flyers in 6
Roget: Flyers in 6
Queen Aoleon: Flyers in 5

Flyers Looking Toward Stretch Run

Checking in on the guys in orange and black, and we see the usual consistency we are used to from them. The Flyers are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, currently in the 4 spot, and are in 2nd place behind the Devils, who apparently don't lose anymore, in the Atlantic Division.

The story with the Flyers is never getting to playoffs, and having a successful season. Since the mid 90's, the Flyers have consistently been one of the best teams in the NHL and have often gone far in the playoffs. The Eagles brass would tell you that they are the gold standard of the NHL because of this, however, the Flyers actually realize that they need to win Lord Stanley's Cup one of these years to be considered an ultimate success. With the offensive firepower the Flyers have on this team, with a lot of young talent, we hope that the Flyers stand pat when the trade deadline rolls around on March 4. The Flyers will be adding Danny Briere to the lineup shortly, which will only add to the great offense this team has, and assuming he stays healthy, Briere will be a big key to the offense in the postseason. Briere will fit in to a team that has one of the most cohesive, well-rounded top three lines in the league. The top line is on fire right now, with Richards, Gagne, and Knuble all playing well. The second line has carried the Flyers most of the season with Jeff Carter, 2nd in the NHL in goals, Hartnell, and Lupul. When Briere returns, he should center a 3rd line made up of rookie phenom Claude Giroux, and Scottie Upshall. Any of those three lines can carry the Flyers at any given time, and put up a lot of points.

The Flyers goaltending is another situation to look at. When Biron has a couple bad starts, Niittymaki plays well. Then when Niittymaki plays poorly, Biron plays well. Even though Nitty has better numbers for the season, if they are still playing fairly equal come playoff time, Stevens may elect to go with Biron because of his excellent play in the playoffs last season. Either way, both goalies have shown that they can get the job done, and both goalies have shows inconsistency. One of them will need to step up in this late season run and hopefully continue that into the playoffs, much like Biron did last season.

The defense for the Flyers is the unit that really needs to step it up and play well come playoff time. The defense is playing better as of late, and that needs to continue. We are not worried about the play of Coburn, or Timonen, but rather the guys like Alberts, Carle, and Jones will need to step it up come playoff time. The Flyers defense will be contending with a lot of strong offensive teams in the playoffs. It will not be easy to come out of the Eastern Conference this season. The Devils, Capitals, and Canadiens all have solid teams, among others.

So, the Flyers have for the most part a fairly young team, which currently doesn't even include youngsters like Sbisa, who will be a beast, and James Van Riemsdyk, who is the Flyers former #2 overall pick, which means they should be a good team for a while. However, as Flyers fans, we have been waiting a while for a Cup victory. We are not content with just being competitive. With the offense that the Flyers have, if the defense steps it up, and one of the goaltenders emerges come playoff time, this could be the year for the orange and black.

Checking in on Our Teams Owned by a Cable Monopoly

Philadelphia 76ers

The Sixers beat the Toronto Raptors last night 106-96 to win their 1st road game of the season, and break their 3-game losing streak, moving them to 3-5 on the season.

There have been few bright sports this season for our 76ers, but it is still early in the season, and may take a month or so to come together as a team, with new members, and a new philosophy in the half-court offense. Newcomer Elton Brand has been one of the few bright spots thus far for this team. Brand is averaging a double-double with 16 points, and 11 boards a game. Thaddeus Young has also been a bright spot for the Sixers, and shown that he is comfortable at the 3 spot. Young has shown the ability to take the ball to the basket, and hit the jumper when he needs to.

Unfortunately, the Sixers have struggled at the guard positions. I am not too concerned with point guard Andre Miller, as he is a veteran, and should be able to start playing well soon. Miller is turning the ball over too much, and not hitting his usual mid-range ugly sort of set shot. Andre Iguodala has moved to the 2 guard this season, and has also struggled early. He is still very good in the open floor, but struggles with the half-court offense. He looks like when the Sixers run their half-court sets, and throws up too many contested outside shots. That is not his game. Last night Iguodala was one rebound shy of a triple-double, so this is a good sign that he may be regaining his form from last season. Sammy D has struggled as well, and really is limited beyond rebounding the ball, and scoring on a dunk.

The bench has been up-and-down so far this season. Willie Green has played real well, and then real bad. Louis Williams is the best bench player, and is one of the few players who can hit an outside shot. Rookie Marresse Speights has looked good when he had played, and should get more minutes as the season goes on. Kareem Rush and Donyell Marshall have provided a nice outside option.

The Sixers have really struggled with turnovers, and entered last night’s game against the Raptors leading the league in turnovers. That’s not a statistic you want to lead the league at.

We feel as if the Sixers will turn this season around, it is still very early. The half-court offense needs to go through Elton Brand almost every time down. He is the best offensive player on the team, and has shown that he can find the open man outside when the defense doubles him. It’s just a matter of the other players hitting their outside shots.

Philadelphia Flyers

Sharing the Wachovia Center (soon the be named something else I’m sure) with the Sixers are the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers, like the Sixers, have started out a little slow, but have played a little bit better after the first few games.

The Flyers are 5-6-3 overall, which isn’t bad, but isn’t good. Just like the Eagles in the NFC East, the Flyers play in probably the toughest division in hockey, the Atlantic. This means the Flyers will have to play and beat the Rangers, Penguins, and Devils multiple times to get back into the race in the Atlantic Division.

As a bright spot for the Flyers, their young core group of players has all played pretty well. Mike Richards, the recently named captain before the season started, already leads the team with 17 points in 14 games. One of the other young stars, Jeff Carter leads the team with 9 goals this season. Simon Gagne, Danny Briere, and Mike Knuble have all played well so far this season. However, just like seasons’ past, the offense is not usually the problem with the Flyers.

The Flyers worked very hard in the offseason to improve the defense. They brought in Ossi Vaananen, Andrew Alberts, and their draft pick, Luca Sbisa, to go along with Braydon Coburn, and Kimmo Timonen. The Flyers definitely miss Randy Jones back on defense, and the defense will improve once he is back on the blue line. The Flyers just made a trade for Tampa Bay defenseman Matt Carle, another young defenseman.

The goaltending has been a little shaky, but both Biron and Nitty have also had good games as well and shown the ability to shut down the opposing team and win a game for the Flyers. Biron is a good goaltender, and the amount of goals scored against the Flyers this season, we blame on more lack of defense than poor goaltending. Admittedly, Biron will need to play better as the season goes on, but more importantly, the defense needs to do a better job in front of him.

Bottom line, the offense is a little hot and cold, but can usually score goals. The defense needs to improve, and the Flyers organization has done a good job of loading the team with solid young defenseman, who just need some time to improve. Just like the Sixers, look for the Flyers to start coming together and stringing some wins together.

Philadelphia Flyers Season Preview

Let’s Go Fly-ers! Our men in orange and black are ready to embark on another jam-packed season. The Atlantic division should be incredibly competitive as usual with the Rangers, Flyers, Devils, and Penguins all packed into one division. No worries though, our team has the depth and is well coached. The Flyers are filled with a good mix of veterans and youngsters, who should have no problem keeping up with other young teams in the league.

Unfortunately, we lost a couple major cogs in our playoff run from last season. R.J. Umberger, Vaclav Prospal and Jason Smith are gone. The Flyers definitely had some major holes to fill in the offseason; and fill them we did! The Flyers picked up Glen Metropolit, Aaron Asham and a tough defensemen, Ossi Vaananen. In addition, we signed Jeff Carter to an extension, so no free agency for him…what a relief. Also, the Flyers gave young star Mike Richards the captaincy, and he should be leading the Flyers for a long time to come. Here at Kotite’s Corner, we are extremely confident that we can beat our 6th place finish from last season in the conference. It is not going to be easy as we will have many games against the aforementioned Rangers, Devils, and Penguins.

Another major addition is the return of one Simon Gagne from the disabled list. Gagne was playing well early last season, just as he always does, before he went down for the year. This guy has been a stud, and you know he is ready to finally prove he can stay healthy and be a veteran leader on this Flyers team. How ready are you to see Gags back on the ice during regular season hockey? We know we’re ready for it. He looked strong at camp and in the preseason games. Gagne is only 28, but has already played nine NHL seasons. We know he has a lot left in him and will fall back into the superstar status quickly. One of our other superstars, Briere, needs to step it up early in the season. He needs to be scoring goals and making the plays that he did in the playoffs last season right off the bat. We can’t wait for the playoffs for him to pick up his game this season, although much appreciated, we can’t afford it this year. Let’s not forget about the other stars on this team in Lupul, Upshall, Knuble and Hartnell. Those players are sometimes shadowed by Briere and Richards, yet still contribute and mean just as much as the “superstars” do.

On defense is where the Flyers will need to improve the most this season. The Flyers defense was better last season than it was two seasons ago, however, it will need to improve further if the Flyers want to go deep into the playoffs. The Flyers defense is led once again by all-star Kimmo Timonen, who is the best all-around player on defense for this team. Some of the younger defensemen in Braydon Coburn, and Randy Jones really played well last season, and will be asked to increase their role even more this season to make up for the loss of Jason Smith, and the injury issues of Derian Hatcher. The Flyers defense is going to make-or-break the season. We know the Flyers can score, and we know that we will get solid goaltending out of Martin Biron. The defense has to step up their game, and this team will go far.

Speaking of the goaltending, Martin Biron had an up-and-down season last year, but really came on in the latter stages of the year, especially in the playoffs. Biron was the playoff MVP for this team, and was the main reason we escaped our 1st round series with the Capitals, and won our 2nd round series with the Canadiens. Antero Niittymaki has been on this team for a few years now, and may soon be the starter. He came into big spots last season, and did very well as a backup goalie.

Although the season does begin this Saturday evening at 7:00pm, I’m looking forward to October 14th when we play the Penguins. They eliminated us out of the Stanley Cup hunt last year and we’re out for blood. The season does open Saturday against the hated Rangers. LET’S GET FLYERED UP!