More NHL iPods

Just over a year ago I did a piece of NHL iPods talking about players favorite songs. It seems like it's time to do it again, This time with music videos!



Scott Hartnell:

Top 3 songs:
-Falling Down by the Birthday Massacre



-Falling by Lacuna Coil



-Falling Again by Lacuna Coil






Terry Pegula: Owner of the Buffalo Sabres



This always seemed to play for him...


Blair Betts: Bad pun on a name alert...




Paul Ranger: Where'd you go?





A Certain Philadelphia Reporter who loves to make up stories and is horribly incompetent:



What song better than "Storytime", something that implies everything is fiction.


Rick DiPietro: The Islander because no matter what, he's always going to be an Islander.




Antti Niemi: Nemo...what's better than a song named after you?





Rick Nash: Over the Hills and Far Away, which is basically him wanting out of Columbus...






The Carolina Hurricanes: Stone People, aka the Hurricanes Defense




Sergei Gonchar: For the Heart I Once Had...because once I got to Ottawa, I stopped giving a sh!t




Sieve Mason: Better Days....he's had them




Ville Leino: Wish You Were Here...as in...he wishes he was still on a line with Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere to carry him...






Finally: Charles Wang, NYI owner....Gimme Shelter...as in a new Arena

Flyers Dark Horse Choices For Captain

Well, a lot of people seem to think the Flyers will give the "C" will go to one of three players: Kimmo Timonen, Chris Pronger, or Danny Briere.

But the fact is, there are some deserving candidates for the "C" in Philadelphia and now, we're gonna go through the Pros/Cons of 5 other players on the Flyers roster.


The Candidate-Scott Hartnell
His strengths- He's known for being a drill sergeant which is always good for having a disciplined team.

His weaknesses- Does anyone actually think Hartnell is capable of running a skating drill?



The Candidate-Matt Carle
His strengths- He's known for being a solid defenseman especially during even strength play which where most of the game is played.
His weaknesses- Allegedly disappears when Chris Pronger isn't around.


The Candidate- Blair Betts
His strengths- His calm demeanor even in tough PK situations is great for mentoring young players.
His weaknesses- He is Blair Betts. No one really knows too much about his personality and one day as Captain would be probably involve more interviews than Betts has done in his entire NHL career up to this point.


The Candidate- Max Talbot
His strengths- Totally learned how to handle tough Wells Fargo Center crowds from playing on the Penguins
His weaknesses- He is probably still a douche.


The Candidate- Jaromir Jagr
His strengths- He's totally betting on being named Captain, and Jagr's gambling has never been a problem.
His weaknesses- Something he says about being a former "Capitals superstar forward" has many people confused.

Flyers Tweets (stick tap DTV)

So, Don't Trade Vinny did a piece on Lightning First Tweets

This got me thinking, what if some Flyers got twitter, what would they say...



@JagrBomb68: "Totally won the Jagr sweepstakes pool in Vegas. Made millions."

@FallingScott: "Fell flat on my back when I created this thing, but I'll keep trying"

@CaptElbows: "hey panotch...GUESS WHO #Winning"

@Kimmo44: "Drinking my secret Viking Warrior potion. SUOMI TIME!"

@BlairBetts: "OMG SOMEONE BOUGHT MY T-SHIRT!"

@Coburn5: "My nose is just a nose, I swear, it doesn't have superpowers"

@LatvianWolf: "HOWL! I'm pressbox wolf!"

@MeatTrainPHI: "I AM NOT JEFF CARTER!"

@LaviCakes: "Taking a 30 second tweet break to construct the best tweet ever"

@UnclePaulie: "First 25 attempts at this all failed, whats 140 limit? why is there math? I got told, there would be no math"

Flyers Forwards: What's Going to Happen Next

As I did a few days ago with the goalies, here we go with the forwards. I only did the 14 guys who played over 50 games this season. Anyone who's waiver exempt and spent more time with the Phantoms was not included.

Guaranteed to be back next year:

Mike Richards: he's the captain, a favorite of GM Paul Holmgren and coach Peter Laviolette. No one INSIDE the organization has ever questioned his leadership and the fact that he has another 10 years onn his contract helps too.

Jeff Carter: he's an alternate captain and the same as Richards. Also, it would be incredibly disrespectful to trade someone so soon after inking an 11 year extension with them.

Danny Briere: he's making 6.5M against the cap for 3 more years and has an NMC. Even if the Flyers wanted to, there's no way to move him.

James van Riemsdyk: Making 1.654 against the cap, the Flyers shopped him in November 2010, the asking price then was 2 firsts and 2 seconds and a prospect. At this point, the Flyers might want 4 firsts for him since his 2012 RFA offer sheet would probably be in that range.

Claude Giroux: He was a huge star for the Flyers all year. Also averaged an assist per game in the playoffs. He's back.

75% Chance of returning:

Scott Hartnell: making 4.25 against the cap. He's a fan favorite and a "Philadelphia Type" player. That being said, the Flyers apparently tried to trade him to Edmonton a couple years back for Sheldon Souray but Souray refused to waive his NTC. He might get moved, but I doubt it.

Blair Betts: Blair's major strength, winning PK faceoffs disappeared at the end of this season, right after he broke a finger, because of his 700K cap hit, he is moveable to a team looking for a PK guy, (eyeing you Vancouver, more on this later)

Jody Shelley: He's making 1.1 against the cap, which for an enforcer, is rather steep. He also had a broken orbital bone causing him to miss a lot of time towards the end of the season, and it rendered him unavailable for the first round of the playoffs as well. 

Darroll Powe: He's an RFA looking for a raise from his 725K salary to something close to 950K. Barring major cap issues; I can't see him going anywhere.

Andreas Nodl: Same as Powe, but I think Nodl gets moved BEFORE Powe does as Matt Read is under contract for next year at 900K and he's a similar player to Nodl.

50% Chance of returning

Kris Versteeg: It's not his fault by any stretch the team struggled. He was hurt and all. That being said, 20 goal 20 assist guys who can play all 3 forward positions and PP/PK situations don't grow on trees. His cap hit is reasonable and he's an RFA in 2012. This could fetch something decent in a trade, especially if the Flyers need to create cap room.

Dan Carcillo: An RFA, who, no matter what, is one of many of his kind. Tom Sestito plays the same type of game and should be 250K cheaper. Because of this, I would think Carbomb's the odd man out.

Ville Leino: He's a UFA who disappeared during the playoffs. He's 28, and probably won't be better than the 19G 34A he had this season. He's not an elite offensive talent, and not a top line talent by any stretch. Because of that, he can walk and I personally, will not miss him.

Will Not Return

Nikolay Zherdev: his known attitude problems and clashing with Laviolette means Z is going to be either back in Russia, or on another NHL team.

I mentioned Betts earlier and I thought I toss in a trade idea.

Vancouver and Philadelphia both have major cap issues as well as mutual needs so I came up with this trade to solve both teams problems.

To PHL: Cory Schneider (G)

To VAN: Matt Carle (D), Blair Betts (C), Johan Backlund (G) 1st in 2012, 6th in 2011

Why this works: The Canucks probably won't be able to afford retaining the services of Christian Ehrhoff in the off-season so they'll need a new D-man to take his spot. Carle does this at about 60% of the cost of Ehrhoff which save Van about $2.1M in cap space. Johan Backlund is on a 1-way 800K contract, he would take over as Luongo's backup. Blair Betts would be the PK center that Manny Malholtra was since Manny has the eye problems. The picks make up for the fact that Cory Schneider is a legit NHL starter in the making.

Sound good?

Hartnell Down or Versteeg Down

So as we all all know, Kris Versteeg thinks he falls more than Scott Hartnell.



This probably means that I should track Versteeg Down, so of course, I am. I'll watch the games as they happen and when Versteeg falls or Hartnell falls, one will be added to their counter. Then to make sure it's fair, I'll divide each number out to set up the Falls Per 60 minutes played ratio so we can see, who really falls more.

Were taking "Betts" now?

Who will fall more, Hartnell or Versteeg?

Who will fall more per 60 minutes, Hartnell or Versteeg?


Leave your predictions in the comment section.

The Curious Case of the Flyers Leadership Problem (Another Editorial)

(Editor's Note: Matt originally wrote this piece for another site that he writes for, it was so popular there and sparked a lot of positive discussion that we thought it best to double post it here for the DGS regulars. If you want to read the article at its original location click here)


A lot of people have recently began to loudly and vocally question whether or not Mike Richards should be wearing the "C" in Philadelphia. These people are mostly angry Flyers fans who seem to think that Richards is the sole holder of the blame of the Flyers struggles over the last 20 games. But is Mike Richards really the problem? I say not exactly.

First off, let's look at what wearing the "C" on your sweater actually means from a league perspective. The "C" is used to define who the captain of the team is. This means that the player with the "C" has the responsibility of delegating with the referees over disputed calls, communicating messages from the coach to the referees or scorers bench or timekeeper or penalty box staff. This is it, there's no provision that the "C" has to be 'pleasant' to the media. There's no provision that the "C" has to be excessively vocal or score 80 points a season. There's NO provision that a "C" has to like the city's baseball team. Richards handles his assigned duties well, and he's respected in the lockerroom by his teammates, coaches and GM.

So, what is the problem then? Well, I personally began to think, what if there are too many cooks in the Flyers kitchen. Now, I already mentioned Richards, but let's look at some of the other people in and around the Flyers.

Peter Laviolette is a very hands on, outspoken, active coach who doesn't mix words and tends to keep secrets from the media, and probably his players too, even though I cannot prove that.

Chris Pronger is a vocal, loud leader who isn't afraid to call teammates out while wearing the "A" for alternate captain.

Kimmo Timonen has recently taking to calling for hustle and urgency from his teammates in his straight to the point style.

Sean O'Donnell is a 39 year old veteran who's won a cup, when Pronger is being sarcastic to the media, SOD is usually the guy giving detailed answers to the media because of Richards media shortcomings and Pronger's massive use of sarcasm and snark.

Danny Briere is a former Captain of the Buffalo Sabres. His scoring touch and willingness to handle the French speaking media has been helpful to the team as he's the most experienced Francophone on the team. Also, his skill in the playoffs, even being called Mr Playoffs makes people look to him as a person who should be emulated during crunch time.

Jody Shelley's another player who, like OD, has a respected veteran voice in the lockerroom. This voice is why Lavi refused to scratch him during the middle of the season.

During the preseason, the following players wore "A"s: Braydon Coburn, Claude Giroux, Blair Betts, Darroll Powe and Scott Hartnell.

That's 10 players with leadership experience when there's 20 players on the ice. That's 50% of the team. Each person has their own unique style and while they seem to work together, and for sure intend to work together, are they somehow actually causing detriment to the team. Are they actually corrupting young and new players like Bartulis, Meszaros, Versteeg, Zherdev, Carcillo and the rest of that other half of the team.

To me the phrase "Too many cooks in the kitchen ruins the soup" comes to mind here. All of these guys together, no matter how hard they try, are not going to be 100% unified on every issue. Not only that, but the more "leaders" and "alpha personalities" in one room, the more likely that small issues will actually be big issues if the natural egos of leaders start rubbing together. There's something to be said about having a small corps of leaders, and maybe the Flyers recent struggles have lasted so long because the team's leadership had too many different ideas on how to stop it. It's a slippery slope, and quite honestly, none of us are in that lockerroom all the time to really know what's going on, but this playoff run will truly test this group. If they can get it together, this team has the talent to go far, if not, maybe, the solution is trading these "leaders" for solid players with more passive personalities so the committed long term leaders like Richards and Carter who will wear the orange and black for another decade, can really lead this team.

Maybe that's the answer, or maybe I'm just crazy.

Flyers New Year's Resolutions

Well, the Flyers are out on the Pacific Coast for a little road swing leaving DGS all alone with nothing to do except snoop around in the snow. What I found, was well, interesting. It's a list of the Flyers New Year's Resolutions. In the interest of doing a public service, I'm sharing it with the world.


Jeff Carter: To not get caught up in rumors involving sleeping with the spouses of other players.

Chris Pronger: To only steal things that are actually worth stealing. Fuck that, Pronger's too awesome to resolve to do anything.

Daniel Carcillo: Will hopefully remove Crosby's stache

Darroll Powe: To hopefully prove he's more than just a name

Danny Briere: To live up to his nickname of the "Magical Spearing Midget".

The Spear may be breaking,
but it's legacy lives on.

Claude Giroux: To practice safe deking as fan-related pregnancies are sky-rocketing.

Matt Walker: To get off LTIR. (Hip Surgery free in 2011)

Mike Richards: Break up with Pierre McGuire.

Sergei Bobrovsky: Bob.

Nikolay Zherdev: To become the first 40 goal scorer, without tallying double digit assists.

Michael Leighton: Well, it was going to be close the 5-hole, but given the state of things, he'll just settle to use the 5-hole in a live action game with the Flyers.

Brian Boucher: To learn Russian in hopes that it adds to the "List of Reasons to Keep Boosh Over Leights."

Scott Hartnell: To fall down less. (Okay, who is he kidding - to grow his hair back.)

Ville Leino: To help Homer clear cap space to sign him. (Collateral Damage may include Michael Leighton getting hurt again)

Jody Shelley: To score goals - that's what he's here for, duh!

Yes that's Jody Shelley, no, there
was no Photoshopping here.

Andreas Nodl: To crack into double digits in goals. He's grateful for whatever he gets, because Noodle Power keeps Philly running.

Blair Betts: To win more face-offs. To get noticed by someone.

Ian Laperriere: To teach the Phantoms heart - he has enough for all of them anyway.

James van Riemsdyk: To not take naps when the Eagles are completing a miraculous comeback. 

Kimmo Timonen: To construct a helmet that looks like a Viking helment because it would look cool, because Kimmo's our little Viking warrior. 

Viking Kimmo: Now you know his dirty secret.

Braydon Coburn: It seems vain, but he's looking to have a beak reduction so he can see the goal better when he shoots. 

Matt Carle: To prove he can look good without Pronger by his side. Because well, ya know Pronger's elbows are just so ugly....

Andrej Meszaros: To continue playing the way he did in Ottawa, not the way he did in Tampa. 

Oskars Bartulis: To find subtle ways to keep defensemen out of the line up so he can play. 

Sean O'Donnell: People who look like John LeClair are exempt from making resolutions. 

Peter Laviolette: To find an effective gum holder so he can yell at referees. (We personally recommend using the gum to hold Matt Walker's hips together)

Flyers Excuses For Tonight's Pitiful Effort

So the Flyers gave a pitiful effort tonight in a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jackets. Luckily, the DGS SuperSpies managed to get into the Flyers lockerroom and we heard all the excuses on why the Flyers sucked tonight.


Scott Hartnell: "I felt like I overskated the puck because of the lack of hair to slow me down."

Nik Zherdev: Was convinced that Mathieu Garon was a Russian mob boss even though Garon is 100% French Canadian. (Per his interpreter, a guy who might actually be in the Russian mob)

Sergei Bobrovsky: "Mr. Boss-Lavi put me on bench"

Jeff Carter: "The bleach in my hair sunk into my brain."

Chris Pronger: "I vowed to have one game where I didn't elbow someone's skull in, this was that game."

Claude Giroux: "Wait, there's an NHL team in Columbus, I thought the world was joking. Oh merde."

Andrej Meszaros: "Rick Tocchet thinks I'm awesome."

Michael Leighton: "I literally broke my back carrying this team to the Cup Finals last year, cut me some slack...seriously I'm LTIR right now"

Matt Carle: "I saw the Dallas Stars were playing well, so I decided to imitate their defensemen, sadly I imitated them from last year." (Jason better love this one)

(Warning: Bad Pun Alert)
Blair Betts: "Never got an effective warmup in because Rick Tocchet thinks I'm the team bookie"

Danny Briere: "I kept looking to pass the puck to Hartnell, but I could never find him on the ice."



And there you have it

Flyers Nicknames: The First of my "Request" posts

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I an rather engaging of anyone who wants to talk. Hell, I'm on AIM at the screen name Down Goes Spezza for any one who wants to chat hockey (or criminal psychology) with me.

Late 90s Flyers from Alicia_44

Anyway since the season is starting soon, I have complied a list of nicknames of the Flyers nicknames in order to help you understand who I'm talking about during the season.

• Chris Pronger: God
  
  
• Kimmo Timonen: The Timonator
  
  
• Andrej Meszaros: Big Mesz, WHAT IN THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING HOLMGREN?
  
  
• Oskars Bartulis: Barty, Lil Latvian, the Ogre
  
  
• Michael Leighton: Leights, GODDAMMIT STOP SUCKING ALREADY!
  
  
• Brian Boucher: Bouch, oh god PLEASE NO ANYTHING BUT HIM AGAIN!
  
  
• Jeff Carter: Carts, Adulterer
  
  
• Scott Hartnell: Caveman, Carrot-top, Harts, 2 minute minor for...
  
  
• Nik Zherdev: whoopps he's gone...just disappeared again
  
  
• Darroll Powe: honestly, with a last name that awesome, he doesn't need a nickname
  
  
• Dan Carcillo: Trade Bait (guaranteed to attract a Sutter or Sather)
  
  
• Blair Betts: LTIR with Right Shoulder Injury, also Rick Tocchet's favorite player (Right DTV?)
  
  
• Bill Guerin: Billy G, Crosby's Ex
  
  
• Sergei Bobrovsky: Bob, oh my (a real) goalie!
  
  
• Claude Giroux: G, the Deke-master
  
  
• Braydon Coburn: Big C, Burner, BURN HIM!

Scott Hartnell Agrees to Waive his NTC, the Secret Reasons Why

So it just came out that Scott Hartnell agreed to waive his NTC last year in order to be traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Sheldon Souray. Now, it's mind boggling as to way anyone in their right mind would ever waive an NTC to be traded IN TO Edmonton, so the DGSSuperSpies were put ont the case. Needless to say, their findings were eye opening.

• Dan Carcillo told Hartnell, "Hey, Edmonton's not so bad, when I played in Phoenix, I had to visit Edmonton twice every year." *after Hartnell was out of earshot* "And I made sure to get suspended before every visit."
• Blair Betts, who's from Edmonton said, "As a Ranger, I got to spend summer's in Edmonton and the weather was like 65 degrees every day and sunny, it was nice" *After Hartnell left the room* "Thank god I got to play in the Eastern conference"
• Chris Pronger elbowed Hartnell in the head and said "Edmonton's awesome" before laughing uncontrollably.
• Jeff Carter said, "Trust me dude, it'll be great for your career, showing your tough enough to play in Edmonton. Just don't bring Lisa, she's gonna hate the fact that I'm not...uhh...weather is bad in Edmonton. *Jeff then left to meet Lisa Hartnell and inform her of the great news*
• Danny Briere tried to talk to Hartnell about this, but no one noticed the Hab-sized center as he's too short.

And of course, the dialog between Paul Holmgren and Scott Hartnell.

Paul Holmgren: Hey Scott, glad you could see me.

Scott Hartnell: Urgh me happy to see you to.

Paul: Well, we have a possible trade upcoming, and I need you to waive your NTC

Scott: Where do me go?

Paul: Well, uhh, the Western Conference, though sadly, you're being traded to a team that has no hope in the playoffs.

Scott: Sound not fun. Do me get trade to Shark?

Paul: Not the Sharks.

Scott: Loss Angels Kings, they has fun name Koptar.

Paul: Not the Kings, they wouldn't give us Jon Quick in return

Scott: Calgary Flam? They from close to mine cave.

Paul: Uhh, close actually. We want to trade you to Edmonton.

Scott: Ed-mon-ton?

Paul: Yes, we will be receiving Sheldon Souray in return for you.

Scott: Why do me need to trade to Edmonton?

Paul: Yes, the Edmonton Oilers, but don't worry. They promised that they will never play another game in Edmonton

Scott: Sound like good. Hartnell get angry when playing in Oiler.

Moving Forward Part 1: The Center of attention

Well, in order to complete my series on the Flyers for next year, I'm gonna look at the forwards. In order to not drive myself crazy, we're gonna do this by position. Up first the centers.

Mike Richards

1 high/1 low

High: Scored a career high in goals in 09-10

Low: Scored exactly 0 3 on 5 short handed goals thereby not extending the one NHL record he has.

Prediction for 10-11: Richards will be....RELENTLESS

Jeff Carter

1 high/1low

High: Kept up a great scoring pace that put the entire NHL to shame.

Low: Forgot how to score while ON the ice.

Prediction for 10-11: Carter will have a scoring touch, whether it's in the bedroom or on the ice is still to be determined.

Danny Briere:

High: Proved he's got a bit of toughness by actually dropping the gloves with Marc Vlasic of the Sharks during a game. Oh yeah, he was kinda successful during the playoffs too.

Low: His cap his is WHAT?!?!?!?!

Prediction for 10-11: Will become the new Simon Gagne, and not in the way we want him too. Luckily, this will all be forgiven when we find a way to trade him with Big Mesz to the Flames for Iggy and Kipper.

Blair Betts:

High: Who didn't love his penalty killing?

Low: His shoulders.

Prediction for 10-11: Will be the best PK guy in the NHL, with shoulders that make Randy Orton's look healthy.

High:

Flyers Summer 2010 Offseason Needs, Part 1

So, with the season over, and sometime to digest the second place finish in the NHL. I will once again say this, congratulations to the Philadelphia Flyers, winners of the Prince of Wales trophy.

Well, with the season officially over, one must now look at the upcoming offseason, so I’m going to post what the Flyers need. For the record, I get all of my salary cap numbers from here so if you need to dispute me on something, that’s my source.

Now in order to start this, I'm gonna look at the 09-10 forwards based on the last lineup the Flyers dressed:


Gagne-Richards-Carter
Hartnell-Briere-Leino
JvR-Giroux-Asham
Powe-Betts-Lappy

Scratches: Carcillo, Cote, Laliberte, Nodl, Ross

How I think 10-11 will shape up:

Hartnell-Briere-Leino (Seriously, after their Finals showing, how can this NOT be the top line)
Richards-Carter-Giroux (Giroux's pretty goals IMO bump him up)
Gagne-JvR-Asham (JvR's been taking shifts in practice at center, like Giroux in 09-10, third line reps will get him experience)
Powe/Nodl/Laliberte-Betts-Lappy

Asham's UFA but if he resigns for say...2 years 750K, I'd be really happy

Carcillo's an interesting case, I have an up and down relationship with him. Asham does everything Carbomb does, with more discipline and better hands, but Carcillo's got a unique energy about him that lends itself to playing in Philly, I'm willing to keep him around for no more than 1.3 Million, at the same time, if we can trade him and land someone like a true #1 goalie


That's right, I peg 11 or all 12 of the forwards to return next year. Scott Hartnell saved his butt by having the Finals that he did, that being said, in my humble opinion, I think he's also the most likely to be moved. More on that later.

Who's expendable

The Player: Scott Hartnell
Why Expendable: Didn't perform well during the season and doesn't fit Lavi's up tempo system
Why He'd Be Wanted: His postseason numbers
Possible Destination: Toronto for Tomas Kaberle, Boston for Tim Thomas, Montreal for a first round draft pick or PK Subban, San Jose (Assuming Nabby stays and Marleau walks) for Thomas Greiss

The Player: Brian Boucher
Why Expendable: His regular season numbers
Why He'd Be Wanted: His 5 playoff games against the Devils
Possible Destination: Montreal, Dallas, San Jose, Chicago
To Montreal: For Carey Price in order to allow the Habs the cap space to keep Halak
To Dallas: for a 2nd round draft pick and a decent prospect D-man
To Chicago: For Dustin Byfuglien, I might be dreaming here but as WWEh noticed, the 'Hawks have massive cap problems next year and they could save ~$2 million
To San Jose: Assuming Nabby leaves and Marleau stays, the Sharks need a goaltender who comes cheap, that's Boucher, the Flyers could hopefully get a 4th round pick and a decent D-man for him

The Player: Andreas Nodl
Why Expendable: Too much depth at forward
Why He'd be Wanted: Solid depth forward, never will be above third line status, comes cheap
Possible Destination: Toronto, Montreal, Tampa Bay, Florida
To Toronto: oh wait, sorry, Burke won't trade for a European
To Montreal: The Habs DID trade for Scott Gomez...so, yeah...maybe Nodl goes here
Tampa Bay: Matt Smaby could play D for us, but honestly, TBL has nothing I'd really be interested in...other than Vinny, but a package of Hartnell, Nodl and Boucher for Vinny...seems fair to me...DTV is gonna shoot himself now...



The Needs:

this is easier to look at:

A real third D-pair
a real goalie


Later this week, I plan on doing a free agency based post with where the Flyers should go

Why Losing Game 1 is NOT the end of the world

Real simple idea behind this post. It's some reasons why losing game 1 was not the end of the world for the Flyers. I don't intend to have any wit or sarcasm in this post, but hey, things happen and maybe something funny will pop up.

1. After being out of it for 8 days the Flyers showed a lot of rust early on, that should come off as the series goes on.

2. The Flyers proved that Rask is beatable. Rask isn't as inhuman as some make him out to be, in related news, the guy who drafted this guy is a genius. (whoops, I meant JFJ is a moron for trading him.)

3. Dan Carcillo can stay in control of himself and play solidly.

4. The Powe/Betts/Nodl line has a lot of potential as checkers.





Things that the Flyers need to win:

1. Brian Boucher needs to not dip into one of his cold streaks.

2. The Flyers need to win faceoffs

3. The Flyers need to keep traffic in front of Rask

4. While I don't wish injuries on anyone, the Flyers need to take advantage of the lack of Sobotka, and Sturm and get to Boston in Game 2.

5. Richards/Pronger need to rally the troops and keep the team unified.

6. Danny Briere needs to be more responsible in the defensive zone, I'm not asking for Selke award winning stuff, but he needs to be in the right place at the right time.

Uh-oh

Just got word from the Flyers, no Gagne, no Carter tomorrow night.

This spells trouble for the Flyers, look for Leino and one of the call-ups to be in the line up.

My picks for line combos:

Carcillo-Richards-Briere
Hartnell-Giroux-JVR
Leino-Powe-Asham
Laperriere-Betts-[Nodl/Kalinski/Laliberte]

the D will remain the same, and Boucher will be in net again.


Also: since both Gagne and Carter play the PP and PK, this is how those units should look

PP1

Up Front: Carcillo-Richards-Giroux
Blue-Line: Pronger-Timonen

PP2
Up Front: Hartnell-Briere-JVR
Blue-Line: Carle-Coburn [though expect Pronger to play the whole 2 minutes]

PK1
Up Front: Betts/Lappy
D-men: Pronger/Carle

PK2
Up Front: Richards/Hartnell
D-Men: Timonen/Coburn



My opinion here is that Homer's playing this one safe, losing in NJ isn't that important with Game 6 back in Philly.

Keep rocking the Orange


EDIT:
Gagne's out 3 weeks, Carter's out 6, this is NOT good. Hopefully the rest of the team can pick it up though. Flyers have depth, and that helps.