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- The Final Numbers

Hartnell Down ended at 330, over 90 games, meaning he fell 3.3 times a game, or 1.1 times a period.




Other things involving 3.3 in the NHL:

-The average amount of goals per period allowed through the 5-hole of Michael Leighton

-Number (in millions of US Dollars) Glen Sather will overpay for a player.

-Amount of times Pierre McGuire says "leadership" per sentence when talking about MIKE "OMG LEADERSHIP!!1111!1!11!" Richards

-Amount of times, per shift, Jeff Carter shoots high and wide

-Amount of dives Robert Luongo takes per period

-Amount of headshots Matt Cooke gave me while I wrote this post

-Amount of goalie changes Peter Laviolette makes per post season game.

-Amount of healthy players the Flyers had left for game 4 against Boston.

-Amount of time, in seconds, Nikolay Zherdev gave a crap about defense during the entire regular season

-Amount of time, in seconds, Nikolay Zherdev was lazy during the post-season






Versteeg Down (18 for round 2; 26 for round 1 for a playoff total of 44)

44 by numbers:

-The number worn by Kimmo Timonen; the Finnish God of Defense

-The amount of time, in minutes, that Chris Pronger was fully healthy during playoffs

-The amount of shots, needed to score 45 goals, on the Flyers goaltending this year

-Amount of time, in years, before Paul Holmgren decides that goaltending is important

-Amount of headshots occurring per period in every NHL playoff game...if you trust people's reactions via Twitter

-Amount of time, in hours, Sean Avery can go without saying something stupid

-Amount of time, in seconds, it will take Glen Sather to overpay for a free agent on July 1

-Amount of new rumors, per day, linking big name UFA's Brad Richards and Christian Ehrhoff to the Toronto Maple Leafs

-Amount of rumors, per hour, claiming Tampa Bay is going to trade their captain, Vincent Lecavalier.

-Measure, in inches, of Tim Thomas's waist

-Amount of PIMs Chris Pronger had in 2010-11.

-Amount of elbows to head Chris Pronger throws per game

The Flyers Dictionary Translated

Many people were annoyed by the Chris Pronger injury situation. The Flyers kept announcing him as day-to-day (possibly with hurt feelings) and people didn't really understand why Chris Pronger missed so much time. Now, see the Paul Holmgren and the Flyers speak their own version of the English language. Luckily, the DGS-SuperSpies found the code to deciphering it. For your benefit as a Flyers fan, we're including some key terms here with their "Normal English" meanings


When the Flyers Organization Says: A player is day to day with a wrist injury
They Actually Intend to Say: OH DEAR GOD! His arm..blown away...it's gonna be amputated

When the Flyers Organization Says: We like that he (Zherdev) tried to give some effort.
They Actually Intend to Say: Nikolay Zherdev is still a useless piece of crap.

When the Flyers Organization Says: Our goaltending is good enough to win.
They Actually Intend to Say: Our goaltending is good enough to win, provided we don't screw up anywhere else because the goalies aren't bailing us out of anything.

When the Flyers Organization Says: Andreas Nodl is day to day with an upper body injury.
They Actually Intend to Say: He's missing half his face, he looks like some sort of Batman villain right now.

When the Flyers Organization Says: We haven't named a starting goalie.

They Actually Intend to Say: We don't have a starting goalie.

When the Flyers Organization Says: You just never know. You just need to keep your options open and keep a dialogue going with other teams, and you never know what can come up.
They Actually Intend to Say: DAMMIT! If a real true #1 goalie hit waivers, we are SO claiming him.

When the Flyers Organization Says: Typically you need your specialty teams to be effective in order to move on.
They Actually Intend to Say: But then team's like the Boston Bruins got out of the first round.

When the Flyers Organization Says: We're testing for a possible concussion.

They Actually Intend to Say: Matt Cooke decapitated our player, what else is new?

When the Flyers Organization Says: The injury update is pending further tests.

They Actually Intend to Say: Look he's dead, OK, stop asking. Funeral arrangements will come out tomorrow.

When the Flyers Organization Says: He's day to day.

They Actually Intend to Say: He's touch and go on life support in the ICU. No one's allowed to visit

When the Flyers Organization Says: We're always looking to improve the team.

They Actually Intend to Say: We're gonna add scorers and defense, but never a goalie.

When the Flyers Organization Says: We're looking forward to the draft.

They Actually Intend to Say: It's a great day for golf because we have no picks.

When the Flyers Organization Says: Michael Leighton is available to us.

They Actually Intend to Say: He's lost his god damn mind and he's in the facility, but in a padded room.

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.

Emptying the Mailbag: Real DGS emails...

If you follow me on twitter, facebook, or read the site, you know that I love to talk. You also know that I pride myself on being able to answer anything tossed my way related to hockey. Well, sometimes it gets to be too much, whether it's the trolls, the idiots on the Flyers facebook page or spambots, I've been totally cursed had the pleasure of dealing with some people who make me question the idea of "user friendly computers." Chances are, if you're reading this, you are NOT someone who sent me one of these emails. But if someone is reading this to you, well, you really shouldn't play with the computer unsupervised.


(Editor's Note: I won't reveal the names or email addresses of the senders for privacy reasons.)


10. "In http://downgoesspezza.com/2010/08/dgs-special-investigation-series-how.html, I tried to make the same trades on my PS3, they didn't work, you lied to me."

Because, yeah, it's my fault that your season simulation in be a GM mode didn't yield the same player growth that mine did...

9. "If you think Bobrovsky and Boucher are good enough for the playoffs, you're an idiot, this team needs Leighton, why won't you tell Lavi to call him up?"

Because Re-entry waivers...

8. "Jeff Carter only scores on Lisa Hartnell, you were right to finally tell us that. He totally sucks and should be traded"

This is a satire blog, that transcript was clearly marked as fictional, also, Jeff Carter has a higher shooting percentage than Alex Ovechkin.

7. "Wait, why no discussion of the Phillies?"

Yes, the guy who sent this was serious, I actually laughed him off thinking it was a joke...


6. "What do mean Ilya Kovalchuk's a true enforcer? He's only got 4-5 fights ever."

This Post: http://downgoesspezza.com/2010/10/ilya-kovalchuk-comes-clean-about-why-he.html

You REALLY think I'm being serious now don't you...


5. "I'm sick of Rangers fans like you thinking they know hockey..."

Oh for the love of...READ MY BIO

4. "Jeff Carter sucks, why do you keep defending him."

Well for one, shooting percentage doesn't lie...he's shooting BETTER than Ovechkin this year...

3. "The Flyers should trade Brian Boucher and get a real goalie" I pointed out the salary cap..."that doesn't matter, if they wanted it, they could do it" Ok, who would give up a real goalie for Brian Boucher "well, if Boucher was packaged with Zherdev and draft picks, then the Flyers could have Vokoun"...yeah because the fact that the Flyers couldn't GIVE Zherdev away on waivers means someone would trade for him without some sort of catastrophic incident...plus the picks don't exist due to the Meszaros and Versteeg trades

2. "Stop talking about this team like you know it, you're a god damn bangwagoner who's gonna jump ship ths second this team falls out of first place"

Yeah...right


1. "Crosby SUCKS!!!!!!!"

No, he doesn't...I hate him, but that doesn't take away the fact that he's one of the best players in the game today...

DGS Podcast Episode 8: Travis Hughes

New week; new podcast...still live and all.

Download and here
http://www.mediafire.com/?hu0vvw2cu3vec5y

Listen Here
http://www.mediafire.com/file/hu0vvw2cu3vec5y/Travis%20Podcast.mp3" width="250">


We talk about the Flyers playoff push, trade deadline, potential first round matchups and all around Flyers news with Travis Hughes of Broad Street Hockey.

Sadly due to an HTML issue, I can't embed it to listen here...that will be fixed hopefully tomorrow

DGS Podcast Episode 7: Steve Whyno

So here we go: DGS Podcast Uncensored, Uncut and Raw. Featuring Steve Whyno!




Steve writes for Philly Sports Daily


Topics we hit (in no real order)-

• Nik Zherdev
• Goalies
• RFAs UFAs and waivers (Link to article we reference)
• Flyers awesomeness
• Going all in

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)

What The Flyers Want For Christmas

Hey, it's getting close to Christmas and you know what that means. It's that time where people start making their lists of what they want. Needless to say the DGS SuperSpies were able to get a list of what some of the Flyers want for Christmas. In hopes that the gifts are received by the team, we've posted the list here for you to see.


Chris Pronger: I'm kinda hoping he's asking for me, but more realistically it's probably targets for his elbows to hit.

Peter Laviollette: A working power play unit.

Ville Leino: A new contract.

Claude Giroux: More grilled cheese sandwiches

Daniel Carcillo: That Nikolay Zherdev keeps being Nikolay Zherdev.

Sergei Bobrovsky: Getting a shutout, hopefully in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals

Brian Boucher: Employment, anywhere, just not in Russia

Eric Wellwood: To NOT become Kyle Wellwood

Nikolay Zherdev: Judging by his recent performances, I'd say he would like to learn how to pass

Mike Richards: PK Subban's head on a platter

Jeff Carter: Lisa Hartnell...wait no..sorry...Jeff wouldn't be asking for something he has...Jeff Carter wants the ability to not go high and wide

Scott Hartnell: Lisa Hartnell

Paul Holmgren: The ability to do math.

Darroll Powe: More time hanging out with guys like Max Lapierre.

Things The Flyers Are Thankful for this Thanksgiving

Have you ever wondered what the Flyers are thankful for this year? Guess what, the DGS superspies were able to find out.

Sergei Bobrovsky: "No English"

James van Riemsdyk: "That Nik Zherdev takes up Lavi's doghouse so no one notices that I suck"

Scott Hartnell: "My awesome wife Lisa"

Chris Pronger: "My Elbows"

Jeff Carter: "Lisa Hartnell"

Brian Boucher: "The fact that fans still say my name even I suck"

Jody Shelley: "Paul Holmgren's way of thinking, he gave me one hell of a contract"

Andrej Meszaros: "I was thankful for getting out of Tampa, til I realized Rick Tocchet came to Philly too"

Claude Giroux: "The ability to score on the ice with my stick, ;-)"

Peter Laviollette: "Timeouts"

Paul Holmgren: "Glen Sather's continued employment- it makes me look good"

Michael Leighton: "Getting to spend time in upstate NY"

Drink Up! The Official Flyers 2010-2011 Drinking Game

In keeping up with my friends at Hoosier Hockey who wrote a post on an NHL drinking game, we here at Down Goes Spezza have come up with our own, Philadelphia Flyers drinking game.

(Warning: We don't drink at DGS, feel free to poke fun at what we come up with because of that.)

So here we go.

What you need:

Jack Daniels Whiskey
your favourite Vodka (Jason: my resident alcohol expert big stick tap for his help with the recipes, recomments Ultimat, I have also heard good things about Stoly and Absolut)
Cranberry Juice, Sprite and Coke and Orange Juice
Captain Morgan
heavy cream
Bottle Kahlua
Enough bottles of Sam Adams Boston Lager so that everyone playing has 1.
Champagne

How to "win": Last person standing wins.


When the game starts:

If Boucher is in net: pass out the bottles of Sam Adams in honor of the New Englander, Boucher. Make toast and take a sip.
If Bobrovsky is in net: Make a White Russian for everyone in the room, take a sip.
If Leighton is in net: Mix the sprite and cranberry juice and chug it. We start drinking alcohol "Leight"er.

If it's a Flyers home game: continue sipping your Sam Adams with every "BOOSH!" chant in the Wells Fargo Center.

With the other goalies:

Drink your White Russian every time Bobs gives up a deflection goal
Make a sea breeze and drink that everytime Leighton forgets to close his 5-hole. (Note: First person to yell "close your legs Leighton!" does not need to drink)

(Amy's Note: If Matt keeps the bad puns up, I will revoke his posting privilege.)

Now:

Every time Daniel Carcillo takes a stupid penalty: Pass shots of Jack around.

If Jeff Carter scores: Pop the champagne and toast to Carter scoring on something other than Lisa Hartnell

When Jeff Carter misses wide: Use vodka and orange juice to make one screw driver. First person to make the comment of "But Carter scores on Mrs. Hartnell" chooses who has to chug said screw driver.

When Jody Shelley fights someone: Make a round of mimosas for the whole crew. Everyone has to drink it because NONE of you are as tough as Jody Shelley.

When Chris Pronger elbows someone:
If he's called for it, shots of vodka for everyone in honor of what the victim of said elbow will be doing to forget the pain.
If he's uncalled for it: Attempt to steal your neighbors starting goaltender drink without being caught, if you pull this off, your neighbor has to finish said drink after you inform of it. If you fail, you must finish all of your drinks for it.


If Nik Zherdev takes a shift where he gives crap: Have your favorite non-alcoholic drink of choice
When Nik Zherdev stops giving a shit: Pick up random alcoholic drink: have some to forget about why Zherdev sucks.

When Andrej Meszaros makes a bad pass, or is caught out of position, or turns the puck over: Face palm, grab 2 shots of vodka, drink up. Hope that when you wake up forget how terrible he is. (Note: If someone jokes that Ryan Parent is better, the first person to make said joke does not need to drink. Also, if someone wishes for Ryan Parent back, they are officially cut off from drinking and should be taken to the nearest hospital.)


Last person standing wins.


(EDITORS NOTE: WARNING! PARTAKE IN THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 21 IT IS ILLEGAL IN THE UNITED STATES TO PLAY THIS GAME. ALSO, DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE. FINALLY, DGS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING YOU DO WITH REGARDS TO PLAYING THIS GAME.)

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!

Welcoming the Flyers new AHL team: Tampa Bay Lightning

No seriously, look at the Bolts these days, all their Flyers related history. It's almost odd how the Flyers turned the Bolts into an extra AHL team, and how the Bolts kinda play like an AHL team these days too. I mean look at the Lawton/Tocchet era. Even the coaching staff currently has come Flyers connections. The head coach is some guy named Boucher, and as a long time Flyers fan, the name Boucher means a lot to me, mainly because he didn't totally suck this year when we needed him most, games 1 and 5 of the Finals not withstanding (don't worry Brian, I'll judge you based on the result of this series). Boucher's assistant, Dan Lacroix from the 1997 Dan Line of Dan Lacroix, Scott Daniels, and Dan Kordic.

The current Bolts line up features two Flyers rejects.

Let's see, when looking at future talent, the Bolts top agitator is Steve Downie, a guy who's so undisciplined and off the wall that even the Flyers wouldn't even keep him.

The blue line has former Flyer Randy Jones anchoring it's third pair, a guy so bad he lost his job to Ryan Parent/Oskars Bartulis.

Then I realized something, this Bolts/Flyers connection has gone back to the mid 90s.

The historical examples

• When the Legion of Doom failed, Mikael Renberg was sent down to the Bolts in favor of Chris Gratton
• When Gratton didn't help, he was sent down to give Renberg a 2nd chance
• Sean Burke made his way to the Flyers a couple times in his career, he too spent time with the Bolts when he lost his A-game
• Vinny Prospal got shipped between the Flyers/Bolts quite a few times.
• After Antero Niitymaki sucked for the Flyers, he was sent down to the Bolts.
• When Steve Eminger couldn't hack it in Philly, he was traded with Downie for Matt Carle
• Simon Gagne and Randy Jones now join those ranks.

As for the future, I've obtained some exclusive pictures of the future of these franchises.

Being sent down to the Bolts:









Being Called up to the Orange and Black







Ok, I shall wake up now and stop dreaming. (DTV, you can stop crying now this was work of fiction, please don't sue me)

This Left Feels Right: Wings that is

Today, we start looking at the Flyers wings. Like my pieces on goaltending, defense, and centers, we're gonna talk about the wings.


Dan Carcillo: Should be an effective player during the 4 minutes of time he gets to show his talents when not in the penalty box or serving a suspension. Should be traded at the deadline with the worst defensemen we have to the Maple Leafs for Luke Schenn, ala Downie/Eminger for Matt Carle.

Riley Cote: Unlike Brett Favre, I expect Riley to stay retired.

Claude Giroux: The little guy is gonna step up his game, finally bringing his playmaking skills to the regular season as well as the playoffs. If not, well, then he won't get a pick RFA payday at the end of the year.

Scott Hartnell: Hopefully will speed up due to the lack of resistance of the hair that he finally cut.

Ian Laperriere: Should find a clever way to break his face during the season even though he will be wearing a shield.

Ville Leino: If he's the 2nd coming of Gagne, then I will stop hating the Gagne trade, and replace it with great disdain.

Darroll Powe: Will hopefully be the new Arron Asham type player, in that he can score 10-12 goals, and hopefully be effective as a role player. Will kill penalties with a Betts-like effectiveness, no jokes here.

Jody Shelley: AHL Bus please, but will probably be a more expensive Cote. Hopefully he scores at the same pace with the Flyers, that he scored against the Flyers last year...then I won't totally hate him.*

Nik Zherdev: Back to Russia! Give me Simon!

James van Riemsdyk: Trade bait please? I'd deal him and Meszaros for Kaberle, too bad JFJ is no longer the Leafs GM.




*- Offer null and void if the guy gives me awesome fights.

Don't Trade Simon, Trade Carter instead

I think the title's pretty simple. Today I'm gonna make the case that the Flyers should trade C Jeff Carter over LW Simon Gagne.

Cap Hit
Gagne: 5.25
Carter: 5.0

Essentially even

Carter's younger, yes, and an RFA next year who's gonna cost 5.5-6.5 to keep. Gagne's a UFA but his cap hit should drop to the 3.3-3.7 range, this leaves the Flyers with $2-3 million to make a move.


Carter will bring back more than Gagne in a trade, Carter can bring in a true #1 goalie. You know, the thing that the Flyers haven't had since Ron Hextall.

The Flyers are stacked at center, losing Carter isn't all bad. We would still have Richards, Briere, Giroux, Powe, Betts...and there's talk of moving JvR to center as well.



Trades the Flyers should make, you know, if I were the GM:


Calgary's Sutter seems like a moron, so let's try this out

Meszaros and Zherdev $6 million against the cap to Calgary for Curtis Glencross and Cory Sarich (4.8 combined cap hits)

then again, if Iginla wants out of town... Big Mesz and Zherdev for Iggy (Sutter WOULD do that deal)




Ok, now, into the almost real world.


Jeff Carter and Brian Boucher to Los Angeles for Jon Bernier, Jarret Stoll

It could be a stretch, but Carter long term would produce far more than Stoll and Bernier is stuck behind Jon Quick, Boucher could fill the AHL starter post, and fill in for short bursts in the NHL should Quick or Erik Ersberg get hurt. Now the Flyers would only save 1.4 in regards to the cap here, but that should be fine. I wouldn't mind losing Carcillo and his stupid penalties, but keep Powe.

Remember Carter's good at scoring, with his teammates wives...(don't tell other GMs that last part.)

If Hartnell didn't have that damn NTC, we could trade him to Edmonton, yes, I hate him THAT MUCH.


But alas, in words of Mick Jagger, "You can't always get what you want" and that means I'll be soon mourning the loss of Simon Gagne