One final note from NHL All-Star Weekend, as James Mirtle reports what it was like for a blogger covering the all-star game. He may have had a bad seat, but the NHL allowing on press row at all is another great step in the right direction. [From the Rink]

Near darkness, no television monitor to watch the action, a scoreboard obstructed by lights and players the size of ants. Not to mention the fact a large portion of the ice surface wasn’t visible from my little black stool at the far end of the rink.

Not that I’m complaining — far from it. Given I was there for (a) the access to players and (b) the experience, this spot suited me just fine. It is worth noting, however, that the experience of “blogging” from the press box is quite a bit different than covering an event as a reporter from The Globe and Mail.

All sections of the press box are not created equal, and at the all-star game, it was the 100 to 175 spots that seemed to be the worst. Prior to that, there were padded chairs, televisions for almost every writer and, most notably, a much better view.

The AHL All-Star Game was held last night in Worcester, Mass. and one of our guys was the main attraction. Jared Ross picked up MVP honors by notching an all-star record six assists and seven points total to lead the PlanetUSA team past Team Canada, 14-11. [phantomshockey.com]

Puck Daddy runs down the NHL’s worst contracts, and Danny Briere makes his cut. I can’t say I disagree with him right now. Healthy Danny needs to prove his worth. [Puck Daddy]

Too soon? Probably. What makes this contract sting is the redundancy, as the Philadelphia Flyers have seen Mike Richards and Jeff Carter cement themselves at center while Briere battled inconsistency and injuries. That said, he had nine points in nine games this season, and can no doubt be an offensive producer on the wing for this team. You just wonder whether the Flyers would have reallocated the $6.5 million for a sniper and a solid defenseman rather than a free-agent Briere.

Comcast is offering NHL Network video on demand, like highlights, condensed games, and programs like NHL On The Fly for free to NHL Network subscribers. Cool. [Kukla's Korner]

And last but certainly not least, the Spectrum could meet its final demise on New Years Eve. [philly.com]

Almost exactly a year after announcing the project, Ed Snider still doesn’t know exactly when construction will begin on the new hotel, retail and entertainment complex that will fill the space after the Spectrum is knocked down. And he doesn’t know exactly when the demolition of the old place will begin.

But they are considering a pretty interesting idea.

“Tentatively, New Year’s Eve,” said Lou Scheinfeld, the original Spectrum executive who came back to shepherd the yearlong closing of the building. “At least that’s my idea right now.”

Sam Carchidi of the Inquirer has the scoop.

Earl Greene was charged with causing and risking a catastrophe, possession of an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering another person, disrupting a public event, and disorderly conduct by throwing a smoke bomb onto the ice, according to Philadelphia Police Detective Eric Johnson.

Greene, 25, was awaiting arraignment last night and could not be reached for comment.

Another man was being questioned yesterday, Johnson said.

If Greene is found guilty, a judge will determine the fine and possible jail time, Johnson said.

At the time of the incident, several witnesses said they saw two males wearing Flyers jerseys running toward the concourse of Sections 111/112.

Johnson said “quite a few” Flyers fans spoke to Wachovia Center security personnel and identified the seats in which the suspects had been sitting.

“They put us in the right direction,” Johnson said.

And let’s hope this guys never sets foot in our building again.

I’ve decided I’m not going to post the original Klotz video. It’s really just too horrific to watch and if you didn’t see it, good for you. If you’re sadistic and really want to see it I’m sure you can find it, but honestly, I woke up last night thinking about it. Don’t watch it.

There is a cleaned up version that aired on TSN last night, so I will post that. It shows the fight without the gruesome aftermath. Here is the link to the article — the video is on the right hand side.

More on Peter Forsberg in a column from Chuck Gormley of the Courier Post. He basically supports the same opinion I talked about the other day.. just say no to the man. An excerpt from his column, which ran this morning.

Holmgren revealed in a conference call Thursday that he has spoken with Forsberg about his latest comeback attempt and has kept in touch with his agent, Don Baizley.

It is difficult to gauge how much a healthy Forsberg would command on the open market, but since the Colorado Avalanche paid him $1.1 million last season for 42 days, it’s a safe bet the Flyers could get him for about the same price.

Which begs these three questions: Why? Why? Why?

In his prime, Forsberg was an absolute force capable of winning playoff series by himself. But that was 10 years ago, before he signed with the Flyers in 2005 and began a three-year injury odyssey that included abbreviated stops in Nashville and Colorado, along with countless trips to foot surgeons and skate manufacturers.

Since having his foot surgically reconstructed in the summer of 2006, Forsberg has played in 66 NHL games in 2 1/2 seasons. After signing with the Avalanche late last season, he played in only nine of their 18 games and missed three more  playoff games.

Granted, a Flyers lineup with Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Danny Briere and Forsberg down the middle would be pretty formidable in the playoffs.

But does anyone really believe Forsberg will be anything more than a distraction on a team that has its best chemistry in years?

Glad to see I’m not the only one who feels that way.

Holmgren must forget Forsberg (Courier Post)
Phantoms forward Klotz suffers seizure after fight (TSN.ca)

I once sat next to John Buccigross at a Quinnipiac hockey game. Given that QU is in Connecticut, just 30 minutes from Bristol where ESPN is headquartered, it’s pretty much the only competitive hockey close to ESPN. So, Bucci brought his sons to the game. I didn’t want to talk to him during the game because I was afraid of bothering him (regretable, I should’ve at least said hi, but whatever), but I could tell that he has a passion for hockey. It comes out in his weekly column on ESPN.com, and in this week’s column, it’s clear he feels Flyers fans share that same passion.

In terms of passion and priorities, no American city can probably match any of the six Canadian cities. But, as I’ve written in this space many times, I believe Philadelphia is the premier hockey city in the United States in terms of the personality of its fan base. I think it’s the most loyal, passionate and supportive. A big reason for this is that the Flyers are a five-star organization in terms of how they treat players and chairman Ed Snider’s desire and passion to win.

The Flyers had a bad stretch in the early ’90s, but other than that, they have always had good and spirited teams. It’s just a very interesting vibe when you see a Flyers game in person. You can feel the fans’ presence make its way down to the ice.

St. Paul, Minn., certainly would be among the top cities because it is the epicenter of hockey passion in the United States. Nowhere is the culture of hockey participation greater than Minnesota. It is practically Canadian in that regard. From an NHL fan standpoint, fans there have bought every ticket to every Wild game despite not having a face of the franchise and playing a style that is, well, pretty boring. But I’m gonna give Philly the nod because the Flyers have been around longer and their history has been so compelling and interesting.

As expected, the NHL’s leader in scoring was named as a reserve to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team today. Jeff Carter is a first-time all-star.

The East and West have alternated wins since 2003 when the Conference vs Conference was re-implimented, and if that pattern holds true, the West will win in 2009. But this is one of the scariest looking Eastern rosters in recent memory. Along with Carter are Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Eric Staal, Zach Parise, Dany Heatley, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Marc Savard, just to name a few.

If you ask me, Kimmo Timonen and Mike Richards were snubbed… but let’s not get started with the whole all-star voting process. We know it’s a joke, and there are more important things to worry about.

Like, for example, what to do about the salary cap situation when Danny Briere comes back. He could be back in the next week or two, and when he is inserted back into the lineup, the Flyers will be well over the cap. Could we see a trade? There have been rumors that perhaps Glen Metropolit or Scottie Upshall will be shown the door, but it seems Holmgren is trying to find a way around making a trade. He may have started his manuvering today when defenseman Lasse Kukkonen was placed on waivers. It’s his second trip to the waiver wire this season.

Thirdly, tonight’s game between the Flyers and Wild will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet as usual, but tonight will be a little different.

Comcast SportsNet, the leader in local sports coverage, takes viewers backstage throughout Thursday’s Flyers game broadcast against the Minnesota Wild. Beginning at 7 p.m., this all-access game broadcast will take fans behind the dashers to see the Flyers’ game-day preparations, from the players’ arrival at the arena to the lights going out at the end of the night.

In addition to live game action, the broadcast will feature behind-the-scenes access to player warm-ups, equipment, ice and arena preparations, last-minute coaching decisions and in-game activities in the press box where the Flyers beat reporters cover the action. Viewers will also see how Comcast SportsNet prepares for each game broadcast. Featured players and executives include Scott Hartnell, Mike Knuble, Riley Cote, John Stevens, Paul Holmgren and Peter Luukko.

– Flyers team release

As a broadcasting major and a complete nerd for these types of things, I’m pumped about this. Hopefully, though, it doesn’t take away from the actual game broadcast.

When the Flyers had their worst season in franchise history two years ago, we all knew that, as much as it sucked, we’d get that great prize that every bad team gets to look forward to: an early draft choice.

Our prize was Middletown, NJ native James van Riemsdyk, who the Flyers took with the second-overall pick in the 2007 draft. The strong left winger is now a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire, and his play at UNH has been more than impressive. In his freshman season last year, Riemer was third on the Wildcats in scoring, with 11 goals and 23 assists totaling 34 points. The two players who finished ahead of him were seniors, and with their graduation this season the Flyer prospect has taken over his team. In just 17 games he has 26 points, just five behind the nations’ best scorer, Brian Leitch of Quinnipiac, who has 31.

Riemer has taken his hot college play to the international ranks as well. In the recently completed World Junior Championships, he was Team USA’s second-leading scorer, notching six goals and four assists in just six games. While the US finished a disappointing fifth in the tournament, van Riemsdyk scored a beautiful (not to mention ballsy) OT-game winner in the final game against the Czechs.YouTube, with hat tips to Puck Daddy and The 700 Level.

But despite all of van Riemsdyk’s apparent accomplishments as a college and international player thus far, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren doesn’t seem happy.

Read the rest of this entry »

So back on December 26th when they Flyers started their annual holiday road trip, we all would’ve hoped for a better record than 2-2-2. We thought, “well, Columbus and Los Angeles are two certain wins, and Vancouver, Anaheim and Chicago were certainly winnable. Washington? We beat them 7-1 less than a month ago, we could do it again. Well, it didn’t really go as planned. Columbus got their first ever win against the Flyers, and lowly Los Angeles picked up a shootout victory. But this isn’t bad.

Before the trip, the Flyers sat in second place in the Atlantic Division at 19-8-7, good for 45 points, just two behind the Rangers. If you remember, New York had like 18 games in hand over us (okay, it was three), and the six games in 12 days the Flyers played on this trip helped with in catching up to the Rangers. At the close of the trip, they still have one game in hand and are tied in points with 41, an improvement from the start of the trip.

The first-place Flyers also have taken a gigantic lead over fourth-place Pittsburgh, but that’s in thanks to the fact that they lost five straight (tee hee), with a 6-1 loss to Florida highlighting the bunch. The Pens have gone 2-5 since Christmas, picking up only four of 14 possible points, and their tail spin has dropped them out of the playoff picture, let alone the Atlantic race.

The biggest concern for the Flyers right now has to be the third place team, though, the Devils. They dropped a game tonight to the Hurricanes 3-2, but were the only team to gain ground on the Flyers in the division race since Christmas. They went 4-3-0, earning eight of 14 possible points, gaining two points on Philly. They now sit two points back with a game in hand, meaning that if they win that contest we could have a three way tie atop the Atlantic.

Now many would still say the Flyers 2-2-2 mark on the road was a disappointment, but given the amount of injuries the team suffered during their Western excursion, it’s more than an admirable feat.

So it’s been a ridiculously hectic two weeks thanks to Christmas and New Years and all things holiday related, and as wonderful as this time of year is, it’s always a relief when it ends.  Since so much time has been missed around here, and since quite a few things have happened in Flyerland and around the NHL, a good recap is in order. So without further adieu, all things Flyers hockey since December 23rd.

The Good

First Place Flyers: Picking up a point last night in Los Angeles, the Flyers passed the Rangers in points to give themselves sole possession of first place. With a 50-49 lead, the Flyers also still have one game in hand over New York.

Over the past two weeks, the Flyers have compiled a 3-2-1 record with wins over Ottawa, Vancouver, and Anaheim, a shootout loss in Los Angeles, and losses in Columbus and Chicago.

Jeff Carter is God. He was named NHL 2nd Star of December and he leads the NHL in goals with 27. This guy wasn’t even on the all-star ballot!?! While he had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard last night in LA, he was the most dynamic player on the ice.

The goaltending has also been pretty darn good, with both Marty Biron and Antero Niittymaki having good games on this road trip. It doesn’t feel like we have good goaltending, probably because this is Philadelphia and we never have good goaltending, but pinch yourself… we do.

The best game of this trip entertainment wise was probably the Vancouver game, but resiliency wise, the best was last night against Los Angeles. The team was a makeshift jumble of players playing out of their normal positions and the sole fact that they battled to get the point was pretty special.

The Bad

A 3-0 loss to Columbus back on the 27th was the Flyers first loss to Columbus… ever. That’s right, in seven previous meetings with the Blue Jackets, the Flyers had compiled a record of 4-0-3, with all three of those being ties, not shootout losses. Even worse though is that this is one Columbus team the Flyers should not have lost to. This game would be the first

It was the first time the Flyers were shutout in 76 games, including last years playoffs, dating back to February 17 of 2008 in Montreal, a 1-0 loss.

Chicago is a resurgent hockey club, and while it’s nice to see NHL hockey thriving in the Second City again, we don’t want it to happen against our team. The Blackhawks beat the Flyers 5-2 in Chicago on the 26th in a game we’ll simply chalk up to a Christmas hangover.

The team is really banged up. Kimmo Timonen is playing with a chipped bone in his foot, Scott Hartnell is playing hurt, Upshall just returned from injury, and Simon Gagne is out a week with a shoulder injury sustained against Vancouver. Claude Giroux was elbowed by Anaheim’s Corey Perry, who received a five game suspension for the hit to the head. [YouTube] Joffrey Lupul is also hurt, while Danny Briere is still out.

The Ugly

Disney on Ice forces the Flyers (and Sixers) out of the Wachovia Center for two weeks, and the schedule at the front end of the road trip doesn’t treat the Flyers well. It’s bad enough that the team has to be away from home for two weeks just after Christmas, but its even worse that they have to start the road trip on back-t0-back nights in Columbus and Chicago. Paraphrasing Braydon Coburn, he said the schedule may have had something to do with the way the team played. Some might say excuses, but after a couple of days off the Flyers played a really entertaining game in Vancouver, and they were able to hold on for the victory, 3-2.

The Weird

Sidney Crosby wins a fight? Okay… not really a fight. He jumped the guy. It’s cute that the Pittsburgh announcers sound proud… wimps. [YouTube]

Boston lost? At home? To… Buffalo? Yeah, yesterday, weird. I didn’t know they could lose. Of course, we haven’t played them yet and thanks to that awesome NHL scheduling, we don’t until February.

Around the League

As mentioned, the Flyers took first place from the Rangers last night, and were helped in large part by a Ranger team that hasn’t been all that scary in the past few weeks. In their past five games, the Blueshirts are an ugly 1-3-1, with the lone win coming against the lowly Islanders (a squeaker even, 5-4). In those five games, Scott Gomez has only one goal and two assists, Nikolai Zherdev has only one goal and three assists, and Markus Naslund has just two goals. Henrik Lundqvist, the sail to the Ranger boat, hasn’t played well at all, allowing 16 goals in four of those five games that he started. The Rangers are proof that when your best players aren’t playing as your best players, you don’t win hockey games.

What’s an Islanders?

Pittsburgh is another team that is suffering without production from its top goal scorers. Crosby can’t score to save his life right now, and Malkin isn’t performing much better. The goaltending hasn’t been good since Marc-Andre Fleury returned to the lineup, and he was pulled yesterday in the Pens 6-1 loss to the Panthers (haha). They have fallen out of the playoff picture (haha x2) and sit in 9th with 42 points… eight behind the Flyers.

The Devils are the only team that still concerns me in the Atlantic at this moment in time. Scott Clemmensen is still performing unbelievably well in Martin Brodeur’s absence, and with a win today against Ottawa at home, the Devils can move within one point of the Flyers with a game in hand over us. Go Sens.

Looking Ahead

The Flyers have a big game against the Capitals to close out the trip on Tuesday night in DC. It should be a good one and hopefully the Flyers get some guys back from injury.

The Flyers announced today that Scottie Upshall is going to miss 10 to 14 days with a shoulder injury. Awesome. We’re already down a forward with the absence of Glen Metropolit, and we don’t know exactly when he’s going to return.

With Upshall out and three bruisers taking roster spots, the forward lines look pretty damn bad. Of course, the top two units of Gagne-Richards-Knuble and Lupul-Carter-Hartnell are doing just fine (Carts was named the NHL’s second star of the week, in fact), but the rest of the lineup doesn’t shape up too well.

The bottom three forward lines, before the injuries:

Upshall - Metropolit - Asham
Cote - Powe - Nodl

Asham had his best game as a Flyer against Montreal. He was all over the ice and he had good chemistry with his linemates in the offensive zone, scoring a goal on a nice set up from Upshall and almost scoring on a shot that deflected and broke the glass behind the net. That line was probably the Flyers best in Montreal, but how quickly two games can change things, as Asham has lost both of his linemates to the injury bug.

My guess at the bottom two forward lines, after the injuries:

Nodl - Kalinski - Asham
Cote - Powe - Gratton

Ouch. The Cote line isn’t all that bad for an energy line. I love the element Darroll Powe brings to the lineup. He’s quick and always physical, and he’s even had a few scoring chances. Gratton really brings nothing to the table, though. I do not understand why he’s on the team, barring injuries. His role is filled by two other guys. He isn’t needed.

Let’s compare those third lines though. Nodl has just three points — all assists — in 24 NHL games. He had chances with the big club, but his lack of a quality line partner and his limited minutes just shattered his confidence, and he was ultimately sent down last Friday in favor of Gratton. Well, he’s back, and maybe his confidence will be up and he can grab that first goal, but I wouldn’t count on too much production from the young man.

Jon Kalinski has played seven games with the Flyers this season and he’s yet to register a point. In fact, in 23 games with the Phantoms he’s only got seven points. Why is this guy with the team again? Isn’t Claude Giroux lighting up the AHL? Don’t wanna bring him up this early in his career? Fair enough, where’s Jared Ross? 

We’ve got two lines of all-stars and two lines of AHLers. Great.

Because how is it that the Philadelphia Flyers are fourth in attendance and yet have just one player (Kimmo Timonen) among the leaders in the East? –  Yahoo!’s Puck Daddy, asking why we don’t stuff the ballot boxes like Pens and Habs fans.

It’s probably because we realize the all-star game and it’s voting are a complete joke and we’d rather spend our Saturday nights meeting girls instead of sitting in front of a computer hitting the same button 500 times.