Flyers heed Laviolette's Message

A night after Flyers' head coach Peter Laviolette watch his team lose their 4th in their last 5 games, the Flyers responded with a win against Buffalo. After Monday's 2-1 defeat which saw the Flyers lose to yet another back-up goalie, Lavi chewed out his team, saying among other things they played mindless hockey. On tuesday the Flyers fell behind early, but were able to battle back and win 6-3 at home.

The Flyers game up an early goal, as they have often lately, to Tomas Vanek. However the Flyers leading scorer Danny Briere tallied his 6th of the season to tie it before the end of the 1st. The Flyers then scored 4 straight goals on one of the NHL top goaltenders in Ryan Miller. The Sabs battled back with 2 goals late in the 3rd but the game was iced away with Andreas Nodl's empty netter.

Flyers goals were scored by Briere, Zherdev, Powe, Giroux, Carter, and Nodl. Carter also tallied 2 assists, finishing with 3 points on the night. After fighting for his spot in training camp, Darroll Powe now has 2 goals this season, he finished with 9 goals in 63 games last season.

Andreas Nodl has played in 3 games this season and got his 1st goal last night, almost had a 2nd. Nodl is an excellent player in both ends and can play with any line on this Flyers teams. After his performance Tuesday it will interesting how Lavi decides to utilize the 23 year old. Nodl subbed for Dan Carcillo in all of his starts this season.

Sergei Bobrovsky got the start in net and bumped his record to 3-2-0. He saved 32 of 35 shots fired his way, giving up only 1 even strength goal. On the Powerplay Bobrovsky saved 1 of the 3 shots he saw.

Here are last night's highlights via NHLVideo

2010-2011 Stats

REGULAR SEASON - 82 GAMES

Goals
Carter - 36
Briere - 34
Giroux - 25
Hartnell - 24
Richards - 23
Versteeg - 21
van Riemsdyk - 21
Leino - 19

Assists
Giroux - 51
Richards - 42
Carle - 38

Points
Giroux - 76
Briere - 68
Carter - 66
Richards - 66

Wins
Bobrovsky - 28 (28-13-8)
Boucher - 18 (18-10-4)

GAA
Boucher - 2.42
Bobrovsky - 2.59

Save %
Boucher - .916
Bobrovsky - .915

* last updated April 10th

POST SEASON - 11 GAMES

Goals
Briere - 7
van Riemsdyk - 7

Assists
Giroux - 11
Richards - 6

Points
Giroux - 12
Briere - 9
Meszaros - 7
Richards - 7

Wins
Boucher - 4
Bobrovsky - 0

GAA
Boucher - 3.13
Bobrovsky - 3.23

Save %
Boucher - .904

Flyers face off against the Same "Old" Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres of the past decade have been known as a franchise who lives off of drafting and low paid players. Even though they live and die by their small name players, the Sabres have had a great deal of success in recent years.

Of those who have come through Buffalo on small pay that caught a huge payday else where, the Flyers leading scorer Danny Briere. Briere played for seasons with the Sabres after being acquired from the Yotes in a trade where Buffalo gave up Chris Gratton.

Now-a-days Buffalo thrive through their Olympic star goaltender, Ryan Miller. Miller was originally drafted by the Sabres in the 5th round of the 1999 entry draft. The Hobey Baker winner is currently playing in his 6th season with the team, he has never had a GAA of more than 2.75 in his career.

The Sabres constist of a good group of veterans and young guns. 36 year old, Craig Rivet, leads the Sabres on the back end and also where the captain's C. While Tyler Myers and Andrej Sekera are two of the brightest young defensemen in the league.

Their offense is led by Tomas Vanek, who was part of some off-ice fighting a few summers ago. Vanek was a restricted free agent, meaning the Sabs had the right to match an offer that was made on the winger, Edmonton started a bidding war that ended up with the Sabres paying the young Austrian over $7 million.

Rob Niedermayer was signed as a free agent to bolster the Sabs 4th line. Nathan Gerbe the small (5'6"), former Boston College captain, is a firecracker that is always giving 100% percent.

On the Flyers side
Sergei Bobrvsky will make the start in net, he is 2-2-0 with a GAA of 2.78.
Ville Leino scored the Flyers lone goal last night versus the Blue Jackets.
The Flyers have lost the last 4 of their past 5 games.

game is on at 7:30 on VS and CSN PHI. Live from Philadelphia.

One and Done for Mathieu Garon, Flyers lose 2-1

Blue Jackets goaltender Mathieu Garon improved his record to 2-0-0 after beating the Flyers tonight in Columbus. Kyle Wilson and Derek Brassard each scored as Garon stopped 28 of the 29 shots he saw in the win. The Flyers record falls to 3-4-1, after losing thier 4th in the last 5 games.

Ville Leino scored the only Flyers goal, on a tap in from infront. That was his 2nd of the season. The Flyers Powerplay was 0/2, while Columbus's was 1/5.

Brian Boucher saw his second straight start in net, however this one was very different from his start on Saturday. Boucher was spectacular stopping 23 of 25. The Flyers offense was the difference, they scored 5 goals on Saturday versus the Leafs, but tonight could only fight out 1 versus Garon.

Another cold night for Richards and Carter. These two have been around the net this season but only have a combined 3 goals. Carter's 2 goals came against the Avs in the Flyers home opener and Richards goal came versus the Leafs this past Saturday.

Laviolette spole after the game saying, "there's no energy" (unneeded quotations). This has been the storyline for this team so far. Aside from the season opener and the Leafs game, the Flyers have looked uninspired. It's time for someone to step up and put some life into this group.

This was the first and only meeting for the Flyers and Blue Jackets this season, meaning the Flyers lost the season series.

Tomorrow the Flyers head home to play Buffalo. Sergei Bobrovsky will get the start in net after sitting out the past two. The Flyers finished the preseason with 2 games versus the Sabres, they won one 3-1 and lost one 9-3.
Game is at 7:30 coverage can be seen on Versus.

Flyers Blue Jackets in-game Headlines

Brian Boucher gets his second straight start for the Flyers after beating the Leafs on saturday. Boucher's record this season is 1-1-1. He is opposed by Mathieu Garon, the former Edmonton Oiler. Garon's record is 1-0-0.

Flyers go with the same lines as Saturday's win:
Zherdev-Carter-Jvr, Powe-Richards-Giroux, Leino-Briere-Hartnell, Carcillo-Betts-Shelley.
Pronger-Carle, Timonen-Coburn, Meszaros-O'Donnell.
Boucher-Bobrovsky.

Old Faces
Former Flyers center, RJ Umberger, was signed 2 years ago by CBJ as a free agent. right after a spring where Umberger toar apart the Montreal Canadiens in the ECSF.

Jody Shelley was drafted by the Blue Jackets, (CSN Spoiler Alert) made his NHL debut with them in 2001. Nik Zherdev was a former 1st round pick of Columbus, but his inconstitant play ran him out of town.

Stats
Danny Briere enters the game as the Flyers leading goal scorer. He's had 5 goals in 7 games this season on a total of 28 shots. He has had a goal in all but 2 games this season.

RJ Umberger leads the Blue Jackets in goals with 4 in 7 games, he is also tied for the points lead with 5. 2 of his 4 goals have been shorthanded.

game is currently on CSN Philly. 4 minutes left in the 1st, 1-0 CBJ.

Flyers cut the Losing Streak, Hartnell cuts the Hair

Hartnell cut his "3-year" locks

The Flyers made the Philadelphia fans happy on a day where their Phillies lost a heartbreaker to end their season. The flyers tallied 5 goals on 40 shots to beat the Leafs and JS Giguere. Flyers goals were scored by Richards, Leino, Betts, Hartnell, and Briere. Everything just clicked, as it has seem to do versus the Leafs in recent years.

As expected, Brian Boucher got the start in net. He played well, killing the Leafs many comeback attemps, ending up with 12 saves on 14 shots. These Flyers looked on all game, shown in the Leafs shot totals (by periods) 4-7-3. Phil Kessel and offseason signing, Clarke MacArthur each scored their 6th goals of the season.

Briere's goal was his 5th of the season, he leads the Flyers through 7 games. Leino and Richards each tallied their 1st of the season. Betts and Hartnell each got their second goals of the season. This 5 goal performance was their highest goal total of the season, and came after scoring only 5 goals in their past 3 games.

Dan Carcillo had an awesome scrap with Toronto's Mike Brown late in the first. Carcillo was playing in his 5th game this season after being benched in place of Andreas Nodl. He settled in on the 4th line aside Blair Betts and Jody Shelley.



Coach Peter Laviolette shook-up the lines before this game and it paid heavy dividens. The lines end up as follows: Jvr-Carter-Zherdev, Leino-Briere-Hartnell, Giroux-Richards-Powe, Shelley-Betts-Carcillo. THe lines shifted a few times however, some times showing the B.L. (Before Leino) Briere-Carter-Hartnell line. Richards also had a nice assist where he set up Scotty Hartnell for a goal. After a win like this, there is plenty of optimism in whatever lines Lavvy puts together.

Hockey Night in Philadelphia

tonight the Flyers will be playing the Toronto Maple Leafs. Other than the fact that the Leafs have given the Flyers problems in the past there are more reasons to fear theese Leafs. The Leafs current sit atop the Northeast Division, grabbing 9 of a possible 12 points in their first 6 games.

The Leafs made a bevy of trades last year and are starting to turn the corner and becoming a eastern conference powerhouse. Last year the Leafs traded for their now captain, Dion Phaneuf, they also got their netminder , JS Giguere from the Ducks mid-season. The youth is where the Leafs thrive however, the youthful skill of Tyler Bozak, Phil Kessel, Nik Kulemin, and Mikael Grabovski.

Their defensive corps are umongst the league's best. There is formentioned Dion Phaneuf, along with veteran Tomas Kaberle and youngster Luke Schenn. They also picked up Brett Lebda this offseason to bolster their back end. Giggy and The Monster share the reps in net, with Giguere as the starter.

The Flyers are currently on the longest skid of the season, having dropped their last 3 games. A lot has been questioned lately, from their young goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, to their captain Mike Richards. Bottom line they're just getting outplayed from start to finish.

Another blow came yesterday in practice when Ville Leino and Chris Pronger collided, going knee-on-knee. Leino will be a game-time decision tonight. If he does not play Dan Carcillo will play in his place.

It seems reasonable to think that after 2 straight losses with Bobrovsky in net that the Flyers will turn to veteran Brian Boucher. Brian Boucher is 0-1-1 this season playing against St.Louis and Tampa Bay.

Game starts tonight at 7pm live on CSN Philly.

Flyers Depth Charts and Scratches vs Ducks

Forwards
Zherdev Richards Carter
Leino Briere Hartnell
JvR Giroux Nodl
Powe Betts Shelley

Defense
Timonen Coburn
Pronger Carle
O'Donnell Meszaros

Goalies
Bobrovsky
Boucher

Scratches
Healthy: Carcillo
Injured: Leighton, Walker, Laperriere

Ducks Scratches
Fowler, Chipchura, Voros

Flyers Ducks Notes

Selanne Scored his 600th goal last spring.
Notes
Just looking through theese two teams rosters you can already hear the players yapping. The Flyers will bring Jody Shelley, Dan Carcillo, and Scott Hartnell. The Ducks penalty leaders are also some or their biggest talents, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry both have 27 PIM each through the 7 games of this season.

A match-up to watch is Darroll Powe and George Parros. Both attended Princeton and played together on the D1 collegic team. It should be fun to see how theese two take to each other tonight.

Rookie Drawings
Cam Fowler was predicted to be a top 3 pick in LA this past summer. However, he fell in this past year's draft down to the mid-first round and was selected by Anaheim. Anaheim may have been the team most in need of a defense man, and they scored big time getting top skill that could immediately play in the majors. Hearing he is a game-time decision, non-injury related.

Sergei Bobrovsky was lit up in his last start where he was defeated by Pittsburgh 5-1. Tonight he will make his first consectutive start against a Ducks team who's loaded with skill at the front end. Selanne decided not to retire is tearing it up this year with 3 goals and 3 assists in 7 games. Newly named captain, Ryan Getzlaf, leads the Ducks in scoring with 8 points.

Scribbles
Jonas Hiller will be in net for the Ducks tonight, he's 2-4-1 this season with a GAA of 3.45.
Danny Syvret, former Phantoms and Flyers defenseman (scored in the Winter Classic), was called up early this week and could play in place of Fowler.

game at 7 pm on CSN, 4pm in Cali.

Saturday's Pens vs Flyers Highlights

Those of you with weak stomachs may want to look away, this one got bad.



Sergei Bobrovsky's suffered his 1st career loss as his record fell to 2-1-0. Bobs was 25 of 30 in 60 minutes, in his previous 2 starts he let in a total of 4 goals. He had a bad game and got pushed around, as a young guy that's okay.

Danny Briere scored his 4th goal in his fifth game this season. He leads the Flyers and seems to be the only player consistently bring his scoring touch.

Sidney Crosby had 2 goals and 1 assist on 8 shots. Everyone knows if you let him go he will dominate, that's what happened here.

Shelley got into a fight with Pittsburgh grinder, Mike Rupp. Despite that, he only got 3:58 minutes of ice time. Makes one wonder if he's only in the line-up because of salary, hasn't done much of anything and is just warming the bench.

Next Game Thursday at 7pm versus the Ducks.

Watch Out for Matt Cooke

Love him or Hate him Matt Cooke plays an outcome in almost everygame. He will undoubtedly try to shake up Sergei Bobrovsky tonight.

Penguins Flyers Round 2

Round 1 of this match up went to the Flyers on the Penguins home ice. Now the Pens will look to lengthen the Flyers losing streak to 2. The Penguins are coming off of an OT win versus the NY Isles where back up goalie Brent Johnson got the win. That mean Marc-Andre Fleury will be ready for the Flyers come Saturday night.

Watching the Penguins broadcast from last night they highlight 3 areas of the Flyers to watch for: Danny Briere who leads the Flyers with 3 goals. Scotty Hartnell who leads the league with 23 penalty minutes. The Flyers Powerplay who is a terrible 1/17 this season, but just saw the return of Chris Pronger two games ago.

@NHLFlyers, the Flyers twitter service, announce that Sergei Bobrovsky would get the start tonight. He gave up 2 goals on 31 shots in his first career start to open the 2010-2011 season.

Ryan Bright (@Philabright) reported that the Pens will be without Arron Asham and Zbynek Michalek. Possibly Brooks Orpik who is day to day with a groin injury.

Anthony SanFilippo (@AnthonySan37) reports that Matt Walker may need hip surgery that could keep him out up to 3 monthes.

Flyers Projected Depth Chart
Carter Richards Carcillo...Pronger Carle...Bobrovsky Boucher
Leino Briere Hartnell...Timonen Coburn
JvR Giroux Zherdev...Meszaros O'Donnell
Powe Betts Shelley

Players to Watch
Jody Shelley: he's done nothing and is in danger of losing his roster spot. Look for him to step up and make his presence felt if he gets the ice time.
Scotty Hartnell: look for him to be a menace tonight, maybe score a goal and a few chippy plays. He'll try to get under the Pens skin early.

Matt Cooke: will try to get Sergei Bobrovsky off his game with the rough stuff.
Eric Tangradi: scored his 1st career goal last night. Is playing with Malkin at the moment.

Game at 6:00 pm due to the Phillies game. Coverage on CSN PHI

The Kids come out on top in Philly

In the night of Gagne's return the Lightning's other former Flyer came out big. Steve Downie, as he usually does, had a big game against the Flyers with 2 assists and a plus 2. Steven Stamkos netted his 4th of the season in only their 3rd game. Dan Ellis got a nother win with the Bolts as their record went to 3-0-0 this season.

Goals came by Nik Zherdev, his 1st, and Danny Briere, his 3rd of the season. Brian Boucher saw his second loss in as many games as the Flyers record fell to 2-1-1, he went 21 of 24. The Flyers saw comeback hopes up to the final second where Jeff Carter nearly tied the game with a tip in in front. The Game ended off 3-2.

Tampa bay look much improved since last season, as expected. The Goaltending of Dan Ellis was superb in a 24 saves effort. This was a game that in previous season would be won by the Flyers just because the Bolts didn't have the scoring prowess they have now.

Next Game: Saturday October 16th at 6pm, live from Philadelphia. Versus the Pens.

The Return of Simon Gagne

The 10 year tenured Flyers winger, traded over the offseason, turned Lighning winger will make his first trip to Philadelphia since being traded from the team he was drafted by back in 1998. Gagne was one of the Flyers highest all time scorers with 259 goals and 265 assists for 524 points in 664 games, through out his 10 year career.

Through 2 games this season Gagne is a -3 with 8 shots on goal as the Lightning's 2nd line winger. The Lightning are 2-0-0 this season. The Lightning seem pretty deep this season, as opposed to their previous few years. Gagne upgraded the left wing and Tampa's scoring prowess. However the biggest change may have happened off the ice. Steve Yzerman was brought in as the new GM and starrt wheeling and dealing soon after.

He moved two big contracts in Andrej Meszaros and Matt Walker to the Flyers. That then set the place for Mattias Ohlund and Victor Hedman to be the 1 and 2 on defense. Pavel Kubina, cup winner with the Lighning, was brought back as a free agent from Atlanta.

Yzerman brought in Dan Ellis from the Nashville Preds to be the number 1 goalie on a Tampa team that has had defensive zone troubles. He will hopefully be able to keep them in more games than Mike Smith was able to do. And through all this Yzerman left the Lightning 11M in cap space.

This is not your old Tampa Bay Lighning, it isn't just Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier. Now the Stammer and the Hammer are in the peak of their careers. Steven Stamkos was the 1st overall pick in 08 and last year in only his 2nd pro season he scored 50 goals. Steve Downie, a former Flyers 1st rounder, was traded after a series of bone-headed on ice incidents and suspensions following. After bouncing back and forth from the AHL and NHL Downie found his place in the NHL. However a guy pick in the 1st round shouldn't have trouble doing that. Long story short, the change of scenery worked. He was traded for Matt Carle in 08.

Chris Pronger was made a game time decision just about an hour before Monday's game and ended up playing, and looked great too. Sergei Bobrovsky picked up his second career win, and for the second time only allowed 2 goals. The Flyers goal leaders are Danny Briere, Claude Giroux, and Jeff Carter who each have 2. Meszaros and Walker(if in the lineup) will be playing their 1st games against their former teams.

Projected Flyers Depth Chart
Carter Richards Carcillo...Pronger Carle...Bobrovsky Boucher
Leino Briere Hartnell...Timonen Coburn
Zherdev Girouz Jvr...Meszaros Walker
Powe Betts Shelley

Scratches
I:Leighton, Lappy
H:Nodl, O'Donnell

Players to Watch
Flyers
Andrej Meszaros: has had a great few games this season, look for him to play with an edge against his former team.
Claude Giroux: Alwasy seems to score beautiful goals against Tampa Bay, watch out for him on the PK as well. Both of his goals this season have come Shorthanded.

Lightning
Simon Gagne: Do i even need to say anything about this?
Steve Downie: always plays so well against the Flyers, seems to have found his place next to Stamkos.

Game at 7pm on Versus and CSN live from Philadelphia.

Flyers Goalies Masks

All these pictures can be found on the Flyers Twitpic.

Sergei Bobrovsky's
First Sergei "Bobs" Bobrovsky. His mask uses a lot of Russian influence. On the Russian side there is the Spasskaya Tower with also a SU-35 russian fighter jet. On the American side there is the Liberty Bell and a F-15 american fighter jet. On the back there is the crest of the town Novokuznetsk where he played growing up, also a Russian and American Flag, as well as a Flyers logo.

Michael Leighton's
Michael Leighton's mask takes slightly less research. Leights used a Broad Street Bullies theme which is pretty suprising, seeing as he just came over to Philly last season and would hardly have time to meet the 70's Cups teams. Leighton uses a hard nose style that embodied the Broad Street Bullies with the Bandages and Steel. He also uses pictures of Dave "The Hammer" Schultz and Bobby Clarke.

Johan Bakclund's
Johan Backlund's mask is pretty sleek. Not much going on: a big Flyers logo on the Top and "Backy" written on the chin. I really like the simple, all orange and black, look to this mask.

Carter leads late game heroics in Home Opener

The fans went home happy tonight as the Flyers pulled their 2010 home opener off due to some late game scoring. The main headline going into the game sprung up about an hour before the puck drop, when it was brought up that Chris Pronger was a game-time decision. After seeing him glide around sharply in the pre-game warm-ups there was no doubt in Flyers fans minds that he wasn't going to be dressed for tonight's game.

After an amazing show during introductions and a Lauren Hart Star Spangled Banner we were underway in Philly. The Flyers came out with immediate jump, getting 7 shots in the first 5 minutes. However 2 Flyers penalties would lead to a big lead. First, Richards forced a turn over that sent Claude Giroux on a clean break away against Craig Anderson, where Giroux knotched his 2nd shorthanded goal of the season. A few minute later Jeff Carter capitalized on the scrappy breakout of the Avs to go down and do almost the same exact move as Giroux and score his 1st of the season.

The Avs would make a comeback scoring one in the 2nd courtesy of Brandon Yip and another in the early minutes of the 3rd punched in by Milan Hejduk. Sergei Bobrovsky kicked it into overgear after that however. Stopping shot after shot and Avalanche chance after chance.

Then the Flyers started to click, the line of James van Riemsdyk, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter embodied the comeback. They rushed the puck up the ice on what looked like a dead play a few times, but turned it into a pass across the crease for the tap in 5-hole on an unready Anderson by Jeff Carter. The game would keep going the Flyers way after that as the Best Duo in the league Blair Betts and Darroll Powe forced the puck down the ice and Powe iced the game off with his 1st of the season on the empty net.

Bobrovsky got his second win in as many games tonight as he stopped 25 of 27 shots and kept the door shut after ketting in a dribbler early in the 3rd period off of a Milan Hejduk wrister.
Bobrovsky spoke through a translator after the game about his second career start saying: “I wouldn’t say great, but everyone on the team helped out. There’s more expectations here. You want to please everyone, so it’s a little more difficult.” This kid is young and he is feeling the pressure, but at the same time he understands that all he needs to do is just stop the puck, not be the 1st star, just win.
As he said earlier in the week: "I'm glad when the team wins. Whether I'm a star or not is secondary. My job is to just go out there and stop the puck."

Goalies: Anderson 34/37, Bobrovsky 25/27
Flyers Goals: Jeff Carter (2), Claude Giroux, Darroll Powe
Avs Goals: Brandon Yip, Milan Hejduk

My Players to Watch
Flyers
Danny Briere: 6 shots , ended a negative -2
James van Riemsdyk: 1 assist, 2 shots in 17 minutes

Avs
Paul Stastny: negative -1 with 4 shots in 21 minutes
Adam Foote: 2 shots in 21 minutes

The Banner was also raised tonight. Look for it behind the Flyers net, in the rafters next game.



Pictures from Flyers. Quotes from Tim Panachio and Teemu H.

Flyers Fighting Experience versus Youth

After going on the road to start the season, the Flyers return home having stolen 3 points from the Blues and Pens. Now the Wells Fargo Center, formerly known as the First Union Center, or the Wachovia Center, will see it's first regular season action.

Last time these two teams met the Avs won 5-4 on the scoring hands of David Jones and Paul Stastny. These two teams have changed drastically since last season however. The Avs started at last year's trade deadline trading long time winger Wojtek Wolski tothe Phoenix Coyotes for former 1st round pick Peter Mueller. Not any notable additions in the offseason, but they did lose 4th liners Stephane Yelle and Darcy Tucker, as well as winger Marek Svatos.

This Avalanche team is stacked at center with Paul Stastny(24 years old), Matt Duchene(19), Ryan O'Reilly(19), and Kevin Porter(24). Youth is the key factor in how this team wins with great young scorers like Chris Stewart(22) and TJ Galiardi(22), however it's the veteran Milan Hejduk(34) that the Flyers defense should have their eyes on all night. Hejduk has withstood the rebuild in Colorado and has been with the team since the days of Sakic, Forsberg, and Roy. He tallied 23 gaols and 44 points on 56 games last season and has a knack for scoring big goals.

On defense the Avs are led by veterans Adam Foote and J.M. Liles, who are backed by youngsters Ryan Wilson and Kyle Quincey. WIlson, who was acquired in a trade with the Flames 2 seasons ago, was a team leading positive 13 last season while grabbing up 21 points in 61 games. Also keep a look out to see if 2007 entry draft's 17th overall pick, Kevin Shattenkirk is in the line-up. Shattenkirk was a captain at Boston Uninversity by his junior year and has exceptional puck handling skills and vision.

When you're talking about the Mountain Boys, you have to talk about Craig Anderson. Anderson bounced around early in his career after being drafted by the Blackhawks. After a great season backing up Tomas Vokoun with the Florida Panthers in 2008-09, Anderson hit the free agent market. He was quickly grabbed up by the Avs who soon turned him into their number one goalie. Anderson has now become one of the league's best goalie and his contributions to the Avs are often compared to Ilya Bryzgalov's in Phoenix. The 29 year old is known to be able to take over the game and steal wins with his unbelievable stamina and focus. As evident by his 5th overall finish in Vezina (best goalie in the NHL) voting last season, where he finished with a Goals Against Average of 2.64.

The Flyers have started hot getting 3 out of a possible 4 points on their mini road trip through St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Danny Briere scored both of the Flyers 1st goals in their opening week, and now looks to tally his 3rd of the year tonight. The defense has looked a load different with out Pronger in the line-up. However this has helped the Flyers relay the message to the fans of why they loaded up the back end as Bartulis and O'Donnell have been liablities at times.

The goaltending has been solid between Bobrovsky's opening win versus the Pens and Boucher's stellar performance where he kept the Flyers in their last game versus the Blues where they had surrendered 9 unfavorable, odd man advantages. Tonight Sergei "Bobs" Bobrovsky will get his second career start in net tonight and will look to keep or better his 2.00 GAA.

Projected Depth Chart
Carter Richards Carcillo...Timonen Coburn...Bobrovsky Boucher
Leino Briere Hartnell...Meszaros Carle
Riemsdyk Giroux Zherdev... Bartulis O'Donnell
Powe Betts Shelley

Players to Watch
Flyers
Danny Briere: Leads the team with 2 goals through 2 games.
James van Riemsdyk: After being crushed by David Perron last game he says he is fine. Watch to see how much he's out there and how effective he is.

Avs
Paul Statsny: is the new version of Joe Sakic, had 2 goals including the Game tying and winning goals in their opener versus the Blackhawks.
Adam Foote: the rugged veteran should have some fun with the flight of foot Flyers forwards. Watch out when he starts throwing his body around.

Game's at 7pm EST live from Phialdephia. Coverage can be seen on CSN or 610 WIP (AM).

Flyers force OT in Hull's house

Despite Sergei Bobrovsky's stellar performance on Thursday night's season opener, the Flyers went with veteran goalie Brian Boucher. It was a good call to rest the youngster after what was an eye-opening 29 save game earlier this week, and now Bobs will be ready for the home opener on Monday versus the Avs.

On Brett Hull night in St. Louis the Blues came out playing inspired. The boys in blue struck first on Saturday off of a Erik Johnson goal on thier 3rd Powerplay of the game, only 15 minutes into the 1st period. That scored held up through the 2nd period and dribbled into the 3rd until Danny Briere ended Halak's shutout hopes.

The Flyers PK needs a huge standing ovation after going 9/10 on the night, including 5 kills to keep the game tied at 1 in the 3rd. Darroll Powe played 7 minutes on the PK and Balir Betts played 8 minutes, both finished an amazing even 0 in +/-.

The game headed to overtime with shots 29 to 23 Philadelphia. The chances started quick and overtime almost ended on a shot by Danny Briere who's shot rang off the crossbar. The Blues rushed down the ice and Carlo Coliacovo tallied his 1st of the season on Brian Boucher.

"They came out hard. They're a young group and energetic," Boucher said of the Blues. "It's their home opener, they've got a new goalie. Everyone starts out with great enthusiasm at the start and they certainly came out with that."

Halak finished 29/30, Boucher was 23/25.
Powerplays: Blues 1/10, Flyers 0/5.

James van Riemsdyk was shaken up after being hit by David Perron in the third period.

Players to Watch:
James van Riemsdyk - 4 shots in 21 minutes.
Nik Zherdev - Still cold, 1 shot in 11 minutes.
Andrej Meszaros - 1 shot in 20 minutes, 5 minutes on the PK. Even 0 +/-.

TJ Oshie - 2 shots in 19 minutes
Jaroslav Halak - 1 GAA, 1st win with St. Louis.
David Perron - 2 shots in 21 minutes

Next Game: Avs (1-0-0) at Flyers (1-0-1) on Monday at 7pm on CSN.

Flyers look to Spoil another Opener

Flyers (1-0-0) at Blues (0-0-0), October 9th at 8pm.

This time the scene is St.Louis's season and home opener. The Flyers started their season by suprising all of Pittsbrugh and sucking the energy out of their new arena with a 3 to 2 win anchored by rookie Sergei Bobrovsky.

After starting Bobrovsky in a packed Consol Energy Center loaded with Flyers-hating fans, Bobs showed he could handle the pressure. Bobrovsky played all 60 minutes in the Flyers season opener letting only 2 goals in on 31 shots versus the Pens. Tonight Boucher will make the start and will be looking to keep the Flyers winning ways going versus the Blues. Boucher was 2-1-0 in the preseason.

Depth Chart
Carter Richards Carcillo...Carle Meszaros...Boucher Bobrovsky
Leino Briere Hartnell...Timonen Coburn
JvR Giroux Zherdev...O'Donnell Bartulis
Powe Betts Shelley

Scratches
Healthy - Nodl, Walker
Injured - Pronger, Laperriere, Leighton

Players to watch
Flyers
James vanRiemsdyk: led the Flyers with 4 shots in only 12 minutes. Look for the 2nd year winger to use his shot from everywhere and anywhere.
Nik Zherdev: critisized for fading away quickly and going silent too often, only saw 11 minutes and got 1 shot against Pittsburgh.
Andrej Meszaros: saw the second most Powerplay time of any defenseman behind Timonen. A defensive d-man by trade but in the preseason was involved in many rushes up ice.

Blues
Jaroslav Halak: 1st start with Blues, was excellent in the Playoffs with Montreal last year.
TJ Oshie: most think he is settled in for a breakout year, after finishing last season with 18 goals and 30 assists in 76 games.
David Perron: the Blues center scored 5 goals on 4 games this preseason, leading the team. At 6'0" 200lbs he plays a quick, speedy game.

On the Blues Side
At 6pm a statue of Hall of Fame Winger, Brett Hull, will be unveiled.
Jaroslav Halak will make his first start with the Blues tonight. He was acquired from the Habs during the offseason.
Former 1st round pick Alex Pietranglo will be in the line-up on defense, he was drafted 4th overall in 2008 and spent last season in Juniors.

Insomnia Report: Backlund Shaky in Start with Phantoms

Johan Backlund got the start tonight for the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms. Playing in his first game since the Flyers final preseason game where he gave up 7 goals on 20 shots versus the Sabres. Tonight he got the call against the Birmingham Senators, the Ottawa Senators affiliates. Backlund ended the night facing 49 shots in a losing effort for the Phantoms. While Patrick Maroon got the lone A'Dack goal in the 5-1 loss.

Backlund is still on his way back and these AHL starts are hopefully just minor setbacks on his road to competting for the Flyers starting job. After the Finnish goaltender signed a two year contract this offseason, many including the Flyers brass thought that he would via for a roster spot on the Flyers. Since returning from rehabbing hip surgery, Backlund has looked shaky at best.

Bobrovsky's emergence may have squandered Backlund chance of making the roster. However, the pressure is on Brian Boucher and Sergei Bobrovsky to stay on their toes as a soon-to-be healthy Backlund could try to fight one of them off for a spot. News came out today that Leighton will be out atleast 6 weeks with back surgery. Meaning a door may have just opened for either Bobrovsky or Backlund to become the Flyers number 1 goalie.

Right now Bobrovsky looks to be the guy for Peter Laviolette and company, but a few sloppy starts might have the Flyers core pulling at straws and Backlund could be the guy they choose to throw into the fire. Keep tabs on Johan Backlund on the Phantoms for he may be your next starting goaltender, Philadelphia.

Long Wait for Leights

A night after Sergei Bobrovsky recorded his first career win, the Flyers annouce that Michael Leighton's back will require surgery. Leighton suffered the injury during his offseason workouts, however he recoved quickly enough to be ready for training camp. Though during the Flyers second preseason game Leights had to leave right before the shootout started due to his back. Leighton has not skated since and will now undergo surgery which could take him out of the Flyers line up anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks.

Bobrovsky and Boucher will be the Flyers top two until he returns or until Johan Backlund is healthy enough that he starts returning to form, after undergoing offseason hip surgery. There has been no word on who will get the start on Saturday night versus the Blues.

Leighton joins the long list of Flyers who will have gone through surgery in the past 5 monthes. Leino, Carcillo, Pronger, Backlund, Betts, and now Leighton.

Flyers Stats 2010-2011

Stats Leaders

Goals
Carter - 33
Briere - 32

Assists
Giroux - 44
Richards - 40

Points
Giroux - 68
Carter - 62
Richards - 60


Wins
Bobrovsky - 26

GAA
Boucher - 2.41

* last updated March 22nd

Bobs Shines to Start Career

The Flyers showed some guts starting their 22 year old goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. His first career start, not in comfortable ole Wells Fargo Center, but in the brand spankin' new Consol Energy Center in the heart of Pittsburgh. How did the rookie respond early? By stopping all 15 shots fired his way in the 1st period.

The youngster ended up stopping 29 of 31 shots in route to a 3 - 2 win for the Flyers. Doing all this while the keeping the Penguins to 1 goal on 5 Powerplay chances. Bobrovsky earned the 1st star of the game, in a huge win for Philadelphia.

The first goal scored in the new Penguins Arena came in the 2nd period from Danny Briere in the Powerplay from Richards and Leino. Blair Betts later added his 37th career goal 17 minutes into the 2nd period. Including the preseason Betts has 2 goals in 3 games this season.

The Penguins tallied thier 1st goal courtesy of Tyler Kennedy 44 seconds into the 3rd. Four minutes later Claude Giroux capitalized on the Penalty Kill due to a gift wrapped turnover by the Penguins new acquired defenseman Paul Martin, and took the puck down alone on Fleury who he proceed to make a fool of. The Pens answer that same powerplay scoring on a deflected shot was defenseman Alex Goligoski.

It was done after that however the Pens got another powerplay but it was nullified by the Flyers penalty kill and iced away with a Mike Richards icing in the waining seconds of the 3rd.

Stats:
The Penguins outshot the Flyers 31 to 27.
The Flyers shot leader were Braydon Coburn and James vanRiemsdyk with 4 each, The Pens leader was Evgeni Malkin with 5.
Kimmo Timonen led the Flyers with 25 minutes on ice. Crosby led the Pens with 24 minutes.
Bobrovsky is the youngest Flyers goalie to ever start an opener.
Pronger missed his 1st game in 3 seasons due to his knee injury.

My Players to Watch:
Zherdev: 1 shot, 11 minutes on ice.
Bobrovsky: 29 of 31, 1st career win.

Next Game is Saturday at 8pm live from St.Louis.

Bobrovsky will Open the Season

After returning starter Michael Leighton went down with a back injury this preseason, Sergei Bobrovsky took advantage. The 22-year old will make his first career start against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight. The rookie goaltender regarded as the future in net for the Flyers will be put in one of the toughest position in all of sports. Making his first start, against a team loaded with talent, in their new home arena, on national television.

Laviolette spoke to the media today saying:
“It's not just based on a day or two,” Laviolette said. “From the time he’s been here he’s been sharp. Every game, every situation, every practice, every scrimmage, he’s looked really good. I think Boosh came in and he played well. I think it’s nice to have two goaltenders, you’ll see both early in the season, but we had to have a starting point somewhere and I really like the way [Bobrovsky’s] put together a body of work the last month.”

Bobrovsky simply out played Boucher this preseason. He posted a 2-0-1 record and was stellar in his poise and positioning. This led Lavvy to pull the trigger and send 'Bobs' into the fire.

Tonight's depth chart looks like:

vanRiemsdyk Richards Carcillo ...Timonen Coburn ...Bobrovsky Boucher
Hartnell Carter Briere ...Carle Meszaros
Leino Giroux Zherdev ...O'Donnell Bartulis
Powe Betts Shelley

Scratches:
Healthy - Walker, Nodl
Injured - Pronger, Leighton, Laperriere

Players to Watch:
Nik Zherdev - 1st game back in NHL after playing in KHL last season. Led the Flyers in scoring through the Preseason.
Sergei Bobrovsky - A load of pressure, let's see if he can flourish.

On the Penguins side:
Jordan Staal will be out. That hurts their center depth and also their penalty kill. Former Flyer Arron Asham will paly his 1st game with the Penguins. Zbynek Michalek and Paul Martin will be the Pens top D pairing, Gonchar left as a FA this summer.

A Little Off this Offseason?

After an abbrievate offseason, the Philadelphia Flyers begin their relentless pursuit to defend their Eastern Conference Championship. After ending on a sour note last season compliments of Patrick Kane, Philly will look to start off on a good foot by beating their interstate rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Transactions

If you have been following the Flyers these past few monthes then you have experience a bevy of emotions. If you haven't here is what you have missed:

• Gagne traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Matt Walker.
• Flyers trade for Tampa Lightning defenseman Andrej Meszaros.
• Free Agency saw the Flyers sign forwards Jody Shelley and Nik Zherdev, and defenseman Sean O'Donnell.
• Flyers were also able to re-sign Mike Leighton, Braydon Coburn, Johan Backlund, Darroll Powe, and Dan Carcillo.
• Defenseman Ryan Parent was traded back to the Nashville Predators in exchange for the right to UFA defenseman Dan Hamuis. (Hamhuis later signed with Vancouver, Parent was later trade to Vancouver.)
• Unrestricted Free Agent, forward Arron Asham signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Injuries

What seems to be becoming a theme with this Flyers team, injuries, took their toll this offseason. Whether left over from last season or new suffered. Here's a look at the Flyers injury report:

• Chris Pronger has surgery on his foot, injury suffered in Game 1 of Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. His status is up in the air for the season opener.
• Dan Carcillo was held out of the Stanley Cup Finals partially due to a sports hernia suffered earlier in the season. He has been skating without any problems all month.
• Ville Leino underwent hip surgery this offseason. He was limited through out most of training camp, but had played in the preseason and looks ready to go for Game 1.
• Johan Backlund also underwent hip surgery, a problem he re-injured in his only start with the Flyers last march. He played 1 preseason game and did not look ready. Expect to see him be a scratch for the first few weeks of the season.
• Blair Betts suffered a shoulder injury versus the Hawks in the Finals. He played the rest of the series, however he had surgery to repair his shoulder this offseason. Reports came out he was going to miss the first month of the season, but he played without any setbacks in 2 preseason games and looks ready for the season.
• Michael Leighton re-injured his back in the Flyers 2nd preseason game, an injury orginally suffered during his offseason workouts. Leighton will miss the first month of the season.
• After skating in training camp Ian Laperriere is now out indefinately. Lappy suffered the injury after he went down to the ice to block a shot and was hit in the eye with the puck during the Flyers first round playoff matchup with the Devils.

Headlines

The Flyers entered the pre-season with a few question marks, however, they left with many more. Here are some headlines from the Flyers 2010-2011 preseason:

Entering, Michael Leighton was your top goalie, two games in he's out. This left Brian Boucher and rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to fight over the starting job. Johan Backlund entered the running late after returning from a hip injury, but may have played himself out of a spot in half a preseason game giving up 7 goals. The Flyers will look to go with Sergei Bobrovsky and Brian Boucher.

Gagne is going to be tough to replace, right? Nik Zherdev showed Flyers fans otherwise. He led the Flyers in scoring with 5 goals this preseason. It is preseason, but Nik Zherdev has been a consistent offensive force game in and game out, something he was previosu rediculed for not being able to do. Whether Zherdev gets 1st line time or 3rd line time, he has proven he will bring his A-game each day.

The Flyers drastically improved their already impressive defensive corps. The Flyers added Andrej Meszaros, a 6'2" defensive defenseman through a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning minutes before the Free Agent period started. Then proceed to sign former cup winner with Pronger on the ducks, defenseman Sean O'Donnell. Matt Walker was acquired later in July from the Lightning through the Simon Gagne trade. Add those to Matt Carle, Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, and Oskars Bartulis and the Flyers have one of the deepest, if not the deepest, defensive corps in the league.

Season Outlook

The Flyers will open up tonight at Consol Energy Center, the new arena of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their home-opener will be on October 11th versus the Colorado Avalanche. (Full Schedule)

After going to the Cup Finals the Flyers will be looking for another chance to fight for Lord Stanley. However they will have to get passed a revamped Eastern Conference. Combine that with the toughest divsion in hockey, the Atlantic Division, and the Flyers will have to keep the pedal to the metal all year. Just like last season, this team is made for the playoffs. Expect this team to get back to the playoffs and bring hunger and talent together to scratch and tear their way to another Stanley Cup Finals.

As always:

LETS GO FLYERS!

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Flyers Training Camp Day 1

Final Note on Guerin's Release

Yesterday the final cuts started in Philly, and the first one off the bus was Billy Guerin. The soon-to-be 40 year old was released from his tryout contract he signed in August with the Flyers. Guerin scored one goal and missed several game this preseason due to a cut on his elbow.

Looking forward, the decision seems like the right one. Nodl played excellent this preseason, showing he can be a force at both ends and that he could make this team's starting roster. Powe stepped up his game to show that he could also put the puck in the net, scoring 3 goals this preseason. Dan Carcillo was a bit of a head scratcher but Homer seems to like him. Carcillo's game returned in the final preseason game where he scored a goal and got thrown out.

Powe and Carcillo are not off the hot seat yet however. When healthy, if not already, Betts will return to the lineup permanetly, taking the 4th line center role away from Powe and leaving him to joust with Carcillo and Shelley for the 4th line wings, with Laperriere out indefinately.

The Flyers have a bevy of talent on their current roster and in their system. Signing a guy like Guerin would only take away chances for guys like Andreas Nodl and Jon Kalinski to take a shot at the top level.

Guerin will be in the NHL by the end of October. Guaranteed.

Fresh Ice Cuts: Carcillo, Backlund, Guerin

The preseason is now over, and come thursday the Flyers will open their season in Pittsburgh. The Flyers finished with a record of 5-2-1 in their 8 games. Now all that's left are roster spots to be determined and goalie decisions.

Sabres at Flyers October 1st
The Flyers went with Brian Boucher for the entire 60 minutes and he didn't disapoint. Boucher saved all but one shot in his 2nd win of the preseason. Zherdev also took over the Flyers lead in goals, with 5, after being challenged by Jeff Carter, who ended off with 4. The game was iced off with an empty netter from Blair Betts in just his 2nd game of the preseason after rehabbing a shoulder injury all of training camp.

Flyers at Sabres October 3rd
The Flyers preseason closer came as somewhat of a suprise. The return of goaltender Johan Backlund left a sour taste in Flyers fans mouth. Backlund gave up 7 goals on 20 shots and then saw the relief of Sergei Bobrovsky, who gave up 2 goals on 15 shots. Dan Carcillo scored his 1st of the preseason, as did Matt Walker and Mike Testwuide.

Headlines

Dan Carcillo definately made his presence felt in the Flyers final preseason game. Carcillo tallied his 1st goal early then later was handed a 10 minute and game misconduct. If Carcillo is already on the hot seat then he might be smelling a fire at this point. The good news for CarBomb is that roster-spot combatant Bill Guerin finished off the night a minus 4 with a trip that was spotted for a penalty.

So Johan Backlund, the same Johan Backlund who was supposed to via for the starting job this year, returned. Not exactly what most expected, but still a good sign to see him playing. After getting the start Backlund ended the 1st peroid down by 1, and then proceeded to give up 5 goals in 4 minutes before being lifted for Bobrovsky in the 2nd. Can't really blame him he hasn't seen many pucks this preseason. This only adds to the drama in the Flyers crease. It looks like the Flyers will start with Boucher and Bobrovsky with Backlund playing in Adirondack or as a healthy scratch.

The Flyers will open their season in Pittsburgh on Versus network at 7pm. Look no further for updates on everything Flyers, follow me on twitter, username 'IceOnBroadSt'.

GM Paul Holgren talks injuries and Roster spots

Holmgren on Pronger: hopes to have him ready for Thursday's season opener versus the Pens. He will skate either sunday or monday (in practice).

On Guerin: it's either yay or nay, to roll the dice or not and go to one of the young guys. Guerin is out with an infected elbow right now.

On Backlund: he will play tomorrow, when asked if healthy enough homer quickly replied yes.

On Briere: Infected tonsil will be ready for season.

On Bourdon and Gustafsson: more excited about their future than their current chance to make roster.

This leads into who's safe and who's battling.

Safe:
Center: Carter Richards Betts Giroux Briere
Winger: JvR Leino Hartnell Zherdev Lappy
Defense: Pronger, timonen, Carle, Coburn, Meszaros, O'Donnell

Battling:
Center: Powe
Winger: Carcillo, Guerin
Defense: Walker, Bartulis
Goalies: Bobrovsky, Backlund, Boucher

Injury Report:
Betts - (Shoulder) reported to be out all of first month, could change as he played Wednesday.
Leino - (Hip) indefinate, could miss a few games. Also played on Wednesday.
Laperriere - (Post-concussive Syndrome) indefinate, PCS could keep him out for a while.
Pronger - (Foot) could skate as soon as Sunday, chance of being ready for opener.
Backlund - (Hip) will play on Friday, should be ready for season barring a re-injury.
Guerin - (Elbow) could miss rest of preseason, unknown if he will be signed.