Flyers looking to Hab some fun

Canadiens (1st in NE, 3rd in EAST)
at
Flyers (1st in ATL, 2nd in East)

Brian Boucher will be making his second straight start after taking 12 games off. He took the W versus the Eastern Conference leading Caps. Boucher is 1-6-0 against the Habs in his career.
Carey Price gets the start for the Habs. He was the backbone in the Habs 3-0 win in Montreal last week.

The Flyers lineup will be the same as they were in saturday's win. Jvr will stay with Richards and Nodl. Zherdev will play on the 4th line with Betts and Shelley.

PK Subban and Mike Richards were going at it last game. It should be interested what goes on now that the scene is Philly and the fans are aware of the youngster's confidence.

Eric Wellwood was recalled from the A'dack Phantoms this morning and skated with the Flyers today. He will however, be out of the line-up tonight. Earlier this week the Flyers traded Pat Maroon and David Laliberte to the Ducks for former Flyer Danny Syvret and forward Rob Bordon.

Line
Hartnell Briere Leino
Nodl Richards Jvr
Carter Giroux Powe
Shelley Betts Zherdev

Pronger Carle
Timonen Coburn
O'Donnell Meszaros

Boucher Bobrovsky

FLYERS vs LIGHTNING
Bobs starting his 12th straight
Monday: 1st reg. loss since 10/26

Lines
19 48 22
21 18 93
28 17 36
14 9 45

20 25
44 5
40 6

on CSN at 7pm.

Bobrovsky will start his 11th straight

Flyers (1st ATL, 2nd East)
vs
Habs (1st NE, 3rd East)

-Notes-
The Flyers are in Montreal tonight and they will be there with Sergei Bobrovsky backing them up once again. Bobs is tied for 1st in the league with 11 wins. He has started 10 straight with a record of 9-0-1.

The Flyers will face a Habs to that's fired up to beat the team that blew threw them in the Eastern Conference Finals last May. The Habs currently lead the North Eastern division with 23 points, 4 points ahead of the Flyers last opponent the Ottawa Senators.

After Dan Carcillo missed a hit on Chris Campoli last night, he was helped down the tunnel and didn't return. Carcillo sprained his MCL muscle and will mis atleast 3 weeks. Nodl will return to the lineup tonight and most likely play aside Betts and Shelley.

-Flyers Depth Chart-
Hartnell Briere Leino
JvR Richards Zherdev
Carter Giroux Powe
Nodl Betts Shelley

Pronger Carle
Timonen Coburn
O'donnell Meszaros

Bobrovsky
Boucher

Scratches:
Walker(Hip) Leighton(Back) Carcillo(Knee) Lappy(PCS) Bartulis(healthy)

Flyers Sens Notes

Ottawa Senators (5th in the EAST, 2nd in the NE)
at
Philadelphia Flyers (2nd in the EAST, 1st in the ATL)

-Flyers Notes-
Andreas Nodl's banged up foot has led to James van Riemsdyk getting a spot in the lineup tonight versus the Sens. Van Riemsdyk has no goals and 4 assists in 13 games this season. He has sat 4 straight games due a mix of his bad play and the strong play of Andreas Nodl. Laviolette is hoping that the benching will spark JvR to pick up his game. JvR is skating with Richards and Zherdev tonight.

Sergei Bobrovsky will make his 10th straight start, he is 8-0-1 in the last ten. Bobs is 10-2-1 with a GAA of 2.08. The Flyers are scoring an average of 4.33 goals per game over the past 10.

The Flyers are playing their first of two games over the next two nights. Tomorrow they will head into an aggressive Montreal crowd to play the Northeast division leading Habs.

-Depth Chart-
Hartnell Briere Leino
Jvr Richards Zherdev
Giroux Carter Powe
Carcillo Betts Shelley

Pronger Carle
Timonen Coburn
O'Donnell Meszaros

Bobrovsky Boucher

Scratches:
Walker (IR-Hip), Leighton (IR-Back), Lappy (IR-PCS), Nodl (DTD-Foot), Bartulis (healthy).

-Sens Notes-
Filip Kuba returned to the Sens last game after recovering from a broken leg suffered Sept 18th.
Goalie Brian Elliot shutout the Bruins on Saturday to help the Sens to a 2-0 win. He is 9-4-0 with a GAA of 2.58.
Danny Alfredsson leads the Sens in goals with 7 and points with 15. Sergei Gonchar and Jason Spezza lead Ottawa in assists with 8. All three are key powerplay contributers.

Bobrovsky Tired? Leighton Ready?

The 22 year old rookie goaltender has made every start for the Flyers since outduelling Buffalo's Ryan Miller in late October. Now Bobrovsky will make his 10th straight start tonight at home versus the Sens. The Flyers are 8-0-1 in the past ten games.

Thoughts are that Boucher will make a start in one game in the Flyers back-to-back games against the Sens and Habs. Last time that Bobrovsky made consecutive starts in consecutive days the Flyers suffered an overtime loss to the Caps. While Bobrovsky's play was strong and the loss was in no way his fault, this was still the last time the Flyers have ended up on the losing end.

What about Mike? Michael Leighton has been skating consistantly in practice over the past week and says he's feeling good. The Flyers play the Habs on Tuesday and Bobrovsky would have make his 11th straight start, second in two nights. Nothing has been said about when Michael Leighton may return to the line-up but it could be sooner rather than later.



The last team Leighton saw real success against was the Montreal Canadiens, when he shut them out in 3 out of the 5 games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Leighton was has been on the IR since injuring his back in the Flyers second preseason game.

If Bobrvosky doesn't start back-to-back and Leighton doesn't return, Boucher will get the start. Bouch is 1-2-1 in 4 games with a GAA of 2.26. his last start was October 25th where the Flyers offense was call out by Laviolette in the 2-1 loss.

Fresh Ice: Injuries, Goaltending, and Lappy

Let's talk about the latest in Flyers nation. I've got stuff on Michael Leighton, Andreas Nodl, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Walker, and Ian Laperriere.

-Leighton-
September, when Leighton re-injured his back this pre-season and had to go undergo surgery, the thought was he'd miss around a month or so. The one month mark has past and Leights has made some good progress. This past week Leighton skated in Carolina with the Flyers in practice.
I recently asked the Philly Inquirer's Sam Carchidi about the status of Michael Leighton. He responded: "Leighton has been on ice everyday since returning last week. Says he's feeling good."
The timetable starts, with Leighton now practicing consistantly. Enter talk about him fighting for his job.

-Nodl-
Andreas Nodl left the Flyers last game and did not return after taking a shot off his foot. Holmgren said today that all x-rays and an MRI was negative and that Nodl is day-to-day.
Nodl has been on a tear and becoming a point-per-game player, with 4 straight games with a point and atleast 1 point in 6 of the last seven (BroadStHockey).
If any time is missed, James Van Riemsdyk will fill Nodl's spot aside Richards and Zherdev. JvR skated with that line today in practice.

-Bobrovsky-
After making every start for the Flyers since October 26th, the thought is that Bobs is set to take a seat for a game. The Flyers will play 2 games in 2 nights coming up against Ottawa on Monday and Montreal on Tuesday. Boucher will start one, i think.
Boucher will, most likely, start on Monday at home, with Bobrovsky starting Tuesday in Montreal. Bobrovsky is tied for 2nd in the NHL with 10 wins and is 5th in save percentage at .932.

-Walker-
After undergoing surgery on his right hip, the Flyers 6'3" defenseman is skating. Today Walker skated in practice with a bright "no-contact" jersey on. He is well behind Leighton in terms of returning, but with a tough schedule coming up Walker will be needed.
Walker has not played a game this season, he went on the IR October 7th.

-Laperierre-
Maybe the most grizzled of all the Flyers players was spotted in Adirondack this weekend. The Phantoms played 3 games in 3 nights under their new head coach John Paddock. Reports are the Lappy was doing some scouting. The Phantoms have plenty of hustle guys in their lineup: Kalinski, Wellwood, and the fighter Zac Rinaldo.
Lappy is likely out for the rest of the season with Post Concussive Syndrome. He has one year, after this year, left on his contract.

My Top Tweeter's
Tim McManus - Phantoms Beat Writer
Sam Carchidi - Philly Inquirer's Flyers Writer
Flyers Faithful - Flyers Blogger
Broad Street Hockey - Flyers Blogger

Breakdown on Carter's Contract

Here is the breakout via TSN.

The cap hit for Carter's new contract will be a reasonable $5.27 million starting next season. He was scheduled to become a restricted free agent on July 1st as he is in the final year of his deal that will see him earn $5.5 million this season.

The contract breaks down as follows: Carter will earn $6 million next season then $6.25 in 2012-13 season, $6.5 in 2013-14 and $6.75 the year after that. He will then earn $7 million for two seasons before going back to $6.5 million for the 2016-17 season. He is set to earn $5 million in 2017-18, $3 million in 2019-20 and $2 million a year in his final two seasons of the deal.

Full Article can be read here.

How about a look at the Flyers forwards payroll after the Carter signing (Screenshot of CapGeek)

Flyers Panthers Notes

The Flyers backed by Sergei Bobrovsky have now logged a point in 8 staight games, a total of 15 points. They sit atop the Atlantic Division with 22 points, 5 ahead of the next team. After a 8-1 routing of the Canes and signing Jeff Carter, the Flyers turn their attention to the quiet Panthers.

The Panthers have won 4 of their last 6, their two losses over that time were one-goal games. Scott Clemmensen will get the start in net with Vokoun getting the win last night versus the Wild.

David Booth leads the Panthers with 5 goals and 10 points in 14 games this season. The last time he was in Philly he was the recipent of a questionable shoulder to head hit by Mike Richards. He has played against the Flyers since that hit, just in Florida.

Sergei Bobrovsky is starting his 9th straight between the pipes for the Flyers. He is 7-0-1 in his last 8 starts and is showing no signs of fatigue, looking stronger and stronger with every start.

-Flyers Depth Chart- Versus Scott Clemmensen (1-2-0 GAA:2.59 S%:907)
Hartnell Briere Leino
Nodl Richards Zherdev
Carter Giroux Powe
Carcillo Betts Shelley

Pronger Carle
Timonen Coburn
O'Donnell Meszaros

Bobrovsky Boucher

Scrathes:
James Van Riemsdyk will sit out his 4th straight game. Leighton and Walker both skated this week but are still out. Lappy's out indefinately. Bartulis is also scratched.

Today it was announced that Florida's winger Steve Bernier will undergo shoulder surgery.

-Stats-
Flyers Jeff Carter was signed to an 11 year extension today, last game he got a hat trick. Nik Zherdev now has a goal in 3 of the last 4 games and has 5 on the season.

Panthers defenseman Dennis Wideman landed in Florida as the main part leaving Boston in the Nathan Horton deal. He is tied for the Panthers lead in points with 10.
Without Vokoun in net the Flyers will see yet another back-up, who they haven't faired well against this season. Clemmensen could try to steal the show as Brent Johnson and Braden Holtby have done against the Flyers this season.

Puck drops shortly after 7pm on CSN Philly! Will be chatting on Twitter all game, @IceonBroadSt.

Another one down, Carter signs on for 11 years

Today the Flyers announced that they have signed their former 1st round pick, Jeff Carter, to a 11 year 58 Million dollar contract extension. Carter was set to become a restricted free agent and was expected to go to arbitration. The Flyers inked their 25 year old mega-sniper to an extension that will take him until he's 36 with the Flyers.

Over the past two season Carter has racked up 79 goals and 145 points. He's started this season hot scoring 8 goals in 16 games, last game getting his 2nd career hat trick in an 8-1 routing over Carolina. He is on pace for 41 goals and over 70 points this season.

Carter was drafted 11th overall in 2004, just 13 picks before the Flyers took Mike Richards 24th overall. Now these friends growing up in the Canadian Juniors ranks will most likely play their whole careers together. Carter's contract ends in 2022 and Richards ends in 2020.

As much hatred Flyers nation has thrown at the sniper who know for shooting into shin pads and not being the sharpest defensively, Carter is still one of the brightest players in the league. His shot is deadly from almost anywhere in the offensive zone. His ability to deflect pucks down low may ranks among the tops of the league. So if he lacks some areas, just watch the Devils (Kovalf*ck'd).

So where does this put the Flyers cap this year? The answer, exactly the same place. The extension will take place next season where the Flyers have a payroll of over 57M. How about who this will effect? Leino? Zherdev? Leino's agent Bill Zito (not the Giants pitcher) told the Philly Inquirer he was "confident a deal would get done. It looks more and more like Nik Zherdev is gone next year however, he most likely won't take a pay cut after making 2M this season.

Bill Zito Quote, Zherdev update via Sam Carchidi of the Philly Inquirer.

Flyers Bonding Experience

Over this past week the Flyers were down in North Carolina. Not just for their upcoming game, but for some golf and team bonding. Here's Lavi on the team's bonding trip.

Flyers lock Giroux until 2014

The Flyers leading scorer was set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season, but after an extremely productive frist month of the season for the 22 year old the Flyers wanted non of that. Today Giroux was signed to a three year extension.

Here's the yearly breakdown on his deal. With an average cap hit of $3.75M.
2010-11: $765,000
2011-12: $2.75M
2012-13: $3.5M
2013-14: $5M

Giroux leads the Flyers with 7 goals and 14 points. The former Gatineau Flames star is playing in his 3 season with the Flyers. Giroux has tallied 32 goals and 56 assits for 88 points in 140 games since being drafted 22nd overall in 2006.

The 22 year old has put up when it's counted, racking up 26 points in 29 playoff games. He also a plus 9 in the playoffs.

Now the focus turns to Jeff Carter, who is also set to be a RFA at the end of the season. Rumors are the the Flyers, now that the Giroux deal is done, have turned their focus on signing the 25 year old sniper.

Sunday Night Hockey: Flyers vs Caps

The Flyers come into the nation's capital riding a 6 game winning streak and the best record in the Eastern Conference. The man behind this streak is rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who has played the last 6 games and has a record of 8-2-0 this season.

The Flyers are coming off of a 2-1 win against the Isles last night. Sergei Bobrovksy will play back-to-back games for the 2nd time in the past 10 days. the Caps are coming off of a 5-3 win over the Boston Bruins Friday night.

-Depth Chart-
Nodl Richards Zherdev
Powe Giroux Carter
Hartnell Briere Leino
Carcillo Betts Shelley

Pronger Carle
Timonen Coburn
Meszaros O'Donnell

Bobrovsky Bocuher

-Notes-
Eric Wellwood is a healthy scratch. Jvr is a healthy scratch for the 2nd straight game.
Danny Briere is back in the line-up after serving his 3 game suspension.
Andreas Nodl has had a goal in 3 of his last 4 games.

Braden Holtby will make his 1st career start in net today for the Caps.
Ovechkin leads the Caps with 17 points in 13 games.

Oodles of Nodl's

The flyers won their 6th straight game Saturday night, knocking off the New York Islanders for the second time in the past week. While Sergei Bobrovsky did record his 6th straight win and the Flyers did improve to an Eastern Conference best 19 points, with a record of 9-4-1, Andreas Nodl made his return.

The Austrian native was out of the past 2 games due to injury. His return saw him scoring his the game winner in a 2-1 win in the Island. His 3rd of the season and his 3rd in the past 4 games. The Saint Cloud State University graduate has only taken 8 shots this season, 3 of them have found their way behind the keeper.

Playing as the Flyers 13th man, and logging on average around 10 minutes a game, Nodl is making his presence felt. While playing D1 college hockey with SCSU Nodl was part of what was the best line in college hockey, where he showcased his vision and hands on a nightly basis.

The future is bright for a player who plays under Laviolette and has full comprehension of how to play both ends of the rink. Andreas Nodl may have solidified himself in this line-up and will be looking to advance.

The Irony

Just re-watched this old Coatsey's corner. Gagne and giroux play on a line with Coats, in Coatesy's dream. Thought this screenshot was a little ironic. Gagne says this to Giroux. Unknowing that he would be sent away after 10 years of service, due to the salary cap.

Flyers at Isles Notes

Mid-game Edition.

-Backstory-
Last time these two met, last Saturday, the Flyers took a 6-1 win in a blowout. the Flyers are on a 5 game winning streak, the Isles are on a 4 game losing streak. Flyers lead the season series 1 to 0.

After 1, 1-0 Flyers. Goal Richards.

-Depth Chart (rough)-
Giroux Richards Wellwood
Carcillo Leino Hartnell
Nodl Carter Zherdev
Powe Betts Shelley

Pronger Carle
Timonen Coburn
O'donnell Meszaros

Bobrovsky Boucher

-Notes-
Nodl and Meszaros are playing their 1st games back off injury.
Briere is serving his 3rd game of his 3 game suspension.
Bobrovsky will try for his 6th straight win, and his 8th of the season.

diPietro is not getting the start after giving up 6 goals last meeting.
Dwayne Roloson is starting.

Do the Roux

Through 13 games, Cladue Giroux leads the Flyers with 14 points. It not just the numbers that are impressive, it's the way he's getting them. 3 of his 7 goals have come shorthanded, 3 on the powerplay. Against the instate rival Pittsburgh Penguins the 22 year old has tallied 3 goals in 3 games. On October 22nd versus the Pens Giroux logged his league leading 3rd game winning goal.

The Flyers are on a 5-game winning streak right now, Giroux is on a 5-game point streak. In this streak Claude has had 4 goals and a total of 9 points.

here's his latest beauty against the Rangers on Thursday:


here's Giroux making Pittsburgh do a collective facepalm:

Bobrovsky rising in the Ranks

Spotlighted on NHL.com today is an article about young Sergei Bobrovsky. The 22 year old is 7-2-0 this season with a GAA of 2.23. Bobrovsky may have put in his bid for the starting job even when Michael Leighton is healthy.

Here's a piece from that article:

"I didn't know who he was in camp, but he spent the last two years in KHL (with Metallurg Novokuznetsk), so it wasn't like he was coming into the League as a kid only seeing junior hockey players shoot," Flyers defenseman Sean O'Donnell said. "He's played against men in the KHL. He's played against (Alexei) Yashin and (Jaromir) Jagr. He's a hard worker and willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. I'm always a little surprised when someone comes in out of nowhere, but look at the time he's put in the last couple of years and where he's come from … it's not like he's an unknown coming from junior and standing on his head. He's a 22-year-old young man who put his time in and has seen good results."
-Sean O'Donnell on Bobs

The full article can be found on NHL.com entitled Hard work has Bobrovsky no longer an unknown by Mike G. Morreale.

Bobrovsky is currently tied for 2nd in the league with wins, with 7. His 2.23 GAA lands him at tenth, but he is 7th among starting goalies. The .921 save percentage he's posted through 9 games ranks him 12th in the league, 7th among starters.

In his short career the youngster has already out-dueled Hendrick Lundqvist, Marc-Andre Fleury, Craig Anderson, and Ryan Miller. Not a bad line at all for a 22 year old playing in his 1st year of North American Hockey.

Briere Suspended 3 Games

Danny Briere has been suspended for cross checking Frans Nielsen of the NY Islanders in the head on Saturday. Briere is currently tied for the Flyers leading scorer with Giroux, both have 6 goals. Briere's suspension will mean the line of him, Hartnell, and Leino will be seperated for the first time since the Eastern Conference Semi- Finals last season.

Briere talks about the suspension today:


Here what meritted the suspension:

Weekend Recap: Winning Ways Return

Right now the Flyers are up 2-1 versus the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2nd, currently on CSN Philly. The Flyers won their last 3 games including back to back game against the Islanders and Penguins.

Sergei Bobrovsky stole the W in both games and his record sits at 5-2-0. The Flyers won a tight on on Friday 3-2, mostly due to the strong play of Bobrovsky and the 2 goal performace by Claude Giroux.

Saturday's game was loaded with everything you could want. Lots of Flyers goals, 2 each by Pronger and Carter. Timonen and Nodl each picked up a goal as well. Dipietro even dropped the gloves with Briere, who didnt drop his and skated away.