I doubt you thought you'd see a hockey post, but tonite is the NHL Entry Draft. In the spirit of all of the major sports leagues trying to make money off of their amateur draft and televise it, the NHL will televise the happenings on Versus at 7pm. I also believe this is the first year the event has been held on a Friday night. I seem to recall this as an event you'd roll over one random hungover Saturday morning and find this event on ESPN2 and wondering if I had drank myself back to December or something.
As for the Flyers, I have no idea what fresh faced 18 year old kid still battling pimples they will happen to draft. If I had a request, I would like them to find a good young goaltender, as if you look in their minor league system, the Flyers seem bereft of any big time goaltender talent.
Another request would probably be for puck moving defensemen, but a puck moving defenseman in the NHL is the rough equivalent of starting pitching in baseball. Everyone needs and wants the defenseman that can not only take care of business in his own zone, but kickstart the offense on the breakout. With the Flyers having a plethora of forwards at the NHL level and with two blue chip prospects (Claude Giroux and James Van Riemsdyk) on the way, I don't think they need to go out and draft a big time sniper.
Other than who the Flyers pick in this draft, the NHL draft is notorious for fostering an atmosphere of an stock exchange trade floor. Remember, it was on draft day 2002, where the Flyers made a big move to trade Ruslan Fedotenko (who went on to win a Cup with Tampa) and a couple of draft picks for the right to draft Joni Pitkanen. This year, there are various rumors around the league not only with respect to the Flyers (who were rumored a couple of weeks ago to be interested in signing D Andrej Meszaros from Ottawa), but also with respect to one of the Flyers' rivals.
Rumors are starting to surface that the Penguins are interested in trading Evgeni Malkin. If they do trade Malkin, it could be a sign that they keep Marian Hossa. Regardless, if you're a Flyers fan, it's a development worth following.
Other Flyers news you may have missed while partying at CBP and going downashore:
- Sami Kapanen retired. The guy was an absolute buzz saw when he was on his game. He'll always be fondly remembered in Philly.
- The Flyers acquired D Danny Syvret from Edmonton for Ryan Potulny. Meh. He'll probably play on the Phantoms.
- The Flyers gave the rights to Vinny Prospal back to Tampa for a late round pick. We weren't using those rights, anyway.
- If you're as old as me, you fondly remember Czech defender Miroslav Dvorak, who passed away at age 56.
- James Van Riemsdyk......going back to school this fall. Sorry Phantoms season ticket holders.
Phillies this Weekend
Probable pitching matchups this weekend for their series against the Angels
Tonite: Adam Eaton vs. Ervin Santana; 7pm on csn-tv
Tomorrow: Brett Myers vs. Joe Saunders; 7pm on csn-tv
Sunday: In my favorite matchup of the weekend.....Colbert Michael Hamels vs. Jared Weaver....a must see matchup....1:35pm
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