Flyers Enter 2008 Exhibition Schedule

The Flyers started training camp last weekend and even had their 1st preseason game last night. I didn't watch it, because it wasn't on TV, but the Flyers did attempt to webcast it.

For whatever reason, I couldn't get it to work, but I applaud the idea and hope they can get the kinks worked out of televising NHL games over the internet.

Just off of the top of my head, here are 10 storylines to monitor as the Flyers progress through their camp and preseason schedule:

1.) How will Simon Gagne play as he gets back into the grind of the NHL schedule? Will he play tentatively, or will he come back as the 40+ goal scorer we've seen in the past?

2.) How will Mike Richards adjust to the burden of the captaincy?

3.) Will Jeff Carter earn his new contract? You can argue he is slightly overpaid right now, but might be a bargain by year 3 of his deal if his upside is what everyone believes it to be.

4.) Which young Flyer prospect will make the team out of camp? Steve Downie or Claude Giroux?

5.) Can Scott Upshall stay out of John Stevens' doghouse?

6.) Of the gaggle of defensemen that GM Paul Holmgren acquired during the off-season, which ones will make the team?

7.) Can Braydon Coburn build off of his success from last year?

8.) Which goaltender is Martin Biron? The one benched in favor of Antero Niittymaki during stretches of the regular season or the one that practically stole a playoff series from Montreal all by himself?

9.) How much will the Flyers miss assistant coach Terry Murray, who did a great job with the defensemen last year? Murray has moved on to become head coach of the LA Kings.

10.) This team could very easily have missed the playoffs last year and it would have probably resulted in John Stevens' firing. If the Flyers struggle in the first half of the year, will the Flyers fire Stevens?

One more important item: Tim Panaccio, formerly the Flyers beat writer for the Inquirer, is now blogging over at HockeyBuzz.com. According to what I read over there, Panaccio took a buyout from the Inky. Panaccio was always one of my favorite writers (even when he covered the Eagles beat for the Inky), so I'll look forward to checking out his work over at HockeyBuzz.

Gratuitous Flyers Post; Phils Weekend

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

Flyers Give Back to Fans By Sucking Again

The Flyers capped Fan Appreciation day at the Wachovia Center by finding yet another way to lose en route to dropping a 5 - 3 decision to the Canadiens. The loss was the Flyers' 7 straight and there is little relief in sight.

The injury bug has also bitten the Flyers so bad at this point (Denis Topelko got knocked out of the game with a concussion and Steve Downie already missed this game with a concussion) that there is a very credible rumor (I consider Eklund from Hockeybuzz.com to be credible) that Claude Giroux will be an emergency callup from junior hockey for the Tuesday night game against Ottawa.

The effort was there in this game and in the last game against Montreal. I am at the point right now in thinking that this Flyers team, as currently constituted, is simply not good enough to compete at a high level in the Eastern Conference. I don't believe this to simply be another slump during a long season or to be an issue of injuries (although injuries definitely play a part).

The trends amongt players that the Flyers are counting on to be among their core are too much to ignore: Carter with 1 goal in the last 11 games; Umberger with 2 goals in the last 10 games; Richards with 2 goals in the last 14 games. Daniel Briere is now a mind boggling -21 for the year.

I'm not totally ready to start trading everyone and firing John Stevens just yet. But I do think there are moves that they could make that would help.

1.) Someone needs to sit John Stevens down and explain just how badly Jim Vandermeer is playing right now. Vandermeer was on the ice for the first goal last night and was directly responsible (in my mind) for the second goal, where he got goaded into a non-fight with Montreal's Josh Gorges leaving rookie Ryan Parent to deal with a 2 on 1 that Niitty allowed a defenseman (Montreal's Bouillion) to pick the top corner on him. Accountibility only seems to be something that happens to guys like Stefan Ruzicka or Lasse Kukkonen in John Steven's world; not towards Jim Vandermeer or Antero Niitymaki.

2.) The whole world knows you gave a wheel barrow full of money to Mike Richards for the next decade to be one of the cornerstones of the team, so he's not going anywhere. Figure out what you really think about RJ Umberger or Jeff Carter. Specifically, are either of them top 6 forwards in this league? Carter has great raw skills and Umberger does some nice things on the ice (especially against Pittsburgh) but I would hate to fall into a trap where we wait around forever for these guys to come around. I believe both are restricted free agents this summer; I would consider trading either of them now rather than wait till later to find out they have flaws in their respective games that will never be worked out.

3.) Enough screwing around with the goaltending; this isn't the AHL. Who is THE guy? Is it Biron, the guy that carried you through the first month of the year? Or is it Niittymaki, the homegrown organizational favorite of the head coach? Figure it out and get rid of the other one and make Brian Boucher, down with the Phantoms, the backup goaltender. Better yet, include whoever you plan on trading in a deal with Tampa to get Dan Boyle. Tampa desperately needs a goaltender and either Niittymaki or Biron would be an improvement over what they have now.

4.) Find Danny Briere a linemate to play with, so that you can get your money's worth from this guy. Moving him to wing was a good start; now get him a center to play with, whether it's someone currently on the roster or someone else.

I'm a little Flyer'd out for now; I'm glad spring training is starting back up and that the Sixers get back into action shortly, so I can take my mind off of the smoldering wreck this season is becoming.