Flyers Stand Pat; Myers Tabbed for Opening Day

The Flyers stood pat on the day of the NHL trade deadline. I mostly agree with the non-moves; this team isn't ready for a big run such that they can give up young assets for a handful full of promises from pending unrestricted free agents like Marian Hossa or even Brian Campbell. The only way it would have made sense is if they had guarentees that they could sign the players in question, and I think both guys are content to go into free agency this summer.

The Flyers did lose a player yesterday, technically speaking. Brian Boucher, playing down with the Phantoms on what was only an AHL contract, was allowed to sign an NHL contract with San Jose. Good for Boucher for getting back to the big leagues and good for Paul Holmgren for giving him an opportunity. I thought that Boosh was ready for a return to the NHL based off of his AHL performance this year and thought he'd be a good backup to Biron, such that you could include Niitty in a deal, but apparently that was not to be.

By the way: bold move by Pittsburgh, in picking up Marian Hossa. They have to be the odds on favorite to win the East at this point, although they have huge defensive holes.

Brett Myers: Phillies' Opening Day Starter

Once again, Brett Myers will be the Phillies' opening day starter. I like this move for several reasons; not the least of which is that the Phillies hustled Myers into embracing the closer role last year when a lot of young starting pitchers might have told the Phillies to go screw themselves. The Phillies are a better team with Brett Myers in the starting rotation, period.

(Picture from the Nytimes.com; Len Redkoles/Getty Images)

The Sixers

The Sixers haven't played since last weekend, but will face Orlando at home tonite.

Flyers' Trade Deadline Day 2008

The 2 -1 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers last Saturday did more than extend a losing streak. It was in this game where the Flyers lost captain-in-waiting Mike Richards for up to 3 weeks with what is being diagnosed as a torn hamstring. The Flyers' already slipping playoff hopes took a huge kick to the family jewels with this news. If there is one player who does almost absolutely everything for this team, it's Mike Richards. He plays in every conceivable situation on the ice; sometimes to his own detriment as I believe his game suffers just a bit with all of the additional ice time he's logged this year.

With the loss to Florida, the Flyers are now in the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs; 1 point out of the 8th spot and 3 points out of the 7th spot. A couple of good weeks (which they are due just based on luck alone) and they could be right back in the playoff hunt. The one thing that will hold this team back, however, is injury: Gagne is done for the year, Lupul has a high ankle sprain, Richards has a torn hamstring, Hatcher has a bum knee.

Now, what should GM Paul Holmgren do at the deadline? Is he a buyer or a seller? Tough to say, but here is what I would do:

1.) I would stand firm in not trading young assets such as VanRiemsdyk, Claude Giroux, Ryan Parent, and Steve Downie. The only way I would consider trading one of our really young players at this point is if you can a lead-pipe cinch of an all-star player in return. The only player out there like that that is still reasonably young is Marian Hossa, and the Flyers wouldn't be able to fit his next contract under the cap. Notice I did not list Carter or Umberger in the untouchable list.

2.) Find out what it would take to get Alex Tanguay. They need a wing to play with Danny Briere; Tanguay wants out of Calgary. The only catch is figuring out what it would take. I would consider trading a player like Carter or Umberger to get Tanguay only if Calgary threw something else in the mix trade-wise, like a high draft pick or a young player off of their roster. Tanguay doesn't like the pressure he's under to score with Calgary and hates Mike Keenan.

3.) Find out what Jason Smith's intentions are for next year. Press him for a decision. If he can't or won't decide, move him now. He has value as a rental during the playoffs because of his grit and determination. I have read in various places that Smith wants to sign with Calgary in the offseason because he has a home out there.

Nothing personal with Jason Smith; I like him as a player, but you hate like hell to see your captain walk away as a free agent after one year. Start over now if you have to at captain with Mike Richards.

4.) This is a good opportunity to figure out the goaltending situation. My preference would be to trade Niittymaki and get what you can for him. He's a free agent in the offseason, and you are not going to spend a ton of dough to keep both Niitty and Biron on the roster. I would trade Niittymaki to a team looking for a goaltender (Tampa?) and make Brian Boucher, playing well with the Phantoms, the back-up goaltender for the rest of this year and next.

5.) If you do not include Carter or Umberger in a deal for an Alex Tanguay, it is imperative to play these two guys a ton for the rest of the year to figure out what you are going to do with them long term. Carter, especially, because it is thought that he has more upside than Umberger.

Carter should take over Mike Richards' line during the time he is out and let's see what he could do over a 3-week period. Maybe even play Carter with Briere, since Carter supposedly has this great shot and Briere seems to only want to dish at this point. The Flyers need to know if Carter is a legitimate top-6 forward or not.

Other players from Carter's draft class are heavily counted on already in the NHL by their teams, so it is now time for Jeff Carter to stand up and be a player or just another guy on the team (Mike Richards, Eric Staal, Thomas Vanek, Dion Phaneuf, Brent Seabrook, Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Patrice Bergeron, Shea Weber are some of the players part of the 2003 NHL draft class. All of these players are ahead of Carter, in terms of success and development, and half of them were drafted after Carter).

As for Umberger, I've always been ambivalent about him as a player, but others seem to think he's got some value (the Flyers' announcers seem to really like him). He's older than Carter; Umberger will be 26 in May and we should have seen more from him by now. Same deal with Umberger as with Carter as far as I'm concerned; put him in an expanded role and see how he handles it.

Both Umberger and Carter are going to look to get paid this off-season (as restricted free agents), but in my opinion, neither has done enough to deserve to be paid much more than they are getting now.

So what would all of these moves mean? It really means standing pat; I don't know if the Flames are even willing to deal Tanguay, but his name has been out there in rumors and the Flyers definitely have a need for another 1st or 2nd line forward.

Otherwise, I don't believe there is really anything out there, trade-wise, to push the Flyers into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. In light of that, it's better to see if the Flyers can sink or swim with what they have in house and to jettison some components that may or may not be part of the future.

(Photo courtesy of Yahoo.com; Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Sixers Lose; Can Marty Biron Stop a Breakaway?

Both of the winter sports teams lost last night. The Sixers never could get into any sort of rhythm and did not get their running game going in dropping a winnable game to the woeful Minnesota Timberwolves by a score of 104 - 88. The Sixers started out slowly and never recovered. Al Jefferson provided a glimpse as to why the T-Wolves had to get him from the Celtics when they traded away Kevin Garnett, as Jefferson scored 19 points (on 9 of 14 shooting) and grabbed 14 points in a fairly dominant performance.

Andre Iguodala had 17 points for the Sixers in a losing effort. The Sixers come home tonite to face the New York Knicks.

Potential good news off of the court: Mo Cheeks may be getting an extension. I think he's earned at least another year, maybe two. He's done a really good job with the hand he's been dealt. This team will get to a point, however, where they will outgrow the type of coach (laid back) that Cheeks is, but for the state of the team right now, he's the right guy.

Flyers Lose. Again.

The Flyers dropped another game in their march towards saving many season ticket holders some money on playoff tickets by dropping a 3 - 2 decision to the Ottawa Senators that was decided by a shootout.

I felt this was the best game the Flyers played in a long time. The game reminded me of the type of game they played early in the year where they allowed a lot of long shots that Biron handled easily followed by opportunities in transition.

Once again, however, the Flyers lost in a shootout. I don't know what it will take for the Flyers to actually win a shootout. I give John Stevens credit for at least trying something different in giving rookie Claude Giroux an opportunity in the shootout as well as Kimmo Timonen.

By the way, has anyone ever seen Biron make a save on a breakaway? I mean, has it really happened? I don't think I've seen Biron stop one single breakaway since he's been a Flyer. Usually, during the shootouts, it's been the opposing shooter who lost control of the puck or just flat out missed the net. But I don't believe Biron has actively made a save on a breakaway at all this year (whether during the game or during the shootout). Biron simply does not engender confidence during shootouts, which is , I guess, a change of pace from Antero Niittymaki, who doesn't engender confidence (for me) during the 65 minutes it takes to get to a shootout.

Off the ice, the Flyers managed to make a minor deal yesterday that should help them get through the next 3 weeks where they won't have Derian Hatcher. The Flyers traded a 3rd round pick to the LA Kings for defenseman Jaroslav Modry. He's 37 years old, so this trade will give Jim Dowd someone to talk to. He's a good veteran to have around during the stretch run. Not the "WOW" acquisition some Flyer fans are waiting in vain for, but not bad either.

Flyers Lose Again; What Now?

The Flyers continued their losing ways, by dropping one to the woeful Islanders by a score of 4 - 3. The loss was their fourth straight, and I personally, can only think of one good game that they've played since the All-Star break (their shutout win over Anaheim).

You simply can't watch their games recently and pick out one thing that's wrong with this team right now; they are woefully out of synch for some reason. They seem to sag at just the wrong time and then, as if by sheer will, the puck ends up in their net.

Last night, they even went the extra mile and gave up 47 shots on goal; they were outshot in every period, up to an including the third period, when they entered the period down by a goal and some sort of extra offensive push would be demanded.

What gives with this team? Some thoughts:

1.) During last Thursday's game, it was implied by the broadcasters that the team was bitten by the flu bug in explaining the team's phlegmatic play. The same excuses sort of continued through the weekend, but at this point, I don't buy the flu. That's a bullshit excuse at this point and doesn't explain the entire team looking badly.

2.) Maybe they miss Simon Gagne. Gagne is an elite player in the league; good both offensively and in his own end. Even when Gagne did come back, he was very tentative and a shell of what he is when his head is right (pun intended). The type of two way play that Gagne provides has been missing from quite a few players lately; notably Danny Briere (now a -18 for the year!). Maybe they address some of what Gagne brought at the trade deadline; maybe they don't.

3.) These are the dog days of the season and older defensemen like Derian Hatcher and Jason Smith are simply worn down. Hatcher has been a minus player in 3 of the last 4 games.

4.) There is always the school of thought at this time of year about concern for the trade deadline. I think it's fairly obvious that the Flyers have some chips to trade and they definitely have the ability to make a move; with or without Forsberg coming on board. Perhaps this is making the team play tight and trying to do everyone else's job; including their own.

I think there is something to a combination of the trade deadline theory and possibly, a Peter Forsberg angle as well. Chuck Gormley, excellent Flyers beat writer from the Courier-Post, points out today in a rare blog entry, espouses this very thought:

You might have seen a quote from Marty Biron in one of my recent stories saying the players aren't talking about it (JD add: "it" refers to Forsberg's return). With all due respect to Marty, he's lying. Guys in the dressing room ARE talking about it, Someone asked me every other day what's going on with Foppa. Jim Dowd is wondering because his job's at stake. Mike Knuble's wondering because he'd like to play with the guy instead of getting traded to Detroit to make room for him.

Sometimes, from what I understand, players hear stories about who is coming to the team and they begin to lay upon the imminent arrival of that player some sort of savior complex, such that they stop focusing on their job and what they can do and begin focusing on what the player, who is not even here yet, may or may not mean to the team. This is common around the trade deadline, but in the Flyers' case, there is an even weirder circumstance because of the Peter Forsberg dilemma (or as Gormley skillfully calls it "The Foppa Soap Opera").

Forsberg's decision is supposed to come this weekend and not a moment too soon.