It has been almost two weeks since my last update because of my schedule. I will have more free time in a few weeks to post more often.

The Flyers have won 3 of 5 games since Thanksgiving beating the Blue Jackets, Canadiens and Islanders. They lost to the Predators and to the Devils going to a shootout.

Former head coach Ken Hitchcock got his first start behind the bench with Columbus against the Flyers. Mike Richards finally scored his first goal this season which hopefully should get him going. The Flyers broke their record making 6 game home losing streak.

The lost to Nashville seem to be the straw that finally broke Mike Rathje’s back. Tied late in the game Rathje had a horrible turnover leading to a Predator goal. The fans at the Wachovia center let Rathje know of their displeasure with a loud round of boos. In the remaining minutes of the game anytime Rathje touched the puck the boos came down. I don’t blame the fans there one bit. Since the hip injury early last season Rathje’s play to be honest has sucked for a player making 3.5mill. I like many fans were hoping during the off season he could get the treatment he needed, well things hasn’t worked out. His play hasn’t improved and finally the Flyers will do something with Rathje to keep him off the ice (hopefully) until he is 100%.
I personally don’t have anything against the guy, he is a decent player and I can appreciate him playing through the pain. But the reality of the situation he is no better then having a rookie come up and get experience making the same mistakes. Just because dude can lace up and skate halfway doesn’t mean he should play, especially since his play has continue to hurt the Flyers. He shouldn’t play, period.

While the Flyers did lose to the Devils in the shootout (which I continue to hate) the game itself was just wow. Todd ‘the Fridge’ Fedoruk returned to the Flyers scoring on his first shot and also picked up an assist. The pace and effort of both teams was just great to watch. The Flyers with the exception of Nedved were banging, finishing checks and were playing all out. If the Flyers can play the rest of the season like that game there should be no issue of getting into the playoff run. Nedved who was sent down to the AHL has played decent when recalled, but by the looks of last game it appears he has forgotten the lesson he learned. When the entire team except him is checking, working the boards and showing the effort that is needed his floating becomes painfully obvious to anyone. If he wont put forth the effort on the boards and checking then send him back down and bring up a player that will pay the price needed to play in the NHL.

As much as I bash Hatcher and Rathje, Pitkanen seems to be bent on getting the same treatment. I honestly don’t know what is wrong with this guy. He missed a couple games with a sore left hip flexor, but I wonder if the injury is more serious then reported. Pitkanen has really been weak on the puck and continues to make mental mistakes. The Flyers can’t just give up on him; he is too young and has too much upside potential. I am not sure what the answer is although his play has been better when paired with fellow Finn Jussi Timonen. Both Timonen and Lars Jonsson have impressed me. If Picard wasn’t playing as well has he is I would figure Jonsson would still be up with the Flyers. Heck, bring in some more Finns on defense. The Finns we have can skate, move the puck and have some chemistry with each other. Communication is better with each other along with Niittymaki who is also Finnish.

Speaking of Nitty it seems he has really taken the #1 spot playing the last 7 straight games. Martin Houle is playing backup to Nitty while Esche is out recovering from adductor muscle surgery. Esche is out until late December.
Other injuries…
Jeff Carter is still out with a fractured left tibia and should be back within a few weeks.
Denis Gauthier is still out with a left shoulder injury and is still projected to come back in mid-January.
Geoff Sanderson has a mild groin strain and is listed day to day.
Peter Forsberg had the flu and missed the last game. The flu has been making its rounds with the Flyers lately.

Mike Knuble signed a two year extension to the Flyers at 2.8mill per year. For the Flyers this is a deal. Knuble has always been underrated. He was second in goals last year with the Flyers and third in points, the only player to play every game. He is second again this year in goals. He is easily worth another million.

A couple prospects were picked for Team Canada for the World Junior Championships, Steve Downie and Claude Giroux.

Former Flyer John LeClair was waived by the Pittsburgh Penguins and later brought back up hoping someone would claim him. I was in the group of fans that would like to see LeClair come back to Philadelphia, although he wouldn’t like the amount of icetime that I would want him to see. I would like to see him on some 2 or 3 squad power play and some 3rd or 4th line play with limited minutes. But that didn’t happen and he is stuck in Pittsburgh. I don’t see why he can’t play AHL hockey. He has played little over a season, what does Pittsburgh owe him? Sure he was a 50 goal scorer almost 10 years ago. If a player isn’t helping the team but can contribute to the AHL team of course he should be sent down, it doesn’t matter how much of a veteran he is. His skills set is diminished its part of life.

There has been a lot of talk about changing the schedule and I guess I will throw in my two cents. I think every team should play every other team twice, once home and once away. That would leave 24 games for conference and division play. If the team plays non-conference division teams once again that would leave 14 games to play conference teams to ‘build rivalries’. This still works out to at least 6 games between conference teams with 2 extra. So the Flyers would play ever team in the Western Conference twice, teams in the North East and South East divisions 3 times and Islanders, Devils, Rangers and Penguins 6 or 7 times. Seems logical to me.

Can someone tell me how with attendance down across the NHL that revenue is up? This will of course push the salary cap higher next year. Could it be that teams are raising ticket prices? That’s what the Flyers did. Ticket prices are at pre-lockout levels while team salary is something like 30 million less. Or could this be some fancy accounting that will burn the league down the road?

Can someone also tell me why in TSN’s power rankings released today the Flyers fall from 29th back to 30th? The Flyers that have won 3 out of their last 5 games, the team that has a better record in the last 10 games than 10 other teams in the league.

In December the Flyers are rising, and at this pace it isn’t out the question for the Flyers to be in the top 8 in the Eastern Conference by the New Year.