The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that they have agreed to a two-year contract extension with forward Sami Kapanen, according to club General Manager Paul Holmgren. Kapanen is now signed through the 2008-09 season. Per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Paul Holmgren

“We are excited about having Sami around for a few more years. We feel that he brings a lot of qualities to our hockey team in terms of what he does both on and off the ice. He is a quality person and he’s a good utility player who can play anywhere in our lineup.”

Sami Kapanen

“I am very happy to stay here. It’s something that we were able to get done in a short period of time. I believe that this team is rebuilding in the right direction and we will be back contending next year. My family loves it here, so it was an easy decision to stay here.”

I guess retirement is a couple years off for Kapanen then. I haven’t heard what the financial details are yet, this year he makes 1.52 mill. He signed for 1.25 mill a year with a no trade clause, so he took a pay cut. Whatever it is I am glad to see him back for a couple more years. While he isn’t the 20 goal scorer he was when in Carolina he brings so much more to the team. He can play both PK and PP, foward and defense but more important is how he plays, all out. One of the problems this year was the Flyers lost/traded/let go guys that while didn’t put up the big numbers were team players and played with an energy that rubbed off on the rest of the team. Oh and lets not forget leadership, he would do anything for the team. Long losing streak, Kapanen came up with the idea of the team shaving their heads. Silly? sure. But to me it showed that he would do anything to get the team to start feeling like a team and start playing like a team again. The Flyers could use some more players with that much heart.