Category Archives: FFC Blog

Flyers vs Islanders Feb7

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The Flyers are in New York tonight to face the Islanders. The Flyers having picked up points in 4 straight games for the first time this season are coming off a 5-2 win in Atlanta over the Thrashers on Saturday. The Islanders are coming off 2-1 shootout loss in Washington against the Capitals on Sunday.

The Flyers lead the season series 3-1.

Mike Rathje is the only Flyer listed as injured, but Robert Esche is still suffering from back and neck spasms and wont be available.. Islanders have a list of injured, Shawn Bates, Joel Bouchard, Radek Martinek, and Alexei Yashin.

Antero Niittymaki is excepted to get the start in goal with Michael Leighton as backup. Nate Guenin was sent back to the Phantoms with the return of Randy Jones from injury.

There has been some reporting of Geoff Sanderson not being happy with being scratched the last few games after playing a few games since coming back from injury. I was also a bit surprised to see it. But the fact is the Flyers are 100% healthy up front which means someone has to sit. This gives Stevens some flexibility and can use the scratch to motivate players on his team and I think that is a good thing.

Flyers vs Devils Feb1

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The Flyers face the Devils tonight in Philly as they try to win their first game at home since November 24.

The Flyers are coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The Devils are coming off a 5-4 shootout loss in Atlanta against the Thrashers on Tuesday.

Injuries for the Flyers include Mike Rathje out indefinitely and Randy Jones out for about a week with a shoulder injury.
For the Devils injuries listed include Alex Brooks, Richard Matvichuk, Alexander Mogilny and Jason Weimer.

Peter Forsberg on his ankle.
“It was 10 times better than it’s been all year. Its fun to play again and I’ve got to keep working. You should never say you played good enough in a game you lose, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

Good for Forsberg, good for the Flyers. Maybe good for a trade?

Flyers vs Devils Jan 20

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NHL.com Preview

Last game before the all-star break for the Flyers.

Jan 18 vs Islanders

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NHL.com Preview

The Flyers host the Islanders tonight in Philly. The Flyers should be rested and healed after a 4 day break. Back in the lineup are Mike Richards and Geoff Sanderson. Denis Gauthier and Mike Rathje still out with injury.

Hmmm I wonder how the lines will look.
Forberg-Gagne-Knuble is a given

There is currently 2 extra forwards so…
Carter-Calder-Richards
The CCR line was really good in preseason. Since Calder is out of his slump I would like to see them work together again and see how they do.
Sanderson-Potulny-Kapanen
All 3 of those guys are solid hard workers.
Fedoruk-Umberger-Eager
The banging energy line or the FU-E line.
I like both Fedoruk and Eager and don’t think long term the team has to decide on one or the other.

That leaves Afanasenkov and York. York hasn’t shown me much yet as a Flyer, not sure how he fits in. Afanasenkov work ethic I like and could easily fill in on the third or fourth line.

But according to the local Flyers reporter lines could be
Carter-Sanderson-York
Richards-Calder-Kapanen

Oops forgot, Eager is suspended a game because of the BS ‘New NHL’.
So fourth line could be Fedoruk-Umberger-Afanasenkov. Been talk of Potulny going back to the Phantoms that is until the next injury.

As far as defense goes David Printz was sent back to the Phantoms with Nate Guenin being called up his first NHL game.
What TSN has to say about him.
Assets – Has the size and aggressiveness teams love from the back end. Is a solid team-first player with stay-at-home qualities and a mean streak.
Flaws – Must prove capable of playing in the ‘new’ NHL without taking bad penalties. Needs to work on his mobility and decision-making in order to play regularly.
Career potential Top six defenseman.

The Flyers are on a 6 game losing streak last winning on January 2. Flyers last game was a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at home last Saturday. The Islanders are coming off a 5-2 loss also to the Penguins on Tuesday. The Flyers have won 2 of the 3 meetings this year with the Islanders losing the last one 3-1 on November 9.

Simon Gagne All-Star

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Simon Gagne has been selected as the only Flyer for the All-Star Game to be played in Dallas on January 24.
This is his 2nd allstar game.
I never bothered with the voting for a couple reasons. First I dont think any of the Flyers played good enough over a long enough period this season to vote for them. Secondly I think the fan voting considering how easy it to stuff the ballot box is just a waste. Check out the voting results. Both Peter Forsberg and recently acquired Alexei Zhitnick both received more votes then Gagne. In fact 25 other forwards received more votes then Gagne. But hey its the new NHL.

Anthony SanFilippo has an interesting point about fans voting the starters focusing on Buffalo.
Oh and the whole Rory Fitzpatrick movement, ugh what a sideshow.

Eric Desjardins Video Tribute

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The video tribute shown at the January 11, 2006 game honoring Eric Desjardins

Jan 13 vs Penguins

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NHL.com Preview

This is the first nationally broadcasted game this year for the Flyers as they face the Penguins in Philadelphia at 2pm eastern today. The Penguins have won all 5 meetings so far this year last winning 8-4 on December 13.

The Flyers are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. The Flyers are on a 5 game losing streak and have not won at home since November 24.
The Penguins are coming off a 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. The Penguins are also on a 3 game losing streak.

Antero Niittymaki will get the start in goal even with a record that includes 12 straight losses. With the pickup of Leighton and the continued play of Nitty one could easily speculate that Esche will be gone before the end of the season. I suspect the Flyers want to get something in return from him instead of just letting him walk at the end of the season.

Injuries for the Flyers include Mike Rathje, Mike Richards, Geoff Sanderson and Denis Gauthier. Both Richards and Sanderson should be ready sometime next week.
For the Penguins Josef Melichar, Nils Ekman, Eric Cairns and Mark Eaton are listed as injured.

Flyers pickup Mike Leighton

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The FLyers claimed goaltender Michael Leighton on waivers from the Nashville Predators,
So the Flyers now have 3 goalies. My initial reaction was that Niitty was going to have surgery early before the end of the season. But that seems not the case. According to Timmy P. this is just an insurance policy since both Esche and Nitty has been injured this year. For $63,750 he sounds like a deal.

What tsn has to say
Assets – Has good size and excellent fundamentals for the goaltending position. Displays an exemplary work ethic.
Flaws – Needs to fill out his 6-3 frame without losing flexibility. Must show more consistency in order to get back in the NHL.
Career potential – No. 2 goaltender.

Jan 11 vs Canadiens

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NHL.com Preview

Flyers come back home to face the Montreal Canadiens.
The Canadiens lead the season series 2 games to 1 beating the Flyers 4-2 on December 21. The Flyers are coming off a horrible showing against the Capitals in Washington losing 6-2 on Tuesday. The Canadiens are coming off a 4-2 win against the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday.

Injuries for the Flyers include Mike Rathje, Denis Gauthier, Mike Richards and Geoff Sanderson.
Forsberg will be back, but I am not sure how long he will last.

The Flyers will be honoring Eric Desjardins tonight at the game. Fitting I think since he played for both Flyers and Canadiens.
Desjardins talks to the media about his career in the NHL.

Official Score Sheet Official Super Stats Recap

The ceremony honoring Eric Desjardins was nice and it was great that Center Ice carried CSN which showed the activities. But besides that the game was the typical Flyers game we have seen this year.
Jeff Carter and Joni Pitkanen scored for the FLyers. Pitkanen’s goal was his first of the season, hopefully that will get him started.
Forsberg played decent his first game back.
Antero Niittymaki was average in goal, not a lot jump in the Flyers game business as usual.

Flyers vs Hurricanes New Years Eve

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The Flyers are in Carolina tonight to face the Hurricanes in a New Years Eve game. The Flyers try to win two in a row and pick up their second win of December. Going 2-10 would be better then 1-11, but not much. The Hurricanes lead the season series 1-0 beating the Flyers 2-1 on December 19.

The Flyers are coming off a 4-3 win in Tampa Bay against the Lightning on Thursday. The Hurricanes are coming off a 4-2 win against the Ducks on Friday.

Injuries for the Flyers include Denis Gauthier, Mike Rathje, Mike Richards and Geoff Sanderson. Antero Niittymaki is also suffering a hip injury that the cortisone shot he received the other day may or may not help. In either case Robert Esche should get the start in goal tonight with Scott Munroe as backup.
As far as Forsberg goes it seems that his head and his skates are fine, for now.

For the Hurricanes Niclas Wallin, Tim Gleason and Frantisek Kaberle are listed as injured.

Still no official release from the Flyers on their about the pickup of Dmitry Afanasenkov, he is not listed on the roster yet either but I do expect him to play tonight.

Quote from Paul Holmgren about the pickup from philly.com
“He’s got skills and we’re hoping there is more there. He’s never had the opportunity to play in an expanded role because of who was ahead of him. We think if we expand his role, there’s some more skill to be seen.”

Apparently this was another pickup from a team trying to work with their salary cap. The Lightning needed to call-up a defenseman and they had no room on the cap to do so.