SAN JOSE – Mike Richards’ hit on David Booth back on Oct. 24 is still reverberating through the hockey world. Last week at the NHL’s general manager meetings in Toronto, many GMs pointed to that hit as the reason why head shots and dangerous hits need to be taken out of the game.

This week, the hit is still reverberating in a different place. David Booth told The Sporting News in today’s issue that he is still feeling the effects of the hit daily. Booth made a pass near the Flyers’ blue line and turned his head at the very second Richards came across the ice and drilled him with a shoulder.

The hit – which knocked Booth unconscious, cut him and kept him in Pennsylvania Hospital for a night – was reviewed by the NHL but not deemed worthy of a suspension. Booth’s head scraped along the Wachovia Center ice on the way down.

Booth has not been back on the ice since. I reported news from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Thursday’s paper about Booth’s setbacks. He has not been able to do light exercises for more than three consecutive days without headaches.

Video of the hit is at the bottom of this post.

The Sporting News caught up with him for a revealing Q&A in their Nov. 20, 2009 issue. Here is an excerpt:

Question: How would you describe the symptoms right now?
Booth: It’s kind of fatigue mostly, and headaches … I never had a headache for the longest time [before the hit]. Now, it seems like everything I do, my head starts pounding.

Question: Was it a dirty hit?
Booth: Since I was the one receiving it, I looked back on it and my viewpoint is going to be different than other people’s. Yeah, I guess everyone has their opinions, I’m sure you know where I stand on it.

Question: At the GM meetings in Toronto, that hit seemed to be the one that rallied for a rule protecting players from hits to the head. Is that something positive you can pull out of this?
Booth: Yeah, but it kind of sucks it had to come at my expense. That’s the way it goes.

Question: So you’d like to see rule changes?
Booth: Yeah, I think you could answer that for me.

Question: I read somewhere that your career might be in jeopardy because of this hit. Do you worry about not playing again?
Booth: No. That’s not in my mind. That’s never crossed my mind. I’ve never even had that thought.

Question: I imagine the best advice is to not rush back?
Booth: That’s the biggest thing. You feel good during the day, you want to get back out there … I hate doing nothing. I feel like a slob. I want to do anything I can. It’s been difficult.

Question: So what do you do to pass the time?
Booth: Nothing … The first couple of weeks, I’d go for a walk or something and I found that to be detrimental … I think I just have to do nothing.

That is powerful stuff. The "I feel like a slob" line really got me. It is amazing to see how a few milliseconds can change a life.

Anyways, the Flyers are back on the ice tonight (10:00 p.m. EST, Comcast SportsNet) against the San Jose Sharks. I looked at how the Flyers’ defense has made a big impact in the scoring column in today’s paper.

The Flyers’ lines are expected to stay the same:

Hartnell - Richards - Pyorala
Van Riemsdyk - Carter - Briere
Powe - Giroux - Laliberte
Carcillo - Betts – Laperriere

Flyers coach John Stevens said that Oskars Bartulis will remain in the lineup as the sixth defenseman, leaving Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Danny Syvret and Riley Cote as healthy scratches.

The Sharks are walking wounded right now, missing Rob Blake, Devin Setoguchi, Jody Shelley and Brad Staubitz. All four will be out tonight.

Here were the Sharks' depleted lines from practice on Thursday:

Marleau – Thornton - Heatley
Clowe - Pavelski - Malhotra
Ortmeyer – Nichol – McLaren

The San Jose Mercury News is saying that Logan Couture, Jamie McGinn and Benn Ferriero are likely to play tonight as call-ups from Worcester (AHL).

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.

LOS ANGELES – The Flyers’ winning ways continued on Tuesday night as they hung on for an important 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center in the opening battle of a five-game road swing.

Here were my 3 Stars:

1. Brian Boucher – “Boosh” admittedly did not have a strong first game against San Jose, giving up four goals on Oct. 25. That was his only start of the season prior to Wednesday night. He struggled through the preseason, giving up a 4.52 GAA in 5 games – but he never played a full 60 minutes. Against the Kings, Boucher looked shaky again. He gave up a brutal goal to Jarret Stoll who snuck a weak shot from his short-side boards in between his skate and the post. He was also saved by the cross-bar on an Anze Kopitar shot that beat him from the slot.

This quote about that screwy goal from Stoll will tell you a lot about Boucher:

“I don’t know what the [heck] happened,” Boucher said. “I’ve had a couple of weird ones this year. But I was determined that that goal wasn’t going to be a big factor.”

He rebounded to play a near flawless game. Drew Doughty beat him from the point on the power play in the third period, but in Boucher’s defense he was screened in front by the Kings’ extra forward.

“We knew that he’d have to make some big saves,” Flyers coach John Stevens said. “L.A. is a good hockey team.”

Boucher did that. He stopped Kopitar point blank in the final 10 seconds and that was just one of his 37 stops on the night. The Kings fired 21 pucks at him in the third period alone.

2. Mika Pyorala – Pyorala scored his first goal of the season when he chipped in a Scott Hartnell rebound over Jonathan Quick with a diving backhand stab. That got the Flyers on the board in the second period.

“It was interesting to see how excited the guys were for him,” Stevens said. “That goal was huge. I hope that gets him going.”

Pyorala, as he said himself in my game story – and talked about how his parents like to watch him play live from Finland, has had a ton of chances but hasn’t been able to score before Wednesday night. He scored that one game-winner in the shootout against St. Louis but that was his first official NHL goal.

3. James van Riemsdyk – JVR netted his second consecutive game-winning goal in the third period when he took a Braydon Coburn shot that caromed off the boards behind the net and quickly deposited it behind Quick.

That gave the Flyers, at the time, a 3-1 lead. Doughty’s goal made it the game-winner.

This was van Riemsdyk’s first-ever trip to the West Coast.

Here are some other things you may not have noticed:

• The Kings had more shots in the third period (21) than the Flyers totaled for the game (20).
• Jeff Carter won 9-of-12 face-offs.
• Dan Carcillo was one of three Flyers (Ian Laperriere, Ryan Parent) to record four hits in the game.
• The Flyers out-hit the Kings 30-29. Quite a few of the hits were borderline boarding penalties.
• The Flyers are now 11-0-1 when leading after the second period.
• Five Flyers players (Coburn, Mike Richards, Chris Pronger, Matt Carle and Kimmo Timonen) played more than 20 minutes.
• Coburn finished with two assists.
• Both teams were 1-for-2 on the power play.

The Flyers will practice Thursday afternoon (2:00 p.m. Pacific) in San Jose as they prepare for the Sharks on Friday night.

For the latest information, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.

Boucher was run over by the Sharks in his first - and only - start of the season.

LOS ANGELES - Flyers coach John Stevens said at practice on Tuesday that goalie Brian Boucher would "definitely" start at least one game on the Flyers' current five-game road swing.

We just didn't know it would be tonight.

Boucher will be in goal tonight when the Flyers take on the Los Angeles Kings tonight (10:30 pm EST, Comcast SportsNet) at the Staples Center.

It is just his second start of the season. A groin strain at the end of a rocky preseason schedule set Boucher back for the regular season. His only start was a 4-1 loss against San Jose at the Wachovia Center in which all four goals, as he said himself, should not have went in.

“All four of them, they were awful goals to give up,” Boucher admitted after the game. “They were backbreakers. You can’t expect to win when the goalie gives up four goals like that.”

Stevens didn't sugarcoat anything after that loss.

“[He] just wasn’t very good,” Stevens said back on Oct. 25. “I think everybody who was at the game would agree. It’s tough to win those games when three of the goals go in like that.”

That's probably why Boucher hasn't played since then. Starter Ray Emery has reeled off eight straight games, going 6-2-0 in that stretch.

I had predicted that Boucher would get his next start against Phoenix on Saturday night, given that it is the second game of a back-to-back swing. Both Los Angeles and San Jose have prolific scorers that would love to beat up on a goalie lacking complete confidence.

The Kings do, after all, have the top scorer in the NHL in Anze Kopitar. "Kopi-Star," as I like to call him, has 14 goals and 32 points this season.

He will be without regular linemate Ryan Smyth tonight - and for the next month or so. Kings coach Terry Murray announced today that Smyth will be out for 4 weeks with a mysterious "upper body injury."

Murray said that Alexander Frolov will skate with Kopitar and former Flyer Justin Williams on a line tonight.

Here is what you can expect for Flyers lines:

Hartnell - Richards - Pyorala
Van Riemsdyk - Carter - Briere
Powe - Giroux - Laliberte
Carcillo - Betts - Laperriere

Stevens has been thrilled with Oskars Bartulis, so I'd assume he will stay in the lineup tonight. That would leave Riley Cote, Danny Syvret and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen as healthy scratches.

Here is what else to watch for:

-How does David Laliberte play in the first game of his new call-up? Laliberte will play on the 3rd line. He netted 3 points in 4 games in his first stint with the big club.

-Will Randy Jones make a difference in his first game against his former club? We caught up with Randy today. Pick up Thursday's Daily News for more.

-Do the Flyers and Kings play similar styles? Terry Murray clearly knows the Flyers. He was an assistant here two seasons ago. He said today that it was "the ultimate compliment" to be compared to the Flyers. He said that he has been trying to change the culture in Los Angeles and turn them into a playoff team. A lot of that has to do with attitude, he said. Murray said it is "no coincidence" that the Kings front office is filled with connections to the Flyers:

• General manager Dean Lombardi was a Flyers scout
• Assistant GM Ron Hextall is in the Flyers' Hall of Fame.
• Murray wore the Orange and Black and coached them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997.
• Michael Handzus, Randy Jones and Justin Williams are all former Flyers that play for the Kings.

Murray said he has been trying to bring that winning attitude with him out West. So far, it is working. The Kings (13-7-2) are in second place in the Pacific division behind San Jose but are in 4th place in the Western Conference. They have not made the playoffs since they were bounced out of the first round in 2002.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.

LOS ANGELES – After a five-hour flight over America's Heartland, the Flyers landed in Los Angeles sometime around 1:30 a.m. PST on Tuesday morning and were back at it on the ice in Southern California less than 20 hours after knocking off the New Jersey Devils three time zones away.

Flyers captain Mike Richards did not participate in the team practice at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, Calif. Coach John Stevens said that Tuesday was a planned “maintenance” day for Richards.

The Flyers are only carrying 13 forwards (8 defensemen) on this trip, so Riley Cote filled in on Richards’ line on Tuesday:

Hartnell – Richards (Cote) – Pyorala
Van Riemsdyk – Carter – Briere
Powe – Giroux – Laliberte
Carcillo – Betts – Laperriere

The defensive pairings rotated throughout practice. It seems as if Oskars Bartulis will stay in the lineup, though, on Wednesday.

Here were a couple of quick hits from Tuesday’s practice:

-Ian Laperriere had a small fan club in the stands, presumably from his days as a Los Angeles King. Laperriere, a Montreal native, spent parts of 9 seasons in LA. A few of his fans wore t-shirts that read “It’s All About Lappy.” He joked with me: “See, there are a few people out there that like me!”

-Richards spent most of practice on the bench, watching in street clothes with trainers Jim McCrossin and Sal Raffa, but was also dribbling a basketball around the locker room area for a while.

-For some players, like James van Riemsdyk, this is their first trip out on the West Coast. Van Riemsdyk, 20, said earlier this week that he has never seen the Pacific Ocean before and was looking forward to seeing all of the sights and sounds. I find it fascinating that he has played as far away as the Czech Republic but hasn’t been to the other side of his own country. There is so much to do in the United States.

-When Arron Asham left Monday night’s game in the second period, David Laliberte knew that Tuesday was going to be a long day. He left Glens Falls, N.Y., at 3:45 a.m. EST in a limo that took him to the Albany, N.Y., airport. From there, he hopped flights to Chicago and then on to Los Angeles, where he met the team just in time for practice. Read the Daily News on Wednesday to find out why he couldn’t fall asleep on the plane.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.

Arron Asham will miss 10-14 days with a left oblique strain, according to Flyers GM Paul Holmgren.

Monday night was a huge win for the Flyers.

Their gritty 3-2 win over visiting New Jersey not only snapped the Atlantic division-leader’s eight-game win streak, it also stopped the Devils from tying an NHL record for most road wins to start a season. New Jersey was 9-0-0 away from the Prudential Center before playing the Flyers on Monday.

Turns out, the game was also a bit of a loss.

Arron Asham left the game in the second period with a left oblique strain. He only played 3 minutes and 44 seconds but assisted on Darroll Powe’s sixth goal of the season in the first period.

According to Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, Asham will be out 10-to-14 days and did not make the trip to the West Coast with the team after the game. The Flyers’ charter left immediately after the game for the 2,800-mile haul to Los Angeles. They were scheduled to land at LAX around 1:30 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday morning.

“He’ll stay back and do his rehab here and continue his fitness,” Holmgren said. “David Laliberte is coming back up, he will probably be there [in Los Angeles] and be there before noon.”

Laliberte provided a spark during his brief call-up with the Flyers in the last two weeks. He posted three points in four games.

Asham had three goals and two assists this season for the Flyers, including that last point on Monday.

The Flyers will face the Kings on Wednesday night (10:30 p.m. Eastern) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and head to Northern California to face San Jose on Friday night. They will also play Phoenix (Saturday, 8:00 p.m.) and Colorado (Monday, 9:00 p.m.) before heading back East to play the Islanders on Thanksgiving-eve.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.

James van Riemsdyk has beaten the odds this season – to both make the Flyers’ roster out of training camp and be hovering among the top NHL rookies in scoring.

Now, he has beaten the flu in record time.

Van Riemsdyk, 20, missed Saturday’s game against Buffalo but took place in today’s morning skate and will be in the lineup tonight against the New Jersey Devils (7:00 p.m., Versus) at the Wachovia Center.

He has 4 goals and 11 assists in 13 games as a Flyer.

Van Riemsdyk apparently had a more serious case of the flu than what ran through the team two weeks ago. Five players missed practice time with the flu but van Riemsdyk didn’t catch the bug then. Van Riemsdyk regained his appetite back on Sunday and the Flyers’ doctors said that he was not contagious today. He will be good to go for the Flyers’ post-game flight to Los Angeles, as they prepare to take on the Kings on Wednesday night.

Fans are asked to be in their seats by 6:45 p.m. tonight to watch a pregame ceremony inducting Dave “The Hammer” Schultz into the Flyers’ Hall of Fame. He will give a brief speech and watch as a video montage with the highlights of his career is played.

Tune in to Daily News Live at 5:00 p.m. today on Comcast SportsNet, Dave Schultz will join us on the panel.

As for the game, the Devils are looking to tie the NHL record for most road wins to start a season. The Atlantic division leaders are 9-0-0 on the road and 9-1-0 overall in their last 10 games behind Martin Brodeur’s impressive 2.16 GAA.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.

Dan Carcillo rebounded from this Craig Rivet hit last week in Buffalo to stab the Sabres with two goals, his first of the season.

Can you name the last time the Flyers won six games in a row? It’s actually closer than you may remember. The Flyers last won six contests in succession in Nov. 2008, a little more than a year ago.

They rattled off six games in a row after an 0-3-3 start to the season just a month prior. We all know how that turned out in April.

The Flyers are in a similar boat this year, but it isn’t because of a sluggish start. They are trying to gain ground in the Atlantic division but are hindered by their crazy schedule with 4-and-5-day gaps in between games.

Consider this:

The Islanders won again on Friday night. They topped lowly Carolina, 4-3, in OT. Despite the 6-game win streak, the Flyers have been able to earn any separation between themselves and the Islanders – who are just 1 point back of the Orange and Black.

In their defense, the Flyers have 4 games in hand on the Islanders, Penguins and Rangers.

But as Dan Carcillo said last week in Buffalo, those games in hand only count if you win.

The Flyers can add to their point total tonight at the Wachovia Center, when they take on Buffalo for the second time in 8 days. Here is what to watch (7:00 p.m., Comcast SportsNet) for tonight:

-Can the Flyers wear down the Sabres? Buffalo played on Friday night at home against Calgary, and battled it out with a gritty 2-1 shootout win. They will be tired – playing overtime gets you into town even later than scheduled. How can the Flyers do that? By continuing to get minutes from their third and fourth line. Last week in Buffalo, the Flyers’ fourth line played a part in 3 of the Flyers’ 5 goals. Plus, this is just the second game this week for the Flyers, who should be well rested.

-Speaking of rest, Ryan Parent should have plenty of jump in his legs when he takes the ice. Parent last played a full game back on Oct. 10 against Anaheim. That’s more than a month ago. He has been hindered by a nagging groin injury. He is expected to be in the lineup, which would mean that Oskars Bartulis (healthy) and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (concussion) will probably not be in the lineup.

-Can Ray Emery continue his hot streak? As Emery has gone, so have the Flyers. He has given up just 7 goals in the last 5 games, which is damn impressive. That included just one goal against his former team in Ottawa on Thursday.

Here are the expected lines for tonight:

Hartnell – Richards – Giroux
Briere – Carter – Van Riemsdyk
Pyorala – Powe – Asham
Carcillo – Betts – Laperriere

Emery will start in net. There was some discussion as to whether backup Brian Boucher would make his second start of the season tonight, but Flyers coach John Stevens made it clear that he will stick with the hot hand. He knows how important the points are right now.

According to the Buffalo News, it seems like the Sabres could be without high-energy forward Mike Grier for the second game in a row. Toni Lydman (groin) is also doubtful.

Perpetual pest Patrick Kaleta had 6 hits in Friday night’s game against Calgary for the Sabres. He was a thorn in the Flyers’ side last week in Buffalo but refused to drop the gloves, despite repeated requests from some of the Flyers’ enforcers.

If the schedule isn’t weird enough… the Sabres are back in Philly again in less than two weeks, for a Black Friday matinee matchup. Is there really a need to play one team three times in a month?

ALSO, if you’re going to the game tonight: be sure to bring a frozen turkey or a coupon for a frozen turkey. I know it’s a pain to bring such a thing to a game but it benefits a great cause in the CityTeam Ministries – to get those less fortunate fed on Thanksgiving – and you can also get 10-percent off at the team store for being so kind.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.

There is no denying that Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators was impressive.

Not only did Ray Emery best his former team, stopping 22-of-23 Sens shots, but the Flyers also buckled down in front of him defensively and capitalized on their chances in the third period. They have now won five games in succession.

The win was also important because the two points that they picked up help them inch closer to the top of the Atlantic division standings. Prior to Thursday’s win, the Flyers held a scant one point edge that separated them from the Islanders for last place.

Now, with 21 points, the Flyers (10-4-1) are tied with the Rangers for 3rd place. They gained ground on both the Rangers (5-3 loss to Atlanta) and Penguins (4-1 loss at home to the Devils).

The Devils (13-4-0) are in a league of their own, winning all 9 of their road games so far.

Here were last night’s 3 stars:

1. Danny Briere – Briere came back to the Flyers’ lineup after missing 16 days and 4 games and looked like he didn’t miss a beat. He added two key third period goals to break open the game and was involved in the thick of it all game. Briere is now second on the team in goals (7).

2. Jeff Carter – Carter, centering Briere and James van Riemsdyk, created scoring chances all night. He finished with 6 shots on goal and had two nice assists: one on Briere’s first goal and another on van Riemsdyk’s power play tally. He now leads the Flyers in scoring with 17 points, even though just 6 of them are goals.

3. Ray Emery – Emery stole all of the headlines heading into Thursday’s game. Everyone wanted to know if what the Flyers were saying about him was legit. He showed by he was one of the NHL’s premiere goalies before he had all of his off-the-ice issues. But last night, with the Flyers dominating at both ends of the ice, he didn’t need to be.

Did you notice?

• That the Flyers scored two power play goals on four tries, upping their league-best power play percentage to 27.9? Both goals game in the second period.
• That Oskars Bartulis made his NHL debut? He was a plus-1 in 17:18.
• That Chris Pronger now has posted an assist in five consecutive games?
• That the Flyers beat the Senators in the face-off circle, winning 57-percent of draws?

More from practice on Friday.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.

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