Archive: July, 2010
The Flyers’ Ville Leino said he will be on crutches for 2 more weeks following hip surgery, but expects to be ready for training camp.
“I’m feeling good and getting better every day,” Leino said at the Flyers’ practice facility. “I’m getting stronger and soon I will be walking [without crutches]. I am happy where I am right now ... I was talking to [Flyers trainer Jim McCrossin] and he said I’ll be fine for training camp and that’s what we are shooting for.”
Leino turned out to be a revelation for the Flyers during their run to the Stanley Cup finals. He barely played after he was acquired from Detroit. He was a healthy scratch for the Flyers’ first four playoff games against New Jersey in the first round.
Dealing with the recent trade of Simon Gagne to Tampa Bay will be an adjustment for all the Flyers.
Because Gagne was the longest tenured player on the team, none of his teammates know what life as a Flyer is like without him.
“It was hard to see him go," Scott Hartnell said today at a clinic for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. "He’s been here for so long. He’s done a lot for the city. Gags put the puck in the net and everything else. But it is part of the business with the salary cap issues. I know if we could have squeezed him in, I’m sure Homer (Paul Holmgren) would have done it. It will be weird seeing him in a Tampa Bay uniform next year. It won’t be fun playing against him. Pucks will be in the corner and he and I will be going after it and hopefully I will be able to come up with it instead of him.”
Former Flyers defenseman Ryan Parent has signed a 2-year, $1.85 million contract with the Nashville Predators.
Parent was sent back to Nashville in June in exchange for the rights to Dan Hamhuis and a conditional draft pick.
Hamhuis could not agree to terms with the Flyers shortly after the deal and was flipped to Pittsburgh during the NHL draft for a 2011 third-round pick. When Hamhuis and Pittsburgh could not reach a contract he became an unrestricted free agent and eventually signed with Vancouver.
Two more players with Flyers ties will be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in October, USA Hockey announced today.
Former Flyers Jeremy Roenick and Derian Hatcher will join three others in the Hall’s 2010 induction class. John LeClair and Tony Amonte were inducted last December in Boston. In all, the Hall – located in Eveleth, Minn. – has 143 members.
Roenick and Hatcher will be inducted in a ceremony in Buffalo on Oct. 21.
UPDATE 2:
Here are comments from Darrell Powe following his signing with the Flyers:
Q: What is your reaction after signing with the Flyers?
UPDATED: With the trade announced, here are quotes from Simon Gagne and Lightning GM Steve Yzerman on the deal:
“I’m very excited right now,” Gagne said. “I’m looking at this opportunity as a new challenge and a new start. Tampa Bay was a team I was more than willing to waive my no move clause for. I really like the direction the team is headed in with a solid owner, Steve Yzerman as GM and Coach Boucher. I’m really looking forward to playing with guys like Lecavalier, Stamkos and St. Louis. I’m excited to be a member of the Lightning and I’m looking forward to starting next season in Tampa Bay.”
“In adding Simon to the Lightning today, we acquire a very talented player that will play along side our top forwards,” Yzerman said. “With his combination of speed and skill we are excited to have him with us and grateful he was willing to waive his no movement clause. This trade not only makes us a better team in the short-term, it helps create long-term flexibility for us, which all along has been one of our top priorities.”
Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger worked out at the Skate Zone today and answered a few questions (transcript courtesy of the Flyers).
Q: Have you done anything exciting so far this summer?
CP: “I haven’t done a whole lot. I was on vacation with my family for about a month. Now I am going to get back into gear and ramp things back up again. I started working out a couple of weeks ago.”
The Flyers signed forward Dan Carcillo today to a 1-year contract, according to general manager Paul Holmgren. Carcillo will earn $1.075 million in 2010-11.
“We are happy to have Dan under contract for the 2010-11 season,” Holmgren said in a statement about the 6-foot, 205-pound left winger.
Carcillo's signing puts the Flyers approximately $2.497 million over the league's $59.4 million salary cap. Holmgren will have until the regular season begins on Oct. 7 to pare the roster back down to fit the cap.
Carcillo, 25, had 12 goals, 10 assists and a team-high 207 penalty minutes in 76 regular-season games this past season. He led the team in hits with 194. He also became the first player, alongside Boston Bruins’ forward Shawn Thornton, to be assessed a fighting major in the NHL’s Winter Classic, on Jan. 1, 2010.
Carcillo originally filed for salary arbitration last week before agreeing to this deal.
The Flyers have signed Nikolai Zherdev to a one-year deal. The Daily News' Frank Seravalli explains what it might mean for the rest of the team.
Russian news services indicate the Flyers and Ukrainian free agent forward Nikolai Zherdev have come to an agreement to bring the skilled but aloof scorer back to the NHL.
As of this posting, the two sides have not been able to nail down an agreement.
But the Flyers and Zherdev’s Russian agent, Igor Popov, have been talking and an offer is pending, a league source has told the Daily News. Both sides appear to be close to a deal.
