Posted: Thursday, October 1, 2009, 1:32 PM | 36 comments |
 

Flyers sign Betts
options
 
Flyers agreed to a 1-year contract with center Blair Betts on Thursday.

The Flyers and center Blair Betts have finally come to an agreement, allowing Betts to travel with the team to Carolina and New Jersey today for the season’s opening road trip.

Betts inked his name to a one-year contract on Thursday.

“Relief is probably the main thing I’m feeling right now,” Betts said today after practice at the Flyers Skate Zone. “I didn’t really have any other option.

“Throughout training camp I was pretty confident something was going to happen. I would rather it would happen sooner rather than later but I think we made the right decision to come here.”

In other news, the Flyers have brought up defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon from the Phantoms to make the road trip as the team’s 7th defenseman. Bourdon will fill in for defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, who is unavailable on the injury reserve with a hip tweak. Tollefsen was placed on the IR retroactive to last Saturday when he was hurt. The first day he will be available for the Flyers is Sunday.

The Flyers aren't expecting to use Bourdon, who did not appear in any preseason games.

Join me tomorrow for a live chat on Philly.com, where I will join in from Raleigh, N.C., to answer all of your questions.

In addition, we will have a brief salary cap blog tomorrow to breakdown the cap. We’re hoping it will be a weekly edition here on Frequent Flyers.
Posted by Frank Seravalli @ 1:32 PM  Permalink | 36 comments
36
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:00 PM, 10/01/2009
    Good to finally get it done. This is key for the PK
    — bobbyd24
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:17 PM, 10/01/2009
    so who does betts bump from the lineup tomorrow night? it probably has to be powe, which i think is a mistake since powe does all the little things, provides energy, kills penalties, takes the body, he's a pest in a good way. the other options are carcillo or laperierre, both of whom make more money than powe and who homer is going to want to see in the lineup. obviously they wouldnt have gone out and gotten laperierre if they had known about betts being available, now they have 2 vets who are very similar and bring the same intangibles when just one would have sufficed...
    — rtm1031
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:24 PM, 10/01/2009
    rtm1031- I think the smart thing to do is give these guys all a chance. One game play Powe, next game play Laperierre. 82 Games season is long, so if we keep a good rotation going on we can make sure our team is fresh. Injuries will occur as well, so I think we are in good shape.
    — ChrisM
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:24 PM, 10/01/2009
    rtm1031- I think the smart thing to do is give these guys all a chance. One game play Powe, next game play Laperierre. 82 Games season is long, so if we keep a good rotation going on we can make sure our team is fresh. Injuries will occur as well, so I think we are in good shape.
    — ChrisM
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:26 PM, 10/01/2009
    I believe the Flyers needed this guy. Nothing flashy here, but he should definitely serve a purpose.
    — rwright611
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:29 PM, 10/01/2009
    Betts was known to be available, but Lappy fills a more 'gritty' role than Betts. And even with the inclusion of Laperriere, the Flyers needed a PK and faceoff guy - like Betts - to round out the forwards. And as much as Powe is a likeable guy, the structure of the team is such that everyone has a specific role, whereas Powe is more utility-type player. Still great to have him in the system, since injuries do happen.
    — citylumberjack
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:29 PM, 10/01/2009
    no carcillo, no cote, s**t leave out asham. betts and powe have more to offer than any of those guys.
    — GAflyer
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:47 PM, 10/01/2009
    Betts is the guy who scored the winning goal late last year for the rangers that took home ice away from the Flyers in the 1st round of the playoffs
    — BHite15
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:04 PM, 10/01/2009
    we needed a guy like this who can win a lot of late-game faceoffs, and can provide relief to Richards, etc. on PK. Teams were 2-for-27 on PP when he was playing this preseason. 2-for-5 in the one game he didn't play. Do the math.
    — revolveevolv
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:04 PM, 10/01/2009
    you want stats? ask Holmgrem or any supposed so-called "fan" on here who thinks they're an expert and just swallows what they're told: Betts was 62ND IN THE LEAGUE IN FACE OFF WINS,81 games, 6 goals, 4 assists, with a -5 plus/minus and 16 PIMS. he can't win faceoffs, doesn't fight, is a minus players, and doesn't score. WHY do we need him? good lord, HOlmgrem is a joke.
    — MichaelZoe
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:08 PM, 10/01/2009
    "I didn't really have any other option." Did he really say that? I'm already sick of this guy...
    — Dzog
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:22 PM, 10/01/2009
    good point MZoe....there's a reason the rangers didnt re-sign him this year, huh....lets temper our expectations here a bit....
    — wheelsinDE
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:22 PM, 10/01/2009
    Good to see him finally signed. He is excellent on the PK. Why not bring up Jones as the 7th D to showcase him to other teams?
    — P Even
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:27 PM, 10/01/2009
    MichaelZoe - Where did you get the 62nd in the league in faceoff wins, is that % or total wins? They are much different stats. If he has a crappy faceoff win % then we didn't need him.
    — Bex


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About Frank Seravalli
Frank Seravalli is in his fourth year with the Daily News and third season covering the Flyers. He started at the Daily News as an intern writing about the boozing legends of the Lincoln Financial Field lots and hasn't left. Since joining the Flyers beat, he has covered everything from the Winter Classic to the Stanley Cup Final and everything in between. Prior to joining the Daily News, the Bucks County native did a large amount of freelance work for local media outlets, covering high schools, colleges and all four of Philly's major sports teams. He resides in Center City. E-mail Frank at seravaf@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter @DNFlyers.

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