Archive: March, 2009
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers finally signed James van Riemsdyk today, and the left winger could play for their AHL affiiliate, the Phantoms, tonight.
Van Riemsdyck, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 draft, played two seasons at the University of New Hampshire.
More details to come.
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The early returns on the Daniel Carcillo-Scottie Upshall trade are not good.
Far from it.
Carcillo's acquisition freed cap space so the Flyers wouldn't have to yo-yo rookie sensation Claude Giroux to the minors. That's been the best part about the deal. Carcillo has three assists and no goals in 13 games and does not supply the energy that made Upshall such a fan favorite.
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
UNIONDALE, N.Y. _ Outplayed for two periods, the Flyers rallied and avoided what could have been a disastrous loss Saturday night.
They outlasted the New York Islanders in a shoot-out, 4-3, and maintained their slim lead in the race for the No. 4 seed in the East.
A loss would have put the Flyers into the No. 5 spot, behind Carolina and tied with Pittsburgh.
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers played well enough to win Thursday, but ran into a hot goalie and dropped a 4-2 decision to Florida at the Wachovia Center.
For all intents and purposes, the loss almost assures that the Flyers won't catch Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey, which has a seven-point lead over Philadelphia with nine games left.
In Thursday's game, Scott Hartnell, Jeff Carter and Danny Briere were each a plus-two to lead the Flyers, who had their three-game winning streak snapped because backup goalie Craig Anderson made 40 saves, including several outstanding ones.
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers' chances of overtaking the Atlantic-Division leading New Jersey Devils?
Very slim _ unless the Devils resemble the New York Mets and fold down the stretch.
The Flyers trail the Devils by seven points, but John Stevens' team has a game in hand.
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers' 3-1 win in Pittsburgh today was arguably their most impressive victory of the season.
For several reasons:
** It was registered in a hostile environment against a team that was 10-0-2 in its previous 12 games.
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH _ Sunday afternoon, at the Igloo in Pittsburgh, the Flyers and Penguins will meet in a nationally televised showdown for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
It’s good to see a percolating Philadelphia-Pittsburgh rivalry. It reminds me of when the Phillies’ biggest rival was the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Remember?
That, of course, was before Major League Baseball somehow put the Pirates into the NL Central.
But I digress….
In the NHL, the Flyers have nearby rivals New Jersey, Washington and the New York Rangers, but the rivalry with the Penguins is going to intensify in upcoming weeks.
Who knows? Maybe it’ll get to the point of the Phillies-Pirates back in the days when Willie Stargell was saying, “Hitting Steve Carlton is like drinking coffee with a fork.”
The Flyers don’t like the Penguins. And vice versa.
And Flyers fans love to try to distract Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby with chants, boos and signs. (It hasn’t worked. Crosby has a mind-boggling 45 points in 25 career games against the Flyers.)
Last year, the Penguins cruised past the Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals, winning in five games.
There were extenuating circumstances, however. Most importantly, the Flyers played most of that series without their top two defensemen, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn, each of whom were injured.
They’re healthy now _ and the Flyers, with a year of experience and the blossoming of young stars like Jeff Carter, are a stronger team than last season.
The Penguins, meanwhile, have taken a step backward this season. They have lost several key players from last year, most notably Marian Hossa.
That said, the Penguins are the NHL’s hottest team, having gone 12-1-3 in their last 16 games.
The Flyers have been so-so in the season’s second half. They need to string together some wins and take some momentum into the playoffs _ like they did last year.
The Flyers and Penguins are tied for the No. 4 seed in the East, but Philadelphia has three games in hand. The fourth seed gets home-ice advantage in the opening round.
After Sunday’s showdown, the Flyers will play host to Eastern Conference power New Jersey on Monday at the Wachovia Center.
“We’re in control of our own destiny,” said Danny Briere, who looked back in form with a two-goal performance Friday against Buffalo.
The Flyers have won just one of five games (1-2-2) against the Pens this season. Since the teams are likely to meet in the first round of the playoffs, the Flyers need a victory Sunday to send a message….and gain some confidence.
The last time the teams met, disaster struck the Flyers. In the closing minutes, goalie Marty Biron charged about 30 feet out of his net and tried to clear the puck.
Bad move. Flyer-killer Crosby ended up scoring into a goalie-less net with 2:45 to go, giving Pittsburgh a 5-4 victory.
On Sunday at 12:30 p.m., Biron will get a chance to make amends.
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Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Flyers coach John Stevens made changes on all four lines during practice Thursday in Voorhees, a move he hopes will pay dividends Friday in Buffalo, where they will face the desperate Sabres .
The changes were made to get Danny Briere more involved in the offense and to create more balance among the lines.
Here is how the lines will look:
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
DETROIT _ Captain Mike Richards said he thought the Flyers played a good game last night.
Actually, goalie Marty Biron played a GREAT game, but most of his teammates allowed the Red Wings to skate around them as Detroit scored a 3-2 comeback win at the reverberating Joe Louis Arena.
The final score was misleading. The defending Stanley Cup champion Wings outshot the Flyers, 48-26.
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Braydon Coburn is in, Randy Jones is out.
That’s the good news/bad news scenario for the Flyers’ defensemen.
After reviewing the video today, the NHL did not suspend Coburn, who had claimed his high-sticking violation of the Rangers’ Nik Antroprov Sunday was in self-defense.
But Jones, who sat out the last half of Sunday’s third period because of a hip/groin injury, will miss a handful of games.
"In speaking with the trainers, we are probably looking at a week to a week and a half,” said Jones, when asked how long he expected to be sidelined.
To replace Jones, the Flyers recalled defenseman Danny Syvret, 23, under emergency conditions from their AHL affiliate, the Phantoms.
Syvret, an AHL all-star selection this season, has 11 goals and 37 assists and 42 penalty minutes in 65 games with the Phantoms.
In 26 career NHL games with Edmonton, Syvret had one assist and 12 penalty minutes. The Flyers acquired him from the Oilers for forward Ryan Potulny on June 6, 2008.
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On Tuesday, the Flyers have a gargantuan challenge as they try to end a winless streak in Detroit that dates back to 1988. Since then, the Flyers are 0-13-2 in the Motor City.
