Posted: Saturday, February 6, 2010, 2:22 PM | 21 comments |
 

Problems in Flyersville
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   The news coming from Flyersville is not good: Goalie Ray Emery is hurt again.

    Oh, and the Flyers, trying to make up for their glaring lack of offensive depth, acquired a player who had managed just four goals and was minus-10 this season.

    First, Emery.

    Earlier this season, Emery missed about six weeks following abdominal surgery.

   On Wednesday, general manager Paul Holmgren strongly denied a report that Emery had an injured groin.

   On Saturday, the Flyers said Emery would miss tonight's game in Minnesota because of  "tightness in his left hip." He suffered the injury during Friday's practice, Holmgren claimed.

   The Flyers have said they want to start negotiating with Emery next month on a long-term contract. They may want to slow down on those plans until Emery shows he can play for long stretches without being sidelined.

    As for the minor deal, the Flyers acquired Detroit left winger Ville Leino for injury-prone defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a fifth-round draft pick in 2011.

   Holmgren called Leino "a skilled forward who is going to give us some depth. I think he has the ability to play up and down our lineup and play with our skilled players."

  Leino makes $800,000 a year _ $200,000 more than Tollefsen. Leino's contract runs through the end of the 2010-11 season; Tollefesen can be an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Posted by Sam Carchidi @ 2:22 PM  Permalink | 21 comments
21
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:59 PM, 02/06/2010
    Awesome......who could've predicted this? Lets see.....Lindros comes back too early.....boom. Gagne comes back too early.....boom. Briere comes back too early.......boom. The Flyers medical staff stinks. We should've kept playing Leighton until the date Ray was supposedly due back then slowly worked him back into the fold. This season is toast. Hopefully Holmgren can get the cap situation under control in the off-season.
    — RoastPork
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:20 PM, 02/06/2010
    The Flyers training staff needs replacement NOW!!!!!! the same type injuries,and the same results year after year,bringing guys back WAY TOO SOON!!!!! Seems to me that this organization need change from "Teflon" Ed Snider all the way down.Ed Snider/Bob Clarke are the NHL equivalent to Al Davis UGH!!!!!!!!
    — philly fan in cheyenne
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:28 PM, 02/06/2010
    They just HAD to rush Emery back even thogh Leighton was 8-1-1. Looks like the right decision was made again by the training staff. No wonder Holmgren was denying that Emery was hurt.
    — BobbyD
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:35 PM, 02/06/2010
    A long term contract for Emery? That has got to be a joke.
    — phillyj123
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:13 PM, 02/06/2010
    Have the Flyers had the same medical/training staff since the Lindros era? They haven't had the same coach or GM. I agree with everyone else that the re-injury problems is more likely an organization issue than a coincidence, but what's the source? Do the doctors clear them for practice too soon? Do the trainers not know how to get them game-ready? Do the coaches work them too hard in recuperation practices? Is anybody in the organization applying pressure for an early return?
    — roadtriptoday
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:19 PM, 02/06/2010
    It all really comes down to the fact that since the lockout it is a whole new NHL world. You must manage the present, the future, your payroll, and most important do everything with respect to the salary cap. It appears the Flyers have failed in that regard. They better treasure their past (they do that real well) because I honestly don't think there is a Stanley Cup in the foreseeable future. They have mortgaged their future by trading too many draft picks, a trend with no apparent end in sight. They have banked on specific players for the long term that can't be traded, and are overpaid and possibly over-rated. Goaltending, we don't need to go there. There appears to be some kind of a leadership issue, and to make matters really miserable, they play in a conference with other teams that have PROVEN young players, a couple that have won a Cup already at their young age. If the Devils can sign Kovalchuk, it's even worse. Someone please tell me what I fail to see as hope for this franchise. I just can't see how they are going to improve and get better than the competition. With pompous Mr Snider at the helm, we don't even have ownership that is willing to admit that he doesn't really know what he is doing. He sure knows how to make money (we all know that, he has taken plenty from most of us) but he really doesn't know how to win a Cup. I honestly question whether that is so high on his agenda anymore. We are doomed fellow Flyers fans, sadly we are all doomed by the incompetence that runs the franchise that we love. What a mess.
    — FlyFifty8
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:17 PM, 02/06/2010
    Ok....I don't know how old some of you are....but...the Flyers are in the top 5 as far as winning % in the history of the NHL....and Mr. Snider is a good owner and wants to win you can't blame him for everything. They were in the finals in '80...'85...'87....'93 and to the conference finals several times. Now, yes the cup has eluded them....but know this in '80 he lost to dynasty in the Islander (won 4 straight), lost to Edmonton twice in '85 and '87 also a dynasty with....oh about 6 or 7 future hall of famers on it and Detroit another dynasty. It's not from lack of trying...have there been some bad decisions of course but even the great Lou from NJ has made bad deals. The reason why we are in cap trouble is they had to overpay to get players in after the horrible season they had in order to compete which is now hurting us but just season and a half ago we were again in the conference finals.So, relax please at least you have a team that regularly is in the hunt...would I like to win a cup of course I would but I don't want Mr. Snider gone....remember what happened the last time he left and had his son running the team....we didn't make the playoffs for 5 or 6 years however within 4 years after Mr. Snider came back we were in the finals. So, stop being "typical" philly fans and that always look for a "scapegoat"
    — coachd
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:19 PM, 02/06/2010
    Sorry.....I meant '97 not '93 don't want to be ignorant...lol
    — coachd
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:38 PM, 02/06/2010
    It seems like Holmgren is GM in title only because the trades, etc seem just like the dumb ones that Clarke made for years - he is probably still doing the work of the GM, Holmgren started out doing a few good things but has gone down hill. Actually one of the best things that happened when Snider stepped down was the fact that Jay fired Clarke worst thing was Snider coming back and bringing Clarke back to the organization.
    — flyers88
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:51 PM, 02/06/2010
    there is not a worse team kovie could have went to!
    — snewdog
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:51 PM, 02/06/2010
    should send emery to the tallahassee wart hogs there boy. -not bob levy
    — remyy
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:58 PM, 02/06/2010
    .....and Toleffsen was subsequently waived by the Red Wings in a move to clear cap space for returning players. Nice shoddy, lazy, piece of 'objective' journalism. If you don't like hockey and just want to take pot shots at the players and the organization, go back to covering baseball.
    — dougleader
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:59 PM, 02/06/2010
    The Flyers were great in their first 20 years, 2 Cups, 6 Finals appearences (74, 75, 76, 80, 85, 87), 35 game undefeated streak, etc...but for the next 23 years they haven't done much, but be a frustrating team to cheer for. These no trade clauses in the contracts are a joke. The salary cap issue is something Homer can get a grip on and has traded away way too many draft picks. I think the coach is a good one, but Flyers have way too many unmotivated players who they can't move and there are quick fixes. They need to try and buy out players and end of season and find younger hungrier players to go along with Giroux and JVR.
    — BobbyD


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About Sam Carchidi
Sam Carchidi is in his fourth year as the Flyers' beat reporter. He became an Inquirer staff writer in 1984 and covered mostly South Jersey high school sports and the Phillies before taking the Flyers beat.

Carchidi has written three books _ the nationally acclaimed Miracle in the Making: The Adam Taliaferro Story, which he co-authored with Scott Brown; Bill Campbell: The Voice of Philadelphia Sports; and Standing Tall: The Kevin Everett Story, which was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He also contributed to a 1993 Inquirer book on the Phillies.

A lifelong South Jersey resident, Carchidi lives in Wenonah with his wife, JoAnn, and their two children, Sara and Sammy.

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