Flyers call up seven from Phantoms

With the regular season finished for the Flyers and their top minor league affiliate, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren added seven players from the AHL Adirondack Phantoms to the big club's roster yesterday.

Forwards Jon Kalinski, Andreas Nodl and David Laliberte were recalled, along with defensemen Danny Syvret, Kevin Marshall and Joonas Lehtivuori, and goaltender Jeremy Duchesne.

Any player on the Flyers' reserve list as of March 3 is eligible to participate in the playoffs, which do not have a salary cap.

Only Duchesne and Lehtivuori will practice with the Flyers today before they head to Newark, N.J., by bus this afternoon. The other five players will practice before or after the Flyers' regulars and remain on the roster's taxi squad.

Duchesne could be in uniform tomorrow night against the Devils as Brian Boucher's backup, in case Johan Backlund is not available because of his sore groin. Backlund said yesterday, however, he feels "much better" and is "ready to go."

Holmgren said Phantoms forwards Stefan Legein, Jon Matsumoto and Mika Pyorala weren't skipped over "for any reason other than numbers."

Pyorala played 36 games with the Flyers this season.

Sebastien Caron also wrapped up his tour of duty with the Flyers on Sunday, since he is not eligible for the postseason. Caron sat on the bench for five games and received $25,906 for his 10 days on the roster. He packed his bags yesterday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J., to return to his summer home in Scranton.

Sunday's win over the Rangers was the most-watched regular season Flyers game on Comcast SportsNet since 2002 . . . Brian Boucher, Jeff Carter, Matt Carle, Danny Briere, Mike Richards, Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen did not skate in yesterday's practice, opting for rest . . . Ville Leino, a healthy scratch in the final two regular-season games, also missed practice. Paul Holmgren said Leino is healthy. *