More Flyers Trade Rumors

Supposedly, the Flyers are close to pulling off a huge deal involving a major player(s) that would clear much cap space.  It could happen as early as tomorrow.  Speculation will be that it involves Danny Briere, who is being shopped but from what I’ve heard, don’t rule out that it could involve Joffrey Lupul, Scott Hartnell, Randy Jones, or even – brace yourselves – Jeff Carter.

Some have debunked the previously posted rumor of a trade sending Briere to L.A. with the Flyers getting the Kings first round pick in this year’s draft.  The question is why would the Kings want Briere and his huge contract. You could ask that question about any team that would entertain the possibility of trading for Briere.  Consider that the rumored trade would also land Dany Heatley in L.A.  Briere and Heatley have played on the same line in international competition with great results.  Considering that, it might be worth it to the Kings to take a chance on Briere.

Other rumors have Briere going to Toronto with the first round pick for defenseman Thomas Kaberle and the Leafs third rounder.  I like Kaberle, but no way I would do that.  There’s also a three-team rumor with Briere going to Florida, the Flyers getting Kaberle and Toronto’s second rounder and the Leafs getting Florida’s Nathan Horton and the Flyers first rounder.

Flyers Blow Game Six; Penguins Win Series 4-2

It was an uncomfortably warm 87 degrees in Philadelphia on Saturday and among the things that evaporated in the unseasonably warm weather was the Flyers’ 3-0 lead over the Penguins in game six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Four minutes into the second period, the Flyers had built what appeared to be a solid lead on goals by Mike Knuble, Joffrey Lupul, and Danny Briere. Fans were pumped that the series looked to be going back to Pittsburgh for a deciding game seven. But hold on, as they have struggled to do all season, the Flyers could not play a full 60 minute game, easing up with the lead and allowing the Penguins to put 20 shots on net in the second period and to bang home some  garbage goals from in close to tie the game.   A laser shot just inside the post by Sergei Gonchar in the third period gave the Pens the lead and fittingly the Flyers’ nemesis Cindy Crosby sealed it with an empty netter. 

It was fitting that the Flyers season ended as it had gone all year, with the Flyers losing focus (check my post about a game against the Canadiens for a typical example), allowing too many shots, and failing to play a full 60-minute game.  Whether this is from coaching or lack of maturity, it is a critical problem that needs to be corrected. 

I don’t think we can blame Marty Biron, who played well through the series and couldn’t be faulted on any of the goals in game six.  I would point out that Jeff Carter looked awful in the series, scoring only one goal, and inexplicably appeared to be floating at times even in Saturday’s game.  How a player floats through a crucial playoff game is beyond me. Not sure if he was hurt, but his lack of intensity makes me angry.  He has a habit of playing in a nonchalant manner at times, demonstrated by his miss of an open net in game two. He failed to bear down from in close allowing Fleury to get a pad on his shot and failing to score a goal that likely would have put the game away for the Flyers and tied the series at one game each.  Faceoffs continued to be a problem with the Flyers losing too many draws.  Interesting how the issues that were identified all season long ended up having a major impact on why the Flyers lost this series.

Once again, the Flyers put together a solid season with over 40 wins, but they once again could not get to that level of 50 wins and a Stanley Cup. It’s 34 years now. 

The season starts to slip away from Marty Biron and the Flyers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former Flyer Mark Eaton scores as Richards and Timonen watch helplessly.

Carter Makes All-Star Team; Richards Snubbed

Mike Richards puts one of his non-All Star worthy 44 points past Toronto's Vesa Toskala in Saturday's 4-1 Flyers win.

Although he did not appear on the ballot, Flyers center Jeff Carter was named to the NHL Eastern Conference All-Star Team.  Carter is having a breakthrough year and is leading the League in goals.  Although Carter certainly deserves this honor, it’s unbelievable that Mike Richards did not make it.  He has been the Flyers best all around player and has 44 points as of January 11 with a +16 rating.  Unfortunately, many deserving players were left off the team this year thanks to a system that allows fans to vote for the six starters.  Montreal fans shamelessly stuffed the virtual ballot box on NHL.com, and voted in four starters from the Canadiens.  So, for example, Alexei Kovalev (11 goals, 32 points) is starting while Boston’s Phil Kessel (24 goals, 41 points) and New Jersey’s Patrick Elias (19 goals, 48 points) will remain at home with Richards.

Looks like there’s three things that have caused these All-Star injustices to occur.  First, the fans’ disregard for the idea that they should objectively vote for the best players rather than their home team players.  You would expect Montreal fans especially to have respect for the ideals of the game.  Second, every team must have at least one representative.  Someone not as deserving as someone else could make it because of this stipulation.  Third, there’s more teams now than ever in the NHL but virtually the same number of players (18 skaters, 3 goalies) are chosen as when there were fewer teams. 

It’s nice to involve the fans, but if they’re not going to respect the ideal of the All-Star Game then maybe a new system needs to be devised.  Thanks, Le Quebecois!

NHL All-Star Game Balloting

Evidently, fans of the Montreal Canadiens are intent upon engineering an All-Star Game opening lineup that is entirely made up of Les Habitants.   In the fan voting for the Eastern Conference starters as of December 4, five of the six were Canadiens as a result of Montreal fans stuffing the virtual ballot box at http://vote.nhl.com.  Now, I expected better from Canadiens’ fans, who certainly know their hockey.  I would expect them to use that knowledge to vote for the best players as one would expect to see in an all-star game rather than just vote for the home team.  I mean, Carey Price is the goalie right now even though his goals-against average puts him about 15th in the league.

Adding to the impending injustice is that Flyers’ forward Jeff Carter isn’t even on the ballot.  Let’s see, who leads the league in goals?  Um, oh imagine that, it’s Jeff Carter. (Actually he’s tied for the lead with 18).  Simon Gagne, the fourth leading scorer in the league with 31 points, is another Flyer who could merit a starting spot.  Fortunately, there is the capability to write in a player on the voting form and fans can vote as often as they like.  Go to http://vote.nhl.com, put aside homerism, and vote for those who you think are the best players.  I would argue that Carter deserves a write-in vote for his excellent play and scoring this year.  See an earlier post for more information.

Jeff Carter: Emerging Star

Jeff Carter showed why he is considered an emerging NHL star in last night’s 4-3 overtime win over the Pheonix Coyotes.  With the Flyers giving up the go-ahead goal with just over five minutes remaining, Carter grabbed the game by the throat by scoring the tying goal on a deflection of Mike Richards’ pass with just over one minute left, then set up Richards’ winner in overtime by stealing the puck at the Flyers’ blue line, racing to center where he made a nifty behind-the-back pass to Richards who used Carter as a decoy and deftly held the puck until snapping it past goalie Mikael Tellqvist.  Carter was all over the ice in the third period and his play is largely the reason that the Flyers won this game.  He now has 14 goals on the season, second only to Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek, and compliments the offensive production with a strong defensive game, drawing checking responsibilities each night and killing penalties. 

The Flyers are continuing to play well, emerging from their early season funk, and have won five of their last six games.  They finally got some help  in the standings last night as the division rival Rangers and Penguins suffered losses. With four wins in a row now, we can start a nice winning streak.