Just back from Florida where I had to endure telecasts of Panthers games. Their announcers (who include former Islander defenseman Denis Potvin) must be the biggest homers in the league. According to them, the Panthers do no wrong, no penalties called against the “Cats” are really penalties, and there’s frequently subtle digs at the Flyers at any opportunity. I hope they miss the playoffs since Florida shouldn’t have an NHL franchise anyway. By the way, Denis, your goal in game six of the ’80 finals was knocked in with a high stick.
Couldn’t comment on the deadline trades until now. Supposedly the Flyers were set to make a big deal and even got an extension from the League past the 3:00 PM deadline, but the other team pulled out. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the Panthers and the oft-rumored Jay Bouwmeester trade. The only thing the Flyers did was trade winger Scotty Upshall and a second round pick to Phoenix for Daniel Carcillo. This greatly upset many Flyers fans and I have to admit that I was surprised that we traded for a third enforcer to complement Aaron Asham and Riley Cote. Let’s face it, though, Upshall was very fast and it will hurt to lose that speed but he was performing below expectations. He was a first round pick (ninth overall) of Nashville but had eight goals this season. I pointed this out to my nephew at a game a couple months ago and was verbally attacked for not realizing his value as a player who stirs things up. He definitely had alot of exuberance, but was too small to hit really hard and sometimes took ill-timed penalties. He will be a UFA at the end of the season, made 1.2 million, and wasn’t scoring enough. The Flyers did not want to re-sign him for 1.5 to 2 million this summer, so they traded him and got another enforcer. Let’s see what Carcillo does. If he plays with Briere and Giroux, he could gain them some room. It also gives the Flyers some options for next year in terms of enforcers. Riley Cote doesn’t score and loses about half his fights, so if Carcillo lights the lamp some, plays smart yet aggressively, he could fill the enforcer role next season. As popular as Upshall was here, his production and contract dictated that he be moved. I’m not thrilled that they had to throw in a draft pick as well (the Rangers got Antropov for less than what we gave up for Carcillo), but this may not turn out to be a bad trade. Sorry Brian.
Orange and Black Attack 