Draft round-up

Alright, the draft is finally over. I really like how the NHL can blow through six whole draft rounds in about four hours, unlike the NFL who don't finish their draft until the first week of May. Besides the Flyers trading for Pronger, probably the biggest move was Florida trading the rights for Jay Bouwmeester to Calgary for Jordan Leopold and the 67th overall pick. Mind you, they traded the rights to Bouwmeester, which means Calgary has won the chance to talk to him, it's not like he's on the team yet.

Recapping the Flyers draft, let's see what we got here:

1. Adam Morrison, G, Saskatoon (WHL) - He's big, he's young, and he's got talent, so this could be the start of the rebuilding process in goal. However, he's only 18, so I would expect him to stay in Saskatoon for a while.
2. Simon Bertilsson, D, Brynas (Swedish Elite) - Don't know too much about him. I haven't been following up on my Swedish Elite League recently, so I apologize. Add him to the list of Scandinavian defensemen on the club.
3. Nicola Riopel, G, Moncton (QMJHL) - He was the MVP of a league that produced Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. I'm happy.
4. Dave Labrecque, C, Shawinigan (QMJHL) - Another young kid, but looking at his stats from last season (13G, 48A, 61P, +23), he's more of a setup center than a scoring center. It would be interesting to see his stats on the power play. I'll have to look that up.
5. Eric Wellwood, LW, Windsor (OHL) - He won the Memorial Cup this year with the Spitfires (quite possibly one of the coolest team names in hockey).
6. Oliver Lauridsen, D, St. Cloud State (WCHA) - And yet another Scandinavian defenseman! He's Danish, he's 6'6", and he just got drafted to a city with cheap beer. No problems with this pick.

So there you have it. I would expect Morrison and Riopel to be the focus of this draft group, especially if the Flyers keep the tradition of paying as little money as possible on the goalie. There's no question they have to do better managing the salary cap in the upcoming seasons, which is why I still think they're going to deal Briere before training camp starts. It's just a matter of who can take him.

2009 NHL Draft live blog...

Well, this is it. The Draft will be starting in Montreal in about five minutes. I'll be keeping up to date with it, but mostly focusing on what the Flyers and the other Atlantic teams do. According to Bob McKenzie on TSN, the Islanders may or may not take John Tavares with their first pick. It sounds like they may be leaning towards Victor Hedman. Of course, this could just be Brian Burke starting trouble, so who knows?

The Flyers have the 21st pick...

7:04 - Darren Dreger on TSN just reported that the Flyers have traded for Anaheim D Chris Pronger. THAT'S out of left field. I'll have to see if this one's legit.

7:13 - At this point, I think Gary Bettman would get booed by his own mother.

7:17 - With the 1st pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the New York Islanders select...John Tavares. Welcome to the 21st century, Long Island.

7:22 - ESPN (I know, it's ESPN, so it's suspect) is reporting that the Flyers gave up Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa and some picks for Chris Pronger. If that's the case, then this may be the biggest move the Flyers make all weekend. Not too crazy about giving up Sbisa, I thought he could be someone we could build the blueline around. I'm also thinking there's going to be some more moves to shift some salary.

7:36 - OK, so it's Pronger and some dude named Ryan Dingle for Lupul, Sbisa, the 21st pick this year, our 1st next year, and a third round pick in either 2010 or 2011.

Seeing as how the Flyers aren't picking for a while now, I can hold off until the second round. Or until the Flyers trade Daniel Briere. Seriously, Pronger's owed $6.25 million next year. There's no way we can afford him unless Holmgren moves one of those big contracts.

Some Flyers musings...

Hi. Couple of points to highlight, then I'll let you get back to whatever you're doing.

- It looks like New Year's Day will be more than just drunk Mummers and watching Penn State lose. According to a multitude of sources, the NHL Winter Classic will be the Flyers against the Boston Bruins in Fenway Park. I'm psyched for this one. I know a lot of people (me included) wanted to see the Flyers play the Penguins at Beaver Stadium, but Penn State wasn't budging. Plus, the Pens already had their shot. And yes, Boston vs. Montreal makes more sense from a rivalry standpoint. But hey, no complaints here.

- The NHL Draft is Friday, and I have no idea who the Flyers will take. There aren't any goaltender prospects in the first round, so no dice there. I'm hoping they go with a stay-at-home defenseman, especially if Jay Bouwmeester's asking price is too high. I still think we need to get out of one of those big contracts (Briere's would be ideal, though apparently he turned down the idea of going to Montreal) to get more wiggle room under the cap.

- And finally, I know I don't mention soccer a lot on this blog, but big ups to the U.S. for beating Spain 2-0 in South Africa today. This will go down as perhaps our biggest upset since beating Brazil in the Gold Cup a few years ago. Heck, if we can do this consistently, we might even win something in my lifetime.

It actually pains me to type this...

The Pittsburgh Penguins are the 2009 Stanley Cup champions.

God I feel ill.

One bright note - this does mean that since October of last year, the state of Pennsylvania can now lay claim to the World Series, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, a Rose Bowl finalist and a Final Four participant. Oh, and the Calder Cup (nice job, Hershey).

Still...I'm not even going to link to it for fear of seeing Sidney Crosby with the Cup. Be back for the draft or sooner if the judge in Phoenix rules on the Hamilton Phoenix Coyotes.

Told you I'd be back - Red Wings 3, Penguins 1

See? I said I'd be back for the Finals.

Having seen much more of the Penguins than the Red Wings this year, I honestly believe that Pittsburgh is a much better team than they were in last year's Finals. As much as it pains me to say it, they are the best team in the East (Boston had a great year, but Pittsburgh's a better overall team), and they certainly deserve to be where they are now.

That being said, last night's game was loads of fun to watch. Sure, Detroit got some lucky bounces and won it 3-1 to take a 1-0 lead for the Cup, but I was more interested in watching how the Pens reacted to a referee who apparently didn't get the memo about calling everything in favor of Crosby & Co. I do agree that it's a bit unfair for Detroit to play two games back to back so close after getting past Chicago, but whatever. You're professional athletes, suck it up.

In other NHL news - I'm not going to dig through the Internet and find every article that supports my opinion on why Gary Bettman should allow Jim Balsillie to purchase the Coyotes and move them to Canada, because that would take too long. I said earlier that moving at least one of the struggling Southern teams closer to the border would be a better long-term move than allowing them to bleed money where they are. A team in Hamilton, or Winnipeg, would pay for itself in terms of ticket revenue, merchandise sales, and overall fan interest. True, Phoenix fans who have followed the team since they arrived are the ones who will suffer the most. However, where was the league's sympathy to fans in Quebec or Hartford when their teams were relocated?

Now, to play devil's advocate, I can understand where the NHL is coming from. If the bankruptcy judge allows the sale to proceed, it sends the message to every owner in every sport that your franchise is yours to do what you wish. The different leagues have to have some control over where their teams are located, otherwise you may see an exodus of teams from small markets to larger, more lucrative ones. And while I don't have any direct proof of this (this is a blog, you know), I'm sure that there are teams in every league who are struggling in this economy. It'll be interesting to see the attendance figures for the NFL this season.

Finally, one of my favorite Flyers from the past passed away recently, as Peter Zezel died Tuesday from a rare blood disorder at the age of only 44. Zezel was a key player on perhaps the most popular Flyers team in the franchise's history. As a kid in the '80s, my Flyers heroes included guys like Tim Kerr, Dave Poulin, Zezel, Rick Tocchet, and of course Ron Hextall. The fact that they took the Edmonton Oilers to seven games in the '87 Final was amazing in itself. 44 is way too young to go...so long, Pete. And thank you.

And from the ashes, he rises!!!

...seriously, there should be a creaking sound right now, the kind you hear when a vampire opens his coffin for the first time since January.

What's up? Obviously, this post won't be so much about the Flyers (more on them later) than it will be about me finally finding time to write. Apparently running your own business takes a lot of your personal time, but never fear. Once the Cup finals start, I'll be back posting on a maybe-I-should-blog-about-this basis. Alright? Alright.

Go Hawks.

I am sorry

I really have been slacking off lately. And it's not like I haven't been following the team or stopped watching hockey. Seriously, I get home from work, grab some dinner, and do my best to stay awake enough to watch the game, or at least catch the highlights on NHL On The Fly. This may turn into a weekly thing, so stay tuned.

Merry Christmas!!!

Here's hoping you got everything you wished for yesterday. Me, I got exactly what I wanted...a day to sleep in until 10:00 before my one-year old twin cousins dropped by for a visit. Actually, only one of them was able to come as the other one was sound asleep back home. Probably for the best.

Anyhoo...yes, it's been a while. And I did promise I would do a follow-up after every Flyers game this season. Two things here. One, things are ridiculously busy at the job. And two, with the way the Flyers have been playing, what else is there to say? We've got scoring, we've got defense, we've got special teams, and we've got two goalies who I assume will split time for the rest of the year. There's really nothing to gripe about or get all worried about. I can't believe I'm saying this about a Philadelphia sports team, but at the moment I am...content with my hockey team.

Flyers start their six-game, cross-continent road trip tonight in Chicago.

Flyers 2, Hurricanes 1 (OT)

(AP photo)

I wonder if we can petition the league to move down to the Southeast division.

The Flyers, who seem to be playing the Hurricanes every other day, got a nice 2-1 victory in overtime off of Jeff Carter's 19th goal of the season. Which means more fantasy points for yours truly and moves us two points behind Pittsburgh in the East. Carter got the game's first star, but really it should have gone to Antero Nittymaki, who stopped 35 shots and looked much more confident in goal than Biron has recently. And before you ask, no, there is no goalie controversy in Philly. If Nitty's playing better, start him. Mike Richards scored the opener in the first, getting his 11th of the year and netting another shorty for this team, which is remarkable seeing as how the special teams guru known as Terry Murray is out in LA. One negative that stood out for me last night was how the Canes were able to completely dictate the play after they tied the game. The Flyers couldn't clear the puck, couldn't keep Eric Staal in check and let Sergei friggin' Samsonov skate rings around them. Other than that, it was a good win on the road.

Islanders up next.

Flyers 4, Bolts 3 (OT)

(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Well, that was...interesting. I missed a good part of the third period because I was holding my hands in front of my eyes, but here are some key observations I had from last night:

- Scott Hartnell owes Marty Biron a steak dinner. For the rest of the year. My goodness, could you imagine if Ryan Malone had scored on that penalty shot?
- Jeff Carter may be a sleeper pick for the Richard Trophy if he keeps this up.
- Get rid of the black sweaters. Keep the orange.
- I am starting to notice a slight decrease in attendance at the Wac lately. I know that no one really gets jazzed up for the Lightning around here, but you have to wonder if ticket prices are becoming out of reach for more and more people. Just a thought...
- Putting Luca Sbisa on the ice against Vinnie Lecavalier may have seemed like a good idea, but there were a couple of times where the young boy got schooled. All part of the learning process, I guess.
- Finally, you knew that third Tampa goal was coming the minute Biron failed to control the rebound. I swear, failure to control rebounds has been the downfall of every Flyers goalie in my lifetime. Unbelievable.

New Jersey up next.

Weekly musings again...

Seeing as how this blog is turning into a weekly thing every time work gets busy and I can't watch the Flyers, and since this week was Thanksgiving here in the States, I'd though I would take the time to look back and go over all of the things I'm thankful for. So here goes...

I'm thankful for...
1. Jeff Carter finally playing up to his potential
2. Simon Gagne recovering from his concussion to become one of the leading scorers in the NHL
3. Whoever thought it was a good idea to reintroduce the orange jerseys. Love it.
4. The person in the NHL Marketing office who brought up the idea of the retro 3rd jersey. In no particular order, my top five are Philly, Buffalo, Edmonton, Toronto, and Pittsburgh.
5. Having enough of a passion for this game and this team to be motivated to share my feelings about them in public. I really feel bad for those who go through life without experiencing the highs and lows of a deep Stanley Cup run, even if it ends in heartbreak. Show me someone who doesn't get a rush watching a Game 7 and I'll show you someone who needs medical attention.
6. Speaking of heartbreak, thanks to the Phillies.
7. Alex Ovechkin, Jarome Iginla, Mike Richards, Rick Nash, Roberto Luongo, Jason Spezza, Gagne, and all of the other players I love watching night after night.
8. Hockey Night in Canada. And NHL On The Fly. And After Hours. And the Hot Stove. And Coach's Corner.
9. CNN...for giving me the double dose of Robin Meade and Kiran Chetry in the morning. Plus, Kiran Chetry's a Maryland grad, so I got that going for me.
10. Finally, thanks to all the little things that make hockey awesome. A breakaway goal. A well-timed fight. Faceoff strategies. Playoff beards. That last gasp rush up the ice with the goalie racing to the bench. Guys sacrificing their health to block a 95-mph shot. The Whale. The Spectrum. The vintage games on NHL Network. Hearing Gene Hart's call "Ladies and gentlemen, the Flyers...are going to win...THE STANLEY CUP!!!" over and over.

Despite losing last night to the Toronto Maple Burkes 4-2, the Flyers are still on a pretty decent run. We're finally ahead of New Jersey in the standings, and are starting to play more consistently. The aforementioned Carter and Gagne are leading the team offensively, and even more encouraging, the Flyers are one of the best special-teams clubs in the league. Next up, former Flyer Rick Tocchet and the Lightning come to town on Tuesday, followed by home match with New Jersey and a weekend trip to Carolina (again!). If the Flyers can put together a strong December, it should set them up in good position in the East.

Sweet

The Flyers officially unveiled their new 3rd jerseys this week during a Meet-And-Greet with season ticket holders. We got an early look at what they might look like during the summer, but this was the real deal. And I have to say, I like it. A lot. It's good to see actual color returning to the ice (too many black jerseys), plus the white nameplate on the back? Awesome. Here's the slide show from the Flyers' website. The jerseys won't go on sale until the 28th at the Wachovia Center Fan Zone, and the team will wear them against Carolina on the same day.

My Christmas list is now complete.