NHR - This is...

...beyond words.

Seriously, this is on a level of awesome I haven't seen in, like, EVER.

Wow how many defensemen do we need?

Following up on the news that Bryan Berard's been invited to camp (I still think it was a good idea to bring him in for a tryout), it would now appear that the Flyers have upwards of twelve players battling it out for a spot on the blue line. Competition is good, it brings out the best in people and means that we start the season with the six or seven best guys from camp. But, wow, twelve guys?

On September 20, the Flyers will start training camp with these players at the back, plus my prediction of where they'll end up by October 11:
Kimmo Timonen (lock)
Braydon Coburn (lock)
Randy Jones (lock)
Ossi Vaananen (lotta a's in that name...lock)
Tim Ramholt (Phantoms)
Danny Syvret (Phantoms)
Steve Eminger (lock)
Derian Hatcher (it looks as if he's going on LTIR because of his knees)
Lasse Kukkonen (most likely will be a healthy scratch, but should play a lot this year)
Ryan Parent (Phantoms. Not quite ready yet)
Mike Rathje (LTIR. Flyers can't cut him, they'll eat what's left of his salary)
Bryan Berard (I'll say lock. Hard to see him not making this team)

I got a top six defensive corps of Timonen, Coburn, Jones, Eminger, Vaananen, and Berard with Kukkonen as a scratch. Parent will get called up, maybe Ramholt if the injury bug hits. My line pairings would be:

Timonen - Coburn
Eminger - Berard
Vaananen - Jones

Of course, we'll find out during camp what will become of Berard's tryout. Like I said, I can't see him not making this team, especially if he can contribute on the PP unit along with Kimmo.

...oh yeah, Joe Sakic is coming back for his 20th season with Quebec/Colorado. 20 years with one franchise is simply amazing, especially with free agency, so big kudos to Joe. According to the Denver Post, Sakic will make $6 million with a no-trade clause.

Non-hockey related...2008-09 UM Terps Football

Seeing as how the only hockey news worth mentioning today was something I already mentioned, allow me to switch gears for a sec...

This weekend marks the kickoff to the 2008 college football season. And as you can see by the big-ass "M" logo, I'm a proud Maryland Terrapin. Now, I'll be the first to admit, my college football loyalties are a bit...lacking. For starters, I grew up a Penn State fan, my dad was a Marine which meant I also supported Navy, and I went to the University of Maryland, giving me three teams to divide my allegiance. Most people would find this sort of behavior sacrilegious, but I don't care. I'm an Eastern Pennsylvania son of a United States Marine who attended Maryland. End of story.

Anyway, the Terps get things going this weekend at home against the University of Delaware. Normally I look down upon big Division I schools who play smaller cupcakes in their opener, but not this time. Heck, if Maryland won this game 72-3, I'd be ticked Delaware got close enough for the field goal. Of course, by saying this I have just doomed the Terps to an upset. I should probably stop now.

Here's the rest of the schedule as taken from the team's official site:
09/06 @ Middle Tennessee State (if you can find it, you get a free ticket)
09/13 vs. Cal (this is normally our rival game against WVU, but the Mountaineers had bail hearings all that week, so we had to get a replacement team.)
09/20 vs. Eastern Michigan
09/27 @ Clemson (two of my best friends went to Clemson. We will not be speaking this week.)
10/04 @ Virginia (rival game. I can't stand these guys. Probably because UVA rejected my application.)
10/18 vs. Wake Forest
10/25 vs. North Carolina State (Homecoming. Never understood the big deal behind Homecoming, but that's mostly due to the fact that my high school didn't have a football team.)
11/06 @ Virginia Tech (this will be a loss. Again. On national TV. Joy.)
11/15 vs. North Carolina
11/22 vs. Florida State
11/29 @ Boston College (Season done)

Hopefully we do enough to get a postseason game. It'd be nice if they could get down to Florida or someplace warm so all us old alumni can get hammered on pina coladas and mojitos down on South Beach. Plus it's a nice diversion from throwing soft items at my TV during Flyers games. I plan on never being like those insane 45-year old men who still paint themselves in school colors and name their kids after past coaches, but it would be nice to see my school do well. Just be glad Maryland doesn't have a D-I hockey team. Good Lord, my head would explode.

Bryan Berard's in town

(Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

According to the Delco Times, the Flyers are bringing in Bryan Berard for a tryout during camp. You may remember Berard as the guy who nearly lost an eye while playing for Toronto back in 2000. Last season with the Islanders, he posted 22 points in 54 games with five goals and seventeen assists. Fifteen of those points came on the power play, so he would be a welcome 2nd blueliner next to Kimmo Timonen should he make the squad. With all of the injuries the Flyers suffered last season on defense, adding another veteran makes perfect sense. Derian Hatcher isn't 100% and his knees will most likely prevent him from playing any more than 50 or so games. Timonen had that blood clot during the playoffs which really hurt us against Pittsburgh. Plus, it's a tryout contract, so at most it'll only cost Philly a million. I like this move and I hope it works out for Bryan.

Our new 'do

I'm experimenting with some cosmetic changes to Cafe Noire here, so bear with me for a bit. I think the old look was too dark, so I'm going with this for a while.

Has this been the longest off-season or what??

Flyers 2, Old Swedish players who can't make up their minds 0

Apparently Paul Holmgren came to his senses and is playing down the idea of Sundin in the O&B this year. Which makes sense. We've got nowhere to play him, we can't pay him what he wants, and it completely goes against the whole youth movement that Holmgren and (THN Coach of the Year) John Stevens swear by. I could see making a move for Sundin if, say, Mike Richards wasn't ready or if Jeff Carter got traded or Daniel Briere wasn't here. The Flyers don't need Sundin, and that's a good thing. To be in a position where someone as good as Mats is wanted but not needed on your team is a sign of how well things are going. Vancouver needs a player like Sundin. Toronto needs a player like Sundin. We, on the other hand, could use another top 6 blueliner.

That's all I'm going to say about Mats Sundin. This has turned into Farve On Ice and I'm not contributing anymore to it. No more. Done.

Oh for the love of...part 2

Mats Sundin in Philly??????

Granted this is coming from that bastion of truth known as the New York Post, but seriously? I'm trying to figure out both why Paul Holmgren would want an aging vet like Sundin, let alone pay him what he's looking for. Plus, we already have solid centers in Mike Richards and Jeff Carter (unlike other Flyers fans, I think we're better off keeping Carter for the long-term). An addition like Sundin is certainly fun to entertain, but no thanks.

Here's the money quote:

The Post said that Sundin's second choice, behind the Rangers, is to join the Philadelphia Flyers. The salary cap is a problem for both those teams. New York only has about $2 million (all figures U.S.) in room, certainly not enough to land Sundin, while the Flyers have already exceeded the cap and will have to pare salary.

No thanks.

If I could change the NHL...

Greg Wyshynski over at Puck Daddy has a segment on his blog asking various people to list five changes they would make to the NHL. Some have been good, some not so much. Figured I'd give it a crack, if only to waste more time on an already boring Wednesday. Here goes:

1. Get rid of the trapezoid behind the goal - Pointless, useless, and utterly ridiculous. Let the goalies roam. Hell, I'd be in favor of the goalies joining the attack every now and then to really throw off the other team.
2. Contract down to 28 teams - Unlike many "traditional" fans who want every team south of New York eliminated, set up some benchmarks to determine who gets to stay and who gets the axe. If a team can't average at least 90% capacity, they make the list. This means that strong Southern and non-traditional markets like Dallas keep their teams while putting more pressure on Atlanta and Miami (I say Miami because Tampa Bay seems to do pretty well). Take two teams and move them to Winnipeg and Hamilton or some other Northern locale, and contract the others. If that won't work, at least try this...
3. Division re-alignment - There is no logical reason why Minnesota is in the Northwest division. The last time Minnesota was considered to be in the Northwest, we conned the French into selling a third of the continent for about fifty bucks. I know it may not be easy, but here's my idea: Two conferences with two divisions each, an eight-team division and a seven-team division. Bring back the old names (interesting how the names Smythe and Patrick are old-fashioned, but an outdoor game is an instant classic). And go back to the 80's-style divisional playoff format instead of basing everything around conference standings. It may look like this:

ADAMS - BOS, MTL, TOR, OTT, BUF, CLB, PIT
PATRICK - NYR, NYI, PHI, NJD, WAS, CAR, ATL, FLA
NORRIS - DET, CHI, STL, DAL, MIN, NSH, TB
SMYTHE - VAN, CGY, EDM, COL, SJ, LA, ANA, PHX

Now here's the deal - move NSH to Hamilton, PHX to Winnipeg (thus bringing Wayne Gretzky back to Canada), and contract FLA, ATL, and you have four seven-team divisions. Switch HAM and CLB to create a ridiculous rivalry between Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, and Montreal. Keep the 'Peg in the Smythe to produce a similar four-team Canadian beatdown out West. In other words:

ADAMS - BOS, TOR, HAM, MTL, OTT, BUF, PIT
PATRICK - NYR, NYI, PHI, NJD, WAS, CAR, TB
NORRIS - DET, CHI, STL, DAL, MIN, CLB, COL
SMYTHE - VAN, CGY, EDM, WPG, SJ, LA, ANA

Not perfect, I know, but it's an idea. I did all I could to keep Pittsburgh in with the Flyers, but this set-up could produce a Flyers-Pens or even a Caps-Pens conference final. And won't the NHL muckety-mucks love that!!! Rounding out the list, I have:
4. Let'em fight - Enough said. And to anyone who picks a fight and then either turtles or hides behind the ref, two minutes for unsportmanslike conduct.
5. NBC gets the Saturday night games - I have to admit, Football Night in America, which is a blatant rip-off of Hockey Night in Canada, is by far the best NFL broadcast. Give NBC the Saturday night game. It's not like there's much to do on a Saturday night in the winter anyway, unless you happen to live in South Florida, Arizona, or SoCal. Let NBC pick a game, broadcast it nationally, and start it from Day 1 of the season. The downside, obviously, is that NBC would be going directly up against college football, but they only show Notre Dame games and those are in the afternoon. This could work.

There ya go.

More notes from the farm

Here is the 2008-2009 schedule for the Phantoms. They will open the season on October 10 against Bridgeport and close down the Spectrum on April 12 when the Norfolk Admirals come to town.

NHL Network just showed the '89 Wales Conference final between the Flyers and Montreal. I caught the tail end of Game 6 when Ron Hextall went axe murderer on Chris Chelios. See, kids, it's not whether you win or lose. It's how many of them you take out that counts.

Notes from the farm

Just after the Flyers announced that Craig Berube will be joining John Stevens' staff behind the Flyers bench, the Phantoms have named former Ottawa Senators boss John Paddock as the new coach. Paddock has been with the organization before, back when the Hershey Bears were the AHL affiliate. Not a bad move, especially considering this could be the last season for the Phantoms in Philly once the Spectrum is gone.

And speaking of the Spectrum, the 76ers released their new schedule for the upcoming season. In March, the Sixers will play the Chicago Bulls in the last-ever basketball game at the old barn. If it's anything like the final Flyers game, there should be tons of old Sixer players and officials present. My question is: if the Sixers can get a regular-season game, why not the Flyers? With all due respect, I'd rather see the Flyers take on someone like Boston, New York, or Pittsburgh in a game that counts rather than a preseason match against Carolina. At least let the Hurricanes wear the old Whaler jerseys to get some nostalgia back.

Get ready to feel old...

This was 20 YEARS AGO.

I remember finding out about this in the Orlando airport coming back from my family's Disney World vacation. At the time, I couldn't really understand it because at that age, things weren't supposed to change. All your friends would be back in September, all your favorite cartoon shows would come on at the same time, and your favorite athletes would be back every year with the same jerseys on. Even if Gretzky and the Oilers beat the Flyers twice in three years for the Cup, I still liked the guy, and as a result, had a decent amount of respect for Edmonton. Seeing no. 99 in that blue and white with the orange trim pretty much defined my best sports memories growing up, along with Dr. J, Mike Schmidt, and Ron Hextall. Gretzky in L.A.? Never looked right, never felt right. Of course, it wasn't the earth-shattering event for me like it was for Canadians, so I can't complain too much.

20 years ago...

Friday Flyers news

Inquirer Staff Photo Richard M. Titley


Oh, now this should be fun. It's too bad they couldn't schedule a regular season game at the old place, but this game will be fun. I think it's cool they're inviting all of the old captains back for one last hurrah. We'll get to see guys like Dave Poulin and Bobby Clarke, though I wonder what kind of reception Eric Lindros will get. Provided he doesn't hit his head or something. I know, bad joke.

Not that this was a surprise, but Flyers D Jaroslav Modry is heading back to Europe to play in the Czech league. Speaking for all O&B fans, I'd like to wish Modry safe passage back to his homeland and thank him for his, um...uh...you know what, just stay over there.

That's about it for now.