Meet the new Flyers

Right, now that I've got a little free time, it's time to recap the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. The most glaring need for the Flyers going into next season was on defense, so naturally Paul Holmgren and co. decided to look in that general direction. Along the way, we picked up a couple of goalie prospects and a center, not to mention trading for Caps blue-liner Steve Eminger. Apparently, we did Steve a favor by getting him out of DC. Anyway, here are the newest Flyers:

1. Luca Sbisa, D - 6'2", 190, Lethbridge (WHL)
2. Marc-Andre Bourdon, D - 6'0", 206, Rouyn-Noranda (QJMHL)
3. Jacob DeSerres, G - 6'2", 195, Seattle (WHL)
4. Zac Rinaldo, C - 5'11", 169, Mississauga St. Michael's (OHL)
5. Joacim Eriksson, G - 6'1", 189, Brynas Jr. (Sweden Juniors)

I wouldn't expect to see any of these guys wearing orange and black for at least three years, if that. Holmgren and John Stevens are true believers in allowing young players to fully develop in the minors before getting thrown into the mix. Sbisa would be the logical choice to be the first one called up to the NHL, especially if Derian Hatcher decides to call it quits. The one major worry I have is that these guys aren't exactly big. Granted, six feet and two hundred pounds is nothing to sneeze at, but there's no one here that can be called intimidating. I hope that the organization isn't leaning to far towards the mobile puck-moving defenseman and too far away from the big, knock-you-on-your-butt bruiser we've been known to have around.

Rumor out of South Philly is that the Flyers are close to re-signing both Riley Cote and Jeff Carter. It sounds like Carter's deal is just waiting for a final dollar amount. I'm hoping this goes OK because I don't want this dragging on past July 1, when another GM can raise Carter's asking price knowing that we're pressed as far as the cap is concerned. There has been talk on message boards that Philly is looking at veteran D-men such as Brian Campbell, Mark Streit, and John-Michael Liles, but that all depends on how much cash Holmgren has to work with. Campbell's going to want a lot of money, plus I think we're done raiding the Buffalo Sabres for their best players.

Now that the draft is over and Pierre Mcguire can stop gushing over EVERY SINGLE PICK THAT EVERY TEAM MADE (Seriously, how can you like all 211 players?), we now get a bit of a break until the silly season kicks off on the 1st. The cap is projected to be around $56 million, so we've got some wiggle room, but not much.

Draft Day!!!!

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Fred Chartrand)

Hey folks, how we doin'?

Finally, the 2008 NHL Draft gets underway today in Ottawa. The Flyers have the 27th pick in the first round, so unless they make a trade or two, I don't expect them to pick until 9:30 or so. Not that the Flyers haven't been busy this offseason. First came the announcement of Sami Kapanen's retirement (so long, Sammy). Rumor has it that he didn't like the fact that the team wanted to go younger. Oh well. Then we traded Ryan Potulny, who couldn't get a spot on the team since we're loaded with centers, to Edmonton. And on Wednesday, we shipped Vinnie Prospal back to Tampa for the Lightning's 7th round pick this weekend and a conditional pick next year.

As far as the potential free agents are concerned, it looks like Jeff Carter will be here for some time, at least according to both John Stevens and Paul Holmgren. R.J. Umberger's name just came up on TSN regarding a possible trade with Columbus, so the jury's out on him. UPDATE - Umberger's just been traded to the Blue Jackets along with our 4th round pick for Columbus's 1st round pick (19th overall) and their 3rd round pick.

So now we have two 1st round picks...

8:28 - Wayne Gretzky steps to the podium and gets a standing O. Poor Gary Bettman probably thought it was for him.

Do the NY Islanders WANT a draft pick this year???

8:36 - And the Isles finally make a pick. No doubt he'll be signed to a 40-year contract.

9:41 - Flyers draft D Luca Sbisa (Lethbridge, WHL).

Holmgren decides to go with defense with our first pick. According to his bio, Sbisa's a puck-moving defenseman who needs to toughen up a bit for the North American game. He better toughen up if he wants to make it on the Flyers' roster. I guess this means that we've reached the end for Derian Hatcher in Philly.

10:16 - The Devils, who traded down to get this pick, draft Mattias Tedenby from HV 71 in Sweden. I figured I'd keep track of what the rest of the Atlantic Division is doing tonight (I missed the Rangers' pick 'cause I was getting some coffee). We've got the 27th pick, which is the final pick for our division. The Pens don't pick until the 4th round, or early Monday morning the way this draft is going.

10:35 - Flyers trade pick #27 to Washington for D Steve Eminger and 84th overall pick

Pierre McGuire on TSN is saying that Eminger wanted out of DC, so this sounds like a good move. No doubt Flyers fans wanted either John Carlson or Jakob Markstrom...

11:00 - That's it for the first round. Still a lot of good talent on the board, but unless the Flyers can move back into the 2nd round, most of it may be gone by the time we select at 67th. From what was done tonight, the Flyers wanted to solidify the blue line, and they may have done it with Sbisa and Eminger. Now just get a good goalie prospect and I'll be happy.

D'oh!!!

OK, I've been saying that the NHL Draft is on June 12th now for about three weeks. My apologies for the brain fart. The draft is on June 20th. The NHL Awards Ceremony is on June 12th. Please make a note in your calendars. Thank you.

Congratulations to...

(Photo: The Canadian Press)

...these guys.

Yup, for the 11th time and fourth since 1997, the Detroit Red Wings are the Stanley Cup champions after defeating Pittsburgh 3-2 in Game 6. They should have won it on Monday, but the Pens won a triple-overtime marathon after Petr Sykora called his shot and won the game (which was pretty cool, by the way). Congrats to the Wings on a great season. And Pittsburgh, of course.

In Flyers news, Sami Kapanen has finally decided to call it quits after 12 seasons. He retired on Monday and reportedly signed with a Finnish team, though I'm not sure which one. Anyway, we'll miss you Sami, especially your heroics in the 2004 playoffs after nearly getting killed by Darcy Tucker in Toronto which led to Jeremy Roenick's OT game-winner. This should free up about $2M in salary, money the Flyers can use to re-sign Jeff Carter.

Although tonight officially marks the end of the 2007-08 season, the 2008-09 season gets underway in about a week with the NHL Draft in Ottawa, followed by the start of free agency in July. That should satisfy my hockey needs for a while, plus I got the Phillies (who are playing ridiculous right now) and the European Championship kicking off this weekend (my money's on the Germans), so I got my sports fix covered.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are now officially on the clock...

Luc Bourdon 1987-2008

(Photo courtesy of Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)

I said I would stay away until the draft, but I figured this needed to be said. TSN has reported that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luc Bourdon was killed today in a motorcycle accident in New Brunswick. They didn't go into what actually happened, but this is a tragic loss for both Luc's family and the Canucks organization. He played for both Vancouver and Manitoba this year, which was his first season in the NHL, and played for a couple of minor league teams in Moncton and Cape Breton. And as you can see, he was only 21.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Stanley Cup Finals Game 1: Penguins @ Red Wings

Go Wings.

Offseason stuff

Sorry, just couldn't stay away. The Red Wings are up 4-1 on Dallas in Game 6 tonight, so it looks like it will be Detroit vs. Pittsburgh in the who's-lost-more-manufacturing-jobs Stanley Cup finals!!

Anyway, on to Flyers news. According to the good people at nhlnumbers.com, the Flyers have the following player contracts to deal with, along with what they made this season:

UFA:
Jim Dowd - $500K
Riley Cote (UFA VI) - $500K
Jesse Boulerice - $475K
Jason Smith - $1.98M
Vinnie Prospal - $1.9M
Rory Fizpatrick - $550K
Jaroslav Modry - $1.2M

RFA:
R.J. Umberger - $1.2M
Jeff Carter - $942K
Patrick Thoresen - $542K
Ryan Potulny - $643K
Randy Jones - $525K
Nate Guenin - $585K
Stefan Ruzicka - $525K

OK, here's what I think. As far as the UFAs are concerned, I think Paul Holmgren will allow them to test the open market. Riley Cote will more than likely end up staying since he seems to be a fixture anytime we need to smack someone around. There was a rumor earlier this winter that Jason Smith may want to head back to New Jersey to end his career, which is fine. Mike Richards will no doubt take over as captain, and he more than earned it. The RFAs are another story. Any offer made for either Carter or Umberger will net the Flyers some pretty decent compensation. Toronto may send over an offer sheet for Carter, maybe even Vancouver. Umberger had a great playoffs this year and should have raised his stock a bit heading into the offseason. Randy Jones should be back, along with Potulny and Ruzicka for another year with the Phantoms.

Right now, the Flyers have 21 players under contract for about $49.5 million heading into next season. Assuming that the cap will be raised, the Flyers should have some wiggle room to resign players and bring in young talent. I don't see the front office going after a big name free agent, and that's fine with me. Most of the core players are returning, along with Simon Gagne and possibly Claude Giroux (whose Gatineau Olympiques lost 6-3 tonight against Belleville in the Memorial Cup). The future looks really good for Philly, much better than many people give us credit for.

UPDATE - Dallas lost, so the Cup final is set to kick off this Saturday in Detroit. I think Pittsburgh will give Detroit a tough run, but I'm betting on the veteran Red Wings to win it.
Detroit wins the Stanley Cup 4-2

OK, now it's over...Penguins 6, Flyers 0

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

I should be mad right now.

Like, really, really, throwing dangerous objects mad.

I'm not, and to be honest, I'm completely OK with that.

Of course it would have been nice to see the Flyers put up more of a fight today, but you had to know that Pittsburgh would come out stronger than they did on Thursday. I could go on and on about the questionable calls in Game 5, but to be fair, the officiating has been atrocious all season in the NHL. There's no sense in blaming the officials for today's 6-0 loss, especially since it isn't their fault the Flyers couldn't figure out how to beat the Pens' trap defense. Let's face it, the Penguins are the better team. They were built to win the Stanley Cup, and they'll get their justly deserved shot. The Flyers have been playing with the house money ever since the Washington series. I didn't think we'd beat the Caps in Game 7, let alone win four straight against Montreal, but we did.

You have to wonder where this team would be if they didn't go through that horrific ten-game losing streak this winter. Get at least five wins from that and we might have been the No. 1 seed. Anyway, no sense in playing the what-if game. We have the summer to regroup, make some roster tweaks (I think Derien Hatcher, Sami Kapanen, and Jason Smith played their final game for Philly today, and you can pretty much bank on Claude Giroux coming to town), and prepare for next season. We won't be sneaking up on anyone, but we have to be considered in the top four teams in the East, along with Pittsburgh, Montreal, and Washington.

As for me, I'm taking a scheduled break. It's been fun following the Flyers this season and I'm already looking ahead to 2008-9. A big thank you to the Flyers who gave us one of our most successful seasons ever, and for erasing the stench from last season's disaster. Good luck to the winner of the Detroit/Dallas series (I will not, repeat NOT, be cheering for Pittsburgh in some misguided state loyalty. You didn't see Leafs fans pulling for Ottawa last year, did you?) and good luck to Giroux and his Olympiques in the Memorial Cup.

Be back for the NHL Draft.

Quick update

According to both TSN and 610 WIP radio in Philly, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn could play tomorrow in Pittsburgh for Game 5. It looks like Timonen will at least play, but I don't know if John Stevens will have him start.

It's like I said earlier. If they're ready, play them. But if there's the slightest bit of discomfort, don't risk a future long-term injury.

Dallas won today 2-1. Hopefully the Flyers follow suit.

Not Done Yet...Flyers 4, Penguins 2

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

I like being wrong sometimes.

Yeah, I'll admit, I thought the Flyers were finished, doomed to be swept by our cross-state 2nd cousins (twice removed) from Pittsburgh. I should've known they would come out with some fire last night. The Flyers flat out dominated the Pens for most of Game 4, winning 4-2 and never once looked like backing down. The Flyers played an offensive, physical style of hockey, much like they way they played against Washington and Montreal, which leads me to wonder what the heck they were waiting for. They didn't take any dumb penalties, they played a fairly solid defense (Braydon Coburn ended up sitting out last night), and they shot the puck like it was going out of style. Plus, they finally pushed Pittsburgh around, even getting ol' Sidney Crosby into a quasi-fight with Mike Richards at the end. Quick note to Crosby: When you get into a fight, drop your stick, son. You look ridiculous.

The Flyers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period with goals from Daniel Briere, Jeff Carter, and Joffrey Lupul. It stayed that way until the third when Pens forward Jordan Staal (lot of credit to him for playing so soon after losing his grandfather) scored one really fluky, frustrating goal that somehow got past Biron. He then made it 3-2 when he was left WIDE FRIGGIN' OPEN in the slot and shot one shortside past Biron. Marty's been giving up a lot of shortside goals this playoffs. Something to work on this summer, I guess. Anyway, the game got a little heated, which is typical for these two teams, and stayed tense until Lupul put in the empty-net tally to ice it.

Now we got Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Since the Flyers aren't the Rangers and can actually score, don't expect Sunday's game to be easy. The pressure is still on the Penguins to finish the series at home and set up the "NHL renaissance" Cup final against Detroit (not my words, ESPN said it). Rumor has it that Kimmo Timonen, who's been out with a blood clot in his leg, may return to the lineup. I like Kimmo, but if he's not 100%, I really don't think he should return. He would certainly be welcomed back on the powerplay unit, but there's no sense in rushing him back if it means additional injury. But, if he's good to go, suit him up.

Let's keep this going, boys!

All in all, still a great season

You've probably been wondering where I've been for the past week. Seeing as how this is the most important playoff series in Philly since, well, the last one, you wouldn't be too far off in thinking that I'd be blogging my little heart out with all the juciy details from behind the front lines.

If you haven't been wondering, well screw you, I'm telling you anyway.

The truth is that I've been pretty busy with both studying for my state life exam and actually trying to figure out how to run my own business for about the past two weeks now. And because of this, I haven't gotten the chance to sit down and write about what so far has been a fairly awful series. Let's be honest, the Penguins are just better. Much better than I was willing to give them credit for. I thought they had it easy going through Ottawa and New York, but they actually are a good club. They've made us look foolish, that's for sure. Granted, things would have been much different had the Flyers not lost Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn to injuries (TSN reported that Coburn was skating today and should be available for tomorrow's Game 4), and it would have helped if we remembered to shoot the puck more.

Tomorrow night is most likely the final game of the year, and while it is frustrating to lose to Pittsburgh, the Flyers are way ahead of schedule. They've got a young team that should be around for a while, players like Claude Giroux and Ryan Parent (who just isn't ready yet) in the pipeline, and a front office who isn't likely to go overboard rehauling the team. If anyone thought the Flyers were going to win the Stanley Cup this year, they're insane. Or know something I don't. Honestly, even if we lose tomorrow, this has to be one the best seasons ever in Philadelphia. At least now we have something to look forward to instead of another mediocre Eagles season.

See you tomorrow.

Gameday: Flyers @ Penguins

From Yahoo!: Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh

I'll add more once we get closer to the opening faceoff.