Flyers Alumi Take Ice for Practice

The Philadelphia Flyers Alumnus practiced as a team for the first time this afternoon in order to prepare for the Winter Classic Alumni game.

Today Flyer fans of all ages crowded the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ to see Flyer history. Early estimates are that around 1000 people attended the practice.

The Flyers from the 60's and 70's skated with Flyers from the 90's and 00's. 

Eric Lindros skated with Bill Barber while Jeremy Roenick skated with Bob Kelly, and John LeClair took shots at Bernie Parent. It was every Flyers fan's dream. Lindros and LeClair united again, while Barber and Leach were together. 

I met up with Jeremy Roenick after the practice:

Hey JR, how did you feel out there?
"I felt gassed, who stole all the air out of the building"

When was the last time you skated?
"I've actually only skated 5 times since I retired."

You looked great out there!
"Yea right, did you see me almost throw up over there?"

What was it like to shoot on Bernie?
"Oh, great," He said with a smile, "but he didn't have his contacts in, so he couldn't see anything I was shooting!"

Thank you, Good Luck tomorrow!
"Thanks, I'm gonna need it!"

The Alumni Game has been moved from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM due to the sunny conditions.

Here are some photos and clips from today's practice.

Bernie Talking to Lindros

Crowd of 1000 People

Roenick Shoots on Bernie

Lindros Skating

 

Lindros, LeClair and Kelly on the Rush 

Lindros Talking to LeClair

Roenick Makes a Young Fan's Day

Packed House

JR Spends Time with Fans

Roenick Entertaining Fans

Old Buddies

Roenick Becomes One of Us

Chris Therien Talking to Fans

Alumni Bus Leaving

Bernie Parent in Goal

Bernie's Locker

Lindros and LeClair's Lockers

The Big E in Action

Roenick (left, slicks back hair) LeClair (right)

Bernie Having a Good Time

Eric Desjardins

The Hound

(Thanks to the Philadelphia Flyers, Jeremy Roenick, David Isaac, Christopher Taitt, and (the designer of DTP) Monica Grevera for some of the pictures)

Jagr and Talbot Help Flyers Beat Pens

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 tonight after both Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot scored in their return to their former city. 

This one was special for Jaromir. Every time he processed the puck the Pittsburgh natives booed him relentlessly. Jagr said, "I think they are saying, I love youuuuu," rather than boos. Jagr's goal was very typical of his career. After he received a drop pass from Hartnell, he skated though two defenders and beat Pittsburgh goalie Marc Andre Fleury on a backhand shot that found the roof of the net. Afterwards, he celebrated with his patented salute to the fans, which he made famous in Pittsburgh.

But the whole game wasn't all fun, as the Penguins scored in the first minute of the game, dampening the Flyers mood. But the Flyers wouldn't let that affect their game, and on their second PowerPlay of the period Kimmo Timonen scored his first goal of the season from the point tying the game.

Then in the second period it was Jagr putting the Flyers on top for the first time in the game. "I have to enjoy every goal," Jagr said. "I don't know when it will be my last one."

The Flyers continued to put their foot on the gas, while playing solid defensively and it translated into another scoring chance in which Matt Read was able to bury Sean Couturier's (who played his first game since suffering from a head injury) rebound, giving the Flyers a 3-1 lead after 2 periods. It was Matt Read's first goal in 9 games.

The Flyers strong defense was the difference maker in tonight's contest as they kept the Penguins from getting good scoring chances all night, and Bobrovsky did what was asked of him. He stopped 24 of 26 shots. The Penguins second goal came with about 6 minutes left when Tyler Kennedy beat Bob on a high slap shot cutting the Flyers lead to 1.

Then the Flyers defense stepped up again and played in shutdown mode. They only allowed 2 shots on goal in the 6 minutes following Kennedy's score.

The only thing that could make this night any better would be if Max Talbot (6 year ex-Penguin), who was honored with a standing ovation, scored. And that's exactly what happened. Talbot closed out the Penguins by scoring an empty net goal giving the Flyers a 4-2 final victory.

Game Notes:

• Claude Giroux was credited with 2 assists tonight, including one on Jagr's goal. The score sheet mistakenly gave him the assist when it was actually Scott Hartnell who dropped it off to Jagr. Hartnell received the puck from Carle, who was correctly credited with an assist, even though Hartnell wasn't.
• Sean Couturier got his first multi-point game (2 assists) since November 5th (17 games apart).
• Timonen was excellent for the Flyers tonight. He scored his first goal of the season, was +2, blocked 4 shots and played 22:00 minutes (second most for the Flyers only behind Carle).
• The Flyers lost 69% of the faceoffs. Giroux was only 36%.
• Flyers are 6-0 in the Penguins new stadium. 

Drop The Puck:
The next time they Drop The Puck will be outdoors when the Flyers face off against the Rangers for the 2012 NHL Winter Classic.

(Thanks to the NHL and Y! Sports for the images)

Jagr, Talbot and Flyers Face Penguins

The Philadelphia Flyers (21-10-4) face the Pittsburgh Penguins (21-11-4) for the second time tonight this season. The first meeting resulted in the Flyers winning 3-2 at home. Now they go to Pittsburgh, for the first time this season.
 
For both Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot it will be a home coming. Max played his first 6 seasons with Pittsburgh before coming to Philadelphia during the summer. Jagr was also drafted by the Penguins and spent 11 years with them (see below).

The Flyers come into this game struggling of late. They have lost 4 of their last 5 games, only scoring 5 goals in those 4 games. The Penguins on the other hand have been hot. They have won 4 straight games out scoring their opponents 19-8.

The Flyers will get back Sean Couturier tonight after he returns from a head injury after blocking a shot to the head. Sean will replace Zac Rinaldo tonight.

Who to look out for:
Evgeni Malkin is the hottest player in the NHL right now. He has an 8 game point streak and 18 points during his streak. He is second in the league with 42 only behind Claude Giroux.

Giroux has scored 15 points in his last 8 games and leads the league with 44 points.

Who's in net:
Sergei Bobrovski (7-2-1, 2.57 GAA) will start in goal against Marc Andre Fleury (19-7-2, 2.24 GAA) tonight.

Drop the Puck:
The Pittsburgh Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at 7:00 PM.

Jagr Returns to Pittsburgh

Jaromir Jagr will return to Pittsburgh for the first time since signing with their arch divisional and state rival, the Philadelphia Flyers.

Jagr, 39, chose to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers during the off-season for 1 year, $3.3 million despite having played 11 seasons with the Penguins.

Jaromir started his career in Pittsburgh, where he was drafted fifth overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. The following season he notched 57 points in the regular season, and 13 in the playoffs helping Pittsburgh win their first Stanley Cup in Franchise history. The next season he topped both totals scoring scoring 69 points in the regular season and 24 points in the playoffs (his career high to date), again leading Pittsburgh to their second Stanley Cup in as many years.

Jagr would go on to play 9 more seasons, totaling 439 goals, 640 assists for 1079 points in 806 games over the course of 11 years. Jaromir scored at least 50 goals twice while reaching the 100 point plateau 4 times. During his tenure in Pittsburgh he won 2 Stanley Cups, 1 Hart Trophy (MVP), 5 Art Ross Trophies (leading point scorer), the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year), and made 7 All Star teams.

In 2001 the Penguins traded Jagr to Washington in what some refer to as the one of the most lopsided trades ever. He was dealt for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, and Ross Lupaschuk. The three players combined for 13 goals and 20 assists during their short careers with Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh dropped from 6th to 12th place after trading Jagr and as a result missed the playoffs for the first time in 12 years.

Jagr played the next three years with the Capitals before being traded again, this time to the New York Rangers. He spent 4 years there before departing for Russia.

After leaving the NHL, Jagr had initially planned to end his career in Russia, signing a 2 year deal. He then signed on for another year as he wasn't ready to leave the game. Then after 3 years, Jaromir still wanted to play hockey, but this time he was ready to return to the NHL. In Jagr's 3 years in the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League in Russia) he scored 145 points in 155 games.

At this point, most analysts thought it was obvious which team Jagr would choose: the team he spent 11 years with winning 2 Cups. Everyone was wrong. He chose Philadelphia.

On HBO's documentary 24/7: Road to the Winter Classic, Jaromir Jagr spoke about why he chose Philadelphia, "It would probably be a lot easier if I came back (to Pittsburgh), my jersey would hang (in the rafters) one day, but I chose the other way. Sometimes you think your brain knows everything, but you should follow your heart first. I never thought I was gonna like it so much, I'm surprised. I picked Philly just for the hockey, but so far I like everything about it, even the fans, they're crazy."

Now Jagr will make his first return to Pittsburgh since choosing the Flyers over the Penguins, when the 2 teams face off on Thursday night.

24/7 Flyers Rangers: Road to the Winter Classic Part 3

HBO aired Episode 3 of their award winning documentary series 24/7: Road to the Winter Classic. And just when you thought the last episode was the best, this one rises above again. Episode 3 chronicled Claude Giroux's return back from his concussion, the Flyers big win in Dallas (also showed the Laviolette/Ott incident), the Winter Classic preview matchup between the Flyers and Rangers and the players' Christmas break.

Here are some entertaining quotes from tonight's episode (warning: some language may be offensive to some):

Coach Laviolette between periods: "In Boston we said, alright, it got mixed into the schedule, let's turn the page. Somebody tell me, What is the difference now? I wanna see people rip their heart out of their chest this period, and if you don't, your probably not gonna like your ice time. Take the first shift, get it, and you'll earn the second one."

Laviolette: "Start playing with some jam in here, let's go!"

Giroux to Laviolette on returning:
"I don't wanna go out there and hurt the team."
"You're kidding me right? You looked great out there."
"It's practice though."
"You look like a million bucks out here."

Jagr to Giroux the game before he returns:
"Are you playing tomorrow? You better play tomorrow."
"You decide, Jags." Both said with smiles.

Giroux to Steve Ott mockingly:
"Are you taking this faceoff here?"
"I'm 5th in the league."
"In what?"
"At faceoffs"
"You are?"
"Look at NHL.com"
"I never said you were bad."
"I'm 5th in the league, so I'm probably gonna win it right here."
"Alright."
Giroux wins the ensuing faceoff.

Laviolette to Ott as he shoves him out of the way:
"Go **** yourself."

Scott Hartnell becomes the cameraman at his house for Christmas:
"Claude, how you doing, bud?"
"Hola." Claude responds
"Double focus, it's tricky, I'm not gonna lie, it's tricky."

Bryzgalov talking about his family:
"I miss so much my family, my wife my kids, when i spend lots of time away from them, its getting tough on me. I need to see them once in a while to re-energize myself, and re-energize my soul, because without them, I'm nothing."

If you don't have HBO, or you missed the episode, or maybe you just want to watch it again, here it is in full.....

FULL EPISODE

If you want to catch up on the series, you can view 

The First Episode:

HERE

& the Second Episode:                                    

HERE

And watch the Season Finale Episode 4

HERE

(Thanks to HBO, the NHL, the Flyers, Rangers, and to EZTVStream for the video. I do not own, nor have any affiliation with the link. Apologies to anyone who may have been offended by certain words or phrases.)

Stamkos, Tampa Bay Defeat Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers lost today to the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1, despite a dominating first period.

The Flyers took 17 shots in the first but could only settle for 1 goal. The goal came off Scott Hartnell's stick off a rebound from Giroux's shot. Claude made a nifty pass off the back boards to himself then was able to throw the puck on goal and Hartnell buried the rebound. But this goal only tied the game at 1. Tampa scored earlier in the period when Ilya Bryzgalov allowed a weak goal off a shot from the point. That was just the start to Bryzgalov's troubling night.

So the first period ended and despite outshooting the Lightning 17-4 the score was tied.

Tampa Bay would take advantage of that and hand the Flyers a period they would love to forget. The Lightning scored as many goals in the period as the Flyers had shots: 3.

First it was Stamkos, then it was Downey, then it was Stamkos again. And the Flyers were down by 3 goals after their offense failed them (only took 3 shots), defense struggled (left Stamkos wide open in front of the goal twice), and goaltending was nonexistent (allowed 3 goals on 8 shots).

All it took was one bad period.

The Flyers started dominating again in the 3rd but it was much too late and Tampa Bay goalie Mathieu Garon continued his string performance stopping all 12 shots he faced in the period.

Just to add insult to injury, the Flyers gave up another bad goal which summed up the game perfectly. Andreas Lilja was out of position leaving Lecavalier open and he beat Bryzgalov on another stoppable shot.

Bryzgalov stopped only 11 out of 16 shots while Garon stopped 31 out of 32.

Game Notes:
The Flyers outshot TB in the 1st and 3rd period 29-8.
The Flyers out chanced the Lightning 28-11.
TB iced the puck 7 times in the 3rd. They felt comfortable doing this because they won 57% of their face offs. Max Talbot lost 3 of 14 face offs.
Schenn was scoreless in 8:48 minutes and -2 after returning from his concussion.
The 3rd line of Talbot, JVR, and Voracek combined for 0 shots and 10 penalty minutes, while Briere, Read and Simmonds accounted for 11 total shots. Both lines went scoreless.

Next time they Drop the Puck:
The Flyers will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Thursday night.

Schenn to Play vs Tampa Bay

Brayden Schenn will suit up for the Philadelphia Flyers (21-9-4) tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning (14-17-3) for the first time since December 3rd after sustaining a concussion. His concussion was already the third injury of the season for the young rookie center. He suffered from a shoulder injury during the preseason, and then fractured his foot in late October, before receiving a concussion in December. Schenn has only played in 6 games this season and his return is highly anticipated for the Flyers as he was picked by many to be the rookie of the year. In his 6 games, Schenn is scoreless, and the Flyers are 3-3 with him in the lineup. Schenn is still looking for his first NHL goal and first point as a Flyers (he has 2 assists in his 15 game career, both came with the Kings).

The Flyers should also get Danny Briere back today. Briere missed the Flyers last game with a bruised finger. He said he was good to go after today's practice.

Sean Couturier made good strides today as he skated again today, this time without a 'no contact' jersey. Couturier remains day-to-day and could play Thursday against the Penguins.

Season Series:
The Flyers will play the Lightning for the 3rd time this season. Tampa won the first meeting 2-1 in a game that some have dubbed the worst hockey game ever. Tampa Bay played their patented 1-3-1 trap defense and the Flyers would have none of it. So they stood there and waited. And waited. And waited. This lasted up to 60 seconds at times and ultimately lead to the Flyers having a season low 14 shots in regulation. Tampa ended up winning the game 2-1 in overtime.

The second meeting went the Flyers way. They took more shots in the 2nd period of this game than they took in the entire first game against Tampa. The Flyers had 16 shots and 3 goals in that second period, leading to a 5-2 victory. The home team has won both times in the series so far. The Flyers look to turn that around in Tampa Bay tonight.

Struggles:
Both teams come into this game struggling of late. The Lightning have lost 4 of their last 6 and have been outscored 9-3 in their last 2 games. The Flyers have lost 3 of their last 4, only scoring 4 goals in their 3 losses. The Flyers are, however, the NHL's best road team (13 wins), while TB is the 6th worst home team (8 wins).

Who to look out for:

• Steven Stamkos is easily Tampa's best player, scoring a team high 37 points, and is 2nd in the NHL in goals with 20. However, he's been held scoreless in his last 2 games.
• Claude Giroux, even though he was held scoreless in his last game, still has 14 points in his last 7 games. He still leads the NHL in points with 43.

Who's in goal:
Ilya Bryzgalov (14-7-3, 2.92 GAA) will start against Mathieu Garon (8-9-2, 2.84 GAA) tonight.

Drop the Puck:
The Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at 7:30 PM.

Flyers Get a Nice Christmas Gift

The Philadelphia Flyers got a nice surprise today when all three injured centers skated today. Danny Briere, Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier all participated in a full length practice.

Brayden Schenn was cleared for full contact while Sean Couturier skated with a yellow (no contact) jersey.

Couturier said after practice that he felt good, "We’re going day by day and I felt good today, so we’ll see tomorrow how I feel. Last week was the first time I skated in a week and I felt off balance a bit, but I’m starting to feel better."

Danny Briere said after practice that he would play tomorrow against Tampa Bay Lightning. Schenn also has a good chance to start tomorrow night.

All three players made the trip to Florida but Couturier won't play until he's been cleared for contact.

D Erik Gustafsson was also cleared for contact and skated and traveled with the team. He too has a good chance to play. If he were to start, Andreas Lilja would get the scratch.

Flyers play the Lightning tomorrow night at 7:30.

Rangers defeat Flyers in Winter Classic Preview

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the NY Rangers today 4-2. The Rangers were the better team tonight and it showed.

The Flyers played a solid first period but couldn't get one past Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

The second period would then be controlled by the Rangers. They ended up scoring 2 goals on unexpected but great effort deflections, both of which were reviewed to make sure they were done legally. And both passed. They came within 5 minutes of each other, and just like that, the Flyers found themselves down 2-0 to a very stingy Ranger defense.

The Rangers came into tonight's game having given up the 3rd least amount of goals in the 3rd period (23g/a in 32 g/p). So the Flyers would have their work cutout for them.

But instead of the Flyers coming out strong in the 3rd period it was the Rangers again. They kept winning their battles for the puck and continued to outwork the Flyers. And it showed when the Rangers leading goal scorer Marion Gaborik found himself on a breakaway and was able to beat Ilya Bryzgalov to put a 3 goal strangle hold on the game.

The Flyers, however, weren't going down that easily. They were awarded a PowerPlay halfway through the 3rd and Andrej Meszaros was able to snap the Flyers scoreless streak at Madison Square Garden (they hadn't scored there in 170+ minutes or 8 and a half periods) on a huge blast.

But then the Rangers squeezed the life out of the Flyers again. They continued to outwork and outman the Flyers to every puck and their hard work paid off as they were awarded a PowerPlay late in the game. And on that ensuing advantage they would regain their lead as Ranger captain Ryan Callahan made it 4-1.

The Flyers kept on shooting though and were able to gain a little more respect as they were able to get one more by Lundqvist before the game ended. James vanRiemsdyk buried a rebound off a Meszaros shot.

But it was the Rangers in the end, beating the Flyers 4-2. The Flyers have lost their last 4 games against the NY Rangers (dating back to last season) and have been outscored 16 to 4 in the process.

The next time these two teams will meet, will be outdoors for the 2012 Winter Classic.

Game Notes:

• Gaborik scored his 21st goal which puts him alone as the NHL's leading goal scorer.
• VanRiemsdyk scored his first goal since November 21st, ending a 9 game goalless drought.
• Flyers lost 56% of the face offs. Read only won 3 out of 9.
• Giroux had a team high 25:08 minutes yet only had 1 shot. He was held off the score sheet for the first time in his last 6 games.
• The Flyers were without Danny Briere, who sat out today with a bruised hand (ring finger). He remains day to day, but GM Paul Holmgren seemed certain that he would play in their next contest.

Next on Drop the Puck:
The Flyers will have off for the Christmas weekend and will get back into action Tuesday when they go to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning.

Winter Classic Preview: Flyers vs Rangers

The Philadelphia Flyers (21-8-4) will face the New York Rangers (20-8-4) tonight for a Winter Classic preview.

HBO will have better coverage for this game more than others because their next matchup will be outdoors in Philadelphia. But a lot more is at steak than reality TV.

The two teams are only 2 points apart in the standings. So the winner of this game will be the leader of the Division and possibly the Conference (depending on what Boston does).

Both the Rangers and the Flyers have played well this month. In the last 10 games the Rangers are 6-3-1, having won their last 3 games, while the Flyers are 8-1-1.

The Rangers are hoping that their recent home success continues against the Flyers. New York has shutout Philadelphia twice in their last two meetings at Madison Square Garden outscoring the Flyers 9-0.

More injuries:
The Flyers lose another center today as they have announced that Danny Briere will miss tonight's game with a bruised hand. He blocked a shot early in the 3rd period of Wednesday's game. Briere is listed as day to day.

Some encouraging news on the injury front came in today when GM Paul Holmgren said that both Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn skated today and are making positive strides. Both are listed as day to day (Schenn was listed as 'out indefinitely' before today's announcement).

Who to look out for:
Both teams will be looking for their superstar to step up and have a big game. Marion Gaborik is tied for the league lead in goals with 20 (tied with Stamkos, Toews, and Kessel) while Claude Giroux leads the NHL in points with 43.
Both are carrying great streaks with them into tonight's game as well. Gaborik has scored goals in 3 straight games, amassing 5 goals during that span, while Giroux has points in 6 straight games for 14 total points.

Who's in goal:
Ilya Bryzgalov (14-6-3, 2.87 GAA) will start against Henrik Lundqvist (13-7-4, 2.03 GAA) tonight.

Drop the Puck:
The NY Rangers host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at 7:00 PM.

24/7 Road to the Winter Classic Part 2

HBO aired the second installment of 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic tonight and it was even better than the first episode. For the Flyers, the episode was filled with the good, the bad, and the hilarious.

The good consisted of the documentary showing the Flyers extend their winning streak to 7, the fun they had on their run, and Danny Briere's full house. The bad displayed the streak coming to an end, the announcement of Pronger being out for the season, and the injury to rookie Sean Couturier. The hilarious parts consisted mainly of the boys poking fun at Bryzgalov's quirkiness in the previous episodes, and of course more great quotes from Bryzgalov.

Here are some Great Quotes for tonight's episode:

Coach Laviolette talks to the team before their first game without Claude Giroux:
"G comes out of the lineup now, Danny B, Hartsey, Max, Reader, Couts, Jake, everybody's gotta dig in here, this is what the team's all about. Make sure we get this done here tonight. 

Laviolette talks to Hartnell at practice the day after he scored his 200th NHL goal:
"200 goals Hartsey, congrats."
"Thank you"
"That's 200 more than me."
"You didn't get one?"
"12 games, no points."

Zac Rinaldo and Harry Zolnierczyk, who are roommates, discussed playing with legend Jaromir Jagr.
"He (Jagr) was on Sega Genesis! I used to play the game, religiously. And I used to, well I never used to be Jags, didn't like that type of player, but I used to play against Jags on Sega. I was Eric Lindros."

The hilarious came when some of the players, notably Jagr, Talbot and Harry Z, poked fun at Ilya Bryzgalov for some of his comments in the previous episode (Bryzgalov discussed the universe and the illegal killing of tigers in Asia). As the Flyers gathered for their pregame meal Max Talbot addressed Ilya by saying:
"Hey Universe, one thing I've learned is I'll never kill a tiger, in Russia, I'll never kill a tiger," much to the confusion of the goalie.

Bryz told Harry Z that he didn't watch the show because there was no HBO in his room.
Then Harry says, "You were a hit eh."
To which Bryzgalov responds, "I hope so."
"Your lecture about the galaxy was..."
"Epic?" Ilya says laughing as he finished Harry's sentence.

Then Bryz talked to Harry a little about his dog:
"She's (his husky) all white with blues eyes, that's basically blond girl with blue eyes. Your dream!
"So you're comparing women to your huskies?"
"A husky basically, she's a hot girl."

After the 5-1 victory over Montreal, when all the players are congratulating the goalie for a great effort, one player (presumably Rinaldo) says, "The universe! We got nothing to worry about!"

Bryzgalov with another great quote talking about who's crazier, defensemen or goalies: "They (defensemen) don't have goalie gear but they have to block the shot. Who's crazier me, or defensemen? Who is more weird?"

The third episode will air next Wednesday at 10 PM only on HBO.
If you missed tonight's episode, you can view it in it's entirety here...

FULL EPISODE

In case you missed it, you can find the link and recap of Episode 1....

HERE

And check out Episode 3.....

HERE

(I do not own nor have any affiliation with the above link. Thanks to EZTVstream for the link, the NHL, the Flyers, and the Rangers)

Flyers Win in Giroux's Return

The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Dallas Stars 4-1 tonight after a great perfromance from Claude Giroux.

Giroux returned to action tonight after missing the last 4 games with a concussion suffered on December 10th. Claude showed no signs of rust as he was able get on the board only 8 minutes into the game. He parked himself in front of the Stars net and buried home Jagr's rebound to tie the game at 1.

The Flyers had gone down 1-0 on the very first shift of the game when they failed to back-check allowing Michael Ryder (the Stars leading goal scorer) to take an open shot, which beat Bobrovsky.

That would be the only mistake of the game for the Flyers.

Only 3 minutes after Giroux's tying goal, the Flyers' Wayne Simmonds scored a PowerPlay goal off a deflection from Timonen's shot and the Flyers never looked back. Giroux would get his second assist.

In the second period Giroux was at it again. This time playing give-and-go with Jaromir Jagr who scored his first goal since Claude was injured 4 games ago.

After the first 2 periods Giroux already had a stellar night, but he still wasn't finishing. 5 minutes into the 3rd period, Claude found a wide open Meszaros, who went in all alone and scored the Flyers' 4th goal. That would be Giroux's 3rd assist and 4th point of the night.

Sergei Bobrovsky would then close the door stopping all 12 shots he faced in the 3rd. And after allowing Dallas to score on their 2nd shot, Bob stopped all 29 shots following.

Claude Giroux was the number one star of the game as he had 1 goal, and 3 assists, for 4 points. Giroux also had a team high 4 shots and won 8 of 17 face offs on 15:15 minutes of ice time in his return.

Game Notes:

• Giroux's 4 point night puts him alone atop of the NHL points leaderboard with 43.
• Simmonds scored his 10th goal of the season giving the Flyers 5 players with 10+ goals.
• The Flyers PowerPlay, which struggled over the last few games (1 for 17) went 2 for 5 tonight.
• With tonight's win, the Flyers avoided losing 3 games in a row (something they haven't done all season). 
• Coach Peter Laviolette got into an interesting confrontation with Dallas Star forward Steve Ott after the first period. The end resulted in Laviolette shoving Ott out of his way. NHL analyst, Darren Dreger said that the league will most likely review the play to see who was in the wrong.

 

Drop the Puck:

The next game for the Flyers will be on Friday night when they go to New York to face the Rangers in a Winter Classic preview. 

(Thanks to Versus, the NHL, the Flyers, TSN, and Y! Sports for the pictures and videos)

Giroux Back vs Stars

Claude Giroux will play in his first game back since December 10th, when he suffered a concussion. Giroux missed 4 games as a result, but was cleared for skating on Saturday and has pushed himself all week. And all week he has continued to feel good.

The Flyers will face off against the Dallas Stars tonight. Both teams lead there respective divisions as the Stars (19-12-1) have 39 points while the Flyers (20-8-4) have 44. The Stars have played very well of late, as they had won 4 of their last five, while the Flyers have slumped a little losing their last 2 games. The Flyers will try to avoid their first 3 game losing streak of the season.

Who to look out for:
Third year player Jamie Benn is having an outstanding season for the Stars as he leads the team in assists (20) and points (28). He has also scored 4 points in his last 3 games.

Jaromir Jagr has been scoreless since Giroux has been out. So look for the two of them to have solid games. Giroux still leads the NHL in points with 39 (tied with Kessel, H. Sedin and Malkin).

Who's in net:
Look for Sergei Bobrovsky (6-2-1, 2.72 GAA) to start against Richard Bachman (4-1-0, 2.25 GAA) tonight.

Drop the Puck:
The Dallas Stars host the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:30 PM tonight.

Giroux to Play Wednesday?

Claude Giroux, who missed the last 4 games due to a concussion, suffered on December 10th, skated hard today without a 'no contact' jersey and on his original line with Jagr and Hartnell.

Afterwards Giroux said he felt great, and when asked if he could play tomorrow, he responded, "Ah, maybe."

According to CSNPhilly,

How about Claude Giroux? While it’s not 100 percent certain, all signs point to the Flyers’ concussed center returning to the lineup Wednesday night against the Stars, a game that will air on VERSUS.

At least two teammates are pretty certain he will play, and Giroux himself has kept open the possibility, saying, if he takes warm-ups tomorrow, he’s in.

Full Article Here

Avalanche Bury Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout tonight.

The shootout was made possible due to late game heroics by Danny Briere. The Avalanche were winning 2-1 deep into the third period when the Flyers were forced to pull their goalie for an extra attacker. With that 6th man the Flyers were able to get the puck on goal when Avalanche goaltender JS Giguere thought he had the puck covered when in fact it squirted free and was behind the net. Danny Briere found it and in wrap around fashion scored the game's tying goal to help the Flyers get a solid point out of the game.

The Avalanche were able to get the second point in the shootout. All three of their shooters beat Ilya Bryzgalov with nice dekes. The Flyers didn't make it easy on them though. Danny Briere and James vanRiemsdyk scored in the shootout as well. But it all came down to Matt Read, who needed to score to keep the shootout going. He hit the crossbar giving Colorado the 3-2 final victory.

The Flyers didn't play all that bad throughout the game, but had a second period that they would like to have back. The first period went as planned as they outshot the Avs 12-8 and scored on their second PowerPlay when Jake Voracek found a wide open Scott Hartnell in front.

But they would lose the lead in the second period as the Avalanche scored 2 goals in less than 7 minutes. The first came on a defensive breakdown in front while the second off a double deflection (off 2 Flyers skates) and past Bryzgalov.

Game Notes:
Bryzgalov played solid stopping 25 of 27 shots in a losing effort. Yet he was 0-3 in the shootout.
Scott Hartnell scored a goal and an assist. He now is tied for the team lead in goals (16) with Giroux.
Ben Holmstrom, Tom Sestito, and Matt Walker all played today. They all logged around 9 minutes of ice time.
Holmstrom won 6 of 8 face offs.

Drop The Puck:
The Flyers face the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.

Flyers Drop One to Avs

The Flyers lost to the Avalanche 3-2 in the shootout.

Danny Briere scored the tying goal with only 18 seconds left in the game to force OT.

But the Avs scored 3 times in the shootout to steal the second point.

Hartnell scored the other goal.

More to follow...

Flyers vs Avalanche

The Philadelphia Flyers (20-8-3) face off against the Colorado Avalanche (15-17-1) tonight.

The Avalanche come in to this game winning 2 of their last 3, yet losing 4 of their last 6. For the most part of the season, the Avs have struggled as they are 13th place in the Western Conference.

The Flyers, on the other hand, were riding a hot streak, winning their last 7 games, before Boston snapped it with a 6-0 beat down. The Flyers will look to turn it around tonight.

Good news:
Claude Giroux skated with the team yesterday in Denver, with a no contact jersey. He partook in all the drills for the entire practice. Afterwards he said he felt pretty good.
Today Claude skated with the team again, this time wearing a regular jersey. He stayed on the ice an hour after the rest of the team finished. He skated hard for a full 90 minute practice and again felt great afterwards.

D Erik Gustafsson (wrist surgery) also skated with the team today but isn't quite 100% yet. He said he won't be available until at least after Christmas.

Bad News:
Brayden Schenn did not skate with the team today, and in fact, didn't even make the trip to Denver with them. Schenn must have had a setback around Thursday, due to the fact that he hasn't skated since then.

Changes:
F Ben Holmstrom will replace Sean Couturier (head injury) in tonight's lineup. He will most likely center the 4th line (between Sestito (more below) and Rinaldo).
Holmstrom, who is the captain of the Phantoms, has 16 points (8g,8a) in 25 games in the AHL.

Also D Matt Walker will play in tonight's contest. Walker has only played in 3 games this season and was -2, averaging 11:30 minutes in ice time (he saw his ice time progressively drop from 16 to 11 to 7 over his 3 games). Walker will replace Kevin Marshall, who was only averaging 6 minutes in his last 2 games.

Finally, Tom Sestito will replace Jody Shelley tonight, playing his first game as a Flyer. Look for Sestito to get into his first fight as a Flyer tonight as well.

Who to look out for:
Matt Duchene leads his team in goals (11) and has the helped make the Avalanche one of the league's top PowerPlay units. They are third in the NHL with 21.7% and second in PowerPlay goals scored with 33. Duchene leads the team with 5 PowerPlay goals.

Danny Briere will be the team's top center as he will be between Jagr and Hartnell tonight. Look for Danny to have a big game.

Who's in net:
Look for Ilya Bryzgalov (14-6-2, 2.92 GAA) for start in goal against Jean-Sebastien Giguere (5-4-0, 1.86 GAA) tonight.

Drop the Puck:
The Colorado Avalanche host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at 9:00 PM.

Giroux Skates

Today the Flyers got an unexpected surprise in practice. Claude Giroux participated in a full practice with his teammates in Denver. He was wearing a yellow 'no contact' jersey, but was a full participant throughout the entire practice.

Claude said afterwards that he felt good, but doesn't want to rush back, especially after seeing what happened to Sidney Crosby. Here's what he had to say after practice.

(Thanks to the Flyers and the NHL for the picture and video. All rights reserved)

Couturier Out, Holmstrom In

Sean Couturier remained at Pennsylvania Hospital overnight for observations after being struck in the back of the head by a shot from Kimmo Tinonen.

There is no official word on how his is doing only that he passed his early baseline (concussion) test.

Couturier will obviously be out of tomorrow night's game in Colorado, so the Flyers have called up forward Ben Holmstrom, from the Phantoms. In order to make this move possible the Flyers have placed Claude Giroux on the IR. Since the move will be retroactive (Giroux's injury was on December 10th, and a player put on the Injured Reserve must be out at least 7 days) the Flyers can take him off as early as tomorrow or leave him there as long as they need.

The Flyers also called up D Andreas Lilja, who was on a rehab stint after suffering a high ankle sprain. They also likely to send down F Tom Sestito, who was called up just to serve his suspension (rumors are that he might be placed on waivers soon), or D Kevin Marshall.

The Flyers get back into action tomorrow night against the Avalanche at 9 PM.

Bruins Destroy Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Boston Bruins 6-0 this afternoon.

It was only the second time this season they've been shutout (first one was against the Rangers, November 26).

Ilya Bryzgalov gave up 5 goals on 20 shots while Sergei Bobrovsky gave up 1 goal on 17 shots. Tim Thomas on the other hand stopped all 31 shots faced to gain his 4th shutout of the season.

Boston moves into a tie for first place with the Flyers after snapping their 7 game winning streak. Boston goals were scored by Pouloit, Paille, Chara, Lucic, Horton, and Seguin.

Boston outplayed the Flyers in every aspect of the game. Their goaltending was better, defense more solid and offense was more prolific. The Bruins outshot the Flyers in every period and were more disciplined than the Flyers. Boston's PowerPlay was also better as they went 2-8.
Kimmo Timonen agreed after the game, "I thought that was on an old fashion a**kicking today. And every area of the game, goalies, defensemen and forwards, they were better in every aspect of the game."

As if the game wasn't bad enough the Flyers lost another player. Rookie center Sean Couturier took a puck to the back of the head off a shot from Kimmo Timonen. He was taken to the hospital after the hit for examinations and more will be known later.

Couturier is the 3rd Flyers center to go down with a concussion. Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn are still out indefinitely. Chris Pronger is the 4th on the list out with a concussion.

After the game GM Paul Holmgren addressed the media regarding Couturier.

Game notes:

• 12 players scored at least 1 point for the Bruins.
• Rinaldo got 17 penalty minutes and now leads the league with 108 total PIM.
• Jody Shelley got in his first fight of the season today agains Chara. Chara won the fight.
• There were 101 penalty minutes in today's game, including 3 fights and 4 '10 minute' misconducts. 

Next time they Drop The Puck:
The Flyers will try to put this behind them when they face the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

November vs December

The first place Philadelphia Flyers (20-7-3) will host the second place Boston Bruins (20-9-1) tomorrow afternoon. The Flyers come into this game as the hottest team in December as they've won all seven games played, while Boston was the hottest team in November as they went 12-0-1.

Who's missing:
Both teams could be without their top defenseman. The Flyers will be without Chris Pronger (concussion like symptoms), who will be out for the remained of the season, while the Bruins could be without Zdeno Chara (leg injury), who has missed the past two games. Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn will both continue to sit out with their concussions. 

High vs Low:
The Flyers are the highest scoring team in the NHL, scoring 110 goals in 30 games (3.67 per game).
The Bruins have surrendered the least amount of goals in the NHL only giving up 61 goals in 30 games (2.03 per game).

Previously:
This is the second of four meeting between these two powerhouses. The first meeting was the first game of the NHL season, which resulted in a Flyers victory 2-1.

Who to look out for:
Second year forward Tyler Seguin leads the Bruins in goals (13) and points (26). He also shows great responsibility as he is a league leading +21. He has been cold of late only gaining 2 points in his last 6 games.
Patrice Bergeron has played well for the B's scoring 5 points in his last 3 games.

Wayne Simmonds had only 9 points in his first 26 games; however, he is starting to find his way with the team. Simmonds has 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 games. (Including a 4 game goal scoring streak).

Who's in goal:
Look for Ilya Bryzgalov (14-5-2, 2.75 GAA) to start against last year's Veniza Trophy winner (Best Goalie) Tim Thomas (14-5-0, 1.93 GAA).

When do they Drop the Puck:
The Philadelphia Flyers host the Boston Bruins today at 1:00 PM. (It is the Flyers last home game of the 2011 calendar year. Next home game will be outside!)

Lucky Number 7

The Philadelphia Flyers won their seventh straight game tonight against the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in a contest that went back and forth all night. 

The Flyers choose to start back up goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and he came through in a huge way early as he was was able to deny the Canadiens on a breakaway chance that would have given them a 1-0 lead.

Instead it was Montreal native, Max Talbot who scored for the Flyers after Jake Voracek stole all the attention and found Max wide open, which gave the Flyers the early lead.
Philadelphia led the game on 4 separate occasions as they gave up their lead 3 times.

 

The first time was to Canadiens forward David Desharnais who beat Bobrovsky after a mix up defensively in front of his cage. But less than a minute later the Flyers would regain their lead as Harry Zolnierczyk would get his first goal since his first game in the NHL on a very acrobatic play.

The second period saw the most action as 5 of the games 7 goals were scored. Unfortunately for the Flyers, 3 of the 5 went to Montreal.

The Canadiens took away the Flyers lead once again when Mike Blunden deflected the puck right in front on Bobrovsky and onto the stick of Louis Leblanc, who buried it into the empty net for his first NHL goal.

Once against the Flyers regained their lead when Wayne Simmonds made a great effort in front to get 2 rebounds, the second of which he was able to score and give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.

And for a third and final time, Montreal neutralized the score again. This time it was Erik Cole who notched his 12th goal of the year on the PowerPlay, the only PowerPlay goal given up today by the Flyers (Montreal had 8 man advantages).

But the Flyers "never say die" attitude was in full effect in the third period. Andrej Meszaros would receive a pass from Jaromir Jagr, wind up, and fire the puck past Canadiens goalie Carey Price, which would prove to be the final lead change of the game.


Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 31 shots including all 11 shots faced in the third period to preserve the lead and turn it into a victory, 4-3.

 Game notes:

• Scott Hartnell's 6 game goal scoring streak came to an end. But if wasn't for lack of ice time, as Hartnell led all Flyers forwards in minutes with 20:13, something unusual for the feisty forward.
• Wayne Simmonds added to his goal scoring streak, which is now at 4. Simmonds has 6 points during his streak.
• Talbot played an excellent game as he was featured on the penalty killing unit, which had to kill 8 penalties including a very lengthy 2 man advantage in the first period. Talbot scored a goal and played 20:00 minutes.
• Matt Carle was the number one star of the game as he tallied 3 assists, was +2, and played 23:43 minutes.

What's next?
The Flyers come back to Philadelphia for their final home game of the year as they host the Boston Bruins on Saturday at 1:00 PM.

(Photos courtesy of Y! Sports)

Pronger Done For Season

Yesterday, Philadelphia Flyers captain Chris Pronger went to a concussion specialist in Pittsburg and came back with the most feared news.

GM Paul Holmgren updated his condition,
"After consultation with respected concussion specialists Dr. Joseph Maroon and Dr. Micky Collins, it is the opinion of both doctors that Chris is suffering from severe post concussion syndrome. It is the recommendation of Doctors Maroon and Collins that Chris not return to play for the Philadelphia Flyers for the remainder of the 2011-12 season or playoffs. Chris will continue to receive treatment and therapy with the hope that he can get better."

Flyers Habs Game Preview

The Philadelphia Flyers (19-7-3) go to Montreal to play the Canadiens (13-11-7) tonight.

The Flyers have won six straight games averaging 4.33 goals per game during that span. Also Scott Hartnell has scored a goal in all 6 of those games. This is only the second time in 12 years that the Flyers have had a player score in 6 straight games (Carter 2 years ago).

The Flyers will be without their leading scorer Claude Giroux again tonight for the second straight game as he sits out with a concussion.

Montreal has won 2 games in a row after losing 6 out of 7 games prior.

Montreal won the first meeting against the Flyers 5-1 and the Flyers returned the favor winning 3-1 in their second game.

Who to look out for:
Tomas Plekanec leads his team in points with 25 and has scores at least 1 point in 5 of his team's last 7 games.

Scott Hartnell will look to extend his goal scoring streak to 7. He will continue to be centered by rookie Sean Couturier who will look for his first point in 15 games.

Who's in net:
Look for Sergei Bobrovsky (5-2-1, 2.75 GAA) to start against Carey Price (12-8-7, 2.22 GAA).

When:
The Montreal Canadiens host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at 7:30 PM.

24/7 Flyers Rangers: Road to the Winter Classic

The first episode of HBO's documentary 24/7 Flyers, Rangers: Road to the Winter Classic aired tonight and it was excellent. Coach Peter Laviolette and goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov were the stars for the Flyers. Laviolette came off real, starting the show with a great description of his team, "We are not a conservative team, we are a let's giddy up and go type of team." Meanwhile Bryzgalov came off... just interesting, to say the least, as he discussed the earth and universe and tigers in China. Laviolette commented on Bryzgalov, "His personality is a little bit different, but I really enjoy him, he's a funny guy. Today he was telling me about the universe."

"If you see the big picture, our galaxy is so small, like a dot in the universe. And you think we have some problems here on the Earth? What about, compared to like…nothing. Just be happy, don't worry be happy."

The episode also showed a good look at Claude Giroux the day after he sustained his concussion, taking and receiving all sorts of tests. It appeared that the Flyers knew he had a concussion long before they told the public. Jaromir Jagr said about Giroux, "I never thought that at age 39, I would get to play with such a talented player and on the first line. That's what makes me younger again."
While Laviolette said, "I have a theory about Claude, that anyone he plays with, there will be chemistry."
After the game Wayne Simmonds, who kneed Giroux causing his concussion felt terrible. "Obviously G is one of my good buddies, and to have that happen makes you feel bad, right after that I kind of hung my head there a little bit. But he's a tough guy, I know he'll be fine." 

The cameras followed Wayne Simmonds as he played hockey with children in the Ed Snyder Youth Hockey Foundation. On his way there Simmonds spoke about being traded to Philadelphia, "Philly is different than LA, it’s a way better hockey town. I'm pretty happy about being traded here."

Jagr also talked about coming to Philadelphia instead of choosing Pittsburgh, saying, "It would probably be a lot easier if I came back (to Pittsburg), my jersey would hang (in the rafters) one day, but I chose the other way. Sometimes you think your brain knows everything, but you should follow your heart first." Jagr really enjoys his time here in Philadelphia so far, "I never thought I was gonna like it so much, I'm surprised," Jagr said with a smile. "I picked Philly just for the hockey, but so far I like everything about it, even the fans, they're crazy. "

HBO will air 4 total episodes, each airing Wednesday nights at 10 PM.
If you don't have HBO, or missed the episode, you can watch it here...

FULL EPISODE

Now you can find the link and recap to Episode 2...

Here

(I do not own the linked website, video courtesy of eztvstream, thanks to HBO, NHL, the Flyers and Rangers)