About the Flyers - 10-14-08
A preview of the Flyers.
Record: 0-2-0
Leading Scorer: Mike Richards, 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist)
Last Game: 5-3
loss to the Canadiens in Philadelphia,
yesterday.
Last Game against the Penguins: 6-0 loss at Pittsburgh,
May 18.
Flyers Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Since R.J.
Umberger is in Columbus
now, let's go with Joffrey Lupul (above).
He had 10 points (5 goals and 5 assists) against the Penguins in seven regular
season games last season.
Ex-Penguins: Joe Mullen,
assistant coach.
Useless Flyers Trivia: Former Flyers coach Fred Shero, the
father of Penguins general manager Ray Shero, is the only coach with more than
350 career wins and two Stanley Cup titles, who is not in the Hockey Hall of
Fame.
Best Flyers YouTube Video We Could Find: The Flyers acting
like perfect gentlemen at the end of their loss to Montreal last night:
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6A3MG1NeuQ]
Notes:
-Antero Niittymaki is expected to start tonight in goal.
No word yet if Maxime Talbot has dusted off the 8-iron.
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFvJCq4a5Aw]
-We plan on live blogging beginning at 6:30 p.m.
approximately. Please tune in.
EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS
Penguins
-The Penguins' offense has been stagnant.
-A new hotel will be going up by the new arena.
-The Penguins stink.
-FSN Pittsburgh will carry 64 games in high definition this
season.
-Why can't the Penguins score? Vote on it here.
-Michel Therrien digs Celine Dion.
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXMDqzh2B_w]
(Kudos to EN contributor Eric Politowski for the find.)
-As The Sweater Ted
and The Confluence of the Three Rivers
point out, slow starts are common for the Penguins.
-Janne Pesonen was a grenade specialist with the Finnish
army.
Atlantic Division
-Two goals by Aaron Voros lifted the Rangers to a 4-1 win
against the rival Devils.
At 5-0-0, the Rangers are off to their best start since 1983.
-Voros is the Rangers' new pest in front of the net.
-The Flyers acquired defenseman Andrew Alberts from the
Bruins for minor-league forward Ned Lukacevic and a conditional draft pick.
The Flyers needed a warm body on defense after seeing a few of their blueliners
go down with injuries in the preseason. It's kind of ironic they would pursue
Alberts however. He was injured last season on an ugly check by Flyers forward
Scott Hartnell:
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIg8_Ls6oSU]
Alberts isn't afraid to throw a questionable hit himself
so he should fit in well with the Flyers:
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x25bdd-MI7A]
-Contrary to early reports, former Penguins forward Jaromir
Jagr did not accidentally collide with Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov prior
to his death yesterday.
-Devils forward David Clarkson had his lip bloodied last
night.
-Goaltender Joey MacDonald got his third consecutive start
for the Islanders yesterday.
-The Flyers aren't happy with their 0-2-0 start.
Northeast Division
-Thomas Vanek scored two goals for the Sabres in a 7-1 rout
of the Islanders.
Former Penguins goaltender Patrick Lalime (above)
made 23 saves in the win.
-Congrats to the Islanders and Sabres. They offered us the
first line brawl of the season:
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKn45Y3-VfY]
-The brawl helped the Islanders and Sabres rack up a
combined total of 150 minutes in penalties yesterday.
-Check out this save Montreal's Carey Price made last night:
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPUb5YLC9qo]
-Toronto's Ryan Hollweg must like free time. In his first game back
from a suspension, he got suspended again.
This time, he ran Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo from behind and got booted
from the game for checking from behind. Hollweg was suspended for two games
last week for the same violation.
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3GwIJNOknc]
-The start of Alex Picard's Senators career has gone well so
far.
Southeast Division
-Alexander Semin's two goals helped the Capitals pound the
Canucks, 5-1.
-Check out the uniforms the Hurricanes wore last night:
-Very early 2000s Buffalo
Sabresish.
-New Thrashers coach John Anderson is trying to figure out a
way to get former Penguins goaltender Johan Hedberg into the lineup.
-The Panthers' penalty killing has improved.
-Capitals forward Viktor Kozlov is dealing with an
undisclosed injury.
Central Division
-Former Penguins goaltender Ty Conklin (above) made 27 saves for the Red Wings in a 4-1 win at Carolina.
-Conklin passed his first test as a Red Wing.
Fire Ray Shero.
-The Predators got shootout goals from Rich Peverly and J.P. Dumont and won at Chicago, 3-2.
-Predators forward Jason Arnott suffered a hand injury in
the game.
-Shootout goals by Brad Boyes and Andy McDonald gave the
Blues a 5-4 comeback win in Toronto.
-The Blue Jackets' most productive line this young season so
far has been Jason Chimera, Derick Brassard and Jake Voracek.
-Blue Jackets forward R.J. Umberger is adjusting to life in Columbus.
-New Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell, one of the jewels
in this offseason's free agency pool, hasn't exactly lived up to expectations
so far.
-Chicago's
Dustin Byfuglien is getting used to the forward position.
-The Blackhawks recalled defenseman Aaron Johnson from Rockford of the AHL.
-According to the KHL, former Predators forward Alexander
Radulov has no interest in returning to the NHL.
Northwest Division
-Flames forwards Andre Roy (arm) and Craig Conroy (lower
body) are dealing with injuries.
Pacific Division
-Kings defenseman Jack Johnson (above) will be out 2-to-3 months with a shoulder injury.
-With Johnson on the shelf, the Kings claimed defenseman
Kyle Quincey off waivers from the Red Wings.
-Coyotes forward Steve Reinprecht has earned ice time
through hard work.
-It wasn't easy for Sharks assistant coach Todd Richards to
make the jump from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
-Sharks defenseman Rob Blake wasn't exactly welcomed back to
Los Angeles.
-Forward Sean Avery is already doing his thing in Dallas.
(Photos: Lupul and Lalime-Bruce
Bennett/Getty Images; Hurricanes and Conklin-Karl D. DeBlaker; Johnson-Jim
McIsaac/Getty Images)