Bertmega

NIKO HOVINEN All the way!!!! My reasoning is that he will know his roll as the back up to Bryzgalov. My only fear is if he falls flat on his face playing in the NHL, our hands are tied. Bryzgalov is a workhorse that should get 60-65 starts a year, that leaves 22-17 starts for Hovinen. This to me is a great number to get accustom to the NHL style of play. Should he be successful over a 3-4 year grooming period then by all likely hood he would get an increase in starts and eventually take over for Bryzgalov. I like the idea of a solid prospect, one in which can be truly developed by the organization. Bobrovsky should have been that guy, but they over played him in his rookie year when we all know he should have played for the Phantoms last year to get his game situated. Now that ship has sailed it is time to focus on developing a true #1 and not continually trade for one that costs an arm and a leg. Go Niko Go!

@Podein25 That's when to do it.... Keeper hockey league now that could get interesting. I was in an NFL keeper league where running backs were the key to success. In any case, I need to find a keeper hockey league where the stakes are high and the halibut is fresh. LOL After Wednesday, Quick should be able to get you two 1st rounders and Giroux in your league.

@Podein25 Don't get me wrong I would watch it all the way through to ease the pain of a boring sports summer, but whoever would have won doesn't matter, just give me good hockey. Though I would have liked to see Nashville in it just to get a better peek at what Ed Snider is going to be throwing money at this summer. What I do like about this series or even the playoffs in general this year is that it has been a goalie clinic of sorts, well sans the Flyers v Pens.

@Podein25 His defense has always been decent and you are right about his only offensive asset is his wrister. It does seem that he is getting the space to use it. Correct me if I am wrong as I have only seen him play in LA 3x (SCF), but is he playing wing now? If so that is certainly a move in the right direction as far as playing to "capabilities" go. As I stated before, in a cap neutral world, I think he would still be in Philadelphia, along with Mike Richards. However, the return was far too good to not pounce on the opportunity to give Jeff a change of scenery. I think he was always a scapegoat due to his expected performance vs. his actual results. Or shall I say the tendency to score in non-crucial events; i.e., hardly clutch. In any case, I may be getting off topic here, but had Jeff stayed we may not have seen the Claude Giroux we know today. To me, again speculation, there was almost a clause that Carter needed to play on the top two lines; which subsequently masked Claude's greatness. For that I say good riddance, and good luck in the finals. Truthfully once the Flyers got bounced I could care less who wins it. The burning question, if Richards got traded to say Calgary, would Carter be playing in the SCF? Or in Alberta?

@Polaris922 I can agree with that Polaris. Carter has always taken a lot of heat from Philadelphia fans for many reasons, but it does seem that his recent trade has opened his eyes to playing hockey. In my opinion, had there been no cap in the NHL Carter and Richards would still be part of this team. Meaning, that they weren't locker room cancer nor in and out of substance abuse clinics, nor living too recklessly (from what I gather). Last year when the trades happened, I wasn't too shocked to see Carter go as I figured the Flyers would yield a good return. When the traded Richards my jaw dropped. I guess in this game no one is safe.

@mojo1917 @Podein25 Let's not forget that Scott Howson and Rick Nash had to travel into Sea Isle City NJ last summer to convince Jeff to do some PR for the team that he was just traded to (and that was a couple of weeks after the trade went down). That is fact. Therefore, if only half of the other rumors about him are true, then I'd say yeah he cried his way into the arms of his boyfriend Mike Richards. @Polaris922 No offense but you are either clueless about the Flyers organization, or you are obviously trolling to get a rise out of people. For starters Jeff Carter was less than stellar in the playoffs for the Flyers. 21 points in 47 games is hardly clutch. In 2010 he couldn't hit a wide open net from 6' away to save his life. That could have been the difference between a Stanley Cup for the Flyers or a game 7 loss, but certainly not a game 6 loss. On top of that there were many rumors circulating about his on ice commitment vs his extracurricular social life. Lastly, the return was far too good to not trade him. Sean Couturier will be a far better player for years to come and on top of that he probably will not need Mike Richards to focus on doing his 6mm/yr job. Also, as others have stated, the Flyers organization needed to make room for their humongous big goalie contract/Russian Aerospace historian.

I sure hope it wasn't these guys doing the moving.

First off, I will try and discount the "Wisconsin Weekend" antics and the "Buffalo Cab" incident due to the fact he is young and mentally still immature in the presence of alcohol. What I won't forgive him for is wearing the sacred #88. He is not nor will he ever be an #88 kind of guy. To answer your question, NO. Not in a million years in my book. The answer is not that short and kind of plays both angles, so please bear with me. To start, I think Nash is far more dynamic and multi-dimensional. His cap hit is higher, but he is more valuable overall in my book. In addition, his off ice maturity is far higher. However, this is not the only reason I say no to the trade. I think what some critics of Kane need to do is step back and weigh in his on ice attributes vs. his off ice antics. Any trade that could possibly take place may be because the Blackhawk organization needs to save face and keep their image squeaky clean, well, sans Dan Carcillo. I am not denying that Kane is a good hockey player. He had 41 points in 38 playoff games spanning from 2008-10. Very good and impressive numbers. The last 13 playoff games not so much, but I attribute that to not shooting as much. Kane has shown what he is both on and off the ice; he is blessed with athletic ability yet cursed with immaturity. Will age cure that? I would hope so. Is he a distraction? Yes, but not any more than any other distraction that existed before social media and the internet. I doubt the players were grandma's boys back in the 60's, 70's and 80's. So all in all, Kane is a Blackhawk, one that has proven his worth in the past. He needs to grow up, yes, but trading him would be harmful to the organization. Nash, is a great player, but not the one that would fill any voids left by Kane. In addition, I think Nash could get a far better return than Kane in the open market.

Flyers need a better backup for Bryzgalov Fixed.

I often wondered about him as we didn't see him called up at all during the season. Even with all the injuries I thought we would get to see him at least once. I cannot collectively speak for his body of work, but unless he is the second coming of Bobby Orr, I wouldn't expect him to crack the roster this year.

@JackStraw Good catch, I forgot about that. I recall he scouted the Western Conference for the Flyers, did he have anything to do with Handzus and Esche?

add Gagne and Williams to the list. Along with John Stevens and Ron Hextall.

@radoran I hear you. I remember in my old beer league everybody wanted #44, but that was for Booger Pitkanen (back when we all thought he was the shoe in Norris candidate for years to come). Maybe he is a possibility for a trade. Back to Philly reunited with Lavy. Ok, now I am getting way ahead of myself.

@OccamsRazor I know, I know.... I am just very hard on them after the loss to NJ. I guess all teams are contenders in October. Well 28 teams are, Columbus and Toronto are SOL.

@radoran I think Timmonen wants a cup bad and would be willing to waive his NMC to go to a contender. This of course would be at the deadline since virtually all teams are contenders (with the exception of Columbus and Toronto) in July. I think if it looked like the Flyers are ill equipped to make a solid run come the deadline, the organization might be willing to part ways for a pick or a prospect. That could be an option, but like you said, he'll probably be a Flyer until the contract expires.

@DaGreatGazoo After. I am going to make an Aziz like prediction here: Ilya Bryzgalov will have 42+ wins next year. Oh and he'll be the starting goaltender for the 2012-13 Philadelphia Flyers

@Polaris922 Due to CBA restraints I do not think that Pronger can be bought out since he signed the contract over 35. I could be wrong, but it is a long shot. Why buy out Timmonen? He is the Flyers best defenseman that is entering the last year of his contract. I'd sooner trade him to a contender and save the $$. Weber is a long shot. It is possible, but I think the brass may have finally realized that in a cap conscience era, it is best to develop your own talent and stay away from $$$$$$ long term contracts. Weber would be great to have on any team, but the cost is going to be steep, like Courtier or Coburn and four 1st rounders steep .

Why you ask if I go to Church? Is it because of my heathenism that the Flyers were eliminated by the Devils? Kind of makes sense since Orange Jesus was defeated at the hands of the Devil(s). On a serious note, will the results be published?

Nobody likes a sad goalie....

@flyercanuck After seeing this, I guess the Flyers didn't lose the lottery pick in 2007. Kane would have been caner to this club.

sweet shirt. I bet he refers to himself as the Kaner. Whether this story is true or not, he seems like a complete docuher.

The 2010 Chicago Blackhawks Osgood was pretty bad too

@Dynamo 47 I like everything you said. On par with everything I was discussing with a few friends the other day. The only hiccup would probably be Bryzgalov. I agree that no matter what, he is here to stay. I don't think Vancouver would pay Bryzgalov's salary to sit on the bench. I know this might sound crazy, but with an improved defense and another year under his belt, Bryzgalov may actually be decent. The jury is still out though.

@OccamsRazor I did a lot of math yesterday and actually our numbers in net this year got worse, yet we had a 277% increase on the price of our tandem. GAA went up by almost a full point 3.19 vs 4.082 SV% went down .894 vs .809 The same amount of games were played 11 in both years. Was our defense better last year in the playoffs? I suppose, so I don't expect that getting one of the best free agent blueliners will correct the problem, in fact it may add to them. To me something is just flat out wrong with this team and I have a feeling it goes higher than the team level. They need to address serious flaws at the coaching and management level. If I bought a Honda Civic and spent $27,000 and it was ok, but not up to my full expectations and I had a few extra dollars to spend say 277% more, or $74,790; I would fully expect the performance to be much, much better. It wouldn't be a crap shoot at this cost. I would do my homework. The brass did not do their homework with this guy (Bryzgalov).

This team needs to focus all its money on upgrading the defense and locking up Voracek. Jagr is a great storyline but we just don't have the margin to spend money on guys that will fade after 60-70 games. No thanks. Great player, I have tons of respect for him, but it's time to get the core defense together.