2006-07 Flyers Season Thread

[NGM]

I'm a farging icehole, no sooner do I post that than the Pens tie it up.  And now just got a power play.  My bad.

[ice grillin you]

i hate sidney crosby so much

[Rome]

i hate sidney crosby so much

I concur.  The diving that flag does is bad enough.  His pissy whining to the officiating crew is even worse.

[NGM]

i hate sidney crosby so much

I concur.  The diving that flag does is bad enough.  His pissy whining to the officiating crew is even worse.

Also, the Flyers are his bitch(es).

[ice grillin you]

i know hockey players whine more than anyone...but he takes it to unheard of levels...hes a POS

that one play today where he came in and slammed his stick under birons pads when the puck was clearly frozen and the whistle had blown was worthy of getting his melon smashed...and the flyers did nothing

[BigEd76]

First time in the 40-year history of both teams that the Flyers were swept for the season by the Penguins....

[dis12]

i hate sidney crosby so much

I understand that the league needs to promote its current/future stars to the mass media, but they kiss Crosby's ass every chance they get...it's embarrasing.

[BigEd76]

Fish article on the good moves Holmgren made

Respected publications such as the Hockey News and Vancouver Province named the Flyers as the highest achievers.

They believe Holmgren got the most out of the Peter Forsberg auction. The addition of defenseman Ryan Parent, ranked 19th in the Hockey News' recent top 50 NHL prospects list, now gives the Flyers two hopefuls (Steve Downie is No. 17) in the first 20.

Scottie Upshall has shown he can play. And the Flyers now will have two No. 1 picks in the draft, with a 50-50 chance of nabbing the first overall if they finish last.

Picking up defensemen Braydon Coburn and Lasse Kukkonen for Alexei Zhitnik and Kyle Calder, respectively, also makes the Flyers younger, quicker, deeper and even more favorable under next year's salary cap.

Toss in goalie Martin Biron for a draft pick and you could have the start of something better.

Veterans such as Simon Gagne and Derian Hatcher know this is far from the finished product.

But they both believe the Flyers are now only two or three players away from executing a one-year turnaround.

"I think they want to go after big guys this summer," Gagne said. "I don't know if (these trades) are the direction we're looking right now but for the future of the Flyers, it looks very good."

One thing all this trade activity does is let potential free agents around the league know that the Flyers are bent on getting back into contention again quickly.

"We're going to have a lot of room under the cap and that's going to give us the power to go into the market this summer and shop for free agents," Gagne said.

"It doesn't take that much," he added. "... If you add a top defenseman, maybe a top forward ... then we're not talking about battling for a playoff spot. We're in. It doesn't take that much to get back in."

After some trade rumors didn't pan out, it appears Hatcher will be back next year. Like Gagne, Hatcher figures the Flyers can remake themselves with the addition of a couple key players.

One name that's been bandied about is that of Buffalo's Daniel Briere, who has emerged as one of the poster boys for the NHL's new speed-friendly game.

Currently, he's 10th in NHL scoring (27 goals, 77 points), making him one of the most attractive of the summer's free agents.

The Flyers have a little bit of an inside connection. Defenseman Denis Gauthier played two years of junior with Briere and has already started a little recruiting pitch.

"We were partners on the power play in junior and I got 25 goals, so I'm begging him to come back here," Gauthier said with a laugh.

Fish article on Niittymaki's new role as backup

At 26, he's at a crossroads. His contract runs out this season and he's a restricted free agent. But if he were really unhappy, he probably could go to general manager Paul Holmgren and say he wanted a trade.

However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

"I want to stay here," he said, then added with a smile, "neither of us (meaning Biron) has a contract right now. There's talk that they're trying to sign him right now. We'll see what happens."

Given the injury and the team's poor play, are Flyer management, the coaches, the fans seeing the real Antero Niittymaki?

"After I got the shot, it's been fine," he said. "It's not the hip. I'm not totally happy with the way I played this year. It's been tough for everybody. It was what it was. I don't know if (an evaluation) was fair.

"We've lost a lot of games and I'm sure they see if it's my fault or someone else's fault, whatever. I think you can play good and still lose the game. ... there were games when I felt I played good enough to win but there were also games that we lost because of me."

Niittymaki understands why Biron will get the majority of starts down the stretch.

"They're probably going to look at him right now," Niittymaki said. "I'm backing up right now and we'll see what happens.

"It doesn't change my stuff at all. I do the same thing. If he plays like he did the last game (at Boston), he deserves to be in there. He played awesome. I have to work hard and hopefully get a couple more games this year."
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.
Stevens pointed out that Niittymaki played a lot of games but never has established himself as the No. 1 starter on a playoff team. So the transition back to No. 2 shouldn't be taken the wrong way.

"He's still young and 82 games is such a long season, there's often a need for two goalies," Stevens said. "I don't believe the page is turning for Niitty. We would love to have him back."

[ice grillin you]

not that one game means anything...but coburn looked like hot garbage today

[BigEd76]

i hate sidney crosby so much

[dis12]

i hate sidney crosby so much

now, squeel like a pig.

[BigEd76]

They beat the Devils.  In overtime.  For real.

[Geowhizzer]

They beat the Devils.  In overtime.  For real.

I watched the game, and I still can't quite believe it.

[dis12]

Biron got a standing ovation for his 3rd period save.  It really was amazing.

[ice grillin you]

the save...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqt8jmBJvow

effin with crosby...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH2T6r3YaaY

biron = gawd