Yardbarker: Philadelphia Flyers

Kevin Marshall Signs with the "City of Brotherly Love"

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:51:44 -0500

The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have agreed to terms with Kevin Marshall. The Flyers made him their second round selection in 2007. With the Maineiacs last year he had 11 goals and 24 assists in 66 contests. Marshall also compiled 143 penalty minutes. He was named to the QMJHL team that faced Russia in the 2007 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge and went to the World Junior Championship...

John Stevens = Hockey News Coach of the Year

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:32:04 -0500

John Stevens, head coach of the Flyers, was snubbed by the NHL when they gave Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year, but he was rewarded today by a well-respected hockey media source: The Hockey News. Stevens, who took the Flyers from the worst team in the NHL to the Eastern Conference Finals was recognized by the Hockey News as their Coach of the Year. That Stevens didn't win the Jack Adams Award and Boudreau did was suprising, considering Boudreau coaches a team the Flyers beat in the playoffs. It was even more shocking that Stevens wasn't even a finalist for the NHL award. Stevens, along with GM Paul Holmgren, were instrumental in the incredible turnaround the Flyers had this past season. Holmgren gave him all the pieces but it was up to Stevens to fit them all together and make things click. Congrats John Stevens, you deserve it!

Dealing with Crooks is Gary Bettmans's Fatal Flaw!

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:05:45 -0500

Bad judgment is like a disease, I believe this axiomatic. That Bettman has failed in numerous respects as a commissioner of the NHL is unto itself lacking the fatal qualities of his most recently publicized decisions.

Goal Line Blitz

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:34:46 -0500

This is the greatest online game ever! It is a football simulation game that lets you create a player and bring him through the ranks of a 40 day season. Your allowed to sign contracts, even make a whole team and go get your players! Its like Madden Franchise mode if you own a team, and better than Superstar mode when you are a player! To sign up, use this link because it is a way to earn points. When you sign up, you will get a link of your own to get ppl to join and it gives you points to make players/teams or boost your player! The game goes on forever (unless you retire)!!! http://goallineblitz.com/game/signup.pl?ref=17209534

Lupul To Sign Four-Year Extension On Monday

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:09:30 -0500

Joffrey Lupul will repportedly sign a four-year extension, keeping him in Philadelphia through the 2012-13 season. TSN reports the announcement will be formally made Monday morning.

Flyers extend Lupul for 4 more years

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:24:21 -0500

Joffrey Lupul, who would have been a restricted free agent following the 08-09 season, signed a contract extension with the Flyers that will keep him in Philly for four more years. Terms of the deal have yet to be announced, but expect Lupul to get a raise from the 2.3 million he will make this season. Lupul has been a key member of the Flyers offensive attack ever since he was acquired from Edmonton last off-season with Jason Smith for Joni Pitkanen and Geoff Sanderson. Lupul finished his first season in Philadelphia with 46 points in 56 games and had several key goals in the Flyers playoff run, including the one that vaulted them past the Capitals and into the second round. While the amount of money he will receive has not been announced, this is another good move by the Flyers, who now have their core forwards of Danny Briere, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell and Lupul locked up through the 2010-2011 season. As long as the Lupul deal averages out to about 3 million a year, the Flyers made an excellent move. UPDATE: Lupul's contract is reportedly worth 4.25 million a year, making him the 6th highest paid Flyer. That's quite a bit of money for an oft-injured player, but Lupul is still young so the Flyers will be getting his best years.

Flyers 08/09 schedule released

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:05:55 -0500

It doesn't have the same fan anticipation as the NFL schedule release, but the NHL released their full 2008/2009 regular season schedule today. The Flyers season is bookended with home games against the New York Rangers, beginning on October 11th and ending on April 12th. In between, the Flyers play their division rivals six times each and they will play every team at least one time. Click the link to see the full Flyers schedule.

TOP 10 THINGS TO MISS ABOUT THE SPECTRUM

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:58:18 -0500

by DMtShooter, Five Tool Tool

The home of the Philadelphia Flyers and Sixers (in that the place was owned by the Flyers' owner, and the Sixers were always second-class citizens), as well as a million treble-tastic concerts, is being torn down to make way for shops, restaurants, and the destruction of any illusion that I'm not older than dirt. Here's a list of what I will miss most about the old barn.

10. Noise. When the new building was constructed, it became apparent (just as when the Eagles left the Vet for Lincoln Financial) that something great and intimidating had been lost. Whether it was the fact that people who would cheer like their lives depended on it had been priced out of the building, or that the new building was too large and sterile and absorbed anything the crowd could throw at it... well, some from Column A, and some from Column B. All I know is that with the exception of the 2000 AI Sixers run that utterly captivated the town and made everyone scream like lunatics to overwhelm any building, the local team has never really had a similar home-court advantage again. (And even that team lost all three games at home in the Finals.)

9. Lax security. In my '20s, I lived in a terrible part of Philadelphia, and lived as a borderline homeless person. My mom, upon seeing the place for the first time, handed me her stun gun, which I put in my backpack and more or less forgot about. (Later on, I got a shotgun. Woo hoo!)

When I'd go to Sixers games ($10 tickets, up high, during the Highly Available Shawn Bradley / Doug Moe Era), I'd bike down from work and carry the same pack as always... and was never checked for the weapon.

Which means that I had the ability, albeit from more than a considerable distance, to work my way down to the floor and, possibly, electrocute Armon Gilliam and/or Tim Perry.

You young'uns, remember, it's the opportunities that you don't take in life that you regret...

8. The Ring Of Fire. Adding to the no checking backpacks policy, the third level at the 'Rectum was usually lightly patrolled by security. So it's not overstating the case to say that you could get a serious contact high from being up there. Those clouds of smoke weren't always from pyrotechnics.

7. Tinnitus. When I tell you the sound was bad in that place, I mean it was NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. It's done wonders for my marriage!

6. Utility. There's something mildly appealing, on some silly level, to being in the same seat for different events (provided it's an indoor thing, and the arena is used for the more or less identical floor surface). No one complains, for instance, that Madison Square Garden is used for different purposes, or that the old Boston Garden had a pipe organ in the rafters. You could always point to some remote corner of the building that hadn't been visited by a soul since the last time Michael Jordan was in town, and say, "I sat there for Rush, dude." (OK, it was actually Yes. I hate myself.)

5. Location. You could walk, if you were brave and limber enough, to some good South Philly joints from the place -- and since they were a good mile away, you also had a reasonable shot at getting seats pre or post game. Add that to the easy freeway access, reasonable public transportation options, and bikable proximity to my old hovel, and you had an arena that felt more like a magical neighborhood haunt. Plus, since all of the teams are/were contained to the same zip code, there was a certain kind of electricity to just be in the area. (This, somehow, doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Perhaps because the seats are 4X as expensive as they used to be. Anyway, moving on.)

4. (Relative) Affordability. This probably had more to do with the lack of hold that pro basketball had over college ball in town (the cognoscenti will still rather go to the Palestra, and they are right to prefer that place). So you could get high center court seats for less than you'd spend on concessions. Yes, folks, I'm so old that I remember when going out to see a pro sports team didn't cost much more than the movies. Come, little girl, sit on my knee and take some clothes off. You're making me hot just looking at you.

3. Aggressively bad concessions. Look, stadium concessions *should* suck. When they don't, you're just going to eat and spend yourself stupid. At the old 'Rectum, you got the same bad dogs and over-iced soda as you would at the Vet, and if you didn't like what was being served at this stand, you could always go over to the next one and get... the same damned thing. Kept your mind on the game, it did.

2. Public transportation. Affordable games provoke people using affordable transportation, and in my time, that was the highly doubted Broad Street Line. Painted in day-glo '70s orange and populated by the same liquored up people who had just snarled their way through a heart-breaking loss, it provided dinner and a show, as it were. Would the guy who jumped the turnstile provide more fireworks? How about that homeless guy that smells like a restroom? See the effect that they are having on the terrified people from the suburbs who will never take this train again... but don't make eye contact yourself, or you'll be part of the drama. Some nights, it was better than the game, really. (And yet another reason to take the bike.)

1. Dreams. Like a kid growing up with an alcoholic parent who loved it when Dad got silly and never connected the dots to the other problems, the Spectrum warped the young minds that went into it and blinded us to its flaws. We saw only the meaningful games and life-changing events that happened there, and scarcely realized that these memories could happen in any other building, in many different towns. We all saw ourselves playing at the Spectrum, and if you gave anyone from my time and place the chance to suit up and go knock down some jumpers, or just skate on the same bad ice as Da Flyers did, we'd be there in a minute. Wearing old uniforms.

So while intellectually, it's just another building going down, it's more than that emotionally for Philly Fan... and since we're all about the emotion, we'll be holding our non-ironic lighters high, remembering some particularly vile swear words at the ref, and seeing our heroes, fading in our mind's eye.

Save me some debris.

Future Olympic Events

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:06:47 -0500

The Olympics already include quite a few events, but there are other sports vying for acceptance at the Olympic level. Some are played as demonstrations at each Olympics to determine if they deserve promotion while others are officially recognized but not currently included. Here's a look at a few we think deserve some consideration.
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When I think high-flying, I think korfball. Doesn't everyone?

Korfball
A recognized sport similar to netball, korfball is a tactical co-ed sport in which they players must outsmart their opponents in order to throw the ball through the hoop. To my uneducated eyes, this is soccer, basketball, and ultimate frisbee combined. I'm just waiting for the green Double Dare goop to fall out of that basket onto them.
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"What do we do now that it's stuck? I can't fly that high!"

Boules
Known as Bocce in the US and already a recognized sport, this is a very interesting case study. Played very much like curling and shuffleboard, the idea is to get your balls/stones as close to the target as possible, inside of your opponent's closest ball. However, is this really any different from golf (another recognized sport)? What about horseshoes? Isn't that just throwing objects at a target also? They would have to play Bocce on a really slick surface to make this competitive at a high level, but given a difficult enough course, this could be interesting. On the other hand there would finally be a summer sport other than soccer that the Italians would have a shot in.

Wushu
A mix between karate and gymnastics, this recognized sport is popular in China and will have a competition at this year's Olympics, though the IOC has specifically stated it is not a demonstration event. Like figure skating there are cumpulsory and free-style events, both individually and in groups. There is spectacular choreographed sparring with weapons, including the staff, spear, sword, and fist. Just like any other "sport" with subjective scoring, I don't know if it belongs, but it might be cool to watch.

This looks like gymnastics until you notice they're holding swords.

Chess Boxing
Tired of hearing about players with great "sports IQs"? Always hate that the chess nerds weren't athletic? Tired of listening to another unintelligible athlete interview? This is the sport for you. The combination of an Olympic sport (boxing) and a recognized sport (chess), the contestants box and play chess through 11 alternating rounds. Brains and brawn are both required to master this ultimate challenge. I can't wait to see this. How many times have you heard a quote like this about chess: "I took a lot of body-blows in the fourth round and that affected my concentration. That's why I made a big mistake in the fifth round: I did not see him coming for my king.''

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Checkmate is hard to avoid when groggy. Is that a left hook or a Latvian Gambit? (Photo: AFP)

How about Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko in chess boxing? ESPN says it's not as far-fetched as you think.

Beer Pong
A mix between table tennis and kegstanding, this recognized sport (at all American universities, anyway) is quite popular. Not to be confused with spinoffs like beer die, the originality and popularity of beer pong should distinguish it to the IOC. Really it's the same concept as nordic biathlon, so I don't see why it wouldn't be accepted. Both involve making it hard to shoot straight (by either vigorous exercise or drinking) and a penalty if you miss and your opponent doesn't (more exercise or drinking).

While some of these sports may seem odd or outlandish, consider that racewalking is already an Olympic sport, and ballroom dancing has already been a demonstration sport. It's only a matter of time until some cool new sport sweeps the world and makes the Olympics. Here's to hoping it's chess boxing!

Flyers Captain Signs With Senators

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:36:38 -0500

Flyers' captain Jason Smith signed a two-year, $5.2 million contract with the Ottawa Senators Monday. The 14-year veteran was an unrestricted free agent. According to Philly.com, The Flyers had let Smith know that with the contracts of Randy Jones and newly acquired Steve Eminger, he would not fit into team's budget for next season. Smith earned $1.9 million last season. In 77 games for the Flyers last season, Smith had 204 blocked shots and 142 hits, tops on the team. He had one goal, nine assists, and 86 penalty minutes. My response to this is, what the hell? The Flyers were very clear that they were not going to re-sign Smith, but I have to say I really don't understand why. This guy was their captain last year, and an integral past of their success. Who is going to take his place? Is eventual captain Mike Richards' time now?

Flyers lose Thoreson to Europe

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:10:09 -0500

When the Flyers signed Arron Asham earlier this week, my first hunch was it meant that Patrick Thoreson would not be a Flyer next year, and I was proven correct today. Thoreson, a restricted free agent, refused a contract offered by the Flyers and accepted a deal to play in Europe next season. The Flyers apparently only offered him a 2-way deal, one that meant he would likely split time between the NHL and AHL and Thoreson would only sign a 1-way deal that would ensure he would spend the entire season with the big club. I am surprised that the Flyers weren't willing to offer Thoreson a 1-way deal considering how well he played down the stretch. I thought Thoreson did enough to earn a spot on the fourth line for next year but the Flyers apparently didn't agree. Losing Thoreson isn't a major blow to the Flyers although it will hurt their depth. The Flyers likely signed Asham with the idea that he would replace Thoreson although each one brings different things to the table. Click the link to view the lasting memory we will all have of Thoreson. He made the ultimate sacrifice for the team. Flyers lines: Here are the likely Flyer forward lines for next year updated with the latest transactions: Gagne/Briere/Hartnell Lupul/Richards/Giroux Upshall/Carter/Knuble Asham/Metropolit/Downie Extras: Cote, Kane Knuble and Giroux are interchangeable on the second and third lines. I put Giroux higher because he will need to play with more skill players. I put Asham ahead of Cote simply because he has more experience and the Flyers gave him a bigger contract.

Arron Asham signed by the Flyers

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:02:45 -0500

Arron Asham, a 205 pound tough guy who played for the New Jersey Devils last season, signed a one year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. As of now, the Flyers have not announced the value of the contract, but it will push the Flyers even further over the salary cap. Asham did earn 700,000 last season, so he likely signed for somewhere close to a million dollars. Asham is your typical agitator, doing whatever it takes to get under the opponents skin. He is the type of guy everyone hates unless he is playing for your team. He is not a strong offensive player, scoring a total of 135 points in 498 career games in the NHL. Asham started his career with the Canadiens and has since played with the Islanders and the Devils. I question this move by the Flyers because it seems a bit redundant. The Flyers just re-signed Riley Cote to a three year deal and then they decide to bring in yet another tough guy? Is there really room in the new NHL for a team to carry two agitators? I also wonder how well Cote and Asham will get along, considering they have been in a few scraps in the past... Click the link for more, including a video of a Cote and Asham fight.

Flyers, Holmgren Agree To Three Year Contract Extension

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:36:14 -0500

The Flyers continue to keep busy this off season with various trades and player signings. They made a different kind of signing on Monday, extending the contract of GM Paul Holmgren another three years, which will now run through the 2011-2012 season. Holmgren took over as GM after Philly favorite Bobby Clarke stepped down during the 2006-2007 season, the Flyers' worst in team history. During his first full year as GM, Holmgren oversaw one of the greatest turnarounds in NHL history, as the Flyers finished 39 points higher this season and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. "I am extremely excited for the opportunity to be a part of the Flyers organization through the 2011-12 season," Holmgren said in a statement. "[Chairman Ed] Snider and Peter Luukko have both been terrific in their support and I am honored to be a part of this franchise. I am really thrilled beyond words." According to a comcastsportsnet.com article, The Flyers became only the second team since 1980, when the league expanded the playoffs to four rounds, to finish with the worst record one season and reach the third round of the playoffs the next season (Detroit did it in 1987). "I am very proud of the job that Paul has done. He totally revamped our team and brought us back to respectability," Snider said in a statement. "I am positive he will continue to improve our team and to make sure that we are in contention for the Stanley Cup. He clearly was the general manager of the year this past season. He is truly deserving of this contract extension." As is often the case with the Flyers, Holmgren has been with the franchise for quite some time, some 30 plus seasons in various capacities, including being drafted by the Flyers in the 1975 NHL amateur draft. He has clearly gotten the attention of the Flyers' brass. "Paul has done an outstanding job via trades, free agency and the NHL draft in building a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup, while managing within today's salary cap system," said Comcast-Spectacor President and Chief Operating Officer Peter A. Luukko. "Paul is a tireless competitor who I admire tremendously and enjoy working with." More details to come, so continue to check back.

Flyers extend Holmgren for three more years

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:33:35 -0500

After completing the amazing turnaround of a franchise that had it's worst season ever, the Flyers have rewarded the GM that helped make it happen. According to the Delco Times, Paul Holmgren, who made a number of significant deals last off-season that gave the team an influx of talent, was given a three year contract extension that will keep him as the GM until 2012. In his short time as Flyers General Manager, Holmgren has proven that he knows how to build a winner. He makes smart trades and knows when it is time to unload a player to get maximum value. This off-season, he has made a number of smaller moves to bolster the defense, the teams biggest weakness last year. Flyers fans have complete confidence in Holmgren and he is definitely deserving of this extension. He is quickly rising amongst the ranks of the best GMs in the game and the Flyers were smart to lock him up now. He has definitely been a huge improvement over the man he replaced, Bobby Clarke.

What’s Going On?

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:16:46 -0500

Rookie defensive end Bryan Smith signs a 4 year contract. Only top picks DeSean Jackson, and Trevor Laws remain unsigned. (Bleed Eagles Green) Phillies' opening day starter Brett Myers is now pitching for the Lehigh Iron Pigs. So much for having "two aces". (The 700 Level) Atlanta Hawks' restricted free agent Josh Smith met with the Sixers today. I am all [...]