You have to feel bad for the likes of Rick Nash, Jeff Carter, RJ Umberger, Derek Dorsett and Jackets goalie Steve Mason among others. There is definetly a change waiting to happen with the Jackets. I understand the GM said the coaches are staying and have no worry of losing their jobs. I for one don’t believe that.. The owner will only put up with that for so long. One bright thing about losing a game to such a lopsided score is simply it magnifies the issues at hand. Rich Nash is an awesome player, but they were so out of sync on the ice that Nash at one point went end to end with zero help from teammates. Give Derek Dorsett credit for engaging Wayne Simmonds in a fight to get his team’s blood flowing. This is a fight he decidedly lost too. Cody Bass of the Jackets fought Zac Rinaldo and was seen animatedly calling his team out to get them going, even enough that he hit one of his teammates on the bench on his way up the tunnel. It was just too little too late. The score only amplified the issues the Jackets are having. Being a good NHL fan, I can only hope that change will come sooner, rather than later. I’d never wish anyone out of a job, but change is definetly needed here. The Jackets have only made the post season one time in their 10yr(or so) existence. Time for some changes so pride can be built back into this team.

Some Flyers highlights and lowlights from the game. Highlights have got to be Jake Vorachek having a great showing against his former team and former coach, who came out with some negative comments about Vorachek after they didn’t make the playoffs last season. Vorachek had a goal and two assists. He kept his comments to himself when asked if it felt great to beat his old team and his former coach. He said he’s done commenting on his former coaches comments and he was glad his team won. Probably the biggest lowlight the last few games is the cement hockey stick Matt Carle has been playing with lately. Yes, he scored on a nice backhander to the penthouse, but his passes up the middle and turnovers are so uncharacteristic of the former Hobey Baker award winner. I think when his partner Pronger comes back he will settle down. The other lowlight is how many times we have had goals scored on us by way of oddball deflections off our own players.

Kick Saves…
Flyers captain Chris Pronger was medically cleared for practice, on the condition he wear a visor. He has been wearing a visor and recently joined his teammates in full practice. He’s expected to play Wednesday against Tampa Bay Lightning.

Flyers scored a power play goal last night. They also seemed to do better on defensive faceoffs. Bryz looks much more at ease in the crease than he had previously. I like that he gets angry when scored on, he cares…

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There were only a few bright spots for the Flyers tonight. Zac Rinaldo scored his first NHL goal and followed it up with a breakaway that was stopped by Devils goalie Johan Hedberg. Of course the Giroux, Jagr, Hartnell line looked good. The pass across the Devils goal mouth from Jagr to Giroux, with Hartnell screening both the defense and goalie, was a sight to see. The play ended with Giroux roofing the puck for a goal. Sergei Bobrovsky cannot be blamed for this loss, Bob made some really nice saves tonight, but with lackluster play in front of him he really had no chance to win this one. Maxine Talbot’s penalty shot goal was brilliant. Talbot started out slow swinging wide right crossing the blue line, then skating right to left across the front of the goal, pulling Hedberg with him across the crease when he put the puck between his pads for a goal. The Flyers squeaked out a point in this one, so its not a total loss.

Kick Saves….

Patrick Kaleta suspended 4 games by NHL for hit on Flyers Jakub Voracek.
Remember my whine about Patrick Kaleta of Buffalo running around hitting late and being his typical dirty self? Well Brendan Shanahan must have seen what I saw. Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek was along the boards in a fight with Kaleta for the puck. Kaleta backed away took a couple steps ducked his head and came up with a serious head butt to Voracek. Now you’ll be shocked to know neither of the refs saw what happened and there was no penalty on the play. Here’s to the NHL getting this one right, regardless of the refs.

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Courturier, Van Riemsdyk and Hartnell opened the scoring in the first period and chased Ryan Miller from the net by 6:23 of the first. Replacing Miller was Jonas Enroth.

As for our goalie, Bryz, I see definite improvements in his game right now. He still seems uncertain at times and still launches rebounds but he looked more confident handling the puck behind the net. He looked completely like himself stopping Thomas Vanek, in the last minute of the game, in close on two shots. These were not easy shots to stop either.

Supporting my theory the refs should not be noticed, they only called one first period penalty to the Flyers. This trend continued with the Flyers being called for three minors and Buffalo being called for none (Not including the fights at the end of the second period). The Sabres were not called for a minor penalty during the game until 3:26 of the third period. Nice job refs, you must not have seen Patrick Kaleta running around hitting people after the play and trying to catch Giroux well after he released the puck. Or Nathan Gerbe slashing everyone in sight.

Please NHL, remove one of the on ice refs and rescind the instigator penalty. You will see a better flow to the game and less serious injuries resulting from guys trying to run guys over with no fear of retaliation. I liked the officiating so much better when I was a kid. One more thing I tend to harp on, the refs were in the way all game long last night.

Kick Saves……
Scott Hartnell continues to impress with his new linemates, Giroux and Jagr. Hartnell has 10pts in his last five games. There is some real chemistry between Giroux and Jagr but Hartnell is fitting into that chemistry very well right now.

Typically defenseman log the most minutes per game, however Giroux lead the Flyers in TOI with 25:01 last night.

Courterier took 6 faceoffs and only lost one. He also opened the scoring in the game. I for one, am glad the Flyers kept him with the big club. I can’t believe he’s 18yrs old.

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As for Bryz, he played a much better game than the previous couple. He made some good saves when we needed them and his confidence looked fine to me. In fact, the only goal he did allow was not really his fault at all. During Canes pressure in the Flyers defensive zone the Canes managed an in close shot which Bryz stopped with no problem. However, on the same play it looked like Hartnell was trying to help out sliding by the crease and he slid right into Bryz taking him out of the play completely with no chance for Bryz to get back to the crease. Jussi Jokinen scored into an empty net. That was more of us stepping on our own feet and probably trying to do too much around Bryz (knowing his confidence was a bit low). Instead it put the Canes on the board to tie it up at 1-1 3mins into the second period. Bryz looked solid after that goal though. There are two things they need to work on, his rebounds at times are long and communications with the defense must get better. Flyers fans can rest easy though, there is no goalie controversy in Philadelphia like there has been for the last 10yrs, Bryz is a top flite goalie. I’ve watched him in Phoenix for the last couple years and he is THE reason they even made the playoffs.

Has everyone noticed there is no one wearing the “C” while Pronger is recovering? The Flyers have been rotating an additional “A” among the players. Max Talbot was wearing the extra “A” last night. Talbot has been a great addition to the Flyers. He was a guy we hated when he played for the Penguins but the guy you’d love to have on your team. I am glad he’s a Flyer, he’s a defensive expert too. Wayne Simmonds is another great pick up that’s been playing well. He’s another player I’ve watched over the last couple years and told everyone they would like having him here as a Flyer.

KICK SAVES……(additional comments)

The Flyers did a nice job of avoiding the stupid penalties last night. They ended up with three minor penalties for the game. Personally, I think this has a lot to do with the officiating of any given game. The refs should not be “noticed” during a game and sometimes they make numerous weak calls and are noticed. This disrupst the flow of a game and doesn’t allow a team to gel and get into a groove for the game. The officiating in the NHL, in general, needs to be better. Two improvements would help the NHL, remove the instigator penalty and reduce the refs to one per game with two linesman. Too often, like last night, you see the refs getting in the way of the play and disrupting a potential pasing play along the boards.

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Matt Carle & Chris Pronger - going well both statistically and as a defensive pair. if it wasn’t for the impressive play and time eating of these two then the flyers would be in real bother. they are a combined +12 while 2nd pairing Timonen and Coburn are a combined -15.

Arron Asham - has played on every line already this season and been a healthy scratch a couple of times. extended his scoring streak to 3 games for the first time ever. brings a lot of energy to whichever line hes placed on.

James Van Reimsdyk - had already been written off as a bust by some flyers fans before he’d played an NHL game. point per game performance so far has shut them up. has showed he has a great competitive instinct, can play a defensive game to go along with his playmaking skills. getting his 1st NHL goal will help his confidence further.

Ray Emery - Boosh’s performance last night should remind the fans what they have in Emery. he’s been pretty solid so far.

The Unsung Players in general

players currently in the + column of the +/- include Mika Pyarola, Daniel Carcillo and Danny Syvret. the performances of the flyers 4th line and 3rd defensive pairing have exceeded expectations

Flying Low

Kimo Timonen and Braydon Coburn - if it wasn’t for how well the top 2 were playing, i think Stevens would be tempted to juggle his defencemen. its hard to believe that these 2 are the same players from previous seasons. think it might be time to try something different for a while.

Brian Boucher - was hoping for a fairytale win against his last team but was found wanting, he wasn’t the only one though and the team in front of him were flat in general.

Flying Under The Radar

Jeff Carter - on the surface his season so far looks ok, averaging just over a point per game but he hasn’t really got going like last season. he’s still taking a lot of shots but not finding the target. expect that to change soon enough. i think he’ll still get 40 goals.

Simon Gagne - always taken ages to get over injuries and seems to be coming back to himself after a slow start.

Claude Giroux - has been a victim of his own versatility, switching around the lines sometimes as a wing, sometimes a centre. hasnt let anyone down in any situation. lovely move last week to win the shoot out.

On a final note, i don’t think Richards’ hit on David Booth is suspension worthy, its a clean open ice hit on a player with his head down, unaware of whats going on around him. its highly unfortunate and horrible to watch but i don’t think Richards set out to injure him.

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