Keith Primeau done for the year

February 28, 2006

Keith Primeau

So it is now official. Keith Primeau will not be back this year in a Flyers uniform.
Here is what Primeau had to say….

In starting, I would like to thank all of those people who really helped me during the course of the winter. I would like to thank Mr. Snider and Bob Clarke for the opportunity to search out whatever medical advice that I needed to search for over the last few months. It’s refreshing to know as an athlete that you have support of the franchise. Their sincerity is genuine and it is much appreciated.

I made this decision with difficulty as I hoped to not get to this point. Although I have made progress in my recovery (and) my vision has cleared up in the last three weeks, which is a nice change of pace, because it was a constant reminder of the difficulty that I was having. I still have symptoms when I do my physical therapy.

At this time I’m not at 100 percent, not symptom-free and will not be able to finish this season. I have made this decision in hopes of prolonging my career and I will continue to strive to return in the Fall.

The reason for this press conference is to put to rest all the speculation about my returning this season and to afford the Flyers the opportunity to do what they need to do in order help our hockey club win a Championship. I discussed with Clarkie the best route to take yesterday and if I was feeling better by the time the playoffs (started), it will have been two years that I have played consistently and that makes me susceptible in itself.

The doctors believe that I am going to get better and they are very pleased with progress albeit slow. In due time, I will recover and I will have the opportunity to play again.

I don’t know if I have fully come to terms with the decision I’ve had to make. I’m a hockey player and that’s what I do. But, speaking to those that are the closest to me, it’s the right decision. It’s the right decision for my health and that is why I made the decision."

With Primeau’s decision becoming official there is talk about picking up another player. But I have to say who? If the rest of the Flyers ever get healthy here is the lineup. Top line is Forsberg-Knuble-Gagne, Handzus-Nedved -Radivojevic, Carter-Umberger- Kapanen, Richards-Savage-Brashear. That’s 4 lines plus Stevenson.
The other 3 lines were a best guess. With all the injuries those really haven’t been set.
The only forward I can see the Flyers moving and is actually tradable is Radivojevic. But I just don’t see them doing that, Handzus would loss his buddy.
Defensively the Flyers have Hatcher-Pitkanen, Rathje-Meyer, Jones-Desjardins.
I just threw those lines together too.
Johnsson and Therien are both out with ‘head injuries’ and there is no time table at all when they could be back. If the Flyers do pickup any players, I see it on defense. But who do you pickup and who do you give-up?

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Written by Mike · Filed Under Hockey, Injuries, Philadelphia Flyers | 2 Comments 

The Best of U.S.

February 28, 2006

When the United States was winning gold in Lake Placid in 1980, there were only 55 American-born players on NHL rosters -- not even three per team. Few of them had careers of any consequence.

Thanks in large part to that monumental Olympic victory, hockey interest throughout the U.S. began to surge and continues to do so. Want proof? There were a record eight Americans taken in the first round of the 2005 NHL draft. [.continue.]

Tom Layberger of Sports Illustrated gives his top 10 USA players of all time.
Two former Flyers made the list. Jeremy Roenick at #7 and John LeClair at #9.

Marke Howe gets an Honorable mention.

Update
It seems that Tom Layberger might be ‘lifting’ some of his work.
It is very coincidental that he wrote this article about a month after a very similiar article over at Japer’s Rink. The articles do look a bit similar. Doesn’t seem to be the first time it has happened either.
I always like to give credit where credit is due. Thanks to Dave for that heads up.

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Written by Mike · Filed Under Former Flyers, Hockey, Philadelphia Flyers | 4 Comments 

Injury Update Feb 28

February 28, 2006

Keith Primeau is expected to announce he won’t be playing this season later today. The announcement will be made at 11am at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. This has been pretty much known for the past month or so, the announcement just makes it official. Primeau is still experiencing spinning sensations. He has been injured since October 25 when Alexander Perezhogin delivered an elbow to his jaw.

Simon Gagne’s bruised knee is doing better than expected, according to Coach Ken Hitchcock. He is listed day to day.

Both Chris Therien and Kim Johnsson have head injuries and will be out indefinitely. Neither is well enough to do any sort of exercising. Therien was injured February 4 against the Rangers. Johnsson was injured in mid-January from a number of hits.

Michal Handzus injured his shoulder February 10 against the Washington Capitals, a hit from former Flyer, Dainius Zubrus. Handzus suffered a torn labrum that will require surgery after the season. He is expected to be out 10 days.

Returning to the lineup from injury are Peter Forsberg, Mike Rathje, Petr Nedved and Branko Radivojevic.

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Written by Mike · Filed Under Hockey, Injuries, Philadelphia Flyers | 1 Comment 

Olympic wrap-up

February 26, 2006

Olympic Ice Hockey is finally over.
Sweden beat Finland in the gold medal game 3-2.
Flyer’s Peter Forsberg had 2 shots on goal, picked up an assist and was plus one for Sweden. Antero Niittymaki made 25 of 28 saves for Finland.
So Sweden won the gold, Finland the silver and Czech Republic the bronze.

Let’s recap how each Flyer did.
Peter Forsberg playing for Sweden overall had 5 shots, no goals and 6 assists and was plus 1. The groin has held up. If Forsberg stays healthy for at least a week then all the discussion and worrying about him playing or not playing in the Olympics will be forgotten.

Antero Niittymaki playing for Finland overall was 5-1 with 3 shutouts. He stopped 156 of 164 shots. His goal against average was 1.34 with a save percentage of .951. Frank was also named the tournament MVP.

Three Flyers played for USA, Robert Esche, Derian Hatcher and Mike Knuble.
Robert Esche played in one game and was 0-1. He stopped 16 of 21 shots. His goal against average was 5.08 with a save percentage of .762.
Derian Hatcher played in all six games with 2 shots on goal, 6 minor penalties and was minus 1.
Mike Knuble also played in all six games with 10 shots on goal, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 minor penalties and was plus 1.
They really didn’t contribute much, did they?
Looking at the Team USA roster I am not surprised at the outcome losing in the Quarterfinals. Would it be any different if Ryan Miller would have gone? Eh, maybe. Team USA wasn’t built for the big ice, just old and slow. Modano is right about one thing, Team USA does need “new blood”. Team USA doesn’t need prima donnas. Team USA didn’t lose because some had to make travel arrangements. Modano had no shots on goal going into the third period, no wonder he was benched for the rest of the game. What Team USA needs is appreciative, respectful players that understand the Olympics is about representing your country rather than personal feelings. Modano later said his rant was ill-timed, that might be. However, with Modano deciding to fly out of Italy early and skip the final meeting with his teammates speaks volumes.

Simon Gagne played for Canada, overall had 1 goal on 9 shots, 2 assists, 3 minor penalties and was a plus 1. Gagne was injured by a hip check by Darius Kasparaitis in Canada’s last game. They are saying it is a bruised knee. He could be out for two weeks. Canada didn’t medal which surprised a lot of people. Team Canada was expecting Gagne to step up and be more productive. Other excuses were also made, no Crosby or Stahl, Pat Quinn, Bertuzzi, Gretzky, loss of Yzerman and Lemieux, no Looney in the ice, etc. Eh, I think all of those excuses hold some weight in one way or another. But Canadians have 2010 to look forward to in Vancouver. They can put all the Looney’s they want in the ice.

There were Flyers selected to play in the Olympics but did not play because of injury or personal reasons. They were….
Kim Johnsson for Sweden. Johnsson‘s wife was expecting so he chose not to go. He was injured back in January, a concussion and would not have been able to play anyway.
Sami Kapanen for Finland. Kapanen has been playing thru a shoulder injury and had some problems with his knee. He took the time off to heal.
Joni Pitkanen also for Finland. Pitkanen had a sports hernia and had surgery in December. He didn’t feel he was fully healed
Michal Handzus for Slovakia. Handzus has a shoulder injury, torn labrum. It will require surgery after the season.

With the injuries to Gagne, Hasek, Jagr and others there has been discussion about whether NHL players should play in the Olympics. Before the Olympics and still now I say no, well kind of.
The NHL should not have to stop for two weeks just for the Olympics, especially since last year there was NO season. The NHL should not have to squeeze games together just to make room for the two week layoff. Players should not be coming back to the NHL, the place where they get paid, injured.
A big problem with hockey in the Olympics is that you have 20 individuals that for the most part have never played with each other. They need to gel quickly into a team. There is little to no practice, no exhibitions, and no way to really become a good team.
So this is what I propose, have a national team, something similar to the women’s team sports. Want to play for Canada (or any other country) in the 2010 Olympics? Fine you have to play on the 2009/2010 Canadian national team for the entire year. Players have a choice either play for the national team or don’t play in the Olympics. Players can’t play for the NHL or any other league.
Of course this would never fly since the players wouldn’t like it. The NHL also wouldn’t since they would be losing some all-stars every 4 years to the Olympics.
Why it makes sense….
You only have players that want to be there and play in the Olympics. Players have to sacrifice much of their salary for a year to play. If I made 3mill a year I think I could skip a year now and then and play for my country.
The NHL schedule is not affected, no shutting down, no squeezing games together and teams do not have to deal with players coming back injured.
Better teams. Teams won’t spend half the Olympics just trying to play well as a team.
IIFH World Championship is coming up in May is the NHL going to shutdown for that too? They wont, the playoffs will be going on. Guess they will just throw together another bunch of guys from teams out of the playoff picture.
Can you really call 20 guys that play together for a couple weeks World Champions?

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Written by Mike · Filed Under Hockey, Philadelphia Flyers | 1 Comment 

Gagne out 2 weeks

February 25, 2006

Simon Gagne
Simon Gagne had an MRI on Saturday morning that confirmed he suffered a bone bruise in his right knee while playing for Team Canada in the Olympics in Torino, Italy. Below are comments regarding the injury from Flyers Athletic Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach, Jim McCrossin.

Jim McCrossin: Simon has a bone contusion. We're looking at a bone bruise. The amount of time that Simon is going to be out will be to where he can tolerate being able to go ahead and skate and push off and get the strength back in that one leg. We're looking at no more than two weeks at that point. Hopefully it's going to be a lot less, but that should really be about it.

If Gagne is out for the full two weeks, thats 5 games the Olympics cost him to miss.
While 5 games is not a long time, that is still 5 games without your #1 scorer. Which makes it big.

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Written by Mike · Filed Under Hockey, Injuries, Philadelphia Flyers | 1 Comment 

The Semi’s

February 24, 2006

The semifinal games are over.
Finland shutout Russia 4-0.
Flyer's Antero Niittymaki recorded his third shutout stopping all 21 shots.
Niittymaki has played in 5 games with a 1.00 goals against average.
With a day off until the gold medal game I expect him to start.

Sweden beat Czech Republic 7-3.
Peter Forsberg had a shot on goal and one assist.

So we are down to 2 Flyers, Forsberg for Sweden and Niittymaki for Finland.
The Gold medal game on Sunday should be good, but with it starting at 8am eastern I'm not sure how much of it I will catch. The bronze medal game between Russia and Czech Republic is on Saturday at 2pm eastern. Why not have the game a little later? Guess it would be too close to the closing ceremonies.
For the gold medal game I have to go with Finland. Being undefeated with 5 shutouts, I think Finland will take it.

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Day 6

February 23, 2006

Day 6 of the Men’s Ice Hockey at the Olympics.
Sweden beat Switzerland 6-2.
Peter Forsberg had 2 assists in the game. Guess the groin is holding up so far.

Finland beat USA 4-3.
Antero Niittymaki got the start for Finland stopping 25 of 28 stops.
For USA, Derian Hatcher had a hooking penalty and double minor high sticking penalty. Mike Knuble had 1 goal with 1 shot. He also had a minor slashing penalty.
So Hatcher, Knuble and Esche are done for the Olympics. I’m not really surprised, looking at their lineup I wasn’t expecting them to medal anyway.
Hopefully we will skip the hotel room trashing this time around. But Mike Modano decided to sound like a whiney bitch after the game. Modano not liked being benched for most of the third tore into USA coach Peter Laviolette for taking a time out, then on Team USA because players had to make ‘arrangements’ tickets, hotel, etc. Modano had 2 goals and no assists thru 5 games. USA just had too many old slower players like Modano to really seriously compete for a medal. But winning isn’t everything. The Olympics is all about representing your country, playing your sport whatever it is to the best of your ability. So to all on Team USA that give it their all, even if they don’t win a medal I salute you, enjoy your time. Being in the Olympics has to be a wonderful experience that very few people get to do. To all the athletes that just showed up went thru the motions then complained about stuff that really doesn’t matter, well I’m glad I wont have to watch you 4 years from now.

In what is the upset of the day, at least to people in North America, Russia beat Canada 2-0. Simon Gagne had one shot on goal along with a minor high sticking penalty. Gagne also seem to injure his right leg off a hit by Darius Kasparaitis. No word yet on what exactly the injury is or the extent of it. So Gagne is done for the Olympics, as well as Coach Ken Hitchcock. Although I really didn’t care who won the game I did get a twinge of satisfaction with Canada losing, given how some Canadians treated Team USA in the last World Juniors. I’m sure NBC isn’t happy with a totally non-North American semi finals and finals, ratings are going to suck worse then they are now.

So looking ahead to the semi finals which are on Friday. Finland vs Russia, I think Finland takes it. I didn’t see the entire game but at least one of the goals Niittymaki let in was soft. I think he will sit and that other guy will play.
Czech Republic vs Sweden, I have to go with Sweden on this one. Another game for Forsberg to injure himself.

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Day 5

February 22, 2006

Day 5 of the Men’s Ice Hockey at the Olympics.

Finland beat Germany 2-0. Antero Niitymaki who shutout Canada the day before did not play.

Canada beat the Czech Republic 3-2.
Simon Gagne had one shot on goal.

Slovakia beat Sweden 3-0.
Some controversy before the game with the Sweden coach basically saying Sweden was better off losing the game since they would then face Switzerland in the quarterfinals. Whether they loss on purpose or not I guess it really doesn’t matter now. What I like to know is what about Forsberg? He didn’t register anything in the boxscore. Did he play? If he didn’t play then no, Sweden wasn’t serious about winning that game. Of course the other reason could be is that he is injured and just hasn’t told anyone.

Russian beat USA 5-4.
Robert Esche got his first start in goal for team USA and well, wasn’t that good.
He stopped 16 of 21 shots.
Derian Hatcher had a 2 minute roughing penalty and was minus 1.
Mike Knuble had an assist, 4 shots on goal and a hooking penalty, he was also minus 1.

Now to the serious stuff, Quaterfinal games later today.
Win and advance, lose and go home.
Finland vs USA
Russia vs Canada
Slovakia vs Czech Republic
Switzerland vs Sweden

I know I should pull for the home team, but I think Finland will advance over USA.
Russia does have a good chance of advancing, but I think the Canadians will start to play better and take it.
The Slovakia and Czech Republic should be an interesting game. I remember when they use to be one country Czechoslovakia. I wonder if that plays a factor when they play each other.
Then you got Switzerland and Sweden. Sweden will lose just for the fact of losing yesterday to play them. Also throw in a groin injury for Forsberg.

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Day 4

February 19, 2006

Day 4 of the Men’s Ice Hockey at the Olympics.
Here how the Flyer’s participants did.
Sweden beat USA 2-1.
Derian Hatcher was a minus 1 and Mike Knuble had 4 shots on goal for Team USA. Robert Esche has not seen any game time yet.
For Sweden Peter Forsberg sat. Forsberg says he feels ok, but did not want to play in back to back games. He should play Tuesday against Slovakia.

Canada gets shutout again, this time by Finland 2-0.
Antero Niittymaki gets his second shutout of the Olympics for Finland stopping 24 of 24 shots. He has given up 2 goals in 3 games.
Simon Gagne had 2 shots on goal and took a minor high sticking penalty for Canada.

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FFC version 1.1

February 19, 2006

With the NHL on Olympic break there is not a lot of Flyers news to talk about. So I took this time to make some style changes to the website. I hope it looks a little nicer and more important everything still works!

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