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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Day 3

February 18, 2006

Day 3 of the menÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Olympic ice hockey.
What is considered the biggest upset so far in menÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Olympic ice hockey at Torino, Switzerland beat Canada 2-0. Flyers Simon Gagne had one shot on goal and was minus 1.

Sweden beat Latvia 6-1. In a move that hasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t sat well with Flyers fans, Peter Forsberg played his first game this Olympics. Forsberg had 2 assists and 2 shots on goal. So far his groin is holding up. I wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t quite happy that he continued to play even after Sweden was up 5-0. I don't think it was worth the risk after the game was in hand.

Slovakia beat the United States 2-1. Derian Hatcher had one shot on goal. Mike Knuble also had a shot on goal and was minus 1.

Finland beat the Czech Republic 4-2. Antero Niittymaki got the start in goal for Finland. He stop 37 of 39 shots. Niittymaki has given up 2 goals in 2 games.

United States play Sweden and Canada plays Finland tomorrow.

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Olympics Day 2

February 16, 2006

Day 2 of the menÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Olympic ice hockey.
United States beat Kazakhstan 4-1.
Flyers Mike Knuble had one shot on goal. Derian Hatcher had a roughing penaltly and was plus one. Robert Esche did not play.

Canada beat Geryamn 5-1.
Flyers Simon Gagne had one goal, one assist, with one shot on goal. He was a plus two.

Finland beat Italy 6-0.
Antero Niittymaki who played well enough in the first game for a shutout did not play.

Russian beat Sweden 5-0.
Peter Forsberg did not play in the game, but will skate tomorrow to see if he can play on Saturday.
Sweden plays Latvia.

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USA 3 Latvia 3

February 15, 2006

USA tied Latvia 3-3 in menÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s ice hockey today.
Flyers Derian Hatcher had one shot on goal and a minor penalty for interference. Flyers Mike Knuble was plus 2. Robert Esche did not play.
I guess any medal hope for the menÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s USA hockey team has gone down the crapper.

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Finland 5 Switzerland 0

February 15, 2006

Flyers goalie Antero Niittymaki records a shutout as Finland beats Switzerland 5-0 today in the Olympics. Preliminary Round in Group A, Niittymaki stopped all 24 shots with 4 penalty kills.

Flyers other goalie Robert Esche is third string for USA and probably wont see much if any play time.

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Canada 7 Italy 2

February 15, 2006

Flyer's Simon Gagne records an assist, 4 shots on goal and a two minute high sticking penalty in CanadaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s first game. Canada won 7-2 over Italy. Gagne assisted on Joe ThorntonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Power Play goal in the 3rd period, the seventh goal for Canada.

Sweden beat Kazakhstan 7-2 in the earlier game. Kim Johnsson and Peter Forsberg were selected to play for Sweden. Johnsson stayed home, Forsberg might play in later games. So really no news in regards to the Flyers. But this does give me the excuse to use this picture.

Thanks to Japers Rink, for the pict.

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Will the real Flyers please

February 13, 2006

In his 42 years in professional sports, Philadelphia Flyers Chairman Ed Snider said he has never experienced anything quite like the first 58 games of the Flyers' season.
* His team captain, Keith Primeau, missed 49 of those games with concussion symptoms and relinquished his captaincy to Derian Hatcher.
* His best player, Peter Forsberg, missed 16 games with three different groin strains yet has done everything possible to play in the Olympics. [.continue.]

Chuck Gormley gives a really good overview of the Flyers season so far.

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Forsberg in-maybe Handzus out.

February 13, 2006

Peter Forsberg will be going to Torino for the Olympics. Although he says he wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t play unless he is 100% healthy. The plan is to play in the later games if he is healthy. So this is how I see this happening. He will either not play at all or he will play from a period to a game and a half and re-injure his supposedly 100% healthy groin. As a Flyers fan I see nothing positive with him trying.

Michal Handzus has withdrawn from the Olympics with a rotator cuff injury. Article says itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s unclear when he was injured, but it probably was the check by Dainius Zubrus in the second period against the Capitals last Friday. Handzus missed a shift or two and was reported to have a bruised shoulder. Handzus has had multiple nagging injuries this year, but nothing serious enough for him to sit and rest. I hope the rotator cuff injury is not too bad, but I am glad to see him pull out of the Olympics to get some much needed rest.

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Flyers and the Olympics

February 13, 2006

The Olympic break is officially here. A break from hockey for most players, it is definitely welcomed relief for the Flyers. The Flyers sit fifth in the conference, 7 points behind Carolina and 3 points behind division leading Rangers. Really not a bad place for a team with 287 man games missed to injuries. This wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t bug me much except the Flyers have just been awful as of late. With the talent they are missing the Flyers need to play a high energy, hard hitting, desperate style of game. For the most part they have only done this in the second half of games when already down by multiple goals.

As a review the Flyers going to the Olympics areÃ¢â‚¬Â¦..
Playing for the United States are Mike Knuble, Derian Hatcher and Robert Esche.
Playing for Canada is Simon Gagne.
Playing for Finland is Antero Niittymaki.
Playing for Slovakia is Michal Handzus.

Players that were selected but decided to not go includeÃ¢â‚¬Â¦.
For Finland Sami Kapanen and Joni Pitkanen.
For Sweden Kim Johnsson.
Kapanen has been playing with a shoulder and knee that isnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t %100 he has decided to rest them. Pitkanen hasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t fully recovered from his sports hernia surgery he is figured to rest and continue rehab. Johnsson initially withdrew because his wife will soon be expecting. Johnsson has been out for over two weeks with post concussion symptoms.

Branko Radivojevic was selected for the Slovakia Taxi Squad, but wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be available anyway with an ankle sprain.

And then there is Peter Forsberg. Forsberg was selected for Team Sweden and he is yet to announce whether he will play or not.
He has missed 16 games so far this year with continuing groin injuries. Looking at his injuriesÃ¢â‚¬â„¢, how much time he has missed and how many games he was back before reinjurying his groin again, it is apparent that he will not be healthy for the Olympics. Even he is healthy enough to play a game or two he will just end up injuring it again. All last week Forsberg continued to put off his decision. He was going to see how it felt Thursday, then again on Friday, then see after a MRI he was suppose to have over the weekend. Now itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Monday and still no news on his decision. It was reported over the weekend that a Swedish website stated Forsberg would travel to the Olympics and play in the medal rounds if he was healthy, which is opposite of what he has been saying over here. The games start this Wednesday the 15, so some sort of announcement should be forthcoming.

The Flyers have reassigned Ryan Ready, Pat Kavanagh and Alexandre Picard to the Phantoms. Unlike the NHL the AHL does not break for the Olympics. The AHL schedule continues as normal.

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Flyers Fall to Senators 3-2

February 12, 2006

2-11-06

Flyers lose to the Senators 3-2 in Ottawa last night.
Therien time was in full affect with the Flyers being out played and out shot 14-7 in the first period.
Nineteen seconds into the second period the Flyers were down 3-0. Soon after the Flyers decided to show up and play. Simon Gagne picked up his 37 goal of the season making it 3-1 at 13:46. Donald Brashear scored on a redirection, his second goal in two games at 16:52 of the second period to make it 3-2. That was it for scoring. All goals were at even strength, both teams went 0-3 on the power play.

Robert Esche started the game which was a surprise to me since he played 3 straight along with the game the night before. After giving up two goals on 13 shots Esche was pulled at 14:07 in the first period.

Hitchcock on the goalie change. "It was a wakeup call. We needed to get something changed because we were on our heels. It certainly wasn't a reflection on (Esche), he played fine.Ã¢â‚¬Â

So thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the line. Personally I think his play was a little weak. The Flyers did need a wakeup call, unfortunately it didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t happen until midway thru the second period.

Antoine Vermette, Antero Niittymaki and Chris Kelly were the three stars.

The negatives to the game were the Flyers lose again, three straight road losses. The first period was bad, again. And the Flyers were scored on first, again.
The positives were that no one got injured, they did not give up a power play goal and they mounted some sort of come back unlike the recent Tampa Bay and Montreal games.

After the game Ottawa recognized all Olympics athletes that played in the game. Not only the Canadians, but also the Americans, Swedes, Finns, etc. It was a nice little ceremony, a class act by the Ottawa organization.

Jon Sim picked up another goal with the Florida Panthers. I believe thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s 6 now since he has been traded for a late round draft pick.

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