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Forsberg out till 2007

Peter Forsberg will have surgery on both his feet and is estimated to be out of action until January of 2007.

Some quotes from Forsberg from the press conference.

Q: What have the doctors been telling you?
Forsberg: Basically my foot, I don’t know the exact term but I think it’s just supination, you lean outside on your foot. It’s very uncommon, the doctor was telling me some basketball players have this. Plus I have a very hard arch and my foot is kind of leaning toward the other side and that tears through the ligaments all the time and through the years it has been getting worse and worse and the foot is getting kind of crooked, that is kind of what is going on. Actually both (feet) are doing the same thing. So if I am going keep on playing I am going to have to get it (surgery) done. The boot doesn’t fit my foot, my foot doesn’t stick in the skate and then I can’t skate. If I get it done, straighten up the foot and repair the ligaments I think it’s going to be fine.

Q: Are you going to have to get it done on both feet or just the one?
Forsberg: Both actually. The right one is much worse then the left one but we are going to have to do the left one too.

Q: Are you going to be okay for Training Camp?
Forsberg: No, they haven’t told you how long I am gone? I think we are actually aiming for the first of January.

Q: This is when you will be ready to play, the first of January?
Forsberg: Yes.

Q: You said it was four-to-six weeks recover for each?
Forsberg: Four-to-six weeks is before I can walk on my right foot. And as soon as I can walk on my right foot we are doing the left one. And then I guess it’s six months after that for one foot to heal.

Q: When did you first start feeling this pain?
Forsberg: It’s not a pain thing it’s just that my foot did not really stick in the skate and it’s just getting worse and worse. I always had that problem when I was sitting on the outside and the ligaments just kept getting worse and worse. I don’t know exactly when it happened; it’s been going on and this year I kept on playing. In the long run it’s just going to get even worse and we want to get it done and get it fixed. I can’t tell you the exact date, sometimes I would find a good pair of skates and then played ok, but in the long run it is just going to get worse.

Q: Do you have any idea when you will have the first surgery?
Forsberg: The first surgery will be Monday (May 15) or Tuesday (May 16) hopefully.

Q: And then its four-to-six weeks before you can walk again correct?
Forsberg: Four-to-six weeks before the bone is healed in the right foot and as soon as I can take a step on the right foot I am doing the left one.

Q: And then what happens when you do the left? You go another four-to-six weeks before you can walk again?
Forsberg: Yeah, I am going to have the cast on the left foot after that. My foot is crooked and you have to go in and crack the bones in my foot. Not only do you have to go in and tighten up the tendons but you have to go in and crack the bones, too.

Ouch! Although missing Forsberg until January is going to hurt I can see a hidden blessing in all this. First having a healthy Forsberg for the second half of the season is better than having a injured Forsberg all year. Second, the Flyers will have to learn to win without him, so when he comes back it’s a bonus. And third cap room, with Forsberg out for that long it should free up over 2mill to go out and pick up a decent winger or defenseman.

Some quotes from Bob Clarke from the press conference.

Q: With Primeau out and now Forsberg, what does this mean to you for this off season?
Clarke: Peter missed about 20-25 games this season so we can play along without him for the length of time it takes. We are going to have to. And we believe that we will have Primeau back. If Primeau doesn’t come back then, there’s going to be some big holes. We’ll survive until Peter comes back and we’ll be stronger if Primeau comes back. We are going to be awfully young anyway. That will just put some more heat some of our pretty good young players.

Q: Will you or do you need to know something on Keith before July 1?
Clarke: No. I don’t think in Keith’s case, that we are really going to know about his status until we go through training camp. That is the only true test. We believe that he his going to be all right.

Q: Does your line-up stay the way it is, at least at the center position?
Clarke: Looking at it, we have Primeau, Handzus, Carter, Nedved, Umberger. We could switch Umberger if we needed to. If everybody is healthy at center we are pretty deep. Again, if we lose Primeau that will be a hole we found that we cannot replace. We couldn’t do it this year and I don’t know how we’d do it next year other than throw a young player in there I guess. That’s only if we find out that Keith can’t play. If he can’t play, even though you have that cap money, you don’t find that type of player. These are problems we are facing, but we don’t know the outcome.

Q: Is there anything you’ve learned in the last couple of days? I know there’s been a lot of meetings and reviews. Are there any answers you found in the last couple of days?
Clarke: Not really. We know that there has to be some changes heading into next year. We have to change our approach. Our style has to change somewhat. It sounds like an excuse and it is an excuse but I don’t know of anybody that could survive with the amount of injuries we had this season.

Should I be reading into anything with Richards name not being mentioned?
I am also starting to feel that Primeau wont be able to come back.

   

Surgery updates

More surgeries have been announced bringing the total up to 15.

Shoulders
Michal Handzus
Donald Brashear
Branko Radivojevic
Denis Gauthier
Brian Savage

Hips
Eric Desjardins
Mike Rathje
Robert Esche
Antero Niittymaki
Simon Gagne

Knees
Derian Hatcher
Turner Stevenson

Bicep
Sami Kapanen

Nose
Keith Primeau

Ankle
Peter Forsberg

According to Flyers trainer Jim McCrossin eight of the injuries requiring surgery originally occurred while the players were with different organizations. Are we talking other NHL teams? Gauthier, Savage, Rathje, Hatcher, Stevenson and Forsberg are the only players not with the Flyers organization last year. That’s 6, who are the other 2? Were they injured playing in the Olympics? (As I have said before they shouldn’t be playing in.) Or were they injured last year playing in Europe or in the minors with the lockout? If so why weren’t these injuries noticed last September? The Flyers organization has really stood behind their trainers which they should do up to a point but I think we are at that point if not passed it.
Looking at the amount of surgeries and the countless groin/lower abdomen injuries this year one has to take a serious look at how the training staff is handling the player’s health. I am not calling for heads to roll, but how the players health is managed has to be looked at thoroughly and if need be overhauled.

   

Flyers Turn to Off-Season, Many Decisions

Bobby Clarke is in denial, Ed Snider is too pissed off to go onto Daily News Live to talk about the season, and Ken Hitchcock is in the last year of his contract. In case you didn't figure it out already, only one of those three statements is a good thing.

Management - Bobby Clarke is honestly a great general manager, but it's time to realize his master plan for the 05-06 season blew up in his face, horribly. Yes, injuries were part of the problem, but not the top reason, as he would tell you. The major flaw in his plan was the speed factor. He over-estimated the value of speed in the new NHL, especially with defense. Bob, stay-at-home defensemen ARE obsolete, not close-to obsolete.

Coaching - Many fans are dazed and confused, and feel this is more of a coaching problem then management. WRONG. Coaching has an effect on management, yes, but Hitch did the best job he could do with what he was handed. I do feel that he influenced the signing of Derian Hatcher, and for that, he gets an F. Mr. Snider and Clarky need to ensure Hitch gets an extension and soon, or the upcoming season could be a disaster.

Let's talk about moves for a second. The first moves have to be to get rid of Hatcher and Rathje. They take up 1/7 of what I believe to be a 42 million dollar salary cap this coming year. Before you criticize this, please note that Hatcher was one of my top 3 non-Flyer favorite players before he was signed here. The fact is, that his time is up in this NHL. I'm not sure what you do with Therien, since his contract is only $500k, either buy-out or move him to the minors. Desjardins is in the last year of his contract, and at his age, I'm not sure that it's the right time to re-sign him. Brashear and Savage are already gone, so I can't really comment on that move. I also believe Clarky is going to buy-out Stevenson's contract (thank God!).

The rookies on this team seem to be of endless talent. I'm sure you've already heard of Umberger, Carter, and Richards. However, don't forget about Freddy Meyer who could easily be the back-stop of this defense core within a year or two, and Ben Eager, a gritty forward who could take the place of Brian Savage.

With (what I hope to be) 8.2 million dollars of free cap room, the Flyers need to make 2 or 3 key pick-ups. Kim Johnsson is a question mark for this up-coming year, so you need veteran quick defensemen, at a one or two year deal. They should also pick up another defenseman, on a more long-term deal that has quickness, and scoring ability, and youth on his side. Finally, there is a need for a class-act forward still on this roster to fill in on the 3^rd line. I'm not sure where I would turn for this. At the trade deadline, I would have said Recchi, but he is now almost 40, and I don't think that's a risk worth taking.

So there is your food for thought, I would appreciate your comments, and before I leave you, here is my predicted Flyers depth chart for the 2006-2007 NHL season. It is my opinion that with the right management decisions this off-season, the Flyers will return and be a Stanly Cup contender this coming season.

Gagne - Knuble - Forsberg

Dimitrakos - Primeau - Kapanen

Carter - Umberger - Nedved

Richards - Handzus - Radiovojevic

Johnsson - Pitkanen

Meyer - Gauthier

? - ?

   

Handzus surgery successful

Michal Handzus underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and a partial tear of the bicep.

Flyers trainer Jim McCrossin - “Michal had successful surgery on his left shoulder yesterday at Hahnemann Hospital performed by Dr. Peter DeLuca. We expect Michal to be back with full workouts in about eight-to-10 weeks. He will actually start rehabbing with us today at the Sovereign Bank Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ.

"The procedure that was performed consisted of the bankart repair and a superior labral repair. He also had some fraying of his bicep tendon that the doctor debrided. The doctor felt the repairs went really well and we feel that Michal is going to progress very smoothly.”

   

FlyersFanCentral doubles in size.

For several years I had thought about starting this website, FlyersFanCentral. Last year I actually got the site out of my head and on the net. While it has seemed more work than hobby on occasions the site itself has been rewarding. The people I have met thru other hockey blogs have been interesting, very knowledgeable, passionate about hockey and sometimes down right funny.
I have always thought/hoped that the site would be much more than just me ranting about this or arguing about that. The first step in this hope happened this week. Josh, another Flyers fan approached me about wanting to add his perspective to the site. For the site and for Flyers fans I think this is great. So now FFC has two voices.
Welcome aboard Josh!

   

Flyers under the knife

Injuries throughout this year have been a heavy burden on the Flyers. A burden I think caused them to lose the series against Buffalo, but now the season is over and its time to get them fixed.

Peter Forsberg will most likely have ankle surgery which could possibly cause him to miss some time beginning of next season.

Michal Handzus, Branko Radivojevic and Donald Brashear all will have surgery on their left shoulders.

Sami Kapanen will have surgey on his right shoulder.

Turner Stevenson and Derian Hatcher will have surgery on their right knees.

Mike Rathje at some point will have surgery on his hip.

A review of this years injuries. This is only from THIS year.

Mike Knuble – None, only Flyer to play all 82 games.
Jeff Carter – Missed 1 game after taking a puck to the ear.
Mike Richards – Missed 1 game with sprained wrist, 2 games with head injury.
Mike Rathje – Missed 3 games with groin injury, also torn labrum in his right hip.
Derian Hatcher – Missed 2 games bruised knee, also missed first 3 games serving suspension.
Donald Brashear – Missed 5 games with shoulder injury, also suspended one game.
Michal Handzus – Missed 8 games with shoulder injury.
Simon Gagne – Missed 5 games with groin injury, missed 1 game with flu, missed 3 games bruised knee.
Brian Savage – Missed 11 games with knee injury.
Branko Radivojevic – Missed 8 games with sprained ankle.
Peter Forsberg – Missed 21 games with groin injury, missed 1 game with knee injury.
Joni Pitkanen - Missed 21 with torn abdominal muscle, missed 2 games with groin injury.
Sami Kapanen – Missed 22 games with shoulder injury, missed 1 game with flu.
Freddy Meyer – Missed 16 games with broken leg.
Peter Nedved – After being traded to the Flyers missed 7 games with groin injury.
Kim Johnsson – Missed 1 game with groin injury, missed 34 games with concussion. Also missed playoffs
Chris Therien – Missed 5 games with back injury, missed 28 games with concussion. Also missed playoffs
Eric Desjardins – Missed 28 games with shoulder injury, missed 8 games with concussion.
Turner Stevenson – Missed 38 games with hip injury.
Keith Primeau – Missed 73 games with concussion. Also missed playoffs
Ryan Ready – Missed 21 games with groin injury.

388 man games missed to injury nothing to sneeze at.

   

Flyers Embarrassed in Game 6 Loss, Season Over

The flyers have once again disappointed in this series, with an embarrassing, and this time, home loss to the Buffalo sabers. The final score of 7-1 was bad enough, but there are other aspects that should be absolutely disheartening to Flyers fans. First, let’s recap the game.

The Flyers actually got off to a good start, they applied 10 minutes of constant pressure, and virtually no (at least not noticeable to me) turnovers. Then, it unraveled, yet again. A Forsberg pass gone wrong resulted in a 2-on-1 battle in the corner which our Desjardins lost. The puck was then brought out front, and passed to a wide open Mike Greir who deposited the puck into the gaping net. 1-0 Buffalo.

It continued from there, including the departure of Robert Esche (perhaps, for the last time) and another of his tantrums. First off, this guy is a great goaltender, but was simply hung out to dry in this series to constant odd-man rushes. Let me point out, that these odd-man rushes could have been avoided if the Flyers weren’t always behind and having to chase the game. I don’t have the exact count but at least 4 of the Buffalo goals were on odd-man rushes.

The final result, was a 7-1 loss, and the end of the Flyers season. It was a season that could have been remembered for promising rookies who stepped in to fill the roll of proven veterans, and for injuries that were overcome, and for a NHL record 12 game road trip which the Flyers dominated. Instead, it will be remembered for the way this team was heavily dominated both offensively and defensively in their first round series against the Buffalo Sabers.

This is a pathetic, yet necessary reminder that the Flyers team is NOT built for the new NHL. My top 3 favorite non-Flyers included Derian Hatcher. Unfortunately, Derian is not a new NHL player. The slow defense core of this team and it’s inability to get back cost the Flyers dearly in this series. The absence of the second, third, and fourth lines also did them in. The problem is not that these lines are not good, but that they just didn’t show up.

This Flyers fan is disgusted at the end result of this season, and that it could have been prevented with better management decisions. But, for tonight, we’ll focus on just this game, and unfortunately, it’s going to leave a bad taste in our mouths for quite some time. In the coming days, and weeks, we’ll begin to look to the off-season, and discuss what moves should be done by management.

   

Sabres win Series in 6

For the first 5 games of the series each game was won by the home team. The Sabres had none of that in game 6 as they beat the Flyers 7-1.
The Flyers started the game playing pretty decent, at least positionally but they were not hitting. The lack of physical play made no sense to me. Here you are facing elimination in own building, how do you not get up for that? No hitting, no physical play. So it appears the Flyers packed it in for the game and the season very very early.

As in the other 5 games the Sabres scored first with Mike Grier picking up a goal around the 11 minute mark. Ales Kotalik and Derek Roy also scored in the first period making it a 3-0 Sabres lead after one. In the second Jason Pominville and Maxim Afinogenov scored giving the Sabres a 5-0 lead. Late in the period the Flyers finally get on the scoreboard with Branko Radivojevic picking up his first goal of the playoffs making it 5-1. Less than a minute later the Sabres push the lead back out to 5 goals with a goal by Chris Drury. In the third Chris Drury scored his second goal of the game shorthanded which was the final with the Sabres on top 7-1.

Robert Esche was pulled in the second period after giving up 5 goals on 17 shots. Antero Niittymaki played the rest of the game giving up 2 goals on 11 shots. Typical storyline a couple soft goals by Esche the rest defensive breakdowns by the guys in front of him.

There are news stories around today about how Robert Esche got a standing ovation when he was pulled in the second period. As a fan there at the rink, to me it didn’t seem like an ovation for Esche, but rather a standing ovation for Niittymaki being put in the game. It is no secret that a large section of Flyer fans prefer Niittymaki over Esche. So the articles are a little confusing to me. I do have to say that goaltending did not lose the series for the Flyers. The guys in front of him were more to blame.

Niko Dimitrakos was scratched and replaced by Ben Eager.
Ken Hitcock - "I feel there is no easy ice right now. You have to fight for space on the ice and go into hard areas offensively and defensively, and compete at a high level if you expect to get scoring chances. That's why Ben is in there. He is a competitive player who creates space for other people. He is very strong on the puck. He is good at creating energy for us. He has decent skills."
Eager was -3 with 7:32 minutes of ice time. Personally I don’t see how you take a guy that was called up from your AHL team, play him 25 games from November to January send him back down only to stick him in game 2 and 6 of the playoffs and expect him to contribute at all. I have always thought he should have stayed up with the Flyers the entire year.

Simon Gagne was also -3. Peter Forsberg and Mike Knuble were each -4.

Stars for the game were Chris Drury, Mike Grier and Derek Roy.

It has to be said that the better team won the series. While the Flyers do have the bigger stars, the Sabres played better as a team. Better both offensively and defensively and healthier which also was a big factor.

Some Flyers stats for the series.
Peter Forsberg had 4 goals, Simon Gagne 3 and Peter Neved 2. 5 other Flyers had 1.
Peter Forsberg had 4 assists, Eric Desjardins and Mike Knuble 3, 3 other Flyers had 2 and 4 other Flyers had 1.
Peter Forsberg and Simon Gagne were at +2, on the bottom Denis Gauthier, Mike Richards and Freddy Meyer were -5.
Simon Gagne had 26 shots, Mike Knuble had 17, Peter Forsberg and Sami Kapanen had 12. Kapanen had no goals.
Robert Esche won 2 and lost 4, faced 176 shots gave up 22 goals with 154 saves, 4.20 GAA, .875 save %.
Antero Niittymaki played in 2 games, faced 29 shots gave up 5 goals with 24 saves, 4.11 GAA, .828 save %.
For Buffalow Ryan Miller won 4 and lost 2, faced 159 shots gave up 13 goals with 146 saves, 2.02 GAA, .918 save%.

Obviously with the Flyers losing in the first round the way they did will raise a lot of questions about what they should do next. There will be plenty of time this summer for that discussion.

   

Sabres take game 5 3-0

Buffalo Sabres take game 5 beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0. This gives the Sabres a 3-2 lead in the series as it heads back to Philly for game 6. Sabres scored one goal in each period. Tim Connolly in the first on the power play, J.P. Dumont in the second on the power play and Maxim Afinogenov in the third at even strength.

While officiating was bad in the game, i.e. the penalty to Savage which led to the second goal or the kneeing incident with Nedved, it was not the deciding factor in the game. The Flyers were simply outplayed.

Ken Hitchcock - "Their checking tenacity -- not their speed -- controlled the tempo of the hockey game.”

Agreed, I would also add hustle and heart. The Sabres were the more determined team on the ice.

Robert Esche played another solid game even with giving up the three goals. He stopped 30 of 33 shots. Ryan Miller stopped all 24 shots.

Lineup for the Flyers was the same as the last couple games. Turner Stevenson, Ben Eager, Donald Brashear and Ryan Potulny were healthy scratches. Chris Therien, Keith Primeau and Kim Johnsson injured.
For Buffalo Teppo Numminen returned after missing game 4 with an irregular heartbeat, Jochen heckt was scratched due to injury.

Stars for the game were Ryan Miller, Tim Connolly and Mike Grier.
Although Miller did get the shutout, stand on his head in goal he did not. His defense in front of him kept the pressure to a minimum.

For game 6, the Flyers need to do several things. Still, improve the penalty kill. Giving up 2 pp goals on 6 chances can not be part of the plan. Flyers need to find a way to put more pressure on Miller, three shots in the first is not good enough. Neither is 7 shots in the third when already behind. However, the biggest thing the Flyers need to do is score the first goal which has not happened yet this series.

So this is it, possibly the last game of the year for the Flyers. There can’t be anymore excuses for lack of energy, sub par play or lack of heart. There is no tomorrow, and they need to play like it.

OLN has dropped the ball with NHL hockey coverage this year. TSN dropped the ball with playoff coverage of game 2. Now NBC has dropped the ball on playoff coverage of game 5. At some point mid way thru the third period NBC decided to switch from the Flyers-Sabres game to the Avalanche-Star game. I can not put into words how pissed off I was from this bush league move. What the F were they thinking? I suspect if this ever happened with other professional sports there would be hell to pay. Total bullshit.
At least they didn’t switch to a showing of Heidi.

   

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