And it's this guy.   The International Ice Hockey Federation reported this morning that Oskars Bartulis was named to the Latvian Olympic Team, making him one of only four players on the team who does not already play for the KHL's Dynamo Riga.   Now the IIHF is trying to frame this as some sort of advantage to the Latvians as they'll have the only "team" that's coming into the tournament as a unit. But what they're overlooking is that this "team" is currently sitting in the bottom third of the KHL standings and will be going up against what is basically the equivalent of NHL all-star teams, not Chris Simon and Darcy Verot.   The Latvians are in a better position to avoid a drubbing the likes of the one their younger comrades received over the weekend, but that might just be because NHL players are older, classier, and more mature. Not because Raitis Ivanans hasn't totally been ruled out to make the squad.   Spengler Cup In other international hockey news Canada is 2-0 in the Spengler Cup, an international tournament hosted by HC Davos of Switzerland that is open to both club and international teams that are invited by Davos.

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View original blog post here: Flyers Goal Scored By... - A Philadelphia Flyers NHL Blog

There's one thing this season has taught me... expect the unexpected. We filled our heads and hearts with glowing, lofty predictions that that the Flyers would go undefeated on their way to ending the long Cup drought in Philly. Pronger was the answer, Emery would be the goalie the Flyers long needed, Carter would push Ovechkin for the scoring title, etc - etc - etc Instead, we all know where things have ended up. So excuse me if the team's recent 'tear' doesn't have me doing cartwheels and exclaiming that the we'll be sitting atop the East in a month and all thoughts of woe will be thoroughly erased. I'm just not that optimistic. This has been a great confidence stretch for the Flyers, and could very well continue for the foreseeable future.

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The Flying P Blog

You can try to convince me all you want that the Canadian World Junior Team's 16-0 shellacking of Latvia in the opening game of the WJC was a necessary evil in a tournament whose second tie-breaker is goal differential. I can try to convince you that you're full of shit and you could give me a log of recent bowel movements, but we'll never see eye to eye. If you end up not advancing to a medal round because you only beat a much weaker opponent 10-0 then so be it. There's no need to humilate a group of amateur athletes like that. And while tonight's 6-0 win over Switzerland seems like a nail-bitter in comparison, you'd be hard pressed to find a classier display of sportsmanship than Toronto Maple Leafs first round pick Nazem Kadri let loose during the third period of a game that was already over: The player that Kadri is threatening to decapitate is a Swiss player by the name of Nino Niederreiter, an 18 year old transplant with the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL who made the mistake of hitting the young Canadian "phenom" earlier in the game. Niederreiter is actually a budding star who led the Winter Hawks in scoring before leaving for the WJC with 41 points in 37 games during his first year of major junior in North America. He's projected to be a second round draft pick. Or was. Before the Joaquin Phoenix of Canada gave the young Swiss star the thumbs down and sentenced him to death

View original blog post here: Flyers Goal Scored By... - A Philadelphia Flyers NHL Blog