Atlantic Division Draft Review:

Coming to Los Angeles, two Atlantic Division teams did not have first round picks.  The New Jersey Devils sent their pick to the Atlanta Thrashers in the Ilya Kovlchuk deal, and the Flyers traded their pick to the Anaheim Ducks in the Chris Pronger deal.

One trade worked; one did not.

In this article, I will review the first-round pick or top pick for each of all five Atlantic Division teams, and late-round picks that may be gems.  I will release each of the other five divisions over the next few days.  I would love to hear feedback about what you think, or if you have a question about your favorite team please email me at MMurangi@nhlhotstove.com .

Here is the review:

New Jersey Devils – Total picks: 5;  Highest round: 2nd (38th overall); Breakdown: 2D, 2G, 1RW.

The Devils used their second-round pick on defenseman Jonathon Merrill.  Merrill played well in the WJC, but did have some problems that  resulted in a mid-season suspension.  He bounced back, and is now a solid, stay-at-home blue liner.  Merrill will continue to hone his craft at the University of Michigan in the fall.  The two goaltenders picked, Scott Wedgewood and Maxime Claremont, came into the season with a chance to crack the top 10 in the rankings, but both struggled during the year.  The Devils have taken a goaltender in the last nine drafts in a row as they search for the heir apparent to Martin Brodure. Keep an eye on Joe Faust, a kid who would have been in the top 40 if he was three inches taller. GRADE C

New York Islanders – Total picks: 6; Highest round: 1st (5th overall); Breakdown: 2D 1G 2C 1RW 1LW.

If you rate this draft on talent, the Islanders would be in the top 5 in the league., but with the talent comes tons of question marks.  Top pick Nino Niederreiter is a  top-notch goal scorer and projects to be a top notch power forward on the power play.  Second-round pick Brock Nelson will take his time in his development at North Dakota.  The sleeper of the group is Kirill Kabanov, a very talented Russian with a lot of baggage.  Kabanov could have been a bonified top 10 pick.  If he pans out, this could be the best draft class of any team in the league.  Keep an eye on 3rd round pick Jason Clarke, a Shattucks and St Mary’s kid, who is a very talented  center.  Garth Snow went with forwards with his top four picks this time around.  Next year, expect him to try and restock the blue line.  GRADE A

New York Rangers – Total picks: 6; Highest round 1st (10th overall); Breakdown: 1D 1C 3RW 1LW.

The Rangers have a young, talented blue line and a lack of scoring on the parent club.  With scoring being a great need for the Rangers coming into the draft, every expert had them taking a forward, but after the run of the players the Rangers had high on their board, they took the fastest mover on the draft board in blue-liner Dylan McIlrath,  by far the toughest kid in the draft.  He is the type of blue line shut-down guy every team needs.  He has some skill, will pitch in 20 points a season, and will beat the hell out of everyone.  In the second round, the Rangers took Christian Thomas, the son of former NHL’er Steve Thomas.  He had a slow start as a rookie, but exploded for 41 goals this past season.  Ranked 69th by central scouting, the thing that dropped him was his size.  The Rangers then addded Andrew Yogan in the 3rd round, who will be a solid depth  forward, should be a star in the AHL, and will see some limited NHL time.  Keep an eye on 5th-rounder Jason Wilson, a great 2 way winger with some scoring touch.  GRADE C

Philadelphia Flyers – Total picks: 6; Highest round: 3rd (89th overall); Breakdown: 2D 1C 1RW 2LW.

The Flyers traded their top two picks, and watched Anaheim choose So-Cal born Emmerson Etem with the pick they sent them at the draft last year for Chris Pronger.  Philly went safe will almost all there picks, and used there 3rd round pick on Michael Chaput, a tall skinny center from the QMJHL’s Lewiston Maineiacs.  He has a ton of upside, and is a solid, fluid skater, but will need to add weight to play in the NHL and may be 4 years away.  Keep an eye on 7th round pick Brendan Ranford, a good, solid winger with a touch of scoring.  He is one of the best penalty killers in the draft, but fell to the 7th round due to his size.  He was rated 111th by central scouting, and his uncle is Bill Ranford, a Stanley Cup-winning goaltender with the Edmonton Oilers and the current goaltending coach of the Los Angeles Kings.  GRADE D

Pittsburgh Penguins – Total picks: 6; Highest round :1st (20th overall);  Breakdown: 2D 3RW 1LW.

If there is one need the Penguins have, its scoring wingers.  Pittsburgh used their first-round pick on Southern California native Beau Bennett, a scoring winger who put up 120 points in only 56 games.  Some would say that the talent that Bennett played against was not as solid as the talent in the WHL.  He is not NHL ready, and will attend The University of Denver this fall.  He should be a solid 2nd line winger for years in the NHL, but will need to score to stay in the league.  Bryan Rust is another solid winger out of the US development program.  He put up solid numbers in the WJC and will join the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame this fall where he will focus on bulking up for the rigors of the NHL.  Keep an eye on 4th round pick Tom Kuhenhackl, a RW out of Germany.  He will join Windsor this season after playing in Germany, and is a very gifted scorer.  He might be the gem of the class.  The Penguins took the best player available with all their picks, and overall, it was one of the most solid drafts top to bottom the Penguins have had in years.  GRADE A

Up next will be the Central Division.

Mike Murangi
NHLHS Entry Draft Correspondent
mmurangi@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @Draft_Mike

As the National Hockey League’s free agency period officially opened up today, there was no mystery as to what Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren was hoping to acquire.

Defensemen, and possibly a goaltender.

And right at the strike of noon, TSN’s Bob McKenzie broke the news that Holmgren had made his first acquisition of the day, defenseman Andrej Meszaros of the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2012 second round draft pick.

The 24-year-old, 6′ 2″, 223 pound Slovak gives the Flyers another physical presence other than Chris Pronger.  Having played the last two seasons for a bad team in Tampa, the 2004 first round pick of the Ottawa Senators will welcome the chance to win immediately.

Meszaros has four seasons left at $4 million annually.

Next up, Philadelphia announced that 25-year-old, 6′ 5″, 220 pound restricted free agent Braydon Coburn had been re-signed to a two-year, $6.4 million deal.

Holmgren obviously rewarded Coburn for his play in the postseason as compared to his performance during the regular season, and is expecting that kind of play to continue over the next two years.

Then came word of another defenseman signing, this time former Los Angeles King Sean O’ Donnell.  Another large body at 6′ 2″, 237 pounds, it became quite clear that Holmgren feels that a big, punishing defense is key in a seven-game playoff series.

Though he will be 39 years old at the beginning of the 2010-11 regular season, O’ Donnell is nothing if not durable.  Over the course of the past four campaigns, the member of the 2007 Stanley Cup-winning Anaheim Ducks has missed just seven games, while playing a hard-nosed style.

Holmgren actually did sign a forward, as Jody Shelley was signed to a three-year, $3.3 million contract.  The 34-year-old, 6′ 3″, 225 pounder will fill a third / fourth line wing spot, which spelled the end of the line for UFA Arron Asham in Philly.

Weeks ago when it was speculated that Asham may be allowed to walk and sign elsewhere, it was thought that the Flyers would be looking for a fourth-liner that could chip in with more offense than “Ash”.  While Shelley is plenty tough, he will fill the penalty box much more than the net, as he has managed just five goals over the past three seasons.  Asham scored 24 in the same time frame.

There was talk that UFA netminders Chris Mason or Dan Ellis could be headed to Philadelphia, but Ellis was inked to a two-year pact by Tampa Bay, and Mason was later signed to a two-year deal to man the crease for the Atlanta Thrashers.

With the Michael Leighton signing yesterday it appears that he will be battling Brian Boucher and Johan Backlund for the starting job in training camp.

That is barring a trade of a roster player for a number one goaltender, or at least moving a current high salaried roster player to clear cap space with which to sign a starter.  The most mentioned names in this scenario are that of Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco.

The most likely candidates to be moved if Holmgren opts to go this route are forwards Scott Hartnell ($4.25 million annually for three more years), Simon Gagne ($5 million per year for one more season), or the outside possibility of Danny Briere ($6.5 million per year for the next five seasons).  Any deal involving Hartnell or Gagne would require the waiving of a no-trade clause, and the same would apply to Briere and his no-movement clause.

But if the team has made the decision to make the attempt to move either Hartnell or Briere, this may just be the best time to do so.  Hartnell was arguably the best Flyers forward in the Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks, and Briere led the entire NHL in postseason scoring.  The performances of both erased forgettable, and even dreadful regular seasons.

With 21 players under contract, Philly has less than $578,000 left under the cap, and this with wingers Daniel Carcillo and Darroll Powe yet to be signed.

After a busy opening day of shopping on the free agent for Holmgren, one gets the feeling that he is far from done with the retooling of his club.

David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

*Contract figures were obtained via CapGeek.com, as usual the most-reliable source for NHL contract numbers.*

Goaltender Michael Leighton was brought back into the fold yesterday as he signed a two-year, $3.1 million deal.

While GM Paul Holmgren now has his two netminders from the end of last season under contract and in place (Brian Boucher is signed through 2010-11), there is much speculation as to whether or not the reigning Eastern Conference Champions are done with the crease position.

Aside from doing nothing, there is a growing sentiment that there are two highly probable routes that Holmgren will choose between when the clock strikes twelve noon.

Build a stronger defense and go for a B-tier goaltender

With Leighton re-signed, one school of thought is that Holmgren will go after one of the premier defensemen available, presumably former Ottawa Senator Anton Volchenkov.  The 6′ 1″, 227 pound rearguard plays a very physical style, and is well-suited for head coach Peter Laviolette’s type of game.

Once opposition teams got through Chris Pronger’s shifts, there wasn’t a whole lot of physicality to the rest of the Flyers defensemen’s games.  Volchenkov would change that in a big way.

After already inquiring into the contract demands of UFA goaltenders Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco and realizing their camps are both going for the huge pay day, Holmgren could turn his attention towards Chris Mason or Dan Ellis.

Mason won 30 games last season with the St. Louis Blues and will make any team that signs him a much better club moving forward.  Highly under-rated, the 34-year-old earned $3 million last year and should be in line for a modest raise.  This would put him in the area that Philly is looking to spend.

The 30-year-old Ellis won 15 games last year with the Nashville Predators, mostly in a backup role to Pekka Rinne.  His rights were traded to the Montreal Canadiens earlier in the week, and as of Thursday morning, no deal had been announced.

Ellis would be a great fit in Philadelphia for both sides.  As it would appear that the Habs have a more defined role in mind for him as the second string to Carey Price, the Flyers have already told Leighton that he will have a chance to compete for the starter’s position for next season.  That role is not being given to him and he was not signed as the incumbent.

This course of action is not bad at all, but can only work if restricted free agent Braydon Coburn is also re-signed.

And with the money saved on moving down a tier in the goaltender pay scale, there may be enough leftover to also sign a couple other free agent defensemen.

It was obvious that there was a tremendous drop off after the top four of Pronger-Matt Carle and Kimmo Timonen-Coburn.  It got to the point that Laviolette had no confidence in his third pairing of Lukas Krajicek (also an UFA as of today)-Ryan Parent (since traded to Nashville).  Things got so bad in the Stanley Cup Finals for Parent that he saw just 41 seconds of ice time in game one, sported a -1 rating, and was a healthy scratch the rest of the series.

Parent’s replacement was Oskars Bartulis.  The 23-year-old Latvian blue liner is a nice seventh defenseman but not a top-six,  at least not at this point of his career.

Candidates to fill the five and / or six spots are Kurtis Foster and Zbynek Michalek, both 28 years old.

At 6′ 2″, 210 pounds, Michalek is especially interesting because he would give the Orange-and-Black a right-handed shot from the point, something they did not possess last season.

Foster, 6′ 5″ and 230 pounds, was a nominee for the Masterton Trophy this past season, as he worked his way back from a horrific injury while playing for the Minnesota Wild in early 2008.  Last year in his first full season back and playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Foster was the best Bolts defenseman, leading the Lightning D-men in goals (8) and setting a career-high for assists (34) and points (42).

Leave the defense “as is” and go after one of the high-priced netminders

Holmgren could just re-sign Coburn and Krajicek, and then set his sights on Nabokov or Turco.

The problem with this scenario is that much of the hopes will be thrown onto one player in net, and it also sets up the top two blue line pairings for nearly 30 minutes of ice time per game.

Holmgren was not happy that Pronger played so much, especially during regular season contests midway through the season.  But in Laviolette’s defense, the Flyers had dropped to 14th place in the East and risked the prospect of missing out on the postseason altogether.

With the first route explored, the 35-year-old Pronger and Timonen could tire, especially in the playoffs.  Any scenario that saves wear and tear on their best rearguards bodies would be preferred.

And add in the fact that this option also sets up for monumental failure and disappointment if that one player that you put your hopes in suffers a long-term injury.  You will know exactly what I’m talking about if you look back at the Flyers’ injury situation between the pipes last year.

As improbable as it is that it would happen again, stranger things have happened.

And so begins the free agent frenzy at noon today.  It remains to be seen which direction Holmgren will take as he sits at the fork in the road between spending a large portion of his remaining cap money on defense or a goaltender.

But then again he probably considers this situation as a luxury, since he hasn’t had any cap space with which to deal with for a couple of seasons.

Here’s to hoping that you spend wisely, Paul.

David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

For the Philadelphia Flyers, NHL Entry Draft day is usually a very busy time.  Last year GM Paul Holmgren pulled the trigger on the Chris Pronger deal with the Anaheim Ducks, and the previous year moved forward R.J. Umberger to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a first round pick (Luca Sbisa, who ended up being dealt to Anaheim in the Pronger trade).

Yesterday was much different.  It was a day full of rumors and conflicting reports from well-connected, much-respected members of the hockey media community regarding the status of Holmgren’s contract talks with impending UFA defenseman Dan Hamhuis, acquired a week ago today from the Nashville Predators for defenseman Ryan Parent.

The first word of the day that made the rounds was from a Vancouver sports radio broadcast.  The report was that analyst Pierre McGuire was reporting that the Flyers and Hamhuis’ agent were very close to signing a four-year, $20 million pact.

This was a strange rumor, as talk had been that Hamhuis’ camp was searching for a four-year, $16 million deal.

As no announcement of a deal was made, Tim Panaccio of the CSN-Philly.com reported that Hamhuis’ rights would not be dealt at the Entry Draft, and that if no deal was reached by next week, only then would Holmgren consider dealing those rights.

After a few hours of nothing new being reported on a contract agreement, word came from TSN analyst Bob McKenzie that the Flyers and Hamhuis were not close at all on any deal.  McKenzie said he was actually hearing that the Vancouver Canucks may be interested in dealing for Hamhuis’ rights.

But after Vancouver traded for Florida Panther defenseman Keith Ballard just prior to the commencement of the Draft, it was obvious that they were not going to make any deals to acquire Hamhuis’ rights.

There were reports early on that Holmgren had been in discussions with Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ray Shero, and later with San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson.  As Pittsburgh’s draft spot at number 20 was approaching, there was speculation that Holmgren was attempting to acquire the pick.

But as Shero picked center Beau Bennett with that selection, it appeared that the Flyers would not be making a move at all on the day.

Just as the first round reached its conclusion, it was announced that Philadelphia had traded Hamhuis’ rights to arch-rival and divisional foe Pittsburgh for a third round selection in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

The deal makes sense for the Penguins.  They are about to lose number one defenseman Sergei Gonchar to unrestricted free agency,  as Shero does not want to give the 36-year-old rearguard a guaranteed third year on any new deal.

The deal also makes sense for Hamhuis.  One of the biggest sticking points reported between Hamhuis and the Flyers was that Hamhuis was worried about his role with the club, should he sign.  With Pronger and Matt Carle being the first defensive pairing and the second consisting of Kimmo Timonen and (RFA) Braydon Coburn, it appears Hamhuis had reservations about just how much quality playing time he would receive with the Orange-and-Black.

One of the remedies for that situation that was rumored was Holmgren moving Coburn upon signing Hamhuis.  But that is now a moot point.

From a Flyers’ perspective, the choice to move Hamhuis to a destination of such a key enemy is a curious one, at best.

Not only do the teams play each other six times during the regular season, but Philadelphia has also lost to Pittsburgh in the playoffs in two of the past three years.  With Jaroslav Halak and the Montreal Canadiens doing the Flyers a big favor by unceremoniously dispatching the reigning Stanley Cup Champions in this past postseason, the team was spared a potential meeting with the Penguins for a third  year in a row.

There were reports that several teams had made offers for Hamhuis’ rights, but Pittsburgh’s offer was the best.  Wouldn’t it have been a wiser decision for Holmgren to take a little less and keep “Hammer” out of a position to possibly do damage to his own team’s cause in the very near future?

Flyers to Acquire Rights to Nabokov?

There has been much talk about the direction that Holmgren will go in his quest to fill the vacant Philly crease for the 2010-11 season.

Reports earlier in the week had Flyers’ GM talking to Michael Leighton’s agent, Mike Liut, about a possible re-signing of the pending unrestricted free agent netminder.  The train of thought is that Leighton would be brought in as a backup to whomever Holmgren acquires as his starter.  But that option may not be so attractive for Leighton, as he showed a lot in the starting role since his acquisition by the Flyers.

Reports also surfaced this past week that Holmgren will show great interest in UFA Marty Turco next Thursday.

After the conclusion of round one of the Draft last night, word was that Holmgren had spoken to Sharks’ GM Wilson about trading for the rights to pending unrestricted free agent Evgeni Nabokov.   The goaltender will turn 35 years old next month, and even though he has never had tremendous success in the postseason, Nabby has won 40+ games in each of the past three regular seasons.

Something could come of this on the second day of the Draft on Saturday, as there is now only five full days until free agency officially gets under way.

And as we saw with the Hamhuis situation, it is not always an easy task to get a deal done in such a short period of time.

David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren had said that he wanted to make improvements to his club during the offseason, and he got a start on his to-do list on Saturday afternoon.

With less than a week until the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles, the Flyers and Predators swapped defensemen, with Philly sending Ryan Parent to back to Nashville for the rights to pending unrestricted free agent Dan Hamhuis, along with a conditional draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

This is a familiar scenario between the two teams, as Holmgren had acquired the rights from Nashville to two pending free agents in the 2007 offseason when he picked up the rights to defenseman Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell.  Holmgren promptly signed each, locking them in with five-year deals.

He now must sign Hamhuis before July 1st or face the risk of losing the defenseman, as he would be able to test the free agent waters.

Holmgren said:  “Our intention is to get him signed prior to July 1, and that is what our aim is at this point in time.  The sooner that we get going on trying to get this done, the better.”

Give Predators GM David Poile credit as he garnered some kind of a return for Hamhuis, a player he more than likely would have lost for nothing when the free agency period opens in less than two weeks.

By re-acquiring the 23-year-old Parent, a defenseman that he had drafted 18th overall in the 2005 Entry Draft and dealt to Philadelphia in the Peter Forsberg trade in 2007, Poile has one less slot to fill on his blue line for the upcoming season.

Parent was supposed to turn into a top-four, shutdown defenseman, but injuries and inconsistency have greatly slowed his development.

Parent has played in just 102 games over the past three seasons with the Flyers, scoring one goal and adding six assists.  He was tied with fellow defenseman Lukas Krajicek for a team-worst plus / minus at a -14.

As he appeared to lose confidence, the play of Parent was bad enough during the playoffs that he played in just 17 postseason games, scoring one goal and recording a -1.

But as Philadelphia continued to march towards the Stanley Cup Finals, Parent was used more sparingly.  He only saw 41 seconds of ice time in game one of the Finals, and still managed to finish a -1.

After that performance, Oskars Bartulis was inserted into the lineup in Parent’s place.

The 27-year-old Hamhuis is a player that Holmgren coveted and nearly acquired at the March trade deadline.  Parent was rumored to be the return in trade discussions at that time, also.

Hamhuis is a consistent, physical player that would be greatly welcomed on the Philadelphia defense.  And unlike the oft-injured Parent, Hamhuis has averaged 80 games per NHL season.

Along with being a top four, shutdown guy in Nashville, Hamhuis has also been a much more consistent offensive contributor than Parent, averaging over five goals and 21 assists in his six seasons.

With contract negotiations for restricted free agent rearguard Braydon Coburn, Holmgren would have the option of moving Coburn if he can sign Hamhuis to be in his top four with Chris Pronger, Matt Carle, and Timonen.

But if Coburn is re-signed the Flyers blue line, once one of the team’s biggest liabilities, would become a tremendous strength.

If he can sign Hamhuis, Holmgren would have another piece in his attempt to build the Flyers into a team that can win two more games in the postseason and lay claim to the organization’s ultimate goal, Lord Stanley.

It should be an eventful week leading up to the Draft, as Holmgren not only will try to secure Hamhuis’ services, but also get his starting goaltending position resolved.

Stay tuned…

David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

After the final horn went to officially end game five, the tell tale signs were all there that this may finally be the end of the line for the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers players looked tired.  Despite outhitting the Chicago Blackhawks, 45-35, Philadelphia took the more punishing checks for a good portion of the night.

Mike Richards looked gassed.  As did Claude Giroux, Simon Gagne, and just about every other Flyer, for that matter.

Chicago forward Dustin Byfuglien laid several bone-crushing hits, particularly on Philly defenseman Chris Pronger.

Those hit appeared to take a toll on Pronger, and the defenseman finished the game a career-worst -5.

Philadelphia left the ice a defeated team Sunday night.  Chicago had beaten them in nearly every aspect of the game, and the Blackhawks needed just one more win to lock up their first Stanley Cup in 49 years.

When you have a team in this spot, you don’t do anything to provoke them.  Let a sleeping dog lie.

You use the tactic that Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil employed back in the 1980 NFC Championship game.

Up against a tough and talented Dallas Cowboys’ team, Vermeil used the media to stroke the egos of the Cowboys players and organization during the time off leading up to the game.

By the time the contest started, Dallas thought all all they had to do was show up and they would be well on their way to the Super Bowl.

The Eagles ran all over the Cowboys for the entire 60 minutes that day, easily beating an overconfident Dallas team.

I have never forgotten that moment, and wondered why more teams haven’t used it themselves.

These past two days were the perfect time for Chicago to use Vermeil’s example, to say all the right things and hope that the Flyers went quietly into the night on Wednesday.

But instead, the struggling Chicago Tribune took the exact opposite approach and decided to publish this photo centerfold in hopes of more sales:

There is a difference between taking good-natured shots at players and crossing the line into cheap shot classlessness.

It’s rather ironic that the Tribune basically forgot about the Blackhawks, much like the rest of Chicago, during their years of futility.

Now that the team has been rebuilt and stands on the threshold of greatness, a bad sideshow was not what Chicago wanted to portray.

Pronger couldn’t have cared less:  ”I don’t read what you guys write.  Good or bad.  I really don’t care, to be honest with you.  I’m worried about playing this game.”

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the whole situation is that the Blackhawks coach and players weren’t even involved.

Joel Quenneville must be furious.  Trying to finish off the fourth and final win in a Cup Finals is difficult enough, a task that could become even more arduous with the cheap shot.

Do you really want to anger the opposing player who has been the best on the ice for much of the series?

And if there is any justice, the hockey gods will give Pronger and the rest of his teammates a strong second wind.

And maybe even give Pronger the opportunity to do a curtsey at United Center’s center ice on Friday night with Lord Stanley raised above his head.

Worst-Kept Secret “Revealed”, Leighton Probable Starter in Game 6

Since the end of game five on Sunday night, it has been amazing to see all of the media outlets pondering which goaltender would be manning the Philadelphia crease on Wednesday night for game six.

Incumbent starter Michael Leighton was pulled after the first period of game five trailing 3-0, having given up three goals on 13 shots.

Leighton’s goals given up were not horrendous.

The first, scored by Blackhawks’ defenseman Brent Seabrook, was a deflection off of defenseman Chris Pronger’s skate.  It changed direction just enough to keep the puck away from Leighton’s waiting right pad, and ended up as a seeing-eye goal that went just between the Philly net minder’s right skate and the goal post.

That one play seemed to shift every player on the ice into a different gear.

The players in the red home team uniforms, already moving faster than their opponents, kicked it into overdrive.

And conversely, anyone in the road whites seemed to downshift into first gear.

The second goal was probably the one that Leighton would like to have back.  On a delayed Philadelphia penalty call, David Bolland’s flip banked off of Leighton’s right skate, which he didn’t get up against the post, and trickled into the net.

And Leighton played down the effect of being hit on the knee by a shot in warm ups prior to game five.

“It’s just a bruise.  It didn’t affect the way I played.  Once you get on the ice, you don’t really think about it.”

Laviolette’s pulling of Leighton in favor of Brian Boucher has been done before, most-recently in game one in Chicago.

Some even took Laviolette’s decision not to name a game six starter as a sign of not having confidence in Leighton.

But as Laviolette stated today, “Our goaltender has the best numbers in the playoffs, I didn’t think I’d have to announce it.”

Leighton has been this team’s best goaltender over the course of the entire season, and there is no reason to change that now.

Sporting an 8-2 record with a 2.34 goals-against average, Leighton has earned the right to play Wednesday night.

End of “story”.

David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

Coming off of a career-high 30-goal season last year, Scott Hartnell was being counted on to have another big year for the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2009-10 campaign.

He had been in Philadelphia for two seasons and had recorded 54 goals over that span, so why wouldn’t he be counted on to contribute heavily?

But something very unexpected happened.  Hartnell not only had a marked dropoff in his production, he also lost his effectiveness as a player.

When at his best, Hartnell is driving the net and creating havoc deep in the opposition’s zone, banging bodies and crashing the net.

Tangling with defenders in front of the opposing goaltender, looking for opportunities for deflections or rebounds.

Screening the netminder to obstruct their view of oncoming shots, and occasionally brushing them and “getting into their kitchen”.

Hartnell had become a very effective weapon for the Flyers, and one of the most-hated players outside of Philly.

With the departure of 25-goal scorer Joffrey Lupul in the Chris Pronger deal this past off-season, Hartnell’s goals would be even more of a necessity.

But things have not worked out that way.  This season was nothing better than a nightmare for the mop-haired redhead.

Struggling through perhaps his worst regular season since coming into the NHL, Hartnell saw his goal total plummet to a mere 14, while finishing his first season in Philly as a minus-rated player (-6).

He battled as hard as ever, but more often than not wound up on the ice.  Balance on his skates somehow had become an issue.

And maybe worst of all, from the team’s standpoint, Hartnell regularly took undisciplined, lazy penalties at the most inopportune times.

There have been off-ice, personal issues that Hartnell has had to deal with this season, and no doubt have been a factor in his free-fall in his on-ice performance.

In December, there was a rumor regarding Jeff Carter and Hartnell’s wife, which proved to be just an ugly rumor.

And as the rumor made it’s way through the Delaware Valley, more rumors were bred that there were schisms in the Flyers locker room.

There was a murmuring in the Philadelphia hockey community that head coach Peter Laviolette needed to bench the 28-year-old winger, thinking that some form of discipline would hopefully turn Hartnell’s play back around to where it needed to be.

Laviolette kept him in the lineup, hoping for an improvement that, unfortunately during the regular season, did not come.

But things have changed for the better in the postseason.

After Laviolette finally did bench Hartnell for much of game three in the second round against the Boston Bruins, the two had a meeting regarding Hartnell’s play.

He has looked like the 2008-09 version of Scott Hartnell ever since.

Placed on a line with Danny Briere and Ville Leino, Hartnell is once again at his effective best.

Crashing and banging bodies, Hartnell does a lot of the plumbers work as skilled players Briere and Leino have had room to create and make plays.

Hartnell has scored five goals and racked up 13 points in 20 playoff contests, and most-importantly, has produced two goals and three assists in the three games of the Stanley Cup Finals thus far.

Game three was a classic example of what Hartnell provides for the team.

Blackhawks goaltender Antti Niemi is finding out that it’s difficult to stop what you cannot see as Hartnell has eclipsed his view of many Flyers shots.

He was involved in physical play with many Chicago players.  He leveled forward Tomas Kopecky, which led to a bit of a skirmish.

Hartnell:  “Every hit counts.  It’s a series,  we knew it was going to be a long series.  Every hit counts.  It has since game one right until overtime in game three.  You bang bodies, you make it hard on them and hopefully wear and tear on the bodies.”

He also made a brilliant cross-crease pass to Briere as he was falling to the ice on Philadelphia’s first goal, and scored one of his own on a deflection of a Pronger point shot in the second period.

Being down in the series 0-2 to the Blackhawks, it was just what the Flyers needed in as much of a “must-win” game as there could have been for Philadelphia in the finals.

It has been a trying year for Hartnell, to say the very least.

But if he continues to be a positive force and helps the team in achieving its ultimate goal, it’s a good guess that many will forget about Hartnell’s regular season struggles.

And maybe it will be exactly what is required in helping Hartnell get through a difficult period in his personal life as well.

David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

Breakfast, shmreakfast. Look at the score, for Christ’s sake. It’s only the second period and I’m up 12 to 2. Breakfasts come and go, Rene, but Hartford, “the Whale,” they only beat Vancouver once, maybe twice in a lifetime. - Mallrats

A man by the name of Howard Baldwin wants to bring back the Whalers. The founder and former managing general partner of the National Hockey League’s Hartford Whalers is back.

Baldwin, his wife Karen and his Whalers Sports and Entertainment enterprise intend to re-establish the Whalers legacy in Connecticut.

His attempts begin this summer with an Outdoor Hockey Fest and Summer Reunion to revitalize the Whalers tradition.

It all starts with a 10-day Whalers Hockey Fest in February 2011 that can include as many as 20 outdoor games between pro, college prep schools and high school teams.

When names like Ron Francis, Chris Pronger, Geoff Sanderson and Jean-Sebastian Giguere all have something in common…all original Whalers draft picks, you have to wonder where the passion went in the Nutmeg state.

Well, wherever it went the man wants it back.

Witnessing the Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup a few seasons back has left a sour taste in the mouths of old time hockey fans, especially those of the Whalers.

Remember, it was these same Whalers that were relocated to Carolina to become the Hurricanes.

Of course, getting a National Hockey League franchise back into the greater Hartford area is a long shot especially with the way things have been going with the league.  However, to say it is impossible is unfair.

The NHL will go through changes considering the CBA is due to expire. Of course, no one knows what that means except for the potential of another lockout.  However, the league, I feel, is a bit smarter than we believe and understand that another lockout will ruin the great sport of hockey forever.  Especially in the states.

There is much to be done within the league, and many changes will take place over the course of the next few years.

There are many great cities all across North America that have great hockey fans, thus deserving of an NHL franchise.  The one stipulation is that it must come via relocation, NOT expansion.

But those are other stories for other times.

As for the situation being discussed, as more news is distributed we will keep you up to date here at NHL Hot Stove.

The Whalers Reunion Fan Fest will run from August 12-14, 2010.

For more information on all being discussed be sure to visit: www.WhalersSports.com

Anthony Curatolo
NHLHS Senior Writer
acuratolo@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @HockeyGuy_AC

And through the years, the Philadelphia Flyers have been involved in their fair share.

In the 1985 Stanley Cup Finals, Philly goaltender Pelle Lindbergh, battling dehydration, asked that a water bottle be placed on top of the net so that he could drink at stoppages.  Edmonton Oilers’ head coach Glen Sather saw it as a ruse, and wryly commented:  “What are they going to want up there next, a bucket of chicken?”

Officials allowed the bottle to be left on the net, and has since become a fixture for all goaltenders.

In the 1987 Wales Conference Finals, the Flyers took exception to a ritual of shooting the puck into the opposition’s net after everyone had cleared the ice after the pre-game warm ups by Montreal Canadiens’ forwards Claude Lemieux and Shayne Corson .

Prior to game six, Lemieux and Corson again stayed on the ice, waiting for all the players to exit after the warm ups.  But this time, Philadelphia’s tough defenseman Ed Hospodar and backup goaltender Glenn “Chico” Resch remained on the ice.

As Corson and Lemieux gathered the puck and readied to fire it into the empty Flyers cage, Resch slid his goal stick in an attempt to block the puck from entering the net, and Hospodar grabbed Lemieux and started throwing punches.

What ensued was a 15-minute donneybrook with no officials on the ice to break it up.  Players spilled back onto the ice from their respective locker rooms.  Flyers’ enforcer Dave Brown was shirtless, with just suspenders holding up his hockey pants.  Defenseman Doug Crossman was in flip flops.

The result was over $42,000 in fines for numerous players, and a suspension for Hospodar.

This season has been no different.

With the Flyers making it to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1997, some shenanigans should have been expected.

Pronger gives a not-so subtle smirk during press conference

As most NHL enthusiasts know, a winning goaltender usually likes to snatch the game puck and take it as a souvenir.

Chicago’s Antti Niemi is no different, and wanted to collect the pucks when time expired after games one and two.

After Philadelphia dropped a one-goal decision in Chicago to the Blackhawks in game one, defenseman Chris Pronger took it upon himself to pick the puck up off the ice and disappear with it into the Philadelphia locker room.

When Pronger repeated the act after game two, Blackhawks forward Ben Eager took exception and said something to the Flyers defenseman.

Pronger shot a towel at Eager, and the two got into a heated verbal exchange.  Both players received 10-minute misconducts for their troubles.

When Eager was asked what happened, he said:  “He’s been picking up pucks after the game, and I just told him he can keep it.”

When Pronger was asked what Eager said to him, he responded:  “I don’t speak that language, whatever he was speaking.  I couldn’t hear him.”

So surely Pronger would let us know what he did with the pucks when he carried them off the ice.

“It’s in the garbage.  Where it belongs.”

Ouch.

Flyers’ coach Peter Laviolette seemed amused by the entire affair.  “So what is it they’re going to do?  What added incentive do they have?  They’re angry?  It’s the playoffs.  We’re going to compete like hell (Wednesday) night.  I promise you that.  I don’t know what else they can do because we stole the puck.  I think it’s comical.”

Mike Richards added:  “I don’t have a problem with it.  If he wants to get the puck, give him the puck.  I’m not going to tell him not to.  Eager can tell him not to take it if he wants.”

Fans in the Philadelphia area have even gotten into the mix, making up their own satirical takes, even in this listing on CraigsList:  http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/clt/1770129512.html

Whichever side you take on this issue, one thing is clear.  Pronger is trying to distract the Blackhawks players, and somehow give the Flyers an edge.

And really, that’s all Pronger cares about.  Giving Philadelphia any kind of edge, no matter how small, to help break through and give his team a window of opportunity to climb back into the series.

“I don’t know.  Apparently, it got him (Eager) upset.  So I guess it worked, didn’t it?  It’s too bad.  I guess little things amuse little minds.”

And so it goes as the Blackhawks move into Philadelphia tonight to play game three against the Flyers.

Have the Philly players gotten into the Blackhwaks minds at all?  That remains to be seen.

But it isn’t for a lack of trying, especially on the part of Pronger.

David Strehle
NHLHS Flyers Correspondent / NHL Writer
dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @PhilaDAVEia

The final stage has been set and tonight, the 2010 Stanley Cup finals begin live from the United Center in Chicago at 8 p.m. EST.

We hope you have enjoyed our pros and cons debate throughout the playoffs. For the final time, we present our debate. Thank you for all the reading you have done over the course of the season.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS by DAVE STREHLE

What else can be said about the Philadelphia Flyers’ postseason run and what more can they do for an encore?