View other archived news items: February 2001, March 2001, April 2001, May 2001, Summer 2001, September 2001, October 2001. November 2001.
(12/29) The Flyers returned to their winning ways tonight in Denver on the strength of three second period goals and three assists from Chris Therien. Simon Gagne got the scoring started with an unassisted goal at 15:49 of the first period when he converted upon a Joe Sakic turnover. In the second period, the Flyers exploded for three goals sandwiched between two Colorado markers. LeClair, Dopita, and Roenick scored those goals; Dopita's came on the power play. Keith Primeau netted an empty net goal at 19:10 of the third period to settle things for good. Roman Cechmanek had the win, making 31 saves on 33 shots.
Notes: The win marks the Flyers first win ever in Colorado against the Avs. The last time they beat the Avs on the road, the Avs were still in Quebec and called the Nordiques. . . . Kent Manderville and Francis Lessard were healthy scratches. Eric Desjardins and Rick Tocchet missed the game with their respective injuries. . . .The win allows the Flyers to stay in second place in the Atlantic Division. . . . The Flyers are undefeated when they score 4 or more goals. . . . The Flyers continue this road trip on New Year's Eve against Vancouver.
(12/28) There goes the winning streak. Jeremy Roenick made his much awaited return to Phoenix tonight, but the Coyotes took the victory off the strength of two power play goals from Daniel Briere. Mark Recchi scored both Flyer goals. Simon Gagne had an apparent goal waved off with 5:49 left in the game when it was rule that he high-sticked the puck into the net. Brian Boucher had the start, but Bill Barber pulled him after the Coyotes' fourth goal.
The Flyers return to action tonight in Colorado.
(12/26) The Flyers got their longest road trip of the season off to a resounding start tonight in Washington. The Flyers took a 4-0 lead late into the third, until a meaningless Caps marker from Stephen Peat made the final score 4-1. Offensively the star was undoubtedly young Ruslan Fedotenko, who scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season for the first and fourth goals. In between Fedotenko's tallies, Dan McGillis and Keith Primeau each had a goal. Simon Gagne had two assists. Roman Cechmanek had the start and the win, making 22 saves.
(12/22) The Flyers played a back-and-forth game today at home against the Carolina Hurricanes, and skated away with a two points for the holidays. Mark Recchi opened the scoring at 1:47 off assists from Donald Brashear and Jiri Dopita. The Hurricanes came back to tie the game and the two teams went into the first intermission tied at one. At 5:38 of the second period, Simon Gagne scored an unassisted marker to give the Flyers their second lead of the game. Once again, however, the Hurricanes scored to tie the game, and the two teams went into the second intermission tied at two. A Sami Kapenen tally gave the Hurricanes their first lead of the game 3:27 into the third period and Arturs Irbe clung to the one goal lead by making several key saves (including a beauty on LeClair). At 12:04, Jeremy Roenick finished a great give-and-go from Mark Recchi to force the extra session. Once in overtime, Mark Recchi was the hero, scoring at 0:27. Recchi finished the night with three points. Brian Boucher got the start and the win.
(12/22) Today was the final days for teams to add players to their rosters for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Eric Weinrich joined Brian Boucher, Mark Recchi, and Keith Primeau as Olympic snubs, but young Kim Johnsson, who's have a breakout year, got the call for Team Sweden.
(12/20) Looking to win two games in a row at home for the first time this season, the Flyers faced off with the Dallas Stars tonight and skated away with a 2-1 victory. Marty Murray scored the first goal off assists from Keith Primeau and Chris McAllister. In the second period, after a turnover led to a tying goal from the Stars, Keith Primeau knocked in a Therien rebound to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. The Stars were unable to come back from that deficit--their string of minors in the waning minutes of the third period hardly helped--and that was the final. Brian Boucher made 29 saves--many of the spectacular variety--to get the win. Hey, Team USA, did you see that? That's what you're going to be missing in Salt Lake City.
(12/18) Hey, how about those Flyers special teams? The penalty kill has been a bright spot all season, but the power play has much maligned (and deservedly so). Tonight both the PK and PP came up huge, and finally gave the home fans something to cheer about in an exhilirating 6-3 home-ice victory over the St. Louis Blues. The Flyers opened the scoring in the first period when Jeremy Roenick tapped home a rebound of a Simon Gagne drive to the net. The initial ruling by the video review gods was "no goal," but when the game returned from the TV timeout (and before the puck had ever been dropped again), the judges got a new angle and called it a goal. The Blues tied the game, however, as Roman Cechmanek committed too early to a shot and Pavol Demitra scored. Just a minute later, however, the Flyers answered and took their second lead of the game as Marty Murray scored off a Jiri Dopita deflection. That was it for the first period of play, and the Flyers carried a 2-1 lead into the locker room.
The Flyers came out flat in the second period, and the Blues converted twice. The Flyers were now in a 2-3 hole--how would they respond? Well, they got lucky. Al MacInnis hooked Mark Recchi to prevent a breakaway and took a 2 minute minor. The Flyers went on the power play and a weak Kim Johnsson shot dribbled through a screened Brent Johnson. There would be no more scoring in the second period, and the Flyers and Blues went to the second intermission tied at 3. It was good news for both clubs--neither has come back when trailing after two period.
The Flyers opened the third by killing off the remainder of a penalty that had held over from the second period. The Blues had the better part of play as the game continued, and the Flyers drew two minors in quick succession. They had already killed off one 5 on 3 earlier in the game--now they had to do it again versus Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis, and company. The Flyers managed that difficult trick--and did it with flair. Just after the first penalty expired, the Flyers, still shorthanded, found themselves skating up ice on an odd-man rush. Two Blues committed to covering Jeremy Roenick, and Simon Gagne dished to an open Chris Therien, who knocked the puck past Brent Johnson for a 4-3 Flyers lead. With ninety seconds left and one the power play, Mark Recchi iced the game and notched a major NHL milestone by scoring his 400th career goal. Ruslan Fedotenko finished things off with an empty net goal at 19:51.
(12/17) Perhaps Sunday's night uninspiring home loss to the Edmonton Oilers sprung Bob Clarke's itchy trading finger. For the axe has fallen--for Jan Hlavac, that is. Hlavac and a third round draft pick were shipped off to Vancouver in exchange for enforcer Donald Brashear and a sixth round draft pick. Brashear is best known for being on the receiving end of that infamous Marty McSorley stick-swinging incident.
Is this an act of desperation? Certainly, from this webmaster's point of view, the Flyers were simply robbed on this trade. Hlavac has certainly been disappointing, but he's worth more than a pair of fists straight up. And I hardly see why Clarkie had to throw in a third round draft pick as well. And Brashear's not the kind of player I like to see on the Flyers. He may have been a victim in the McSorley incident, but he's been lacking in class as a player on several occasions. On the other hand, Brashear seems pleased by the trade, whereas Hlavac never seemed terribly thrilled to be in Philly.
We'll see if this trade shakes the Flyers out of their winter doldrums. I hope so, but I'm far from convinced.
(12/16) The Flyers' home woes continued as the Edmonton Oilers--dressed in their snappy new third jerseys--capitalized on defensive miscues to skate to a 3-2 victory. Mark Recchi and Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the uninspiring losing effort. Brian Boucher took the loss, though it was hardly his fault as he was abandoned by his d time and time again.
The Flyers return to action on Tuesday.
(12/15) The Flyers got contributions from all around tonight in Boston as they notched a 5-2 victory over the Bruins. Brian Boucher made his first start since returning from his hamstring injury, and he made several beautiful saves during Bruins' flurries. Seven minutes into the first period, the Flyers found themselves in a one-goal hole after their once-again inept power play coughed up a shorthanded goal to PK specialist Brian Rolston. At 14:28, however, Recchi scored off a great dish from Jiri Dopita before the end of the period, and the Flyers went to the locker room tied 1-1. Midway through the second period, the Flyers struck again, as Paul Ranheim scored off a Kent Manderville assist. These guys get less ice time than ever this year, and it's good to see them get a chance to convert. The rout was officially on. Four minutes after Ranheim's goal, Gagne cycled down low, behind the net and toss a shot on net, which Ruslan Fedotenko tipped in to give the Flyers a two-goal lead. And when just 13.5 seconds left in the period, Roenick completely took the wind out of the Bruins by scoring off assists from Gagne and LeClair. The second period ended with a three-goal Flyers lead. The Flyers scored one more time, halfway through the third period, when LeClair had a breakaway and beat Bruins goal Byron Dafoe five-hole--much to the approval of the Flyers bench. LeClair's been working really hard through his slump, and I think everyone was happy to see him get some results. The Bruins scored just a minute after the LeClair goal to cut the lead to 3, but Boucher held them off to cement the win.
(12/15) Team Canada came calling for a Philadelphia Flyer today--but only for one. Simon Gagne was named the Canadian men's hockey Olympic team by Wayne Gretzky and company. He's the youngest player on the team by almost a year--the next youngest is Eric Brewer, born in April 1979. To put this in perspective, during the 1998 Nagano Olympics, Gagne had not even been drafted.
Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi, and Eric Desjardins all failed to make the team. Desjardins was always a longshot to go to Salt Lake City, but Primeau and Recchi probably pulled themselves out of the running with their slow starts to the season. Primeau and Recchi may be some of the players who will be possible alternates in case of injury, but those names were not made public.
(12/13) One step forward, two steps back. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, the Flyers had another disappointing effort to follow a solid one, and they got another one-goal loss for their efforts. Simon Gagne opened the scoring in the first, but the Flyers found themselves in a 3-1 deficit entering the third. Bill Barber made the surprising decision to pull Cechmanek and insert Brian Boucher, who stopped all six shots he faced. But the Flyers could only get one goal back (from Kim Johnsson), and that was it.
(12/10) Special teams made the difference tonight in Atlanta, as the grieving Flyers topped the Thrashers by a score of 3-1. Simon Gagne opened the scoring in the first period off an assist from Jeremy Roenick, but the Flyers gave back the goal by the end of the period. As the game progressed, the score remained tied as the Flyers killed off six minor penalties. Then in the third, with Yannick Tremblay in the box for holding, the suddenly resurgent power play connected for the third straight game and the Flyers had a one-goal lead that they would not relinquish. Keith Primeau added an insurance marker with 6:25 remaining in the game.
(12/8) Hours after his wife passed away due to lung cancer, Bill Barber coached his team to an emotional 5-1 victory over Minnesota. The team broke out of its scoring slump by chasing goalie Dwayne Roloson. Luke Richardson, Mark Recchi, Jan Hlavac (twice in 42 seconds), and Keith Primeau scored for the Flyers. The Flyers even managed to connect twice on the power play. The Flyers return to action on Monday versus Atlanta.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Coach Barber and his family in this time.
(12/6) Oh, phooey. The Flyers had 33 shots on net tonight, but none of them managed to sneak by Garth Snow. Roman Cechmanek took the loss despite making 28 saves on 30 shots. The Flyers return to action on Saturday.
(12/4) It was almost too perfect. In their previous matchup with the Islanders this season, the Flyers were given a very long 2-man advantage in the dying minutes of the third period. They couldn't convert, and they lost by a score of 2-1. Tonight--redemption. With about seven minutes left in the third period, the Flyers found themselves in a tie game with a man advantage. Never mind that their power play has recently been a model of utter futility. Never mind that some players have as many power plays goals as the entire Flyers team! Never mind that Keith Primeau has had some amazing bad luck this year. Because this time, things were different. Primeau scored off a nifty Mark Recchi feed, and the Flyers found themselves with two important points earned against a tough divisional rival.
They would have been in no position to win, however, without the fine efforts of their so-called second line. Since being joined by Simon Gagne on his wing, Jeremy Roenick has been flashing some of his old form. JR scored the Flyers' first goal, and he assisted on the second goal (scored by none other than Gags himself). Roman Cechmanek stopped 18 shots to get the win.
(12/4) The Flyers may be struggling, but those Phantoms are the class of the AHL these days. They've ignored the disruption of callups and relied on rookie goaltender to go undefeated in their past eleven games. For his good work, Ouellet was named the AHL's rookie of the month for November--he went 4-0-5 and lowered his GAA to 2.54. In other prospect news, Bruno St. Jacques was returned to the Phantoms from the Flyers--suggesting that Luke Richardson is not very far from returning--and Pavel Brendl finally scored his first AHL goal. Good stuff.
In non-AHL prospect news, defenseman Jeff Woywitka has been invited to the tryout camp from the 2002 World Juniors Canadian national team. Woywitka was the Flyers' first-round draft pick this summer.
(12/1) That's more like it! Roman Cechmanek had a shutout with 15 saves, and two Flyers who have been scoring less than expected this season notched goals in the victory. The first goal and the game-winner went to Jeremy Roenick, who had all of three goals coming into tonight's game. The second goal was scored by Eric Desjardins, and it was his first of the season. Is it just me, or has Desjardins' play really picked up of late? He's looking a bit more like the Rico of old.
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