View previous news items: February 2001, March 2001, April 2001, May 2001, Summer 2001, September 2001, October 2001, November 2001, December 2001, January 2002, February 2002.
(10/31) Brian Boucher celebrated his first home start of the Bill Barber era by shutting out the injury hobbled Pittsburgh Penguins. Boucher continued to solidify his claim on the Flyers #1 job in net by making many key stops--for though the Penguins were missing Lemieux and Straka, their forwards still managed to dump a good number of shots on nets. Boucher finished the game with 27 saves. The goals were scored by John LeClair, Mark Recchi, and Dan McGillis.
(10/31) The Flyers recalled Bruno St. Jacques from their AHL affiliate today. St. Jacques almost made the team out of training camp: the Flyers kept him with the team until the last day of the preseason. If the Flyers had not acquired Weinrich and Johnsson in the offseason, St. Jacques probably would have already been playing in orange and black. St. Jacques has three assists in eleven games with the Phantoms this year. He is probably intended as a temporary replacement for Eric Weinrich, who strained his shoulder against Washington. St. Jacques was drafted by the Flyers in the 9th round of the 1998 entry draft.
(10/30) It's very early in the season to call any game a turning point, but tonight's game may very well have been one. Stellar efforts from goalie Brian Boucher and the top line allowed the Flyers to gain to their first winning streak of this young season. With his shutout tonight, Boucher summoned up some happy memories of his rookie year and made a very strong argument for reclaiming the number one job in the Flyers net--or at least for a home start. Even when the defense was shaky in the second half of the game, Boucher came up big, absolutely robbing the Caps numerous times during a 5 on 3. Meanwhile, the other big star of the night was another young player, Simon Gagné, who scored the Flyers' first and third goals to break a five game scoreless streak. Pavel Brendl got the second marker for the Flyers on a bit of a fluke, but I'm sure he's happy to take it as his first NHL tally. Recchi (the third star of the night) and Primeau both had two assists.
(10/27) Once again, the Flyers bounced back from a devastating loss and flashed a bit of their true potential--this time in a solid victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Twelve different Flyers earned at least one point tonight. Johnsson, Hlavac, Recchi, Fedotenko, and Murray had the goals for the Flyers. Fedotenko and Johnsson had assists on the Murray goal, making them the only Flyers with two points on the night. Brian Boucher was very solid in net, making 27 saves on 28 shots. This is Boucher's first win of the season; good for him, considering his record to date hardly reflects his level of play.
(10/25) Erm, this strikes me as a very bad beginning to Keith Primeau's tenure as team captain. The Flyers pretty much sucked tonight, as they were crushed by the previously slumping Ottawa Senators. Kim Johnnson and Jan Hlavac scored for the Flyers. Roman Cechmanek was lifted for Brian Boucher after the Senators fifth goal. Flyers play again on Saturday against Montreal.
(10/25) With the returns of Keith Primeau and Pavel Brendl, the Flyers were one over the NHL roster limit of 23. Consequently, forward Jesse Boulerice was sent down to the Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL).
(10/23) In a somewhat surprising move today, Eric Desjardins voluntarily stepped down as the Flyers team captain and was replaced by injured center Keith Primeau. Desjardins made the decision after meeting the team coaches in Atlanta and discussing the situation with his teammates. Both Desjardins and coach Bill Barber emphasized that the decision was entirely Desjardins.
"Rico" became captain of the Flyers in March 2000, after Eric Lindros was stripped of the C in response to his critical comments about the Flyers to the press. Desjardins felt the pressures of the C were negatively affecting his play. Hockey observers have echoed his thoughts over the past eighteen months; of late, Desjardins has not been the player defensively that he used to be. This season, Desjardins has no goals and just three assists to his credit.
Keith Primeau now becomes the 13th captain in team history. He has been a captain before today; he wore the C for Carolina before he was traded to the Flyers. Primeau refused to accept the C without the support of players such as Mark Recchi and John LeClair, who serve as alternate captains and have longer tenures in orange and black. Recchi and LeClair will continue as alternate captains.
(10/22) At some point, four to six weeks from now, Rick Tocchet may be forced to look at the condition of his knee and seriously consider retirement. For now, however, that's not on his list of options. Tocchet revealed to reporters that a setback with his knee will set back his recovery at least until December, perhaps permanently. In addition to a partially torn tendon in his left knee, he has a hold in the protective surface of the bone. It's a degenerative condition, somewhat like the condition that forced former Flyer Keith Jones to retire last season. Even if he isn't forced to retire, Tocchet may have to undergo season-ending knee surgery.
Tocchet's best seasons as an offensive force are long behind him, but he still plays an important leadership role on this team, keeping friends like JR in check and mentoring young wingers Justin Williams and Simon Gagné. This webmaster, for one, sincerely hopes he gets one more chance to strut his stuff.
(10/20) The Flyers bounced back from a heartbreaking loss against Detroit to defeat the Washington Capitals by a score of 6 to 2. Yes, that's right--the Flyers finally managed to beat a contender! Bill Barber shuffled his lines to account for the continued absence of Keith Primeau and the new presence of callup Vaclav Pletka. The new top line of John LeClair, Jeremy Roenick, and Mark Recchi had a huge night offensively. Mark Recchi had his first hat trick as a Flyer, scoring a power play goal, an even-strength goal, and a short-handed goal. Recchi also had an assist to give him four points for the night. John LeClair had two goals and an assist; Roenick had three assists. Eric Weinrich had the other Flyer goal. Roman Cechmanek got the win, which makes him 3-0-2 for the season. The win also put the Flyers back above five hundred, which is always a nice place to be.
(10/20) The Flyers recalled forward Vaclav Pletka from the Philadelphia Phantoms today. In seven games with the Phantoms this year, Pletka has 6 goals and 4 assists. His 6 goals are tied for the AHL lead. He was the Phantoms' rookie-of-the-year in 2000-2001. Pletka has been assigned the number 11. If this isn't a message in wake of the disaster in Detroit, I don't know what it is.
(10/18) Flyers 2, Red Wings 3. In their second test of the season, the Flyers came up lacking. In the final minute of the third period, the Flyers' defense allowed two goals, concluding with Brett Hull's game-winner with 18 seconds remaining in the period. Not good, not good at all. Roenick and Murray scored for the Flyers.
Mostly on the strength of John LeClair's two goals, the Flyers stormed back with three third period goals to tie the expansion Atlanta Thrashers. LeClair scored his second goal with less than four minutes remaining in regulation. The first Flyer goal was scored by Paul Ranheim. Roman Cechmanek got the start and the tie, making him 2-0-2 on the season. At this pace, the Flyers (2-1-3) will end the season with 41 ties. Let's hope--lest we die of boredom--that isn't the case.
(10/13) After the Flyers' disappointing loss to Buffalo, the Flyers came into their game against the Panthers looking for a little redemption. They'd sweated through a "conditioning" practice on Thursday, where Barber skated them until they were ready to drop. Barber also shuffled lines for this game, reuniting the Gagne-Primeau-Recchi line, and started Roman Cechmanek in goal. Would the changes work?
Well, mostly, yes. The game was chippy from the beginning, with big hits being laid left and right. The Flyers' offense woke up with a vengeance--they had 17 shots in the first period alone. A lot of big names got on the scoreboard, which is just what management was hoping when they offered those very lucrative contracts over the summer. Justin Williams, who has been the most pleasant surprise of this young season, opened the scoring in the first period. Trevor Kidd made the save on Williams' shot, but the rebound bounced off a Panther and into the net. In the second period, John LeClair and Ruslan Fedotenko scored in the span of seventeen seconds, giving the Flyers a 3-0 lead. Late in the second period, the Flyers penalty kill failed them again, as Koslov scored to pull the Panthers within two. But Todd Fedoruk scored to restore the Flyers' three-goal lead. The Flyers finished the second period with 21 shots on goal, giving them 38 for the first two periods.
The chippiness and physical play finally came to a head in the third period, after a Bill Lindsay hit on Simon Gagné sparked retaliation from Luke Richardson. Kevyn Adams, Luke Richardson, Mark Recchi, and Lance Ward all got misconducts. (On a side note, the Panthers announcers, who I heard on an internet gamecast, were absolutely atrocious, castigating Mark Recchi for wearing a half-shield. Attitudes like that lead to injuries like Bryan Berard's.) After the mess was cleared up, Pavel Bure scored for the Panthers, bringing the score to 4-2. The expiration of one Flyer penalty gave the team a three minute power play, however, and the Flyers converted. Simon Gagné scored to give the Flyers a 5-2 lead. More scuffles followed the Gagne goal. First, Peter Worrell took on Todd Fedoruk; both players got five for fighting and game misconducts. Then another melee broke out, as Jeremy Roenick earned a game misconduct and the Flyers got a power play for the last couple of minutes of the third period. (During this power play the idiot Florida announcers were really puzzled when Cechmanek made a save with his helmet.) The Flyers couldn't get much going for this power play and the game ended Flyers 5, Panthers 2.
(10/10) Flyers 1, Sabres 2. So much for revenge. So much for vindication. And that three game unbeaten streak? Well, it's now a three game winless streak. Presented with a golden opportunity to show the league that this year's team is not last year's playoff failures, the Flyers blew it. Special teams proved to be the difference in this matchup. The Flyers' astonishingly mediocre penalty kill allowed one goal during a Simon Gagné penalty during the first period, and their powerplay allowed a short-handed goal during the second period. With under two minutes left in the game, Simon Gagné scored (while playing on a line with Marty Murray and Ruslan Fedotenko) to get the Flyers on the board, but it proved to be too little, too late. There would be no two-goal comeback tonight.
(10/8) For the second time in as many games, the Flyers rallied from two goals down in the second period to forge a tie with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Simon Gagné scored his first of the year, as the Roenick line continues to shine, while Jan Hlavac got his first as a Flyer to get the point. Brian Boucher was solid in his first start of the year, making 28 saves. Columbus goalie Marc Denis made 30 saves for his team.
(10/6) The Flyers skated to a tie against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight in Philadelphia. Once again, the Roenick line proved its worth--it's making a good argument to be called the "first" line. Justin Williams scored the game-tying goal with just over four minutes left in regulation; Kim Johnnson scored the first two Flyer goals. Gagne and Weinrich finished the night with two assists apiece, and Williams notched an assist on the first Johnnson goal to get two points for the night as well.
(10/4) The Flyers scored four unanswered goals en route to a convincing 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in their season opener. After spotting Florida a 1-0 lead on a goal by Kristian Huselius, the Flyers came back strong on goals by Eric Weinrich, Justin Williams, John LeClair, and Jeremy Roenick. Florida scored again to make is 4-2, by Justin Williams sealed the deal with an empty net goal. Three Flyers finished the night with three points: Roenick had 1 goal, 2 assists; Williams had 2 goals, 1 assist; Weinrich had 1 goal, 2 assists. Roman Cechmanek made 32 saves to get the win.
(10/3) Rich Tocchet's lame knee spared Coach Barber some fairly difficult roster decisions. In addition to the usual suspects, rookies Jesse Boulerice and Pavel Brendl will be with the Flyers on opening night. Both Justin Williams and Ruslan Fedotenko avoided demotion to the Phantoms--at least for now. Ditto for Todd Fedoruk, who looks to be odd man out if Tocchet returns from his injury. (No offense to the Fridge, but I do hope that Tocchet gets a chance to raise the cup in orange and black before he retires.) Defenseman Bruno St. Jacques was finally assigned to the Phantoms, after spending the entire preseason with the Flyers; he played with Eric Desjardins in the game against the Devils. St. Jacques looks to be the first in line for a callup if any of the defensemen go down with injuries. He's probably a better defenseman than McAllister at this point, but he needs more playing time than a seventh defenseman on the Flyers will get.
For now the top three lines look to be: LeClair-Primeau-Recchi; Gagne-Roenick-Williams; Hlavac-Dopita-Brendl. The fourth line should be Paul Ranheim and Kent Manderville, mixed and matched with Fedotenko, Boulerice, and Fedoruk.
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