Will Things Turn Around?

          With just 18 games remaining left in the shortened 48 game NHL season, the race for the Stanley Cup  Playoffs are heating up. Philadelphia is currently in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and sit 5 points back of the eighth and final playoff spot. It seems like whenever things start to go right, everything goes wrong. The Flyers are winning one game, and then losing two or three in a row. If they want a shot at the playoffs, they must find a way to rack up consecutive wins, and this five game home stand would be the perfect start.

          After Sunday's game in Pittsburgh, the Flyers will be home for five straight games with match ups against the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and the home stand ends with a big game against the Montreal Canadiens. Out of those five games, only two are in the top eight, and the rest are fighting for the final spot just like the Flyers. A win on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins (winners of 11 straight) could really bring some momentum to the team when they take on the Rangers on Tuesday. There is no question the Flyers need at least four in these next six crucial games, and even that may not be enough to get them where they want to be.

          Although many people want a splash trade to happen, with the deadline coming up its likely that Philly stands pat, and plays out the rest of the season with the crew they've had all year. The main reason is because they do not want to trade players on the roster for a rental player who will only play maybe 10-15 games in orange and black. If they were to make a trade this year, It would make more sense if they traded for a player, but got that mans word that he would sign an extension to stay in Philadelphia for years to come. The only man I see the Flyers trying to bring in is Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien. Big Buff is a right handed d-man with a laser for a shot. He could easily be paired with Kimmo Timonen, especially for the power play. Many fans in Philadelphia probably still don't like Buff because of the big role he played when Chicago beat us to win the cup in 2010, but they would get over it by watching this kid play his heart out every night. So if the Flyers become "buyers", Byfuglien is the only guy that makes sense to bring in for the final games of this lock out shortened season.

          Will it be a struggle for the Flyers to make the playoffs? Yes. Will it be tough to play consistent hockey for the final 18 games? Yes. But with these questions, anything can happen. Just remember what happened in 2010 when Philly beat New York on the final day of the season. They got hot, made a historic comeback, and missed the Stanley Cup by 2 wins. If the Flyers get in, they will be have the momentum, and could run wild on teams, and make another big playoff run.

-Jimmy "the Fish" Forte (Beat writer for the Sports Goombahs)

-Coming soon: Will the Flyers try to bring Weber to Philly?

It's Only a Matter of Time

          Injury reports have been happening ever since the NHL season started on January 19, but the team suffering the most from players hurt is the Philadelphia Flyers. The flyers didn't have Danny Briere for the first   four games, where the team went 1-3. When Briere came back, Scott Hartnell went down with a broken foot, and will be out for another three to four weeks. Andrej Meszaros hurt his left shoulder a few days after Hartnell, and he will miss a month of hockey. Zac Rinaldo also missed four games due to a puck striking his ankle in the second game of the season against the Buffalo Sabres. The latest injury is forward Wayne Simmonds. Simmonds was elbowed in the head by Washington Capitals defenseman John Erskine, who was suspended for three games by the NHL safety committee. Simmonds was ruled with a concussion but is looking to return for the weekend. With all these injuries, Paul Holmgren has been on the phone with GM's, and in a couple weeks look for someone new rocking the Orange and Black sweater. Lets take a look at some players that Holmgren could possibly make a play for.

          Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames) - Iginla is a name that has been floating around the Flyers organization since 2010. He would bring energy to a team that isn't scoring alot of goals. From 1998 to present time, Iginla has scored 25 goals or more including six seasons with 35 or more, two seasons with 40 or more, and two seasons with 50 or more goals. At the age of 35, Jarome can still skate fast, score plenty of goals, and would be a nice presence in the locker room. How could the Flyers get him? Back in 2010 it may have taken a big package to acquire the sniper, but now it may only take a young guy and a draft pick. Scott Laughton was sent to juniors after five games in the NHL. His time in Philly may be short, as he is said to be apart of the package to deal to bring in a scorer. In my opinion, I'm pulling the trigger and getting Iginla to Philly, especially if Brayden Schenn, or Sean Couturier isn't included in the trade.

          Corey Perry (Anaheim Ducks) - Perry is a goal scorer at ease, and would easily get along with Giroux and Briere on line 1. Perry is another right handed sniper that has great puck movement, and could fill the stat sheet every night. I think the Flyers should wait to get Perry, considering he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, and he would probably cost a little more than what it would take to get Iginla, being that he is only 27 years old. Perry would be a nice mid-season pickup, but if i'm Paul Holmgren, I get someone that will cost less, and then go for Perry at the end of the year.

          Bobby Ryan (Anaheim Ducks) - Corey Perry's teammate and a Cherry Hill, New Jersey native. Ryan, like Iginla has been on the Flyers radar for quite some time. You could compare Ryan to Jeff Carter by the way he skates, and how hard of a wrist shot he has. He's a play maker that the Flyers need. A man who can open up defensemen and get Claude Giroux and company the puck, with his finesse passing. Ryan is only 25 years old, and it would probably take Brayden Schenn, Scott Laughton, and a draft pick to acquire him. Although the package is high, if Paul Holmgren made a risk it all trade, he could bring Ryan and Perry to Philadelphia for the price of Schenn, Laughton, high draft pick, and probably Matt Read. Ryan hasn't proved that he is a top player in the NHL, so with that being said the Flyers should only go for him if the price is right.

          There are a few other names out there. Brenden Morrow of the Dallas Stars, Ryan O'Reilly of the
Colorado Avalanche, and Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks. Getzlaf would be the easy choice here, given that he is tall, big, and can score from all angles. Morrow is the captain of the stars, and his shown capability of winning an MVP, but injuries have hurt his value. O'Reilly is a young prospect that hasn't had a chance to show the NHL what he's all about, because of a contract dispute.

          Jarome Iginla is the best choice for the Flyers at this point. There's no need to trade your two top sophomores for a guy that will be a free agent at the end of the season. A defenseman may be added this season to help out, but don't expect any big named star. The main goal is getting Shea Weber to Philly at the end of this season. With all this being said, I expect in a week or two for Paul Holmgren to announce a trade that will help the offense, and get this team on the right track to the playoffs.

- Jimmy "the Fish" Forte (beat writer for the Sports Goombahs)
- Twitter: @jimmyforte28
- Facebook: Sports Goombahs

Prediction is a Rematch

EAST

PENGUINS (1)
BRUINS (2)
CAPITALS (3)
FLYERS (4)
SABRES (5)
RANGERS (6)
CANADIENS (7)
HURRICANES (8)

WEST

BLACKHAWKS (1)
SHARKS (2)
BLUES (3)
KINGS (4)
WILD (5)
CANUCKS (6)
OILERS (7)
STARS (8)

PITT DEF CAR - 5 games
BOS DEF MON - 6 games
WSH DEF NYR - 7 games
PHI DEF BUF - 5 games

PHI DEF PITT - 7 games
WSH DEF BOS - 6 games

PHI DEF WSH - 5 games

EAST CHAMPS - FLYERS

CHI DEF DAL - 5 games
SJ DEF EDM - 4 games
STL DEF VAN - 7 games
MIN DEF LAK - 6 games

CHI DEF MIN - 6 games
SJ DEF STL - 7 games

CHI DEF SJ - 7 games

WEST CHAMPS- BLACKHAWKS

PHI DEF CHI - 6 games

CUP CHAMPS - FLYERS

- Jimmy "the Fish" Forte (beat writer for the Sports Goombahs)
- Twitter: @jimmyforte28
- Facebook: Sports Goombahs

NHL Gearing Up for Big Weekend

          On Friday, training camps in the NHL will end and the race to the Stanley Cup will begin. The 48 game season starts on Saturday, January 19th and ends on Saturday, April 27th. From start to finish, it is 98 days or three months and eight days before the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Lets take a look at the weekend games that will get this season underway.

          The NHL on NBC returns on Saturday when new captain Claude Giroux and the Philadelphia Flyers host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the battle of Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh will be looking for revenge as they were knocked out by Philly in six games last year in the first round of the playoffs. On the West Coast, the Los Angeles Kings will raise their Stanley Cup banner as the Chicago Blackhawks visit the Staples Center. The Kings went into the playoffs last year as the eighth seed in the West and were able to upset the number one Vancouver Canucks four games to one. They then went on to defeat the number two seed, St. Louis Blues, with a clean sweep of four games. In the Western Conference Finals, they breezed by the number three seed, Phoenix Coyotes, four games to one. In the finals, it took six games to prove that whenever the playoffs start anyone can raise that cup, even if you did barely make it into the playoffs. These two games will have a pregame show at 3 p.m. and then FINALLY at 3:30 p.m., the puck will be dropped for the first time this season.

          Some other rival-type games consist of the Boston Bruins hosting the New York Rangers in TD Garden. That game can be seen on the NHL Network at 7 p.m. The battle of Canada starts with the Winnipeg Jets hosting the Ottawa Senators, and the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. Another Atlantic Division rival game features the Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Devils visiting Long Island to take on the New York Islanders. In the Southeast division,, the Washington Capitals take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Carolina Hurricanes with newly acquired Jordan Staal take on the Florida Panthers. The remaining games on Saturday are Detroit vs St. Louis, Columbus vs Nashville, Phoenix vs Dallas, Colorado vs Minnesota, and to top off opening night, the Anaheim Ducks head to Vancouver to take on the President's Trophy winner Canucks.

          Having broadcasted games on both Saturday and Sunday will be the first time in TV history that NBC has done this. The Sunday game once again consists of the Philadelphia Flyers making the trip to Buffalo to take on the Sabres. This game will start at 12:30 p.m. and will be Buffalo's season and home opener. San Jose takes on the Calgary Flames at 6 p.m., and Pittsburgh travels to New York to take on the Rangers at 7 p.m. in Madison Square Garden. Zach Parise and Ryan Suter play their first game in Minnesota as the Wild take on Jaromir Jagr and the Dallas Stars. Edmonton plays their first game of the season when they take on the Vancouver Canucks in British Colombia. Opening weekend ends when resigned captain Shane Doan takes on Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks in the Jobing.com Arena.

          The season is just one day away and fans have been anticipating this moment since early October. The wait is finally over and hockey is ready to return to the ice with no labor negotiations for at least eight years. I'm going to make a bold prediction for the season that every local fan wants to hear. Eastern Conference Finals will be the Flyers vs Capitals with Philly winning in six games. In the West, the Chicago Blackhawks will take on the San Jose Sharks, with Chicago winning in five games. In a Stanley Cup Final rematch from 2010, the Philadelphia Flyers will defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in six games with Claude Giroux winning the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Stanley Cup in his first year as captain.

-Jimmy "the Fish" Forte (Beat writer for the Sports Goombahs)
-Twitter: @jimmyfort28
- Facebook: search Sports Goombahs

- Thanks for reading!

Coming Soon to an Arena Near You

          That's right folks, the NHL lockout is finally over! It took 113 days but early Sunday morning news broke everywhere that the NHL and NHLPA have agreed to the framework of a new CBA. 10 years is the length of the new deal, so fans can breathe easily for at least a decade.  the maximum length of player contracts will be seven years with an exception permitting teams to re-sign their own free agents for eight years, and the salary cap for the 2013-14 season was set at $64.3 million with a floor (minimum) of $44 million. There is also a 50-50 revenue split that was agreed upon last month. There was one particular hero who played a huge role in ending the lockout, and that mans' name is Scot Beckenbaugh.

          Beckenbaugh was the federal mediator who joined the sessions back in December and almost got the two sides to agree on a deal, but things turned for the worse, when Fehr announced the meetings went really well and the lockout would be shortly over. Minutes later, Bill Daly and Gary Bettman stood at the podium and announced that was a false statement and they were miles apart, and was disgusted by the way things were going regarding the negotiations. This time however, the mediator sat with the NHLPA on Saturday for about four hours, took a lunch break, and then met with the NHL for around four hours and felt an agreement was close. He was absolutely right! After the individual meetings, Beckenbaugh held a marathon session that lasted close to 16 hours. After the 16th hour, Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr went to the media room side by side and announced to the press the five words fans wanted to hear most "hockey will return this season". This is where it gets fun.

          On Wednesday the Board of Governors ratified the new CBA deal, and announced the season would be 48 games starting on January 19th with training camps opening January 13th. After the BOG meeting, Bettman made his way to the podium and had some deep statements, that showed he really didn't want to cancel any games, and that he was very sorry for all the fans and players' that had to go through this. If you watched the press conference, it looked like Bettman was tearing up when he talked about the fans. I know people blame Bettman for all this mess, but like I said before the real culprit is NHLPA leader Donald Fehr. The blame game is over and we are just nine days away from seeing the puck drop for the first time this year.

          The Flyers will open up the season at the home against their keystone rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins. This game will be an afternoon matinee starting at 3:00PM. Philly beat the Pens in six games last year in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and there was alot of fire burning on both benches. If you want to relive that memory just search "Chris Therien tirade" on YouTube. Paul Holmgren announced he will have a new captain by the start of the season, and everyone's guess is 24 year old Claude Giroux. Giroux would be the second youngest captain behind Mike Richards who got the "C" when he was 23, but now a Stanley Cup champion in Los Angeles. This season is going to be real fun and I can't wait for it to get underway. I look forward to start writing about recaps and rumors in the next 5 months, and watching the Flyers make a run for the Stanley Cup.

-Jimmy "the Fish" Forte (Beat writer for the Sports Goombahs)
-Twitter: @jimmyfort28
- Facebook: search Sports Goombahs

- Thanks for reading!

          

It Could Be Fun Right From the Start

Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr according to many different sources are really close to unlocking the doors to allow the National Hockey League in North America to return to the ice. With a few issues remaining that have to be solved, we are getting closer to the finish line. Pension seems to be the biggest cause of concern, and if the season was cancelled because of this reason, I wouldn't blame the fans who already left to never come back and watch another NHL game.

Bettman was told by many owners that cancelling the season will not be acceptable this year. They have been said to say if the season is cancelled over the issues that remain, there would be a vote that would unanimously be through the roof to have Bettman relieved of his duties as NHL commissioner. With that being said, the two sides were back at it today. Meetings were set for 10:00am this morning and lasted a little over 4 hours with the NHLPA just now leaving the offices in New York City to discuss the latest talks between the two parties. The two sides will meet again tonight at a time still to be determined. All week long joining the meetings was a federal mediator, who usually participates in talks if things are serious. Well folks we sure are getting serious. Another big step today was bringing in a professional who handles talks about pension. The signs continue to be positive and it should only take a matter of days before a settlement is finally reached.

With the season predicted to start on January 19th, the rivalry between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins is expected to renew as hockey returns. As PGH Tribune reported earlier, the Flyers have a scheduled day game at 1:00pm against the Calgary Flames. With a shortened 48 game season this gets wiped out since it will only be conference games played. Every team will play on January 19th and this particular matchup would be must-see right from the start. On the 19th at 7:00pm the Penn State Nittany Lions will play Vermont at theWells Fargo Center which will be their first time ever stepping on that ice. The Consol Energy Center home to the Penguins is booked at 7:00 which makes the rivalry matchup more likely to happen. This would be a great way to bring hockey back and making it a National televised game on NBC would be even better. First game of the year and we get to hear the legendary voice of Mike "Doc" Emrick, color commentator Eddy Olyck, and inside the glass reporter Pierre McGuire. If the NHL wants their fans back, it doesn't get any better than a Flyers Penguins afternoon matinee to kick off the "2013" season. Much more to come in the next couple of days.

-Jimmy "the Fish" Forte (Beat writer for the Sports Goombahs)
-Twitter: @jimmyfort28
- Facebook: search Sports Goombahs

- Thanks for reading!

The Final Stages, and where the Flyers Stand

          The NHL led by Gary Bettman have put another proposal on the table, in attempt to salvage the 2012-13 season. Like I said many times, Donald Fehr is the reason we haven't seen the Flyers on the ice yet, but I do believe this offer could be the one that gets the puck dropped on January 19th. The Los Angeles Kings have been waiting to raise their Stanley Cup banner, and in less than three weeks there wish should come true. The leagues latest offer was over 300 pages long, so I will break it down with the most important details that can truly end this lockout.

          Gary Bettmans' main goal is to win the fans back. He may have done that by offering a 10 year agreement through 2021-22 (with an option to opt out after 8 years). This would give fans plenty of games to watch without having to worry about whether or not we will have a season. A 50-50 revenue split between Clubs and Players with current HRR Accounting is next in the offer, which was one of the biggest requirements requested by the Players' Association. Next, the NHL posted a $300 million make-whole payment to compensate players for the reduced value of Player contracts in the early years of the new CBA. Plain and simple, there are contractual roll backs of players salaries. Clubs can operate with an effective Upper Limit of $70.2 million in 2012/13; must come into compliance with $60 million Upper Limit for the start of the 2013/14 season. The final part is expected to be counter offered by the PA, and the sixty million will be changed to 70 million. You can read all about the new proposal if you click this link http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=412383. With a few tweaks by Fehr and the owners, I believe this season will be saved.

          When this lockout ends, I will finally be able to start writing about how the Flyers are doing in the standings, whose on fire, and whose struggling. Below I will give a preview of what's to come for the Flyers, who I think will be playing their first game on the 19th.

           Unfortunately, it looks like captain Chris Pronger has played his last game in the NHL. Chris moved back to Saint Louis during the off season, and hasn't really made any progress since being struck in the eye with a stick back in November of last year. With Pronger done, Ed Snider and Paul Holmgren will name the 19th captain in Flyers history. I think it comes down to three candidates; Claude Giroux (24), Danny Briere (35), and Kimmo Timonen (37). Giroux has shown he is ready and I think he'll get the call, if Pronger officially retires. They don't have the team they had last year, but still could be competitors especially with Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn playing in their second full year. Below I will put together what the lines will most likely look like come the first game. The parenthesis will show how old everyone is.

Line 1: Voracek (23) Giroux (24) Hartnell (30)

Line 2: Simmonds (24) Briere (35) Read (26)

Line 3: Couturier (20) Schenn (21) Talbot (28)

Line 4: Fedotenko (33) Wellwood (22) Rinaldo (22)

Defensive 1: Timonen (37) Coburn (27)

Defensive 2: Grossmann (27) Meszaros (27)

Defensive 3: L.Schenn (23) Gustafsson (24)

Goalie: Ilya Bryzgalov (32)

          With only 5 of the listed 19 players 30 or over, the Flyers come in as one of the youngest teams in the NHL. This team is our future and I look forward to covering them in the next decade. Hopefully my next update talks about the lockout being over, but for now the optimism bar must remain high.

-Jimmy "the Fish" Forte (Beat writer for the Sports Goombahs)

Twitter: @jimmyfort28

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