In-Fighting

The 30 GMs of the NHL are meeting this week, and fighting is to be the main topic of discussion. Pro-fighting Brian Burke of Toronto decided the best way to approach this subject was to challenge any other GM who disagrees with him to a fight. I'm sure Paul Holmgren is firmly in the pro-fighting camp as well, but I'm sure just about every Flyers fan would pay good money to see our GM beat the crap out of Brian Burke.

Hockey fights are sort of unique in sports skirmishes, because unlike baseball, basketball, or even NASCAR throwdowns, there's really not usually much animosity or genuine dislike there. Fighting in hockey is just what you do. It's always been part of the game and probably always will be. And in the extremely transient NHL, former sparring partners often wind up sitting on the bench. Or current sparring partners, as was the case with R.J. Umberger and Jim Dowd about a year ago, who fought in practice and had to be broken up by Steve Downie. Wonder if it's a coincidence that none of those three are with the team any longer...

Flyers haven't had any incestuous thrown downs that we know of this year, but it doesn't mean none of the 20 guys on the current roster have ever gone at each other.

I dug up three such regular season tussles between current brothers in orange, all of them with a common, unsurprising participant. And they all happened in early-mid November, for what that's worth (not a whole lot).

In chronological order:


Arron Asham (NYI) def. Mike Richards (PHI) 11/10/2005


Arron Asham (NYI) def. Mike Richards (PHI) 11/9/2006


Riley Cote (PHI) vs. Arron Asham (NJD) 11/8/2007 (draw)

With 100% of Precincts Reporting...

Democracy is as Philadelphian as driving to Delaware to buy cheaper booze. Flyers fans Philadelphian and non-Philadelphian made their voices heard in our entirely scientific poll, and voted in a strong plurality to dispose of Randy Jones. Although it is possible that sixteen or so of Jones' votes were cast by the Bergeron family.

And yet, despite the overwhelming mandate of the masses, Paul Holmgren sent away Scottie Upshall, who only got one vote, a vote which I know came after his trade had been announced.

So should Paul Holmgren get a pass? Sam Cardichi and Flyers Goal Scored By... seem to think so. I'm not so sure. Daniel Carcillo hasn't been terrible by any means, but he hasn't been great. Upshall wasn't putting up huge numbers either. They've been about the same. In the long run, Carcillo for Upshall will probably be a pretty even trade.

Except that the deal wasn't just Carcillo for Upshall. It was Carcillo for Upshall and a second round pick. And picks, except for the occasional James Van Riemsdyk, are worth holding on to. I don't think anybody can honestly say at this point that the deal has worked out well for the Flyers yet. If Carcillo catches fire down the stretch and into the playoffs, then it's time to be giving the deal a thumbs up. But not until then.

We still love ya, Homer. You took the Flyers from 30th to the conference finals in one season, which was totally unprecedented and unexpected. And it's just hard to stay mad at a guy whose hair manages to stay at such sharp right angles.

Back

Sorry for the prolonged absence--pieces keep breaking off my computer, which is not a good thing. I'm trying to fix it myself, by just fiddling around with a screwdriver in an electrical appliance cluelessly (always a good idea). It's still not really better, but I soldier on...

So what happened while I was on hiatus? The Flyers beat the Thrashers (shocker), Jeff Carter was the second fastest in the fastest skater thing, Jeff Carter got knocked out of the breakaway contest in the first round with the worst shot anybody took the whole night, Jeff Carter did nothing in the All-Star game (except manage to keep possession of the puck for like 4:59 of the five minute overtime), Jeff Carter scored no goals, Jeff Carter came home with a #7 jersey I'm kinda surprised he chose since it's retired by the Flyers. (Flyers Goal Scored By... does a much better job treating Carter's all-star flop with the snark it deserves)

The other main thing that kept Flyers beat writers from getting time off over the break was more plot twists in L'Affaire Briere, with the Flyers seemingly forcing Danny Briere to get surgery so he could stay out of the lineup longer. That's a new one, even for the Flyers medical staff. He's out another four weeks, guaranteed, conveniently right until the trade deadline.

I have to think this is all leading up to trading Briere, or at the very least dumping Glen Metropolit for him. God, Metropolit is utterly useless, and his name is desperately missing a syllable. He has all of one goal this year in forty-two games. To put that in perspective, that's only one more goal than Lauren Hart has tallied.

Lastly, there was some nonsense about Paul Holmgren looking into getting Peter Forsberg back for the late part of this season. Because it was just SO great when he was here before, and he's SO not injury prone, and he played SO great for Colorado last year. With the Canucks getting Sundin, I think that's enough NHL scouring of Stockholm-area assisted-living communities for one season.

Flyers get to go on their second Florida trip of January (seriously, nice scheduling there) for a game in Sunrise on Tuesday, and Friday in Tampa.

But despite what will sum up to five straight games against the Southeast, the Flyers have the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the league, according to some website. That's never a good thing. All four games against Boston remain, plus four against the Rangers and a game each against Detroit and Calgary. Not fun.

All That Salt...

...would probably not be enough for all the Flyers wounds at the moments.

Here's Holmgren updating the injury status of seemingly three-quarters of the team. Get comfortable before you watch this, he's got a lot to say.



And if Paul went too fast for ya there, no worries, Ed Moran took copious notes.