With the regular season less than one week away, the Flyers have some tough decisions to make with the few roster spots available and salary cap room at a premium.  Let’s start with with this fact: The last two times Pronger has changed teams, he has taken them to the cup finals in both of his first seasons ; 2006 with the Oilers and in 2007 with the Ducks. 

  Offensively the team is pretty solid. The only problem I see is that with a healthy Danny Briere, that creates an issue with fellow center Claude Giroux who excelled with the team last season as a call-up and was tied for the team leader in the scoring department in the playoffs. The two played very well together at the end of last season so I guess time will tell what Coach Stevens will do. Stevens told CSNPhilly.com,”They had good chemistry; it was pretty obvious last year.” “They played pretty well. … Right now, nothing is set in stone. Giroux and Briere is still a possibility, but we want to see other things and whether it works out.” With the Flyers signing free agent Ian Laperriere in the off-season, a healthy Gange returning, the stellar performance of Jeff Carter last season, and the superbe leadership of Richards, positions on the squad are hard to come by and well deserved by those that hold one. With the departure of Knuble and Lupul last season, Scotty Hartnell has some stepping up to do this year, mainly by maintaining  his scoring presence and by staying out of the penalty box. These key losses and the teams tight salary cap situation could also open the door for the No.2 pick in the 2007 draft James van Riemsdyk to slide into a roster spot. Other younger players waiting in line to play a bigger part  include Darroll Powe, Jared Ross, Patrick Maroon, and Jonathan Kalinski.

       On the other side of the ice, defensively the Flyers have finally put together the perfect combination of brute strength and finesse that has been lacking for the better park of the decade. The acquisition of Chris Pronger is a good place to start. “I think he was born to wear orange,” Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke, who brought Pronger to Anaheim in his former job, told NHL.com. “He’s got the whole package — size and skill, as well as being a leader. But the fans in Philadelphia will love that mean streak he brings to every game.”– Adam Kimelman NHL.com–  Not only a strong force on the blue line taking some of the load off of Kimmo Timonen, who took the brunt of the physical punishment that the Penguins dished out in the playoffs last year, but offensively as well. This is the type of player whos imtimidation factor will pour out onto the ice allowing him to inflict pain on the opposition. Timonen put up some solid numbers with 3 goals and 40 assists last season and should be even more productive this year. Coburn should benefit as well now playing along side of Pronger. Coburn’s got some wheels and seems to be getting more comfortable in his own end. Parent has developed into a quality defender making teams scheme against his ability to shut-down offenses. Randy Jones and Matt Carle can move the puck fairly well and new comer Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, a bruiser signed from Columbus, are all in the mix for the final paring. I would also keep an eye out for Danny Syvret. “Last year was a real indication of [Syvret’s] maturity as a pro,” said John Stevens after Friday’s practice. “He was real leader for the Phantoms and put up clearly his best year yet as a pro. Now he’s come back [with more] confidence. He’s played very well for us. We’re confident with him on the ice, he can play right or left side, and he doesn’t look like he gets rattled at all. He plays with a lot of composure and actually defends pretty well.”–Nhl.com  ( Note while I was writting this Randy Jones was placed on Waivers)

         Goaltending is going to be the cornerstone of the Flyers success or downfall this season. Loosing both Biron and Niittymaki in the off-season the Flyers went outside the NHL for help picking up former Ottawa Senator stud goalie Ray Emery, who took the Sens to the finals in 2006-07 out of the KHL. They also went out and brought back former 1995 first round pick Brian Boucher, who spent last season behind Evgeni Nabokov. He played 22 games last season going 12-6-3 with a pair of shutouts and a 2.18 GAA. As you may remember Boucher was traded in 2002 after publicly denouncing then coach and Flyer great Bill Barber. “We believe we have a good tandem there,” Holmgren told NHL.com. “I’m happy with our goaltending situation right now. We have two motivated guys, both work hard and both feel like they have something to prove.”
    

      I’m excited how this talent stacked team fairs against the rest of the Atlantic Division, which on paper, seems to be the elite division in the league. I’ll have the breakdown of the division up later this week. —Whiskey T

Enjoy care of Whiskey T

Wayne Gretzky stepped down as Coyotes head coach and director of hockey operations on Thursday. Gretzky, who would have been starting his fifth season as head coach, has not been with the team since the start of camp earlier in the summer. Named coach in August 2005, his four seasons the club went 143-161-24, and missed the playoffs each season. No word on whether Gretzky, who joined the club in 2000 as managing partner, will stay active in that role. He also holds an ownership stake, but the team is in bankruptcy and soon will have a new owner. Wayne was quoted as stating the following; “This was a difficult decision that I’ve thought long and hard about.” “We all hoped there would be a resolution earlier this month to the Coyotes ownership situation, but the decision is taking longer than expected. Since both remaining bidders have made it clear that I don’t fit into their future plans, I approached General Manager Don Maloney and suggested he begin looking for someone to replace me as coach. “I’ve loved the four years I spent coaching the Coyotes. Not a day went by when I took it for granted, and I will miss the competition of the NHL dearly. It was an honor to hold the position, and I will always consider myself especially fortunate to have had this opportunity.”
The Coyotes didn’t take long to find a replacement however. Dave Tippett, who was fired less than four months ago as the Dallas Stars head coach, was appointed as new active head coach. Tippett said in a press conference earlier on Thursday “It’s a special day for me.” ” When Donnie( Phoenix Coyotes GM Don Maloney) first called me a couple of weeks ago, he kind of explained the situation here and where he thought the team was and where he thought it could get to. Right when he called, I was very intrigued. I know the team very well from playing against them in the division for so many years. The chance to come and build something was very exciting for me. That’s why I’m here.”
He certainly has some big shoes to fill being the new shot caller behind the bench in the desert. As of Thursday, Assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson is staying on in that capacity along with new hire, former Flyer goalie, Sean Burke as the new goaltending coach. Only time will tell what the future holds for the desert crew that calls the ice at Jobbing.com Arena home.

Stay tuned all season for more NHL news and free daily picks from the Hockey Handicapper
——-Whiskey T———