2/21/08 3-1 Loss SCORING 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total SJ 1 0 2 - - 3 PHI 0 1 0 - - 1 _______________________________ SHOTS 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total SJ 17 12 11 - - 40 PHI 9 11 7 - - 27

_______________________________________________________________________________

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – Milan Michalek and Douglas Murray’s third- period tallies were the difference, as San Jose sent Philadelphia to its ninth consecutive loss, 3-1, at the Wachovia Center.

Jonathan Cheechoo also scored and Joe Thornton registered a pair of assists for the Sharks, who put the brakes on a five-game losing streak.

Evgeni Nabokov made 26 stops to record his 32nd win of the season.

Mike Knuble picked up his 22nd goal of the year for the Flyers, who last suffered a similar stretch of futility during a 10-game skid from December 2-27, 2006.

Coupled with the Islanders’ 1-0 win over Tampa Bay, the Flyers have slipped into last place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind New York (67-66).

Martin Biron was solid in defeat with 37 saves.

This latest setback comes on the heels of the announcement prior to the game that forward Simon Gagne has decided to sit out the remainder of the schedule due to his recovery from multiple concussions.

Gagne has not played since absorbing a hit during a February 10 game in Pittsburgh, and after consulting with concussion expert Dr. James Kelly in Colorado on Wednesday, he decided that he should not return to the ice. The 27-year-old forward had only picked up seven goals and 18 points in 25 games this season, interrupted three times due to injury.

San Jose took the lead for good 3:35 into the third, as Michalek charged into the offensive zone, crossed from right to left, and dribbled a shot past Biron.

It was 3-1 for the visitors only 42 seconds later. Murray picked up an errant pass at the left point along the boards and fired toward the net. The puck caromed off Danny Briere in front, nicked the right post and rippled the net before Biron could adjust.

Any Flyer comeback hopes were squashed when Knuble was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking with 3:28 left in the contest. The Sharks completed the game with a two-man advantage but Biron kept San Jose from inflicting further damage.

Cheechoo put the Sharks on the board with a little more than four minutes to play in the first, burying a wrister off a dish from Thornton.

After killing off a penalty late in the second period, the Flyers tied the game with less than 10 seconds remaining as Knuble finished off a 3-on-1 by slamming home a feed by Mike Richards. Stefan Ruzicka began the rush in transition, dished over to Richards in the right circle, who then fired across to Knuble for a blazing one-timer.

Game Notes
The Flyers’ franchise record for consecutive games without a win is 12 (eight losses, four ties), from February 24-March 16, 1999…Sharks forward Jeremy Roenick made his return to Philadelphia for the first time in nearly four years. The 38-year-old spent three seasons with the Flyers (2001-2004), and was honored prior to the game for scoring his 500th career goal earlier in the season…Philly has not beaten San Jose at home since a 4-3 win on December 21, 2000…Jaroslav Modry made his Flyers debut, after being acquired from Los Angeles on Tuesday…10 of the game’s 11 penalties were assessed to the Flyers…San Jose continues its eight-game road trip in Pittsburgh on Sunday, while Philadelphia hosts Florida on Saturday.

Content Copyright 2008, The Sports Network. Distributed by XML Team Solutions.
_______________________________________________________________________________

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

SJ – 15:56 Jonathan Cheechoo, Assists: Joe Thornton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic

2nd Period

PHI – 19:54 Mike Knuble, Assists: Stefan Ruzicka and Mike Richards

3rd Period

SJ – 03:35 Milan Michalek, Assists: Joe Thornton and Kyle McLaren
SJ – 04:17 PPG – Douglas Murray, Assists: Joe Pavelski and Steve Bernier

PENALTY SUMMARY

1st Period

PHI – 01:31 Ruzicka, S. : Delaying Game-Puck over glass – 2 min
PHI – 08:46 Cote, R. : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
SJ – 08:46 Shelley, J. : Fighting (maj) – 5 min

2nd Period

PHI – 06:45 Briere, D. : Holding – 2 min
PHI – 12:15 Coburn, B. : Delaying Game-Puck over glass – 2 min
PHI – 17:41 Ruzicka, S. : Too many men/ice – bench – 2 min
PHI – 20:00 Cote, R. : Misconduct – 10 min
PHI – 20:00 Upshall, S. : Misconduct – 10 min

3rd Period

PHI – 16:32 Knuble, M. : Hi stick – double minor – 4 min
PHI – 19:08 Hartnell, S. : Unsportsmanlike conduct – 2 min
PHI – 20:00 Modry, J. : Tripping – 2 min

We may be smack dab in the middle of the hockey season, but it seems that Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren is not done wheeling and dealing his way into rebuilding the Flyers franchise deep into the future.

The Flyers announced yesterday prior to their 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes that they have extended the contract of young defenseman Braydon Coburn by 2 years, and that those extra years will earn him $2.6 million. Holmgren has said that he would like to have signed him for a longer term, but it is currently difficult to discern his true market value because they anticipate his scoring will increase over the next couple years.

This is great news for the Flyers, who basically stole the big, yet speedy young D-man from the Atlanta Thrashers last February in exchange for Alexei Zhitnik. Coburn has shown some impressive maturity in his own zone, but even more exciting is the consistency with which he seems to find a recipient for his long outlet passes.

Coburn is also a top notch physical specimen, and was described by head coach John Stevens as the second fastest skater on the team, only outdone by Jeff Carter despite his 6’5″ frame. In fact, he was the first (by a large margin) to cross the finish line during a traning camp long-distance run back in September.

But Coburn is only the first of a number of players that Holmgren will seek to get under new contracts or extensions before the end of the season. A daunting task lies before Holmgren to find ways to lockup alot of crucial talent both before players become eligible to entertain offer sheets, and without creating a salary cap crisis.

Perhaps the most important of these players is Mike Richards, who has been without a doubt the Flyers’ most explosive force this season and could hit the market as an RFA next offseason. Expectations were high for Richards coming into his 3rd NHL season, but no one would have anticipated that after 24 games, he would be leading the Flyers in goals (14) , and be tied with Danny Briere for the team points lead (30). Richards was mostly seen as a checking line center that poses a good scoring threat. Instead, Richards has supplanted Jeff Carter as the team’s 2nd line center, while still showing a tremendous amount of defensive skill. Then add in his special teams play. Richards has taken on the pointman position on the power play, scored 4 goals with the man advantage, and is tied for 2nd in the NHL with 3 shorthanded goals. No wonder Holmgren has made him his top contract priority.

Another Flyers forward who is scheduled to hit RFA status in July is R.J. Umberger, who the Flyers originally signed as a free agent back in June of 2004. That seems like quite a bargain for Umberger, the 16th overall pick from the 2001 draft. But Umberger will likely be looking for a raise from the $1.25 million he is making this year. He has emerged as one of the Flyers’ premiere playmakers as he has piled up 11 assists so far, as well as 3 goals of his own. but R.J.’s defensive play is what makes him so valuable. Expect him to be sealed up before the end of the season.

Flyers captain Jason Smith will also almost certainly be resigned before the end of the season to keep him from becoming a UFA. Smith is making just under $2 million this year, and will command a sizable increase, especially considering his role as the Flyers’ emotional leader.

Randy Jones and Riley Cote may also have an impact on Holmgren’s decisions, especially Jones, who has rebounded nicely from a disappointing showing last season to be one of the Flyers most solid defenseman this year.

But the most intriguing case would be that of Jeff Carter. Carter is also scheduled to gain RFA status this summer, but it is not quite so immediately clear whether or not Holmgren will persue a new contract very soon. In fact, common thinking says that Holmgren just might allow Carter to hit the market and sign an offer sheet, rather than assume another top shelf contract for a young player. Carter has 8 goals and 5 assists this season, and that would be plenty after 24 games on almost any team to prove your worth. However, Richards’ explosion and better defensive play, as well as Umberger’s two-way game may end up making Carter a salary cap liability. Just a year ago, this was an almost unimaginable scenario, but because of the high salaries of a handful of top-tier players, and the expected big-time raise Richards will likely get, Carter may just turn into the next hot young commodity to hit the RFA list.

Alexandre Picard, Nate Guenin, and Stefan Ruzicka also could become RFA’s in July, but resigning those players should come relatively cheap and will likely not have a major impact on the Flyers salary cap, even if any of them are steadily on the roster next season.

And let’s not forget one more contract extension that is being contemplated…that of head coach John Stevens. Stevens certainly has his critics, and has been in the unenviable position of having to form team chemistry from absolute scratch with a totally retooled roster. But despite the criticism, Stevens has his team atop the Atlantic Division and in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. Quite an accomplishment considering where this club was a year ago, and one that makes his current contract worthy of a second look.

The 2007 Flyers’ rookie camp has officially come to a close with a 5-3 exhibition victory for the Flyers rookies over the Washington Capitals’ rookie squad, and now, attention will shift toward the real meat and potatoes run-up to the regular season.

Training camp will open this Friday, and as part of the camp activities, the Flyers have announced the creation of a round-robin format tournament to be held from Friday to Sunday.

The first-annual “Clarke Cup” will be awarded to one of four teams that have been assembled out of the scheduled camp attendees. The four teams have been named after members of the Flyers Hall of Fame, and will be known as Team Snider, Team Allen, Team Barber, and Team Parent.

The team rosters are as follows…

Team Snider

Simon Gagne Danny Briere Mike Knuble
Kyle Greentree Frederik Cabana Jesse Boulerice
Garrett Klotz Pete Zingoni Darroll Powe

Randy Jones Lasse Kukkonen
Oskars Bartulis Nate Guenin
Chad Anderson Mike Vannelli

Brian Boucher

Team Allen

Scott Hartnell Mike Richards Sami Kapanen
Adam Henrich Pat LeBeau Claude Giroux
Josh Beaulieu Mario Kempe Riley Cote

Braydon Coburn Derian Hatcher
Lars Jonsson Kevin Marshall
Rory Fitzpatrick Adam Bourque-LeBlanc

Antero Niittymaki
Scott Munroe

Team Barber

Ben Eager R.J. Umberger Stefan Ruzicka
Boyd Kane Jim Dowd Steve Downie
Matt Stefanishion Pat Maroon David Laliberte
Brad Schell Ryan Potulny

Kimmo Timonen Jason Smith
Jussi Timonen Martin Grenier
Ryan Wilson

Martin Biron
Martin Houle

Team Parent

Scottie Upshall Jeff Carter Joffrey Lupul
Denis Tolpeko Jon Matsumoto Darren Reid
Triston Grant Jared Ross Gino Pisellini

Denis Gauthier Alexander Picard
Ryan Parent Tysen Dowzak
Mike Rathje Maxime Ouimet-Desjardins

Rejean Beauchemin
Jeremy Duchesne

At first look, Team Allen appears to be the most balanced squad in terms of veterans and young talent. But that particular team is not likely to draw the most attention.

Instead, Team Snider’s top line of Simon Gagne, Danny Briere, and Mike Knuble will be watched very closely. It will be the first time Flyers fans will get to see the projected 1st line work together on the ice, and great things will be expected quickly.

Another interesting lineup is the top line of Team Allen. Scott Hartnell was originally expected to be placed to the left of Jeff Carter on the 2nd line, but instead has been lined up with Mike Richards and Sami Kapanen. Richards and Kapanen will be the anchors of the Flyers checking line. Is it just an experiment? This would be the time for experimentation, and it should be interesting to see what Hartnell can do alongside checking forwards.

But even though the top lines of all the squads offer an interesting look at what the Flyers’ opening night roster could look like, the aim was to balance the offensive firepower throughout, and not give a definite edge to any one group. That could explain Hartnell’s placement on the Richards line, rather than Carter’s.

Also, note that although Gagne, Briere, and Knuble are together in Team Snider, but they do not have much more in terms of offensive threat through the rest of the team. That’s probably good news for the other three teams, as that top line should be able to do plenty of damage on its own.

Who will take the first-ever “Clarke Cup”? Make your predictions.

My pick…Team Allen. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see Team Snider give them everything they can handle.