Following a win of epic proportions over the Sabres, news broke that the Flyers had traded for former Flyer Vinny Prospal. In the deal Tampa Bay recieved D Alexander Picard and a conditional draft pick.

This season F Vinny Prosal has 29 goals and 28 assists and is a -7.

This is huge. Once Lupul and Richards come back this could be a turning point for the team this year.

2/25/08 4-3 SO Win SCORING 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total PHI 2 0 1 0 2 4 BUF 3 0 0 0 1 3 _______________________________ SHOTS 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total PHI 11 9 12 3 3 35 BUF 12 11 5 1 3 29

_______________________________________________________________________________

Buffalo, NY (Sports Network) – Danny Briere netted the deciding shootout tally against his former team, as Philadelphia stormed back from a three-goal deficit to down Buffalo, 4-3, snapping a 10-game losing streak.

The Flyers entered the game shorthanded and on the brink of a new franchise low — no team since the club’s inception had ever dropped 11 in a row. Going down 3-0 and operating without the likes of Mike Richards (hamstring), Simon Gagne (concussion) and Joffrey Lupul (ankle), they appeared poised to set the new mark.

Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell and R.J. Umberger scored in regulation to stage the comeback, however, and Briere polished it off in the shootout for Philadelphia, which hadn’t won since February 5 at Atlanta.

Philadelphia signed Briere to a lucrative eight-year contract in the offseason, luring him away from Buffalo, where he played the previous three seasons.

Help for Briere and the rest of the squad is on the way. After the game, it was announced that the Flyers had acquired Vaclav Prospal from Tampa Bay for defenseman Alexandre Picard and a conditional draft pick in 2009.

Jason Pominville had a goal and an assist while Ryan Miller made 32 stops for the Sabres, who are now tied with Philadelphia for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers finished the opening stanza strong to turn a 3-0 hole into a one- goal deficit. Carter broke free for a breakaway before lifting a backhander under the crossbar at the 14:33 mark, and Hartnell made it 3-2 with 3:39 left in the first with a one-timer from the left circle.

The scoring went silent until the latter stages of the third, when Philadelphia cashed in on a man advantage to pull even. Pominville’s clearing attempt caromed out of play for a delay-of-game penalty. In the next sequence, Umberger snapped a shot from the right circle that made it through traffic in front and into the back of the cage to force overtime.

After an active but fruitless extra session, Ales Kotalik beat Martin Biron in the second round of the shootout to give the Sabres the advantage. Carter responded with a marker of his own, however, before Derek Roy fanned on his attempt at the other end. That put the spotlight on Briere, who pulled off a series of quick dekes before slipping a forehand attempt past Miller to complete the comeback win.

Biron had 26 saves in the victory.

The Flyers yielded two goals in an 11-second span early in the contest to dig a 2-0 hole. Both came off turnovers, the first ending with a Roy backhander from the high slot that beat Biron.

Moments later, Pominville came up with the puck in the Philadelphia zone and dished it to a streaking Clarke MacArthur, who finished for the 2-0 advantage.

The Sabres established a 3-0 lead at the 14:16 mark of the first on a quick cross-crease feed and finish from Tim Connolly to Pominville.

Game Notes
Hartnell scored for the first time in seven games, while Carter entered the night with just one marker in 15 contests…Philadelphia improved to 18-13-1 as the visiting team…The Flyers had just one win in their previous 11 trips to HSBC Arena coming in.

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

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

BUF – 06:31 Derek Roy, Assists: Jaroslav Spacek
BUF – 06:42 Clarke MacArthur, Assists: Jason Pominville and Tim Connolly
BUF – 14:16 Jason Pominville, Assists: Tim Connolly and Jaroslav Spacek
PHI – 14:33 Jeff Carter, Assists: Mike Knuble and Randy Jones
PHI – 16:21 Scott Hartnell, Assists: Patrick Thoresen

2nd Period

NONE

3rd Period

PHI – 12:45 PPG – R.J. Umberger, Assists: Braydon Coburn and Mike Knuble

OT Period

NONE

Shootout

BUF – Connolly Save
PHI – Timonen Save
BUF – Kotalik Goal
PHI – Carter Goal
BUF – Roy Miss
PHI – Briere Goal

PENALTY SUMMARY

1st Period

PHI – 03:02 Boulerice, J. : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
BUF – 03:02 Peters, A. : Fighting (maj) – 5 min
PHI – 03:02 Briere, D. : Slashing – 2 min
PHI – 16:34 Downie, S. : Interference – Goalkeeper – 2 min

2nd Period

PHI – 03:54 Cote, R. : Tripping – 2 min
BUF – 05:00 Vanek, T. : Tripping – 2 min
PHI – 06:00 Smith, J. : Holding – 2 min
BUF – 09:04 Mair, A. : Holding – 2 min
BUF – 18:49 Spacek, J. : Hooking – 2 min
PHI – 18:49 Upshall, S. : Diving – 2 min
BUF – 19:48 Tallinder, H. : Hooking – 2 min

3rd Period

BUF – 03:39 Kotalik, A. : Hooking – 2 min
BUF – 12:29 Pominville, J. : Delaying Game-Puck over glass – 2 min

OT Period

NONE

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.