Your guide to the Flyers at the Olympics

We've officially hit a lull in Philly sports action. The Eagles have long been eliminated, the Phillies are just getting under way, the Sixers are more interested in trading for next year and the Flyers are off for two weeks for the Winter Olympic break. Fortunately, just because the Flyers aren't playing any games as a team, there are still a few individuals headed to Vancouver to represent their countries.

While Jeff Carter just missed being added to Canada's roster today and Matt Carle arguably should be on the U.S. roster, there will be four current Flyers playing in the Olympics this year. Here's what to expect from them:

Oskars Bartulis, D, Latvia: Will be top defender on a weak team
Chris Pronger, D, Canada: Could be on top D pairing for Gold favorite
Mike Richards, C, Canada: Expect more of a checking/PK role
Kimmo Timonen, D, Finland: Should get plenty of ice time

If you are feeling a little more nostalgic, there are also ten former Flyers at the Olympics:

Peter Forsberg, C (Sweden)
Michal Handzus, C (Slovakia)
Lasse Kukkonen, D (Finland)
Antero Niitymaki, G (Finland)
Joni Pitkanen, D (Finland)
Branko Radivojevic, W (Slovakia)
Luca Sbisa, D (Switzerland)
Dennis Seidenberg, D (Germany)
Patrick Thoreson, W (Norway)
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, D (Norway)

While all indications are that it's Canada's Gold to lose, there should be some entertaining games along the way, especially the Canada/U.S. and Canada/Russia tilts. As for who you should root for in the Olympics, that's your call. Despite not having any Flyers on the roster, I'll certainly be rooting for the U.S. but I'll have my eye on how the Philly guys are doing. As long as the U.S. has a decent showing (Top 4) and none of the Flyers get hurt, I will consider the Olympics a success.

It all kicks off tomorrow at 3 pm when the U.S. takes on Switzerland and it ends on Sunday, February 28th in the Gold Medal game. Click here for the complete Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Schedule.

Antero Niittymaki signs with Lightning, will not go to Russia

Or not. Looks like Antero Niittymaki will be staying in the NHL after all. The former Flyers goaltender, who had reached a preliminary contract with a team in the KHL, changed his mind and instead signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, presumably to back up Mike Smith. The Lightning now have a very solid 1-2 punch in net.

Still nothing, not even a rumor, about where Martin Biron is going to play next year. There is a team in Russia that needs a goalie now, Marty!

Antero Niittymaki is going to Russia

Unable to stay with the Flyers and unable to sign anywhere else in the NHL, goaltender Antero Niittymaki has decided to go play in Russia. The former Flyer, who played five seasons in net, signed with Ray Emery's old team in the KHL, Atlant Moscow Oblast. Think of it as an international trade, Emery for Niittymaki.

Niittymaki's career with the Flyers was filled with promise, starting with his strong run with the Phantoms in the AHL, but finished with a whimper as he battled injuries and inconsistency. At age 29, his career in the NHL is by no means over, if he can have a solid season in the KHL, there is no reason he couldn't come back.

In related news, Martin Biron remains unsigned. Most teams already have their starting goaltender in place, so Biron now appears to be searching for a backup role somewhere in the league. He will likely have to take a big cut in pay over what he was initially looking for.

Goodbye, Marty: Flyers to sign Ray Emery

Well, the Flyers didn't take my advice. Back in May, rumors began to surface that the Flyers were in discussions with goaltender Ray Emery about being the starter in net for the Flyers next season. Emery is a headcase who has been essentially banished to Russia, so I advised the Flyers to stay away from Emery and his poor attitude. Unfortunately they didn't listen to me, and it appears that Emery is headed to Philadelphia, which means we can say goodbye to both free agent goalies Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki.

According to Tim Panaccio, word has spread around the NHL that the Flyers are deep in discussions with Emery and, barring a last-minute breakdown, will sign the goalie when free agency opens in July. Emery last played for a team in the KHL, a Russian League, after being waived by the Ottawa Senators in 2008 for his poor off-ice behavior. He led the Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007, so he has the ability, it's simply a question of whether he can straighten up and play his best and not be a distraction.

This move could easily turn out to be a coup for the Flyers, or it could blow up in their face. I would guess that Emery is willing to play for less than the Flyers would have had to sign Marty Biron for, so they will save some money to be used on other players. But, if Emery should be the distraction he was in Ottawa, the Flyers will be left with no one to step in, since the backup is likely going to be Johan Backlund, also signed away from a non-NHL team.

The Flyers are employing an interesting, although backwards, strategy with their goaltenders. The signing of Emery screams of a move to save salary by signing someone out of the league, and that gives them two goaltenders for next year that are relatively cheap. The Flyers are choosing to spend as little money as possible on goaltending, which just so happens to be the most important position in hockey. If this gamble pays off, they will look like geniuses. If it doesn't, Paul Holmgren should be fired.

Goaltender Ray Emery is on the Flyers radar, let's hope they stay away

After a quick exit out of the playoffs, the Flyers have some serious work to do to in the offseason to fix all of the holes on their roster. The Flyers find themselves with too many forwards signed to big, long term contracts and not enough quality defensemen on the roster. They somehow need to turn a forward or two into solid defensive players. Of course, their biggest need in the offseason is a starting goaltender, since currently they don't even have a goalie on the roster: both Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki are unrestricted free agents.

While common sense would point to the Flyers re-signing Biron and allowing recently signed Johan Backlund be the back-up when Niittymaki signs elsewhere, apparently the Flyers are looking at other options. Rumors have surfaced that the Flyers have had discussions with hothead goaltender Ray Emery, formerly of the Ottawa Senators, with the idea of bringing him in as the starting goaltender. Emery did lead the Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007, but has since been basically banished to the KHL, a Russian League, after Ottawa waived him for poor play and bad off-ice behavior in 2008. Emery did have a stellar season in the KHL, putting up a 22-8 record and a sparkling 2.12 goals against average, and by all reports his behavior has improved. Still, how can the Flyers be seriously considering handing this guy the keys to the net?

If Emery has straightened out his act, he can be a good goaltender in the NHL. That's a mighty big if, though, and it's a huge risk for a team that has so many good, young players and appears to be on the doorstep of being an elite team. Is Martin Biron really that bad? At least with Marty, you know he's a team guy, even if his play has been uneven. I'd rather have a guy like Biron in net even if his level of play is a little lower than a guy like Emery, who has the potential to completely disrupt the team.

Ray Emery should only be a desperation option for the Flyers. If both Antero Niittymaki and Martin Biron sign elsewhere, or if they are asking for too much money, then the Flyers should take a risk with someone like Emery. Otherwise, there is no sense in ruining the team chemistry and bringing in Emery just for the small chance that he has straightened himself out. Let another team ruin their season by wasting their time and money on Ray Emery. Move along, Flyers.

Flyers sign goaltender Johan Backlund

In an effort to bring in more depth to the organization, and to possibly replace Martin Biron or Antero Niittymaki, both free agents after this season, the Flyers have signed Johan Backlund, a 27 year old netminder from Sweden. Backlund, who signed a one year deal with the Flyers, had played 5 seasons in the Swedish Elite league and has a career 2.54 goals against average in 287 games. He has no NHL experience, but Backlund was the starting goaltender for Team Sweden at the 2007 World Championships, leading the team to a 4th place finish.

The signing looks like a move to bring in a possible backup goalie for next season. With the way Biron is playing right now, the Flyers would be smart to try to sign him to a new deal and let Niittymaki, who will also be a free agent, sign elsewhere. Niittymaki will surely be looking for starter money in free agency, something the Flyers, who are already close to the salary cap, could never afford. Backlund represents a cheap option for a backup goalie who won't be expected to challenge for the starting role.

This is a no-risk signing for the Flyers. Backlund signed a one year deal for likely a small amount of money, so if he can't cut it in the NHL, the Flyers can send him packing after a year. If he somehow emerges as a legitimate NHL player, the Flyers would then have quite a bargain on their hands.

Penalties, Sean Avery are downfall of Flyers

After playing an inspiring game of hockey in a playoff-like atmosphere at the Wachovia Center Saturday, the Flyers let their emotions get the best of them in a rematch against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. The Flyers lost 4-1 and couldn't stay out of the penalty box all game. They finished with 34 minutes of penalties, including 15 of them when Braydon Coburn was tossed from the game for high sticking Nik Antropov in the face. While Coburn was retaliating for an earlier cheap shot by Antropov, it was dumb penalties like that that gave the Rangers a string of power play chances and all four of their goals came on the man advantage.

The Flyers march to the penalty box was aided by the antics of Sean Avery, who is back to his usual tricks to get under opponents skin. Avery also added two goals in the game, so needless to say, the Flyers saw more of Avery than they wanted to. The Madison Square Garden loved his every move, however.

It also now appears that the Flyers goaltender battle is over. Antero Niittymaki started in net for the Flyers and gave up 4 goals, and even though they were all on the powerplay, his performance paled in comparison to what Martin Biron did yesterday against the Rangers. The Flyers would be wise to ride out Biron for the rest of the season and hope he gots hot like he was in the playoffs last year.

So, the Flyers end up splitting the home and home series with the Rangers. While things could have been worse, if the Flyers had stopped their parade to the penalty box, they might have actually has a chance to sweep the series. With a game against the Red Wings looming on Tuesday, it would have been nice to leave New York with a little more confidence and a little less Sean Avery.

List of injured Flyers, now nine deep, continues to grow

Okay, now this is just beyond ridiculous. The injury bug that has hit the Flyers this season has gotten completely out of control and has now inflicted over a third of the roster. The fact that the Flyers are even in second place in the Atlantic Division is a testament to just how deep and talented this team really is.

On Monday, GM Paul Holmgren went through the litany of injuries that the Flyers are dealing with, outlining the NINE players that are currently banged up. The latest major injuries are to winger Joffrey Lupul and goaltender Antero Niittymaki. Lupul is dealing with an abdominal pull and Niitty has a pulled groin and both players have been placed on Injured Reserve. Both figure to be out for about two weeks.

Adding to those latest injuries is news that Claude Giroux, Arron Asham, Josh Gratton, Darroll Powe and Jonathon Kalinski are all out with injuries. Giroux has a concussion and is day to day. Asham is dealing with a knee sprain but figures to return soon. Out with an abdominal injury is Gratton while Powe is dealing with a hip injury. Finally, Kalinski will be out the longest of this group as he was in the hospital getting blood drained from his left thigh. Look for him to be back in a week or so.

On top of all of these injuries, star players Simon Gagne and Danny Briere are still dealing with their own health issues. Gagne figures to try to play through the pain of his left shoulder but Briere will remain out for at least another week as he continues to recover from his groin injury.

All of these injuries leave the Flyers seriously thin at forward. With 7(!!) forwards likely out for the next game, several defensemen will continue to be forced to play offense. While the Flyers have called up Andreas Nodl to fill one of the forward spots and Simon Gagne will attempt to suit up, that still leaves three vacated forward spots. Luca Sbisa and Lasse Kukkonen are two likely candidates to move to the forward positions but the club is still one forward short. Goaltender Scott Munroe was called up from the Phantoms to replace Niittymaki in net so perhaps he could try his hand on the wings.

I have never before seen a hockey team have this many injuries. Luckily for the Flyers, key players like Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Mike Knuble are still healthy along with their entire defensive unit. There is enough talent in this group to keep the team afloat for the next few weeks but it will be difficult for them to remain atop the Atlantic Division.

The best thing for the Flyers right now will be to finish up this road trip and head home and start healing up. None of these players are expected to be out for the entire season so the team should be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Let's hope that light isn't a train that will run into the rest of the players and knock them all out with injuries.

3 in a row! Flyers thrash Atlanta

(AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

Who needs baseball? Hockey games don't get postponed, so at least one of our Philly sports teams played on Tuesday night. And, boy, did they have a great game.

The Flyers put together their best effort of the season in destroying the Atlanta Thrashers 7-0. While few of their goals were very "pretty", the Flyers got two goal nights from Mike Knuble, Simon Gagne and Joffrey Lupul and Antero Niittymaki pitched a shutout in net. Glen Metropolit also added a goal and two assists. More importantly, the team played better defense and continued to show more energy and jump. Slowly but surely, this team is straightening things out and started to get rewarded in the win column.

Also having a great game on the night was Luca Sbisa who showed great poise in the back end and also added a pair of assists. Sbisa has just learned that he won't be going back to his junior team and will remain with the Flyers for the rest of the season. Although he is only 18, he has proven that he belongs.

The win was the third in a row from the Flyers who now have a record of 3-3-3 which looks pretty good after the slow start they had. While the Rangers are running away with the division with 19 points, the Flyers are right in the mix with a respectable 9 points.

The Flyers were smart to give John Stevens a chance to get this team on the right page and playing with more intensity before trying to make any drastic moves. The team looks a lot more like the playoff team from last year and appears to have avoided a disastrous start to the season.

Flyers remain winless after blowing 2 goal lead to the Sharks

(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Despite a better effort for the Flyers last night in San Jose, the result was still the same. The Flyers, who had a 3-1 lead at one point, lost 5-4 to the Sharks in overtime. While the Flyers did manage to earn a point against one of the best teams in the league, it's already the time of the season where they can ignore moral victories and only be happy with actual W's.

The game was filled with both positives and negatives for the Flyers.

Positives:

-The reunited Simon Gagne/Danny Briere/Mike Knuble line played well with Briere scoring 2 goals and Gagne having several good scoring chances. It seems like whoever Briere plays with continues to have a hot hand.

-Antero Niittymaki, despite giving up 5 goals, had a good game. None of the goals were his fault except one where he gave up a juicy rebound to Joe Pavelski in the third period. Niitty made several big stops throughout the game, including an amazing diving save in the third. He faced a barrage of 45 shots and saved 40 of them, basically if he could see it, he stopped it.

-Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn played great as they were reunited as the top defensive unit. The rest of the defensemen? Not so much.

-You could tell the Flyers were making a concerted effort to play the Sharks tough. They had a bunch of hits and got into several scraps after the whistle.

Negatives:

-The Flyers defense is in shambles. Besides the top two, the Flyers are relying on an 18 year old, a guy who didn't play in the NHL last year and 2 AHL-quality players. Luca Sbisa and Ossi Vaananen have played well at times but they should be the teams 3rd pairing of D-men, not 2nd. Andrew Alberts and Steve Eminger are not NHL caliber players and they made a ton of mistakes against the Sharks. The Flyers need to do something to shore up their D because Randy Jones and Ryan Parent aren't coming back any time soon. They need to make a trade to bring in someone who can be a top 4 defensemen, even if it means trading one of their better forwards.

-Too many penalties. The Flyers had 27 penalty minutes on the night, including 11 minors and 1 fighting major. They gave the Sharks a ton of power play chances and they did well to kill some of them but they still gave up three power play goals.

-Steve Downie needs to go play for the Phantoms for a while. He had two penalties on the night, including a dumb slash, and had only 5 minutes of ice time. He needs to get his head straightened out with the Phantoms.

The Flyers have 3 days off now before they face the Sharks again, this time in Philadelphia. It will be interesting to see if the team makes any personnel changes or if they continue to tinker with the lines to find the right combination. You can only re-arrange the lines so much before you realize that maybe this team simply needs some new players. We'll see if they come from the minors or if they come via a trade.

Flyers opening game roster set: Sbisa makes team

The Flyers have set their opening day roster. There are two surprises, one being that 18 year old Luca Sbisa made the team and other is the return of Antero Niittymaki to the Flyers roster.

Sbisa made the club partly due to injuries to Randy Jones and Ryan Parent's upcoming surgery and partly due to how well he played in the preseason. The Flyers have the option of keeping Sbisa up to 9 games before he must return to his junior team or he must stay with the team the whole season. He is not eligible to play with the Phantoms at all this season due to his young age.

Niittymaki has been dealing with injuries and wasn't expected to be ready at the start of the season, but he is on the opening night roster and the Flyers will go with 3 goalies. Niitty appeared healthy as he led the Phantoms to a win over the Flyers, but the team is keeping J.S. Aubin around as insurance, at least for now. As soon as Niittymaki is healthy, Aubin will be dropped into the minors.

There really aren't any other surprises on the roster:

Forwards (12): Arron Asham, Danny Briere, Jeff Carter, Riley Cote, Steve Downie, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Mike Knuble, Joffrey Lupul, Glen Metropolit, Mike Richards, Scottie Upshall

Defensemen (7): Braydon Coburn, Steve Eminger, Randy Jones, Lasse Kukkonen, Luca Sbisa, Kimmo Timonen, Ossi Vannanen

Goalies (3): J.S. Aubin, Martin Biron, Antero Niittymaki

Flyers goalie Niittymaki has surgery, out 4-6 weeks

The Flyers will be opening camp soon, and they will find themselves without a backup goaltender. Antero Niittymaki, the backup to starter Martin Biron, had surgery on his left hip last week, and will miss 4 to 6 weeks as he recovers. Niitymaki's surgery was considered minor, but he will still miss the start of the regular season, meaning the Flyers will need to look elsewhere, at least for a few games, for a backup goaltender.

One option for the Flyers will be their former 1st round pick, Maxime Ouellet, who was invited to training camp following the Niitymaki surgery. Ouellet was drafted by the Flyers back in 1999 and then traded in the infamous Adam Oates deal. Ouellet never turned into the star goaltender that he was projected to be as he has bounced around the AHL and played only a few games in the NHL with the Washington Capitals and the Vancouver Canucks. If he earns the backup spot at the beginning of the year, he likely won't last long once Niittymaki is ready to play. The Flyers could also use Phantom Scott Munroe as a backup for a short period of time.

Check back on this site regularly for news on the Flyers. With preseason games starting next week and the season less than a month away, there should be plenty of Flyers news to discuss.