All about D: Flyers re-sign Coburn

The Flyers are making it their offseason goal to strengthen their defense. After acquiring defenseman Andrej Mezsaros, their was some initial speculation that the Flyers might no longer be attempting to re-sign restricted free agent Braydon Coburn. That speculation didn't last long, however, as new quickly broke that Coburn signed a 2 year, 6.4 million dollar contract with the Flyers.

This contract is a nice raise for Coburn, who now has a cap hit of 3.2 million over the next two seasons. He joins Kimmo Timonen, Chris Pronger, Mezsaros and Matt Carle as Flyers d-men making over 3 million per season. I'd say they were making an effort to ensure their defense is one of the best in the league for the next few seasons.

With Coburn now under contract, the Flyers have two restricted free agents left that they are sure to sign: Dan Carcillo and Darroll Powe. After those two are signed, the team will likely be too close to the cap to sign any other players, including adding another goalie. As I've said before, if they want to sign another goalie they are going to have to trade a forward.

Guest Post: a frustrated Flyers fan gets a few things off his chest

Guest Poster Mark Trible has had enough. Here are his thoughts on the frustrating Flyers:

"It's frustrating and it has to change."

Above are the words of Flyers captain Mike Richards, and I can’t say that I don’t agree. I also can’t say that Flyers fans across the globe haven’t repeated the same sentiments frequently in the last 365 days. What we as a fan base are facing is Groundhog Day, only around 300 miles southeast of Punxsutawney. This is a reoccurring theme, going hand in hand with the repetition of quotes from El Capitan. At what point do we say we’ve had enough? Well, I’ve had enough. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t had enough to cut ties with the team (I’m a glutton for punishment), but I’ve had enough to write a blog post! I still hold some belief in this team, and hell, I may even believe they can win a playoff series. However, playoff series’ aren’t going to cut it in Philadelphia unless three or four are won. Without further adieu, here are the things that I am absolutely tired of watching night in, and night out…

Lack of a collective heartbeat: The Flyers only have the identification of a ‘team’ because they all wear the same color sweaters. While it is true that there are leaders on the team (most notably Kimmo and Prongs), it seems as if the boys in orange are never on the same page. Point the finger at Lavy, Richie, or whoever else you feel is the problem. All I know is that finding the heart and soul of this team is as easy as finding which way John Stevens is looking.

Continuous effort on the offensive end: I don’t buy into the idea that the Flyers don’t have talent on the offensive side of the ice. In fact, I think the team is extremely talented. However, when talent and effort don’t meet somewhere in the middle, there is little success to be had. Richie isn’t the most outstanding offensive forward in the game, but he gives you all he’s got. Gagne, JVR and even CARCILLO exert a ton of energy on their shifts and skate hard, dump hard, chase hard, crash the net hard. As joyful as I would be to express nothing but satisfaction with these three there are problems with each one. Gagne is old, JVR is young, and Carcillo isn’t very talented. With that being the case, players like Hartnell and Briere have no more excuses to use. I’m sick of them. I’m sick of Hartnell falling down every time he attempts to mount a scoring chance, I’m sick of Briere going to the box every game for high-sticking and hooking. Most of all, I’m sick of having those two erratic forwards on the same line. Can anyone explain why Hartnell should be on a better line than JVR? I sure as hell can’t. Although I didn’t mention Powe, Asham, Lappy and Betts (due in large part to their lack of offensive ability), at least they do their jobs and show the same type of continuous effort night in and night out.

Braydon Coburn: Mr. Turnstile himself. With the current goaltending situation (or lack thereof), our defense has to be excellent. Coburn is about as excellent as Ovechkin is clean. Clean looks at the goal because Braydon is searching for his jock at the blue line are unacceptable and continue to occur night in and night out. I’ve got news for fellow Flyers fans, Boucher isn’t stealing the team any games anytime soon. He can be consistent and good enough for the team to win, but the defense has to protect him as much as possible.

Lack of passion: Effort and passion is not the same thing. But one certainly is the antecedent to the other. When I watched the Atlanta game on Sunday and the Ottawa game the other night, I saw a bunch of individuals who looked ready for summer vacation. I didn’t see hunger. I didn’t see the will to be the best. I didn’t see a team that is attempting to rectify the choke of last year’s stretch run. I saw no spark. Going through the motions is understandable in November. But in March? Not so much.

Lack of ACCOUNTABILITY: I know much has been made of this matter in reference to ‘oh captain our captain’, but there is more than enough to go around. After every game, we hear the same questions asked to the players, and the same responses are given. “Well, we need to show more urgency.” Or “We can’t be complacent with where we are, a lot of teams are hungry and clawing for the playoffs.” Insert whatever other clichés you’ve heard over course of the season. Why doesn’t anyone say, “It is MY responsibility to get this thing going.”? After the Ottawa game, Prongs said his piece about how the team needs to win games down the stretch, Richie said “It’s frustrating when guys aren’t playing their hardest”, Carcillo blamed the refs, Boosh blamed the refs, Lavy blamed the refs. GROW UP. Someone raise their hand and take some freaking accountability! The referees aren’t going to right this ship. It’s up to the bodies in the locker room. Take some initiative damn it!

Where do we go from here Flyers fans? I’m not sure, but I know I’m not going anywhere. The team can play like bums again tonight against the Wild (pick a name with an s on the end would ya?), and they’ll still be my bums. Things have been bad lately but it’s not too late to turn it around for a playoff run, and that’s what I’m hoping. Although, unless the previously mentioned problems aren’t fixed, look forward to an early offseason….full of watching Sidney Crosby highlights.

Follow Mark on Twitter (@Mtrible) for more great Flyers and Eagles thoughts.

Coburn and Timonen back for Game Five?

All of the sudden, things are looking a whole lot better for the Flyers. Fresh off their Game Four win last night the Flyers announced that they might have their top two defensemen back in the line-up on Sunday for Game Five.

Braydon Coburn, who missed the last two games after he took a puck to the face, was already likely to return once the swelling around his left eye subsided. As long as he continues to progress you can bet he will be back Sunday.

The surprising news is that Kimmo Timonen might also be available to play in Game Five. Timonen has missed the entire series with the Penguins with a blood clot in his ankle but will attempt to skate on it today. If the ankle feels well enough he could find his way back to the ice on Sunday. This is great news for a Flyers team that thought they had lost Timonen for the entire playoffs but now it appears that the blood clots have improved enough that he can make a comeback attempt.

If the Flyers get their top two defensemen back and can play with the same passion and intensity they showed last night, this series is going to get interesting. It's amazing what a little good news and a win can do for the confidence of a team, there's a chance they could build on it and pull off the unlikely.

With the season on the line, Flyers shake up lines, sit Coburn

The Flyers may be playing their last game of the season tonight. In an effort to shake things up and get a spark, Coach John Stevens has rearranged the Flyers forward lines to look like this:

Richards - Briere - Hartnell
Umberger - Prospal - Lupul
Upshall - Carter - Knuble
Thoresen - Dowd - Kapanen

Basically Mike Richards has moved up to the wing on the top line and Vaclav Prospal has moved down to center the second line. Prospal has been MIA for the entire series against the Penguins so maybe this is a move to get him going. All the great chemistry we had seen between him and Danny Briere seems to have disappeared so it makes sense to split them up.

Coburn Out: Braydon Coburn will not play tonight. He practiced yesterday and felt like he could play if the swelling on his left eye subsided, but the decision was made today to sit him down for Game Four. As I said yesterday, this is the right decision. There is no need to rush Coburn back and risk injury with the very real possibility that the season will be over today anyway.

Braydon Coburn returns to practice

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Braydon Coburn returned to practice today for the Flyers in hopes of taking the ice for Game 4 tomorrow night. Coburn missed Game 3 because his eye was swollen shut following the puck to the face he took in Game 2. Coburn will wear a visor to protect his eye, which, as you can see above, looks better but still has a ways to go to fully open back up.

While it would be a great story and a true test of toughness if Coburn returns for Game 4, there is really no point in rushing him back to the ice. With the Flyers on the brink of elimination, if his vision is impaired in any way and there is any chance he could hurt himself worse, he should sit out. Even if he plays well and the Flyers win the game, they have a huge uphill battle ahead of them if they are going to win the series. It is likely there is a greater chance of Braydon Coburn getting injured worse than the Flyers have of winning four straight against the Penguins.

Braydon Coburn out for Game Three

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Flyers playoff hopes continue to dim today. After losing to the Penguins yesterday to fall into a 2-0 hole in the series, the Flyers learned today that they will play Game 3 without defenseman Braydon Coburn. Coburn took a puck to the face in the first period of Game 2 and had to leave the game. He got 50 stitches on his face around his left eye and lost a lot of blood, making him feel lightheaded. The Flyers have already ruled him out for Game 3, although there is a chance he could return for Game 4 on Thursday. Ryan Parent will suit up in Coburn's place.

The Flyers were already playing without their best defenseman Kimmo Timonen, and now they lose their second best d-man in Coburn. It's another big loss, one that might be too much to overcome. Derian Hatcher, who played well in Game 2, will have to continue to play a huge role for the Flyers. The Flyers lack depth on the blue line, so guys like Lasse Kukkonen and Jaroslav Modry will have to step up and play key roles.

The Penguins offense would be tough enough to stop even if the Flyers were at full strength. The mounting injuries might make beating their cross-state rivals nearly impossible.

"Highlights" of Coburn's injury:

Flyers Collapse, Blow 3-0 Lead

Yesterday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs was a microcosm of the entire Flyers season. The Flyers played well for two periods, and when Danny Briere scored early in the 3rd period to make it 3-0, the game appeared to be over. At least, the Flyers played like it was over. The Maple Leafs came storming back, firing a barrage of shots and getting three goals to force overtime. Pavel Kubina scored the game winner in the final minute of overtime play.

It was another tough loss for the Flyers, who still can't find any consistency. After being near unstoppable in January and then awful in February, the team has played up and down from night to night. Last night they looked like a different team in the third period, as they played back on their heels and let Toronto dictate the play. While they were lucky to earn a point, you have to win games when you have a three goal lead. They blew a chance to move past the Bruins into the 7th seed, and allowed teams like the Maple Leafs to creep up closer to playoff contention.

On a positive note, Braydon Coburn has played extremely well lately. He had a sweet one-timer goal and tallied an assist on Scottie Upshall's goal in the first period. He played over 29 minutes in the game, and with the tremendous improvements he has made this season, he has proven he can be a top pairing defenseman.

The Flyers look to bounce back tonight in a rematch with the Maple Leafs at the Wachovia Center. Despite the terrible finish to yesterday's game, they will gladly take the three points in two games they would earn if they win tonight.

Injury Update:
Reinforcements are coming! The Flyers got some good news on the injury front, as Mike Richards and Joffrey Lupul are expected to return to the line-up for Saturday's game against the Bruins. Hopefully they can provide a spark to give the Flyers some momentum heading into the playoffs.