So the Flyers are having a tough year. But don't worry. They have a plan.
They're going to try and sign some big free agents next season (login info.).
You know. Because Derian Hatcher and Peter Forsberg and Petr Nedved all worked out really well this season. Sure, with GM Bobby Clarke gone, you have to think the recruitment process will be a little better, but maybe the Flyers need someone in the organization who can talk to everyone about slowly building a team, developing roles and role players, and then going for the big free agents.
Also, Damien Cox, writing on ESPN.com, says the Florida Panthers are in trouble. You know. A struggling team in a struggling market. I'm not sure. The Panthers have some youth, and if Todd Bertuzzi ever edges back near his prime, which is a big if, I think his size and strength will be a fantastic lesson to the other big bodies on the team. There's some potential for the Panthers to become a band of Bertuzzis.
That's really the beauty of hockey. It's not like the NBA, where a single player can make an impact (although Allen Iverson might disagree with me). Hockey teams are evolutions. One player can become the start of something good, or the completion of something good, but rarely is he both. So a team like the Flyers can look to free agency all they want, but they should probably also spend some time looking in the locker room. And a team like the Panthers, who haven't looked good in quite some time, but that has a solid youth core under the hood, might not be quite as dead as it looks.
You know. Except for their playing in God's waiting room. But other than that, I think the Panthers might one day be OK.

I like the duality of the Devils.
On the one hand, people like to talk about how intelligently the team is constructed, growing their own players, even taking the time to cultivate an American team.
On the other hand, you have a cut-throat GM who doesn't hesitate to take his 'beloved' players to school in arbitration.
The crazy thing is, it all really seems to work for Devils. They've been losing players for years and years, never really seeming to replace them, and yet they're always a team to contend with.
So maybe the duality is what lets the Devils thrive in the NHL.
Or maybe the Devil made a deal with the Devils. Or the Devils made a deal with the Devil. I'm not sure how that would work, to be honest.

The NHL on NBC kicked off this weekend. I checked in because, to be boorish, Hockey Day in Canada was killing me. We get it. All kinds of people play hockey. And save lives. And do both.
NBC's national telecast wasn't awful. I had a few thoughts, though:

1. Since as near as I can tell, there's no lead announcing team, why not get local announcers to call the game, like a Boston color guy and a New York play-by-play guy (this would only apply to a Bruins-Rangers match-up)? This way, you have two people who are very familiar with the teams working the game. I say this because NBC had Joe Micheletti, who does Rangers TV color, working as the on-ice reporter, when really he could have brought much more to the game in the booth, just in terms of understanding the Rangers. If NBC had given us a Boston expert, it would have been a really nice game, instead of one featuring meaningless generalizations.
2. In the studio, they need more articulate ex-athletes. Ray Ferraro is dull. Studio shows don't have to hinge on sports knowledge. Creating a fun, engaging vibe is way more important. For instance, for years Mrs. PuckUpdate and I watched the Fox pregame NFL show not because we like football (we don't), but because it was kind of a goofy-yet-entertaining thing to watch. I'm a die-hard hockey fan and I really didn't enjoy NBC's studio work. I understand if NBC doesn't want to hire more people for what's probably a low-rated show. So why not just do a few packages on what went on in hockey during the week?
3. Brett Hull seemed a little unprepared in his debut. I'm guessing NBC was playing with the format of the intermission right up until game time, though, since NBC had said the studio show would be outside and it was actually inside. I've heard nothing but good things about Hull's TV and radio work in Dallas. I don't get the sense he's good in short bursts. I think he'd be perfect in a three-man booth, though. This way, he has context to his statements, rather than the studio approach, where he's asked questions, and everyone just sort of stares at him, waiting for him to say something controversial.

The New York-Boston game production was good stuff, though. At one point, on a Bruins' powerplay, NBC went to a behind-the-goalie angle just as Boston was sending in a point shot. You could see how hard it really is to track those types of shots. It was very nice anticipation by NBC.