Photo by Cindy Andrie Darren Eliot is complaining that more NHL teams are returning to the dreaded neutral zone trap. Eliot’s hypothesis is that after a brief glory period for stretch pass driven hockey, more and more NHL coaches are returning to the safer trap: The eyeball test tells me the game is now backsliding [...]

Photo by sarah sosiak According to the New York Post the New Jersey Devils turned down a better offer from the Flyers for Jamie Langenbrunner. Instead, the Devils dealt him to Dallas. It seems Devils GM Lou Lamoriello didn’t want to deal Langenbrunner to a division rival, although Lamoriello told the Post he would, in [...]

Photo by verndogs So it seems like Jamie Langenbrunner is getting a pardon from the governor and will soon be traded away from the New Jersey Devils. It looks like the Flyers are the most probable destination, given that Langenbrunner has been asked to waive his no-trade clause and he probably doesn’t want to move [...]

I like how Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is denying goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is tired, even as Bobrovsky (maybe) says he is. I don’t doubt Bobrovsky is tired but I’m just as sure he doesn’t want to say anything about it to his coach. Players never want to not play. But I think a good number [...]

As the start to the NHL season grows near, you have to be curious about the Tampa Lightning. It was just two years ago that the season started with Barry Melrose as coach. Melrose would last just 16 games before being replaced by Rick Tocchet. During that same time, the Lighting would be sold, Steve [...]

A year really does make a huge difference in the NHL. A year ago, I would have read something like Tim Panaccio’s report on Philadelphia’s goalie glut and I would have thought: ‘That’s crazy! The Flyers need to dump some goalies at some point.’ But after last years playoffs, and even after the end of [...]

It’s pretty perfect that Ilya Kovalchuk was signed to a massive contract by the Devils on the same day the Lightning traded for Simon Gagne. It shows the two styles of managing in the NHL. On the one hand, you have the Devils going for the expensive, long-term contract. In Kovalchuk’s case, it’s 17 years, [...]

Obviously, the deal isn’t done, and we don’t know the terms, but unless they’re going to get him for a tiny amount of money, I can’t believe the Flyers are considering signing Nik Zherdev. Or more to the point, I can’t believe the Flyers would sign Zherdev, even though it makes it more likely they’ll [...]

San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov was a victim of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. First of all, these playoffs allowed Nabokov to once again show he’s not a big-game goalie. He just wasn’t very strong. But also, watching goalies like Ryan Miller and Roberto Luongo fail to carry their teams had to register with Sharks [...]