Today’s open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes…
- James van Riemsdyk stole the show last night, as the Orange Team won the skills competition: [BSH] [Philly Sports Daily] Video [Philly.com]
- NHL All-Star balloting through five weeks: [NHL.com]
- Ian Laperriere is dealing with his uncertain future as best he can: [Daily News]
- Remember the little girl who was struck by a puck at her first Flyers game? She came back for another game: [delcotimes.com]
- John LeClair talks about playing outside with local kids. Video: [delcotimes.com]
- Michael Leighton enjoyed his first full practice back: [Philly Sports Daily]
- A great (and lengthy) feature about the Phantoms new head coach: [PostStar.com]
- The League of Extraordinary Statisticians tries to break the NHL down into eras: [Behind the Net]
- Fascinating story on how there are very few “backup” goalies performing like “backups” this year. [Hockey Prospectus]
- After being separated by an ocean since the tragedy, Espen Knutsen finally met the mother of Brittanie Cecil, the 9-year old who died when a puck shot by Knutsen struck her: [The Columbus Dispatch]
- Wild and Crazy Idea You Just Might Like: have a playoff bracket to determine draft order: [The Copper & Blue]
- Doug Wilson has a fan in Derek Zona, and because of that, Logan Couture now has a fan in Zona. Why bringing prospects along slowly is working splendidly for the Sharks: [The Copper & Blue]
- Ever wonder what NHL players want for Christmas? How about their letters to Santa? [Down Goes Brown]
- Finally, some immature humor that made me giggle. The post is titled “Mr. Bombastic Would be Proud, Ville” [Flyers Goal Scored By…]