*It’s Rivalry Night! Which means we have to wait until 8PM for tonight’s game against the Rangers to begin. Official preview here, check back this afternoon for a take on the matchup from your friends at BSH.
*So remember yesterday’s mysterious business with Giroux-related injury tweets? Claude Giroux is out with a lower body injury, believed to be his ankle. DARN IT. And they’ve called up Scott Laughton. Which is fun but then you wonder just how bad this injury to Giroux might be. [BSH]
*Some comments on Giroux and his [possible] replacement on the top line, R.J. Umberger. Yep. Umberger. [Flyers]
*Craig Berube says his team needs to be more aggressive on the penalty kill. [CSN Philly]
*Speaking of the PK; analyzing the Flyers‘ shorthanded woes. [Flyerdelphia]
*Meltzer on Giroux, Michael Raffl, and the legendary Legion of Doom. [Hockeybuzz]
*Zac Rinaldo was a big Lindros fan as a kid. [NJ.com]
*Flyers’ prospect Michael Parks is killing it up at UND. [The Hockey Writers]
*Flyers’ beat guy Frank Seravalli made an appearance on the recent episode of Marek Vs. Wyshynski to talk Flyers. [Puck Daddy]
*After a clarification of the rules, Chris Pronger may up in the Hockey Hall of Fame next year. [ProHockeyTalk]
*Examining early trends in team puck possession numbers. [TSN]
*On why the NHL needs a new player development system. [FiveMole]
*The “defensive shell” may be a good idea in theory, but it doesn’t work in practice. [Hockey-Graphs]
*ESPN seems to be in a ranking mood; this time it’s NHL goaltenders. Steve Mason doesn’t even rank, apparently. [ESPN]
*Looks like the NHL is doing away with the pre-OT dry scrap, which is great because it’s terrible. [TSN]
*Applying some baseball rules to the Hockey Hall of Fame. [Grantland]
*And finally, this touching tribute to Gordie Howe is worth a watch. [Puck Daddy]
