The rumor is building that this could really happen. The 37 year old Finnish Flash has nothing to prove, having just won the cup with the Ducks, but might be enticed to join the Flyers? Why? Because he is close to Kimmo Timmonen who has never been on a team that has won a playoff round. In fact, Timmonen has only been in 10 total playoff games in his entire career. Over the past few years, Selanne has been willing to sign contracts below market value to return to Anaheim or when he and Paul Kariya signed with Colorado. So joining a friend below market is not unprecedented for this classy player. On the Flyers part, they have been enamored

Carlos Carrasco just turned 20 three months ago and started the season off in Clearwater before being promoted to Reading in mid June. After 4 appearances, he is 3-0 with a 3.48 ERA. The kid is a stud and everyone knows he will be a stud one he gets to the majors. If the Phils think they can get back Myers and Gordon soon after the all star break, I say we should trade him and go for it this year. The Braves are flawed, the Mets are beat up and this could be the year for the Phillies to really go for it. However if the Phils think that Myers and Gordon won't be back for a while, I

By signing Buffalo's Thomas Vanek to a $50 million offer sheet, Edmonton left Buffalo with a bad choice. Lose a young 43 goal sniper or pay the money to keep Vanek. Buffalo matched the offer. Since the contract is front loaded with around $8 million in signing bonuses over the first two years it means Buffalo is going to have some budget problems even after watching Biron, Zubrus, Drury and Briere leave since they do not spend up to the salary cap. Now the rumor is that Edmonton's real target is Zach Praise, the NJ Devil's young star. Kevin Lowe, Edmonton's GM, use Vanek as an example to show Edmonton was serious about breaking the NHL code and signing a

Over the last two weeks the Flyers have addressed two of their biggest flaws during last season - the Power Play and Leadership. Briere, Hartnell, Timmonen and Lupul all had more power play success than every Flyer except Gagne and Knuble. Timmonen can piggyback the powerplay, Hartnell is another big guy that can get in front of the net while Briere and Lupul are goal scorers. The other area that has been addressed is leadership. Smith, Briere and Timmonen were all captains last year for their teams. Plus they have played on winning teams. Edmonton made it to the Stanley Cup finals 2 years ago, Nashville had two consecutive 100 point seasons and Buffalo has been one of the best

In exchange for Geoff Sanders & Joni Pitkanen the Flyers have landed Joffrey Lupul and Jason Smith. Pitkanen he of unlimited potential and no hockey sense wanted to leave Philadelphia because he didn't like getting booed. Fine, we didn't like the constant boneheaded plays that lead to minus 25. Lupul who was drafted 7th in 2002 (Pitkanen went nunmber 4 the same year) was the big piece that Edmonton received when they traded Chris Pronger to Anaheim. As a 22 year old, Lupul scored 28 goals with Anaheim but struggled last year in Anaheim. He'll turn 24 in September and joins Umberger, Hartnell, Upshall, Carter, Richards and Umberger as the young Nucleus of the team. Add in our two elite

Personally, I would have wanted Drury before Briere cause he is a "gamer" and warrior where Briere is more finesse but I love this move. Remember Briere is one of Buffalo's team leaders and along with the Flyers other pick-ups since the all star game adds to the Flyers character. What about Scott Gomez? Gomez is a "gamer" and a better two way guy than Briere but he doesn't score enough. So I would have taken Briere over Gomez. My guess is Gomez gets more money than Briere Say what you want about the amount of money, $52 million over 8 years, but at $6.5 million a year we are getting a number one center when other teams are paying

We have seen this every year with Charlie in August and September where he forgets about ego and starts doing whatever he can to win. Pinch hitting for Lieberthal, relying on Geary, benching Burrell, using the better hitter to pinch hit regardless of whether it is a left-right match-up. I'm excited to see him benching Burrell and going with other players. I was happy to see him hand over third base to Dobbs and Nunez when Helms was doing nothing. I was happy to see him play Barrajas less and less and Ruiz more and more. Hell, now that Lieber is hurt, Barrajas will even play less. Starting to do everything to try and win now might be enough for

Today is draft day and I'm very nervous. Rumor is the Flyers may trade Pitkanen to Edmonton for a draft pick and either Shawn Horcoff or Raffi Torres. Who you ask? Exactly! These guys are the 15 goals a year guys that are easy to find. I believe this would be horrible move. San Jose is aggressively shopping Patrick Marleau, the current captain of the San Jose Sharks. Marleau had a tough playoff with 3 goals and 3 assists in 11 games but historically he has performed well in the playoffs with 9 goals and 5 assists during 11 games last year. This is a character guy and another former captain who is young 27, consistently scores 30 goals per