Kapanen returns to Finland

Underrated Flyers forward Sami Kapanen has elected to finish his career in Finland, signing a contract with KalPa Kuopio. While Kapanen put up solid but rarely all-star numbers in the NHL, it was the small plays he made all over the ice that made him valuable to every team he played for.

Kapanen reminds me of Rangers forward Marty Straka, a smart player who you can throw in at any position. In fact, Kapanen even did a turn as a defenseman in Philadelphia. Unlike Straka, Kapanen never had a Jaromir Jagr to ride shotgun to late in his career. He was mainly a used as a defensive forward by the Flyers.

Cote suspended, Flyers warned

Flyers pugilist Riley Cote was suspended three games for his high hit on Stars defenceman Matt Niskanen.

It's Philadelphia's fifth player suspension this season - Steve Downie (20 games), Jesse Boulerice (25), Randy Jones (2), Scott Hartnell (2), and Cote (3). That's a total of 52 games. Compare that to their 73 man-games lost to injury so far this season.

The league has taken note and issued stern warning to GM Paul Holmgren: control your players or else - with "else" undefined.

It's getting tougher to blow the rash of incidents off as merely coincidence. It could easily be argued that Patrice Bergeron and Andrew Alberts put themselves in vulnerable positions, which led to their injury. (Bruins fans, of course, would beg to differ.) Although Niskanen escaped unharmed, there's no question Cote delivered an intentional shot to the head.

To replace Cote, the Flyers recalled Downie, who recently finished serving his own 20-game suspension. The headcase that Downie is, it may not be long until Philadelphia gets their sixth suspension.

Jones joins suspended Flyers list

Flyers defenseman Randy Jones received a two-game suspension for his check on Patrice Bergeron, which left the Bruins center motionless on the ice. You can see the video here if you haven't already.

The hit was reckless but hardly malicious, particularly when compared to the acts of his Philly teammates Steve Downie and Jesse Boulerice. Had Bergeron suffered anything more serious than a concussion and broken nose, no doubt the punishment would have been harsher.

It's hardly fair to paint Jones with the same brush, but you have to wonder what Flyers management is putting in the players' water bottles. With the exception of one game between the Senators and Panthers, the rest of the league seems to get it while Philadelphia has managed to rack up their third suspension.

Is it a run of unrelated incidents or the return of the Broad Street Bullies?

Bye bye Boulerice

Today the Flyers waived suspended forward Jesse Boulerice. This could very well mark the end of his NHL career.

By sending him down to the Phantoms (and he'll surely clear waivers), Philadelphia has no intention of letting Boulerice serve his suspension in a Flyers sweater. The move takes his salary off the cap books and frees up a spot on their 23-man roster.

With 24 games left to go on his ban and pointless since the lockout, it's doubtful another NHL team will take a chance on him.

It's yet to be seen how much of Boulerice's suspension the AHL will uphold.

Update: The AHL ruled Boulerice ineligibe to play until Dec. 16.

25 game ban for Boulerice

"I think we're in agreement that there's no place in the game for this anymore. I do think it was an isolated incident. Jesse lost his composure, lost his cool. It's something that's not the right thing to do, at any time."

- Flyers GM Paul Holmgren

Flyers winger Jesse Boulerice received a 25 game suspension from the league for his cross check to the chin of the Canucks' Ryan Kesler.

Philadelphia is on the verge of reviving their Broad Street Bullies handle, and not in a good way. I don't think the recent undisciplined play of Boulerice and Downie is at the directive of the club as was the Bullies in their heyday. But the Flyers have taken a chance on two prospects with troubled pasts and are now 0 for 2 in their rehabilitation. (Boulerice was signed as a free agent tryout this year but was originally drafted by Philly in '96.)

Character wins Cups and Philly still has a ways to go. Call it a Bobby Clarke Hangover.

Boulerice waits for suspension

Maring the Flyers 8-2 defeat of the Canucks last night was Jesse Boulerice's cross-check to the jaw of Ryan Kesler as he was coming around the net. Boulerice and Kesler had been going at it pretty good during the game, but the Philly forward lost his cool.



Boulerice will surely face a lengthy suspension by the league. It won't be a particularly great loss of talent for the Flyers, but combined with Steve Downie's recent 20-game ban, this could eat up Philly's $600K cap cushion.

I will give partial credit to Boulerice and coach John Stevens for admitting that it was an f-ed up act.

"I reacted in a bad way - the wrong way."

- Boulerice

"It's unacceptable, it's something that we can't have."

- Stevens

That's in direct contrast to the last stick incident, Chris Simon's two-handed chop to the head of Ryan Hollweg. Here's a gem at the time from Simon's teammate, super turtle Brendan Witt:

"It always looks worse. I saw the guy after the game, he looked fine. That's enough to tell me that it wasn't that bad. You know what I mean?"

Admitting culpability doesn't excuse Boulerice and this isn't his first lapse in judgement. In 1998, he was suspended for a year by the OHL, 15 games by the AHL and faced criminal charges for an axe swing to the face of Guelph Storm's Alex Long during a playoff match.

Vote for Rory redux?

If you're not quite satisfied with how the all-star voting went down last season, the Flyers are keeping hope alive. Philadelphia signed free agent/write-in candidate Rory Fitzpatrick to a one-year deal.

Don't forget to Vote For Rory this November.

Wow, I actually just visited the site to "borrow" this image. I had much more respect for the campaign before they pimped it out for a quick buck. Hopefully, Rory will find a much more scrupulous campaign manager in Philly.

Downie gets 20 games

The NHL levied a 20-game suspension on Flyers prospect Steve Downie for his flagrant hit on Dean McAmmond. It is the fifth longest suspension in NHL history.

To satisfy the ban, Downie must be on the Flyers' 23-man roster for the requisite number of regular season/playoff games. He is also prohibited from playing in the Flyers' last preseason tune-up against the Rangers, however Downie can play in the AHL during his suspension.

GM Paul Holmgren will have to get creative to allow Downie to serve the suspension without stunting the player's development or eating up Philly's cap space.

According to Holmgren, the plan is to deal with the suspension in small chunks, while keeping Downie playing in the AHL...

Holmgren said that Downie would play for the Phantoms and be recalled to the Flyers on days when the Phantoms are not playing. On those days, Downie's salary would be counted against the Flyers' cap.

- Philadelphia Daily News

In response to the increase in head shots last season, the NHL established criteria by which league disciplinarian Colin Campbell will assess suspensions:

- hit unsuspecting player in the head
- hit that is late
- repeat offender
- target the head
- launching
- results in injury (and its severity)

The teams and players were aware of this, thanks to a DVD circulated by the league.

Downie's hit fit the bill in all but the "repeat offender" category. Expect his next dirty hit - and there will be one, the kid's a head case - to satisfy all six criteria.

Update: The AHL has ruled Downie ineligible to play the first month of the season. He can return November 3. Will/can the Flyers call him back up (at least on paper) in the meantime to start serving some of his 20-game NHL suspension?

More on the Downie-McAmmond affair

"I didn't mean to hurt him and I hope he's OK. My game's to hit and to finish the check. I'm just trying to earn a spot on the roster. It's part of my game and I apologize for him getting hurt. I thought I got him clean. Once we hit the boards after, I asked if he was okay."

- Steve Downie

Gee, how gentlemanly of you. Don't suppose he had much of an answer, being unconscious and all.

God, I hate this kid. What a waste of hockey talent.

There are players who push it to the edge in finishing their checks (Ryan Hollweg) and there are those who attempt to injure (Colby Armstrong). While the former is questionable, there is no room for the latter, which includes Downie.

Sens lose McAmmond to vicious hit

Ottawa defeated Philadelphia tonight, but it was at a cost.

After taking a heavy check, Flyers prospect/punk Steve Downie looked for some retribution lining up Senators center Dean McAmmond. Leaving his feet, Downie drove McAmmond head first into the boards knocking him out cold. McAmmond was taken off on a stretcher and was later diagnosed with a concussion. Here's the video.

This could very well mark the end of McAmmond's career. He has a history of concussions, the last thanks to a Chris Pronger elbow during the Stanley Cup finals. McAmmond did not return for during the playoffs.

Steve Downie was identified as a head case early in his young hockey career. In junior, Downie was suspended for a cross-check to the mouth of rookie Windsor Spitfires teammate Akim Aliu during practice. London Knights fans remember Downie's spear to defenceman Ryan Martinelli during a playoff series against the Peterborough Petes. Last year, Downie was traded from Peterborough to the Kitchener Rangers where fans and teammates were treated to shows of sportsanship like this.

For those counting, that's 3 teams in 4 years for the talented winger with an anger management problem. Can you say Billy Tibbets, anyone?