Vinny Prospal A Ranger...

Well Flyer fans....

I'm sure many of you, like myself, are sad to hear that the New York Rangers have signed former-Flyer Vaclav Prospal to a 1-year, 1.1 Million dollar deal.



This, ofcourse, is a big deal to me because I want the Rangers to be a miserable team for many years to come, and they just signed a player who is pegged to have a 70-80 point season, but for the kind of money a 3rd line winger makes.

If you look at Vinny's statistics over his career, he's been a pretty up-down player. Take a look at these beauties:

1996-97 PHI 18 5 10 15
1997-98 PHI 41 5 13 18
1997-98 OTT 15 1 6 7
1998-99 OTT 79 10 26 36
1999-00 OTT 79 22 33 55
2000-01 OTT 40 1 12 13
2000-01 FLA 34 4 12 16
2001-02 TB 81 18 37 55
2002-03 TB 80 22 57 79
2003-04 ANH 82 19 35 54
2005-06 TB 81 25 55 80
2006-07 TB 82 14 41 55
2007-08 TB 62 29 28 57
2007-08 PHI 18 4 10 14
2008-09 TB 82 19 26 45


Basically, his career is a game of chutes-and-latters. He had a bad year last season, and this is the next good year in the rotation. Why couldn't the Flyers have signed this guy? He had amazing chemsitry with Briere for a long time, and cost' less than what we had to work with. We need a tad bit more firepower anyway to replace the losses of Knuble and Lupul.

Either way, Joffrey Lupul is no longer a Flyer: The offseason is still a huge victory of epic proportions.


One last thing....

I'd love for someone to try and convince me that Vinny Prospal DOESN'T practice smiling in front of a mirror.

My evidence to this claim? Look no further than this:



Andddddd






What.A.Narcissist. Perhaps, this is the reason why he decides to disapear every other season... He is lost in his own reflection on the ice.

Oh, Danny Boy...

There has been an amazing development at the Batt-Man house...

I received in the mail yesterday something that is very special to me, and meant SPECIFICALLY for the readers of my dear blog (The quality of my fans is more important than quantity, remember that.


In a series of special treats I had planned for you folks, I sent out questionnaire's to some of the best and brightest Philadelphia Flyers out there, past and present, in an attempt to get some inside access on their thoughts towards different topics of our choosing.

The first letter to be sent back was by... drum roll......


DANIEL BRIERE.



This is a great victory for the Live From Broad Street people. I am very happy.


Have I built this up enough? This is the best thing ever.ever. I have received a few autographs from the strapping young man, and they don't even touch this time-consuming piece of letter he sent to me.

Without further delay... Here it is.



(Click to make it readable)

I know it is only 5 questions, and 5 questions that some may find stupid and/or irrelevant, but it is what I wanted people to know, SO BACK OFF! (Billy Madison style).


That is just the first one for you guys...I expect plenty more to come, including many tough customer's!


I hope you enjoyed very very much.

Update

HELLO fans. Sorry, I haven't been updating much, but there really isn't a whole lot to update in Flyer-land.


For those who need my site for their fix on the Flyers, here's what has happened since I last wrote:

The Flyers announced the signings of 5: Jason Ward, Krys Kolanos, Mika Pyorala and Joey Mormina to one-year contracts. They have also signed Lukas Kaspar to a one-year deal, the only player that I think has a prayer of making the team.



That's it, really. Oh, more fun news is that the Cote Carnival 2009 is going to have Ray Emery as a guest this year. He is the only other player officially signed on to be making an appearance at the moment.

If you would like tickets, go to www.cotecarnival.net



Check back for more updates, including a special series I have for you guys!

Off-season acquisition review #1:

Raymond Emery.





I am writing this article because the appearance of him on Twitter has caught my attention, and I’ve been meaning to write this series of article anyway, so why not start off with our first major acquisition?

The story on Emery: Great up and coming goaltender for the Ottawa Senators, fought Neil Little and the Phantoms as a Bingham Senator a few years back, made it to the big show and kicked some major ass and went to the Stanley Cup Finals (against Pronger, mind you) but failed,sadly… Here’s some fun info from, I know, Wikipedia….don’t take it verbatim.


“He once made a $500 bet with Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, which required Emery to eat a cockroach that had been found on the floor of a Carolina dressing room. He won the bet, and used the money to get another tattoo on his right arm which read, "Anger is a Gift".”

What a cool looking guy. He is also huge on style. I need some help from him I think…I’m a young white man with no style whatsoever.




The following season, the Senators had many issues, one being an apparent disharmonious locker room for the Sens, with Emery being at the center. Long story made short, the Sens fell apart and used Emery as the scapegoat. He was bought out, and went to Russia. He then put up pretty good numbers, but still had some issues with his team. He went after the Atlant Moscow Oblast’s trainer after constant pressure to put on a baseball cap; I’d love to blame him and say he’s out of control for this, but that'd have me upset too.

Who cares, that’s in that past.


NOW, he is a Philadelphia Flyers. He signed a one year, 1.5 million dollar contract to fly the orange and the black. I’m sure we weren’t his ONLY option, so it is nice to have someone of his caliber be understanding of our cap situation and be willing to be another piece to the Stanley Cup winning puzzle. He has the attitude that reminds us Flyers fans of Ron Hextall, but probably has more potential. Either way, with the additions of Pronger, Laperriere and himself…the crease WILL be cleared from the “Happy Feet” Penguins.




He took the uniform number 29…..hmmm….interesting. There is no reason for the choice, but I personally think it is because many Flyer tough-customers donned that number (Todd Fedoruk is the first that comes to mind).
I think he was the perfect fit considering our cap situation…the upside is very high, but if he goes, I don’t think Boucher is enough to get the job done. All I know is, I want to see a combination of Rocky/Apollo Creed/Bernard Hopkins on his helmet next season!
Good luck, Ray.

Chris Pronger, the comedian.

Chris Pronger is the man. I love his game in every aspect, ranging from his shot from the point, physical play, leadership and defensive positioning....but I've come to learn something else about him that I love:

His personality.




I sat and watched his press conference at noon today, and sat there laughing continuously after each response to reporters.

One of the more interesting statements made by Pronger, referring to his reputation as a player, was "I put a lot of pressure on myself...fans are booing, in my hometown...it's up to the player's to be held accountable for their playing"

When a reporter asked "What kind of message can you send to them (Malkin/Crosby), as a Flyer?", Pronger smiled and said "I think you know the answer to that". The reporter said "I know what I'm thinking, what are you thinking?", Pronger again smiled in a laughing matter and said "I'll just let you come up with your own...we don't want to pre-meditate anything, now do we?"

He is a very hilarious fellow, I have to admit.

Another reporter brought up a quote from Chris, that said "...you said you need two shut down defenseman against these two guys (Malkin/Sid, again)...". Chris confidently went "No, two shut-down pairs..." ::pause:: Chris added "That's four" and held up four fingers for the reporter, and the room erupted in laughter at the reporter

Just when we thought Pronger had beaten the reporter down to a proverbial pulp, he added again: "But he plays them sometimes together...". Pronger said quickly "Well, then you put your two top-D together."

I have to say, Pronger made the reporters of this city look bad. Regardless, the press conference continued on.


Another guy threw out to Chris "...Braydon Coburn said last week he had a poster of you in his bedroom wall growing up...", and Chris quickly said "So he's the one!"


I admit, I chuckled at this one pretty heartily.


When asked about why the number 20, he said it was because of his father's number playing hockey. A reporter asked if he played like his father, Chris replied in a laughing manner "I hope not. You obviously haven't seen him play... I took his number, but not his game."


and the last comment I want to share about this amazing person

When asked "Do you feel 34?"...he said "I feel 24" with another smile on his face.



I can't be anymore excited for this upcoming season than I am now. The Flyers logo looked amazing draped across this man's chest. Good luck to him and let's hope the Stanley Cup is making a return to PA next year, but flying the orange and black this time.