Giroux to start season at center; Pronger may get an A

Stevens shoots down any questions about Pronger and the C, but gave an indication that Pronger may be given an A. Also, with Giroux at center, it looks like the Flyers will be rolling out three scoring lines. That may well mean that Jiri Novotny will not be a Flyer this season, especially as Stevens said to expect Darroll Powe to become more of a fixture this season (sorry, MarioD).

over 2 years ago Ben Feldman 6 comments 0 recs |

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Yeah, sure. Four years ago today, Jon Sim was going to get top line minutes and surprise people. Three years ago today Geoff Sanderson was going to a surprisingly big piece of the offense. And last year Steve Downie was going to make the leap and be a big part of the offense.

None of those guys lasted the season, either.

by MarioD on Aug 18, 2009 8:44 PM EDT reply actions

Yeh

I really can’t see Powe being better than a 3rd liner. I hope he doesn’t get big minutes, that means our team needs work.

by Alon on Aug 20, 2009 8:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Valid Point

However there is a distinction to make: Sim and Sanderson were veterans who we were told had something left. They didn’t. And last year, Steve Downie was still in Stevens’ dog house from the year before, so I’m not sure anybody honestly believed he was going to be given top line minutes. That, and the kid had no discipline.

So, even though there are differences, I don’t believe Stevens meant Powe will be the second line winger, but rather that he has earned a spot on the team. I could be wrong, but I see that as similar to what Cholly was saying about Kyle Kendrick at the beginning of last year, but hopefully with better results.

Broad Street Hockey -
Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 20, 2009 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions

I wouldn’t put Sim and Sanderson in the same grouping like that. Sim had played about 150 NHL games over the course of nine seasons at that point in his career. He was more a minor-league veteran. Sanderson had a legit NHL career.

I assume Stevens just meant that they expect Powe to actually be on the roster this season. I still see him getting pushed off of a healthy roster after the deadline passes. Maybe he gets Cote’s spot when the playoffs start.

by MarioD on Aug 20, 2009 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

The attraction of Sim...

… was that he played well as a call-up for Dallas in the 1999 playoffs when they won the Cup. He hasn’t done anything since then.

I was listening to a Flyers-Islanders game last year and Sim was playing for the Isles. Chris Therien shouted in disbelief: “Jon Sim?!? The Islanders should tell him to take 2 or 3 weeks off, then quit!”

I also remember early in the 2006-07 season, when things were bad enough and injuries were starting to mount. One of the injured was Geoff Sanderson and someone in the Inquirer wrote, “You know that things are bad when you start missing Geoff Sanderson.”

Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?

by mikefive on Aug 20, 2009 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Novotny was kind of a disappointment in Columbus….probably best to just use who we have and skip trying to just force someone in, probably just be a waste of money and cap room.

Nash for 8 More, Baby!

by PhillyPhan85 on Aug 19, 2009 8:53 AM EDT reply actions