Goalie Johan Backlund agreed to a two-year contract extension. He may require surgery on his left...

Goalie Johan Backlund agreed to a two-year contract extension. He may require surgery on his left hip because of a groin problem. Holmgren said he will need surgery, but Backlund said he wasn’t sure. "I’ve been feeling pretty good," Backlund said. "I learned to play over here and it’s a totally different game. I learned a lot and learned to play this style."

-- CSNPhilly.com Flyers beat writer Tim Panaccio

This went completely unnoticed throughout the day. Also in that article, we hear mentions again of some off-the-ice personal issues for Hartnell during the regular season that both Homer and Hartnell himself admit affected his play. We don't know what they are -- that's certainly his business and not at all ours -- but given how Homer was talking about them, I think we may owe Scott an apology.

almost 2 years ago Ben Feldman 13 comments 0 recs |

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Also in that article, we hear mentions again of some off-the-ice personal issues for Hartnell during the regular season that both Homer and Hartnell himself admit affected his play. We don’t know what they are — that’s certainly his business and not at all ours — but given how Homer was talking about them, I think we may owe Scott an apology.

I was thinking the same thing. He was excellent in the playoffs.

#1 Flyers fan in England (originally from Southeastern PA)

by Orange and Black Forever on Jun 11, 2010 6:19 PM EDT reply actions

Will they call him up?

I thought Backlund wanted to be in the NHL next season. It’ll be interesting to see how we go about managing our goalie prospects, because we certainly have a lot. We just need that one big one to come out of the bunch.

by PursuitOfLappyness on Jun 11, 2010 7:02 PM EDT reply actions

And although the Flyers lacked adequate NHL-ready depth on defense in the playoffs, Holmgren said he doesn’t feel the need to upgrade there in free agency. The third pair could improve.

Holmgren said the answers are right here.

"Our guys need opportunities to play," he said, later referring to young Ryan Parent, who the club hasn’t given up on. "Our coaches did a good job of playing their best players in the playoffs. … Do we need to find a guy? I think we have those guys."

Wow does that bother/worry me. Especially the not giving up on Ryan Parent.

"Win today, and we walk together forever"

by csgillis on Jun 11, 2010 7:05 PM EDT reply actions

Not giving up on Ryan Parent doesn’t bother me at all.

Thinking he doesn’t need to “upgrade” bothers me a ton.

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Jun 11, 2010 7:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed but I wouldn’t hesitate to trade him for if a decent offer came across the table. Still hoping they can sign Hamhuis or someone with skills similar to his.

by ryanitus on Jun 13, 2010 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions

He was an exciting prospect when we first got him in the Forsberg trade. He got injured earlier this season but prior to this season he used to be paired with Kimmo. So let’s give him another chance.

by PursuitOfLappyness on Jun 11, 2010 7:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I agree. I just don’t think he was ever fully recovered from his injuries to be effective in the postseason (and was very grateful that Lavvy eventually figured out that Parent was not worthy of ice-time the deeper we went – if he had figured it out a bit sooner, it would have done my heart a world of good)…

In short, Parent may not be the lost cause that many people (including me, for a time) thought he was.

#1 Flyers fan in England (originally from Southeastern PA)

by Orange and Black Forever on Jun 12, 2010 6:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Don’t forget we had pretty much given up on Coburn earlier this year.

by ww2b on Jun 16, 2010 7:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Holy crap

Color me surprised. Backlund re-signing completely and utterly shocks me.

Boucher, Backlund, Bobrovsky, and Stewart are all signed for next year. Not one of them can/should be this team’s #1 next year. That means one of four things: 1) The Flyers will carry three goalies next year; 2) The Phantoms will carry three goalies next year; 3) Stewart (or really, anyone) isn’t that good and will play in the ECHL; 4) Boucher will be heavily shopped, allowing Backlund to be the NHL backup next year.

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Jun 11, 2010 7:25 PM EDT reply actions

I’m thinking Boucher could be someone to add to a trade for another team’s goaltender.

by PursuitOfLappyness on Jun 11, 2010 7:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting comments

The team always seemed to warm to Leighton and I guess it wouldn’t make sense for them to say they didn’t want Leighton back, but still I find it adds an interesting dimension.

by PursuitOfLappyness on Jun 11, 2010 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions