Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes...

• First, some tributes to Simon Gagne.  From [We Believe in Orange] and [Flyers Goal Scored By]
• A nice piece by Panaccio: [CSNPhilly]
• Great article by Boruk explaining what Gagne was really thinking: [CSNPhilly]
• Some articles with quotes: [Daily News] [DelcoTimes]
• Reaction from Tampa: [Raw Charge]
• "However, since the Lightning essentially acquired him for nothing, this is a fantastic deal for the Bolts." [From The Rink]
  
• Two things Paul Holmgren aimed to add this offseason: Defense and size.  Yes, really: [CSNPhilly]
• Video of Paul Holmgren's media availability: [Flyers]
• The transcript: [Flyer Files]
• Headline: "Flyers moves leave me scratching my head to the point of baldness".  Yeah, me too: [Behind The Net]
• Grading new acquisition Matt Walker's 2008-09 season: [Second City Hockey]
• The Blackhawks are not trading Patrick Sharp: [Puck Daddy]
• Oh, did you hear Ilya Kovalchuk re-signed with the Devils? [In Lou We Trust] [Puck Daddy]
• Looking at Nick Luukko: [The Philadelphia Bulletin]
• Lastly, two really good pieces.  First, looking at Lou Lamoriello's first scheme as General Manager: [The Copper & Blue]
• Then, looking at his latest and why it's a circumvention of the salary cap: [On the Forecheck]