Well with the season nearing closer and closer it looks like Michael Leighton will in fact be the starter come opening night against the Penguins. Brian Boucher (as of right now) seems to be penciled in as the back-up. But some what of a dark horse here is Johan Backlund. I knew that many people (as did I) think that Backlund could beat out Boucher for the back-up, but could we see him emerge as the starter during training camp?

When th Flyers signed Backlund two years ago, I didn't think much of it. I thought to myself "well here's a starter for the Adirondack Phantoms". But after hearing what Backlund did in the A.H.L. this past season, posting a .909 save %, 17 wins, 2 shutouts and a 2.79 goals against average, I was impressed. Although they are not overly impressive numbers, he was playing for the Phantoms, a team that wasn't exactly great.

Backlund was on the roster for a lot of games last season with the Flyers, but watched most of the time. The game he did play him he impressed a lot of people. Although his game was cut short to only 40 minutes of play, he only allowed two goals on 20 shots, and of all things against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Besides those two periods against the Penguins Backlund never saw any N.H.L. action.

One other thing that hinted that Holmgren was confident that Backlund could make the roster this season was plainly him being re-signed. There is no room for him in Adirondack with the arrivals of Sergei Bobrovsky and Nicola Riopel, so Holmgren obviousley believes that he can be of use at the N.H.L. level. Hopefully Backlund can step up prove that he can start for the Flyers.