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

• Winter Classic commercials! [Puck Daddy]
• Brayden Schenn, Andrej Meszaros, and Danny Briere returned to practice: [Philly Sports Daily]
• The Flyers were asked about the NHL's realignment and gave the company line about rivalries: [CSNPhilly] [Philly Sports Daily]
• Claude Giroux leads the NHL in GVT: [Hockey Prospectus]
• Wondering how Peter Laviolette's tenure will end while recapping how it's gone: [Flyers Faithful]
• Max Talbot remembers his first NHL goal. You probably remember it too. [delcotimes.com]
• More on Johan Backlund playing in Trenton: [trentonian.com]
• Looking back at some of the strangest divisions in NHL history: [Arctic Ice Hockey]
• The Predators lead the league in local TV ratings growth while the Flyers are 5th, and the highest non-Southern team: [On the Forecheck]
• Jordin Tootoo was suspended two games for his hit on Ryan Miller: [On the Forecheck] [SBNation.com] [Puck Daddy]
• Differentiating between Tootoo's hit and Milan Lucic's: [Orange & Black Pack]
• Looking at NHL Equivalencies for 2010 forwards shows Brendan Ranford in the top-50 but Michael Parks and Tye McGinn in the bottom-10: [The Copper & Blue]
• Could Jared Ross have the opportunity to watch his alma mater play in Division I again? Alabama-Huntsville is thinking of restarting their recently killed program: [al.com]
• Should your team fire the coach? Take the quiz: [Down Goes Brown]