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

• It's that time of year again, when we find out all the injuries the Flyers were playing through. Updates on Pronger, Richards, and Nodl: [Philly Sports Daily]
• The team will know tomorrow whether Chris Pronger and Mike Richards need surgery: [Inquirer] [The700level.com] [CSNPhilly]
• James van Riemsdyk has joined Team USA at the World Championships: [Frequent Flyers] [NHL.com] [Sporting News]
  
• What went wrong for the Flyers? [SBN Philly] [CSNPhilly]
• Hey, guess what? People are talking about the Flyers needing a goalie: [Philly Sports Daily] [Inquirer]
• In case you missed the Puck Daddy eulogy for the Flyers: [Puck Daddy]
• Also, in case you missed Paul Holmgren's facepalm after Milan Lucic's breakaway goal: [Fel0096]
• Could the Islanders be dumb enough to wear black? Plus other rumors: [icethetics]
• Nicklas Backstrom will get some crap for his season, but read this and realize that he had yet another stellar year: [Hockey Prospectus]
• Also, Alex Ovechkin was playing hurt. But this is what caught my eye: "Boudreau admitted integrating [the new defensive system] was a response to the lack of offense – not a cause of it." [Washington Times]
• Looking at favorites for the NHL's coaching vacancies: [Puck Daddy]
• Not to get political, but why Sean Avery endorsing gay marriage is important: [Puck Daddy]