More photos » Andre Ringuette - Getty Images

Browse more photos »

The votes are in and our list is complete.

We've made some tough decisions and some easy ones. We've angered some people, but hey, that's part of the business. The following players are eligible to be plucked away from the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 SB Nation Mock NHL Expansion Draft:

G: Brian Boucher

D: Matt Walker, Sean O`Donnell, Oskars Bartulis

F: Jody Shelley, Dan Carcillo, Darroll Powe, Blair Betts, Greg Moore

The draft will take place today, on Thursday, and the results will be announced next Tuesday, after the Labor Day holiday. Gabe Desjardins of Behind The Net is running the new Winnipeg franchise, while James Mirtle of The Globe & Mail is running the new Quebec franchise.

After the jump, let's look at which Flyers players were protected and which players were exempt from this process.

Continue reading this post »

Lisa Hillary's farewell at CSN DC was slightly emotional. (And that dude does NOT like Philly.)

Recall our story from the other night, where we shared the news that Lisa Hillary would be leaving CSN Washington to cover the Flyers at CSN Philly. We had a chance to speak with Hillary on Wednesday afternoon about a ton of different things, from her career thus far to her decision to come to Philly to her dislike of Toronto. Oh, and the rat. We talked about the rat.

On her career before CSN Washington:

Lisa Hillary: I did news and I was the Assistant PR Director for the Ottawa Senators. I did a bunch of different things before I actually got into sports broadcasting. When I left TSN I went I actually went back to my home town of Ottawa. I wasn't a big fan of Toronto to be honest with you. It's kind of an impersonal city. It was sort of like a mini New York. I wasn't a huge fan, not to mention, you know, my schedule didn't allow me to have much of a life.

On moving to the United States and deciding to cover the Capitals:

LH: [Leaving TSN] was a personal decision. It had nothing to do with the things I did there. Working in Calgary, first of all, was fantastic. Then they promoted me to SportsCentre anchoring in Toronto, which was great. But in hindsight, I love reporting and were I to do it again I probably would've stayed in Calgary. It's a great city.

Eventually, I just got the itch to get back into sports again. With Alex Ovechkin getting the drafted, you knew he was going to be such a huge star, so when the opportunity to come here to Washington to cover who was, to me, the best player in the world -- and I still believe he is -- you know, it was a no brainer.

That's why I decided to come and it's been a wonderful three years.

Continue reading this post »

More photos » Gene J. Puskar - AP

Look at that form (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Browse more photos »

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

• Hey, did you hear Bill Guerin skated with the Flyers yesterday? [Flyers] [CSNPhilly] [NHL.com]
• Great story on Traktor Chelyabinsk honoring Dmitry Tertyshny with an annual tournament: [NHL.com]
  
• Is the NHL circumventing the CBA? Seriously: [Jewels From the Crown]
• Jonathan Willis returns, explaining why Janne Niinimaa is his favorite post-dynasty Oiler: [The Copper & Blue]
• Hey, locker pictures of Jody Shelley [NHLFlyers] and Andrej Meszaros [NHLFlyers]
• The exterior officially reads Wells Fargo Center [NHLFlyers] and the ice is painted inside [Flyers]
• Lastly, how many points can Henrik Sedin be expected to score after putting up 112 last year? [Behind The Net]
  

More photos » Mark Humphrey - AP

Browse more photos »

We have to protect one goalie in the Mock Expansion Draft. Don't everybody go and jump up all at once, now.

Players who have played less than 50 games in the NHL are exempt and automatically protected, so guys like Sergei Bobrovsky, Nicola Riopel and Johan Backlund are automatically protected.

Basically, this exercise is simple: who do you want, Michael Leighton or Brian Boucher?

Compare them completely and totally. I'm not going to sit here and list the different accolades because I don't want to editorialize and sway anybody in any particular direction (although, as Geoff has learned, that doesn't work that well), but you've probably made up your mind already anyway. You have a favorite. Pick him.

Michael Leighton

#49 / Goalie / Philadelphia Flyers

Height: 6-3

Weight: 186

Born: May 19, 1981

Brian Boucher

#33 / Goalie / Philadelphia Flyers

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Born: Jan 02, 1977

Pick a goalie to keep: Brian Boucher or Michael Leighton? (It's not like the other is getting taken in the draft anyway.)

More photos » Bruce Bennett - Getty Images

The Wolf will attack if you don't vote for him.

Browse more photos »

The votes are in and the polls are closed.  Distinguished BSH members have rejected my argument and sided with Ben, protecting Ian Laperriere and Scott Hartnell.  That's fine, it's tough to break the habit of being snuggled up against the cap.  We'd be lost without that problem.  Just like if the Flyers found a franchise goalie: we wouldn't know what to do.

So with that, the honorable Messrs. Mirtle and Desjardins will be choosing from Darroll Powe, Blair Betts (surely gone), Greg Moore, Jody Shelley, and Dan Carcillo.

But now it's time to turn to the defense:

Protected: Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle, and Braydon Coburn

Exempt: Marc-Andre Bourdon, Kevin Marshall, Joonas Lehtivuori, Erik Gustafsson, Tyler Hostetter, and Dan Jancevski

That leaves four players battling for immunity.

Continue reading this post »