Thursday Morning Fly By: It's Sidney Crosby's favorite holiday!

*Let's look back at the first round with Charlie, who illustrates for us how the Flyers failed in the neutral zone against the Washington Capitals. [BSH]

*ivan Provorov has been named  WHL defenseman of the year and holy crap can't wait until this kid is on the Flyers. [Sons of Penn]

*Speaking of awesome defensemen of the future, Shayne Gostisbehere ranks pretty highly in this here article about how the best defenseman need to also be good on offense. [Sportsnet]

*There's likely to be a lot of competition for the six spots on the Flyers blueline next year. [CSN Philly]

*Which free agent forwards might help the Flyers improve their front end? [Inquirer]

*It's the offseason so trade rumors are going to be a thing, but the Flyers are already being linked to big names like Kevin Shattenkirk and Loui Eriksson. [BSH]

*Speaking of trades, what would it take to pry the #1 overall pick from Toronto? [Pension Plan Puppets]

*Craig Berube is doing playoff analysis; what a time to be alive. [NHL.com]

*It looks like NHL expansion into Seattle is dead, as their city council has voted against plans for a new arena. [Sportsnet]

*Matt Hendricks has been named Captain of Team USA for the upcoming IIHF tourney. [USA Hockey]

*The Flyers play a part in DGB's look at five games that could have changed the draft lottery results if they'd gone the other way. [The Hockey News]

*No one seems to be happy with the Department of Player Safety; but what exactly do you want out of them? [Puck Daddy]

*And finally, since yesterday was some kind of nerd Christmas, here are some of your favorite hockey players if they were Star Wars characters. [TSN]