*We have made it, Flyers fans, to the final game before two glorious weeks off from the Philadelphia Flyers. The content will continue unabated, of course, but we will be free from games while the world turns to Italy. But we’ve got this game against our old pal Claude and his Ottawa Senators. Last game was a step forward but they gotta keep it going tonight. [BSH]
*Speaking of steps forward, Danny Briere probably moved this whole Michkov/Tocchet thing along with his pregame presser on Tuesday. [PHLY]
*You may have noticed that in that Capitals game Rick Tocchet decided — on his own, surely, not with any input from his bosses — to play Matvei Michkov for nearly 6 minutes more than he did last Saturday. Then he spoke about why. [BSH]
*We also got a lot of very well-earned praise for Dan Vladar, who once again stood on his head and lead the Flyers to victory. [BSH]
*The Olympic trade freeze went into effect yesterday afternoon, but that doesn’t mean we need to stop thinking about who might be on the block when things thaw out in a couple of weeks. [The Athletic]
*Related, we only got one big exciting trade ahead of the freeze and the great news is that it prompted the following response from the hockey world at large: LOL Rangers. [TSN]
*As we head into the break, naturally there are questions worth thinking about as some players head to Italy and the rest to the beach or whatever. [Sportsnet]
*So uh… Gavin McKenna has gotten himself into a little bit of a pickle ahead of his big draft year. [Onward State]
*It’s the annual NHL Player Poll from the failing New York Times! Always a fun read. Always fun to know what is going on inside the very empty heads of NHL hockey players. [The Athletic]
*And finally, yesterday marked Danny Briere’s 1000th day as general manager of the Flyers. Felt like a good time for a little bit of an assessment. [BSH]
