Phinally Philly

Tonight should be exciting times for football and music fans with the NFL Pro Bowl and Grammy Awards, but unfortunately both are irrelevant. As much as I love football, I can’t bring myself to watch the Pro Bowl, especially this year with the collection of the league’s best playing the week before the Super Bowl. I’d rather watch a high school football game.

With the recent end of the decade, the league announced the All-Decade Team today and as you’d expect, there are some big names included. One glance at the list reveals a list of high class players, like Tom Brady, Ray Lewis, and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Then there are the guys that donned the green and white, those names that we Eagles fans really care about. The two, technically three, players that get the nod are not a surprise at all – kicker David Akers and safety Brian Dawkins.

We all know the story about David Akers, who joined the team a short time after Andy Reid. In need of a kicker, Reid made a shrewd move by taking the former Redskin off of waivers. A decade later, the man has been a story of dependability, leading the team in points and having a success rate that averaged around 80%.

Brian Dawkins is another guy that needs no introduction to Birds fans. He was easily the most popular player on the team during his time in Philly, and he always backed up his undying passion for the game with positively brilliant play. In one of tonight’s more interesting moments at the Pro Bowl (which a friend told me about, of course) he picked off Donovan McNabb. Dawkins may be getting old, but Weapon X can still play.

The third player that spent time in Philly, albeit just for two years, is everyone’s favorite narcissistic loudmouth, Terrell Owens.

Congratulations not only to the Eagles that made this team, but also the rest of the deserving players. Let’s hope that ten years from now we’ll be talking about a few more guys from Philly that made the team.

Krajicek Joins the Flyers’ Blueline

In a rare occurrence, former first round selection Lukas Krajicek had his contract terminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning making him an unrestricted free agent. The Flyers, in need of some depth at the blueline thanks to struggles by Tollefsen along with injuries to both Syvret and Parent, signed him as a depth defensemen to test out for the remainder of the season.

Krajicek was selected 24th overall by the Florida Panthers in 2001 and had a few decent seasons in Florida before being moved to Vancouver along with Roberto Luongo. With the Canucks, Krajicek had some minor success though he was never stellar. Eventually he made his way back to the state of Florida by way of trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He had a mediocre first season with the Lightning, but through the 2009-10 season, he was having some major problems getting going with only one assist in 23 games. He was waived to the AHL when no one picked him up off waivers but eventually refused to report. Because of this, Krajicek was unconditionally released from his contract leading the Flyers to pick him up on the open market.

No one yet knows how Krajicek will react to a much better team in Philadelphia, but many are hoping for him to fill out the bottom pair successfully. Holmgren had pointed out that the Flyers were in need of a little extra support on the blueline, and this may solve the problem.

With Krajicek’s journey to Philadelphia, forward Mika Pyorala was sent down to the Adirondack Phantoms.

It is likely that Krajicek will appear in his first game for the Flyers on Monday night against the Calgary Flames, but with only seven games left before the Olympic break, the organization is not likely done preparing for the Trade Deadline on March 3rd. Though there will be a roster freeze for the Olympics, the Flyers will likely be discussing forwards with teams that have given up on the postseason such as Carolina, Edmonton, and Toronto.

Krajicek’s pick-up puts the Flyers at 48 used contracts under the 50 contract limit for 2009-10. This means that there is still a decent amount of room for a deadline acquisition.

Bodrov Signs Tryout with Phantoms

After a few years worth of dramatics and speculation, defenseman Denis Bodrov has finally made his way to North America.

Bodrov, a 2nd round selection by the Flyers in 2006, was coming off a great rookie season in the Russian League as well as a great World Junior Championships outing where Russia captured silver. He gradually got better and better through his 2nd and 3rd season in Russia’s highest level of competition. Paul Holmgren had even mentioned that Bodrov would soon be ready to jump into the Flyers lineup and make an immediate impact on the blueline.

Something went horribly wrong.

He was playing for Tolyatti Lada along with his brother, Evgeny Bodrov, when a swirl of locker room issues began to torment the young defenseman. He was rumored to be a bad influence on the younger players within the organization. His play began to decline, and the following season, the same year the Russian league became the KHL, Bodrov was traded to Mytishchi Atlant. With Atlant’s deep lineup, Bodrov was awarded less and less ice time as he slowly faded to the healthy scratch list. He then played 12 games with Atlant in 2009-10 before all hell broke loose.

On November 30th, 2009, Atlant’s General Manager Ravil Ishakov effectively tore up Bodrov’s contract. For the Flyers organization waiting on whether or not Bodrov would ever head to North America, this was the opportunity they had been waiting for. Unfortunately, the termination of Bodrov’s contract was met with a nasty confrontation that would put most divorce cases to shame.

One has to wonder how much of Bodrov’s issues with the KHL were financial. Recently acquired goaltender Ray Emery, who had spent time with Bodrov in Atlant during the 2008-09 season, had his issues with KHL finances as well, but those problems were just the start. On January 21st, it was discovered that Atlant asked twelve players find other homes due to financial difficulties. The debts for the club had climbed into the tens of millions in Russian rubles.

The problems don’t stop there. On that Thursday morning, Bodrov’s agent along with bailiffs entered Atlant’s stadium to confiscate a truck, two passenger cars, and various buses belonging to the organization. The organization owed their former defenseman roughly $3.5m, and the judicial authorities intended to sell the vehicles for a total of $1.5m which would then be awarded to Bodrov.

Though nothing immediately came of Bodrov’s claims against Atlant, the matter is still being taken up in court. Eventually Bodrov will have to get paid, but for now, he has ventured into another world entirely.

The Flyers organization has coordinated with the Phantoms to lock Bodrov up under a tryout with the Phantoms. This way he does not count against the Flyers’ 50 contract limit and will likely be signed to a contract this offseason when a number of others expire.

Nothing has come easy for Bodrov in his last couple of years. Even a change of scenery is not just a guaranteed success. He came to the Phantoms out of game shape due to months off in Russia battling with his former organization.

“He hasn’t played in about a month,” Holmgren said to Philly.com. “I don’t really know the process over there in Russia, but it worked out where he was free to do what he wanted. He’s been here the last few days.”

Poststar.com -- Bodrov gets used to America

There’s two impediments to Bodrov’s assimilation into the Phantoms: his conditioning, or lack thereof, and the fact that he doesn’t speak a lick of English.

Podell will take care of the former. The later is sort of everyone’s problem.

Bodrov, for his part, doesn’t seem to worried, at least about the on-ice part.

“We talk the hockey language,” Bodrov said laughing, speaking through translator Slava Kouznetsov, the Flyers’ power-skating coach.

Kouznetsov has been a fixture at Bodrov’s side this week, but he left for Philadelphia on Thursday. So how will the Phantoms’ coaches communicate with Bodrov now?

“Sammy and I are good artists,” Phantoms coach Greg Gilbert said, referring to assistant coach Kjell Samuelsson.

He laughed, but he wasn’t kidding.

Samuelsson, who made the same transition coming from his native Sweden, oversees the team’s defense.

“If you draw it up, I think he understands that because they use the same kind of terminology,” Samuelsson.

Bodrov will work with a language coach weekly and being around the guys in the locker room will help, too.

Then there’s that other American institution.

“He better start watching all the TV,” Samuelsson said.

The process is beginning. At practice Thursday, Bodrov fired a pretty slap shot from the point beat the goalie top-shelf. His new teammates mobbed him like he scored a game-winner.

…

“He can shoot the puck. He can play hockey. There’s no problem with that,” Samuelsson said. “There’s a lot of hockey players over there and you can’t make it that far in that country if you can’t play.”

By reputation, Bodrov is a puck-moving defenseman who skates well and plays with his head up. But he’ll have to adjust to the quicker North American game.

“I just hope he doesn’t get caught up in trying to overhandle it because he’s not going to have the same time and space as he did over in Europe,” Gilbert said.

Samuelsson said he spoke on Wednesday with a Flyers European scout, who had seen Bodrov play.  The scout said whether his fresh start in the states works out a really depends on him.

“If he makes up his mind, he can play over here,” Samuelsson said. “It’s almost up to him to adjust to the game and learn to play over here. It’s going to take some time.”

Bodrov has since played in his first ever North American game with the Adirondack Phantoms where he recorded two shots on goal despite a 2-1 loss and limited ice-time to the newest member of the organization.

Poststar.com -- Norfolk 2, Phantoms 1: ‘The chances were there’

Of the two new players, defenseman Denis Bodrov and forward Mika Pyorala, Bodrov was much more impressive. Bodrov is a flashy skater and made a couple of brilliant pivots to keep the puck in the zone on a 4-on-4 in the first period. He also set up Marc-Andre Bourdon for a good chance. I didn’t notice Pyorala much. Here’s Gilbert on their debuts:

On Bodrov: “Denis Bodrov looked real good. He’s got real good hockey sense and vision. He made some real good plays on pinches and keeping pressure in the offensive zone and keeping the puck in. The way he played tonight is very good for someone who hasn’t played in a long time.”

On Pyorala: “Mika, I think he was getting some of the rust off. He hasn’t played in four or five weeks (actually since Jan. 14). Throw him in the action and hopefully he’ll be better tomorrow.”

New Lines Bring Some Offense to Flyers

Going into yesterdays game against the New York Islanders, winger Scott Hartnell had found twine only twice in his last 25 games. Hartnell’s offensive problems were just a microcosm of the entire Flyers scoring slump as the team dealt with injuries, coaching deficiencies, a new coach, a new system, and confidence woes.

Even with all of their problems, their two best players (Richards and Carter) performing well under their normal point-per-game pace, and injury issues amongst the forwards including Gagne, the Flyers are currently in 7th place in the NHL in goals scored per game with 2.96. Before the slump, they were in a heated battle with Washington for first place somewhere around 3.60.

In order to slowly get all of the players back to their normal scoring paces, Laviolette made a few changes following losses to Atlanta and Pittsburgh this past week. Hartnell was placed at Mike Knuble’s old position on Richards’ right along with Gagne. Powe was moved to the left with Carter and Briere. Giroux had of course already been put back at center with vanRiemsdyk on his wing.

Chemistry immediately shown for both new lines. Powe’s speed helped create a wrap-around goal scored by Briere early in the first period with Carter getting the other assist. Late in the period Hartnell tallied a powerplay goal with helpers for Richards and Gagne.

Hartnell also got involved in the crease with another goal midway through the 2nd period though it was eventually disallowed. The official on the ice by the net called it a goal, and there was no arm up to signal goaltender interference. Even so, a spirited bout of complaining by Islander goaltender Dwayne Roloson led to an overturned call. The disallowed goal was eerily similar to the Richards goal against the Penguins that led to a 2-0 lead turning into a 1-1 tie. The Penguins eventually went on to win that game. It was just another display of careless officiating that the Flyers had come to expect and many NHL teams have been forced to contend with this season.

Along with a pair of disallowed goals against the Penguins and a Winter Classic OT game winner in which Boston had far too many men on the ice, it has been a rough month for the Flyers and their constant battle with officiating.

While head coach Laviolette has been more than animated when discussing his frustration with officiating, often mentioning that the Flyers should not have to kill penalties that didn’t happen, veteran defenseman Chris Pronger was a little more easy going.

“Every team I have been on, I thought the same thing -- they’re out to get ya,” Pronger said to CSNPhilly.com. “I think the teams that win all the time, think the refs are out to get them. It’s always the same thing when you don’t get the call to go your way.”

Honestly, the officials are not out to get the Flyers in particular. However, they are in the business of making games fair. This philosophy of evening the ice surface seems to work against the Flyers often. Officials trying to make games closer are disallowing fair goals. Make-up calls and phantom penalties are becoming a league-wide epidemic, and the Flyers just happen to be at the forefront of a dangerous, growing trend. Eventually the league will have to step in and do something about it.

Joacim Eriksson Tearing Up Sweden

One of the best goaltenders coming out of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft was a young kid by the name of Jacob Markstrom. Though Markstrom was the highest goaltender ranked, two North Americans, Thomas McCollum and Chet Pickard, went in the first round ahead of him. Then, with the first selection in the second round, the Florida Panthers selected Jacob Markstrom who is now regarded as one of the top goaltending prospects in the world.

The young goalie who grew up completely covered by Markstrom’s shadow was Flyers’ prospect Joacim Eriksson.

From the time Markstrom was drafted, 17 other goalies came off the board before the Flyers selected the unranked Joacim Eriksson in the seventh and final round of the draft, even after they selected Jacob de Serres, who has been less than impressive since his drafting in the third round.

In truth, goaltending prospects, and goaltenders in general, are very hit or miss. Eriksson, however, is doing some impressive things in Sweden.

Though Markstrom and Eriksson both played with the Brynas U-20 team in 2007-08, they would take different roads from then onward, one, Eriksson, always waiting in line behind the other. In 2008-09 Markstrom moved immediately to the Elitserien, Sweden’s highest level of hockey, while Eriksson was left to the U-20 team. In 22 games with Brynas U-20 in 2007-08, Markstrom recorded a 2.00 GAA with a 0.931 save percentage, but in 33 games with Brynas U-20 in 2008-09, Eriksson recorded a 1.99 GAA with a 0.930 save percentage. Despite Eriksson’s stellar numbers, Markstrom was cemented in his role with Brynas in the Elitserien after a great rookie season. Eriksson, having dominated juniors, was then loaned out to Leksand of the Hockey Allsvenskan, a professional league a tier below the Elitserien.

While Markstrom, still one of the top goaltending prospects in the world, continued his domination of Swedish hockey, Eriksson took up his post with a new organization. The results were nothing short of spectacular.

Eriksson leads the league in save percentage at 0.931 and is third in goals against at 2.25 having faced the fourth most amount of shots per game in the entire league. He also recently surpassed a club record for shutouts set by Ed Belfour with eight so far this season. If he gets three more, he will hold the league record.

While there is currently no timetable for Eriksson’s trip state-side to play in North America, the kid he has spent his entire career behind, Markstrom, is likely on his way to Florida’s AHL team at the end of the season. This could finally give Eriksson a shot in the Elitserien. If not, it’s also likely that Eriksson’s current team, with the way they are dominating the Allsvenskan now, will get promoted to the Elitserien next season. If that is the case and Markstrom does stay in Sweden, Eriksson would still get his shot at Elitserien action.

The past of the Flyers is littered with disappointments from goaltending prospects. Eriksson, right now, appears to be great find in the seventh round.

Some other goaltenders discovered late in the draft: Miika Kiprusoff (5th round, 1995), Henrik Lundavist (7th round, 2000), Evgeni Nabokov (9th round, 1994), Tim Thomas (9th round, 1994), and Dominik Hasek (10th round, 1983).

Wellwood Putting on a Show in OHL

When the Flyers drafted Eric Wellwood in the 6th round of 2009 NHL Entry Draft, they were largely impressed with his speed and defensive play. In fact, they thought so much of his two-way play that the organization tried him out at defense during prospect camp.

Wellwood may have gotten the message at Flyers’ camp, but he wasn’t about to get a positional change without throwing in his two cents.

In 61 regular season games last year before being drafted, Wellwood produced a mediocre 34 points off of 16 goals and 18 assists. The Flyers looked at his speed and defensive play as a possible asset to the organization, but what may have tipped the scales in Wellwood’s favor was his impressive postseason run in which he scored 21 points off of 10 goals and 11 assists in 20 postseason games.

Not only was this kind of offensive explosion unheard of for Wellwood, but he also became an unlikely hero in the process.

Not only did Windsor, thanks to some Eric Wellwood dramatics, knock off soon-to-be first overall selection John Tavares and the London Knights, but the team would win the OHL Championship over the Brampton Battalion.

Soon after, Windsor competed against the top CHL opponents for the Memorial Cup, the same trophy that Mike Richards lifted as a member of the Kitchener Rangers years before. The Spitfires beat out the top competition from the QMJHL and WHL carving out their own niche in CHL history.

Since finding his offensive surge in the 2009 CHL postseason, Wellwood has refused to let it go. In 49 games he has already scored 27 goals and added 29 assists for 56 points. He is on pace to double his offensive output from last season, something he has done each progressive year in the OHL.

A nice long week at home for the Flyers began on Tuesday night with a 5-3 win over RJ Umberger and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Flyers then came out on Thursday and shutout the Blue Shirts of New York 2-0 followed by a nice 4-2 win over the basement Carolina Hurricanes during a Saturday afternoon match-up. The entirety of the week was destroyed quickly though on Sunday afternoon, when the Pittsburgh Penguins came from behind to win the game on an extremely late powerplay 2-1.

Is anyone else sensing a pattern? Under Laviolette the Flyers have been a much more disciplined team. They’ve won their recent games by skating hard on the forecheck and staying out of the penalty box.

Still, it doesn’t matter how disciplined the Flyers are when they play the Penguins. It’s not that the officiating is one-sided or tries to screw the Flyers over in particular (We’ll leave that to FSN Pittsburgh). Conspiracy theorists, I have something to tell you that could blow your mind. Are you ready?

The reason why every time we play the Penguins there seems to be the worst officiating in NHL history is simple. The NHL makes money when the Penguins play a tight, high-scoring game regardless of the team they play. We’re talking Yankee money. That ugly little Penguin logo has become easily one of the most recognizable logos in professional sports, which is sad since it’s based on a franchise with a terrible history of money mismanagement, tanking seasons (which is not purposely losing, but instead not spending money needed to win), and exploiting stars to their breaking points. Why would the NHL make money off of it? The big names make money, and the more big names Pittsburgh has, the more revenue they produce for the NHL.

There’s a reason the Penguins are on three straight NBC Sunday games starting with us yesterday. They have one against Detroit and another against Washington in the coming weeks.

Anyway, back to my point. It’s not that the refs are trying to cheat and let the Penguins win, but they certainly aren’t in it to do the Flyers any favors. Or even the Penguins for that matter. Close, high-scoring hockey games make the NHL go ’round, and unfortunately for Bettman, the defense wasn’t co-operating yesterday.

The defensive abilities displayed by both teams, especially Chris Pronger, were nothing short of spectacular. It was another great game, that the refs just happened to ruin.

There is however a reason why the Penguins have the most powerplay opportunities in the NHL once again. In between tons of missed calls on Sunday, there were plenty of interesting ones made at inopportune times for either team to pull away. The Flyers were easily hurt the most by this when a headshot by Malkin on Gagne in the corner led to a Flyers’ goal being pulled and an early 2-0 lead being negated. Gagne of course got the extra high-sticking penalty when there was no high-sticking to be found on the replays. A minute later, on the powerplay, the Penguins tie the game.

Ever wonder why year in and year out of the Sidney Crosby era of Penguins hockey they are easily the most resilient team? I’d have to double check the stats, but they have always had more victories than the majority of teams after falling behind by a goal than any other NHL team I’ve seen. That has nothing to do with skill. No matter how “clutch” you are, you can’t win every game after trailing early.

Laviolette had some words about the game as well:

Reporter: “That goal taken away from you at the beginning was a pretty big momentum swing, but on the other hand you still had nine powerplays against this team. Do you think it does balance out, or is that just something you can’t recover from?”

Laviolette: “I think they had eight powerplays. I mean the powerplays seem to balance out. I don’t know how a two-goal swing balances out against opportunities on the powerplay. It was 2-0. It turns around, it immediately goes down, and it’s 1-1. I don’t get the balance there.”

Reporter: “Were you frustrated with some of those calls there in the first period and maybe the inconsistencies as well?”

Laviolette: “I guess I’m frustrated because for the last month and a half we’ve been preaching discipline, preaching staying out of the box, and our players have bought into that. We’ll kill the ones that we have to take, but going back and looking at that game there’s just too many penalties that didn’t happen. They didn’t happen. On that play in particular [the disallowed goal in the first period], Simon Gagne did not highstick anybody. So it turns around and goes back the other way. Scott Hartnell did not, in my opinion did not, interfere with the goaltender. I don’t know if it’s a reputation from the past. We want to play tough. We want to play physical, but we don’t need to go to the box. Our players are still going there, and our players aren’t taking penalties. So I can’t quite figure it out.”

Reporter: “Is that delay of game penalty one of those ones that you’re talking about, that you just have to take?”

Laviolette: “That’s one of the ones [that you just have to take]. It happened. Now listen, I’m not here to get after anybody. It happened. It was an accident. It went out of the rink. You wish it didn’t, but it did. We’ll kill it. Those are the ones we have to kill.”

I do have to point out that the NBC broadcast was particularly terrible yesterday. Then again, say the name Crosby on air, and ratings will go up. Ratings equal money.

Welcome to Philadelphia, Coach Laviolette.

The Suns are reportedly shopping Amare Stoudemire again, many sources say a deal could be done within the week.

On the list of interested teams appears the Philadelphia 76ers. Now this is all premature speculation, but the fact they are showing interest is exciting nonetheless.

No names have been discussed but you can bet the Sixers would have to give up Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young or Marreese Speights, and a few other pieces to get Stoudemire.

The Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves are said to be only a handful of teams interested along with the 76ers.

A few things the Sixers have going for them is at this point no one is untouchable on this roster, especially for a player like Stoudemire. Also, the Suns are looking for high draft picks and young talent in the deal, something the Sixers have.

Working against the Sixers is the Suns seem to be looking for cap relief in the deal.  So taking on a contract like Iguodala’s isn’t too terribly attractive. And you can forget about packaging Brand or Dalembert along with Iguodala in the deal.

Stoudemire can opt out of his contract at the end of the year, something he will do. And most likely it will take a max deal to get him signed. The Suns don’t seem willing to do this, so they’re going to try and trade him, not wanting to risk losing him for nothing.

If Stefanski can somehow make this deal work and also (unlikely though) find a way to trade away Dalembert or Brand in another deal,  Stoudemire would be one hell of a player to rebuild around.

Another question is would it be worth it? Would it benefit the Sixers to trade away nearly all of their young talent and their high draft pick for Stoudemire? At this point what their doing isn’t working, so it couldn’t hurt to try.

Although, looking at the other teams that are interested and what they can offer you have to think the Sixers chances at pulling this off are slim. The fact that they have entered themselves in the running is exciting for the future however. This team knows they need to change, they know it’s time to start over.

-Mike Santa Barbara

*** Follow me on Twitter @Mike__SB ***

Phillies beat reporter Todd Zolecki reported a few hours ago what everyone basically knew: Carlos Ruiz was signed to a 3 year contract earlier today, pending a physical.

The deal is apparently for $8.85 million over three years with a fourth year option for $5 millions.

With the strides Ruiz has made in the past two years, he was due for a major raise. After making $475,00 in 2009, I’d say this is would qualify as a major raise.

Chooch has become a solid leader of the pitching staff behind the plate with his calling of the game and has also become one of the top defensive catchers in the league. He gets to almost every ball in the dirt and with a pitcher like Brad Lidge at the back end, that blocking ability is huge. Lidge has to have confidence to throw anything and Chooch gives him that ability.

With no major league catching prospects in the Phillies’ system, this was a much needed signing. Ruiz is the catcher they’re pinning their hopes on for the next three years. That should give them time to draft and develop a new catcher to take over at that point.

Brian Schneider was signed this offseason, but this signing just reaffirms that this is Chooch’s spot. Schneider is a good catcher, but he is a backup at this point in his career.

At the very least, this just gives us even more chances to see Chooch get his ice cream.

I have never understood the Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb haters. This small, but vocal faction of fans that don’t like Reid because he isn’t fiery or dislike McNabb because he smiles after he makes a mistake or he threw up in the Super Bowl.

Who cares?

These two men are largely responsible for the greatest era of football the Eagles have ever seen, and while these two have yet to bring home a Super Bowl for Philadelphia, the Eagles are in the playoff hunt almost every year.

This past season had its fair share of bumps in road. There were injuries to key players, like Stewart Bradley, Brian Westbrook, and Jamaal Jackson, and the team saw young players transition into starting roles. Tight end Brent Celek, running back LeSean McCoy, and wide receivers Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson have all developed into legitimate threats, the type of players that McNabb has always needed around him.

We all want that Super Bowl parade down Broad Street and in this era of big money and instant gratification, fans expect it overnight. While Reid has done an admirable job of turning this franchise around, and McNabb remains one of the game’s top quarterbacks, that Super Bowl victory hasn’t happened yet.

Even though both men have their obvious faults, that is no reason to send them packing. Reid doesn’t know his way around a clock, but he sure knows to draft well. McNabb may not be Peyton Manning, but when he has confidence in his offensive line, he’s able to quickly make things happen on the field.

A decade is a long time to wait, but this regime needs to stay. Bill Cowher took a longer time to get his Super Bowl victory in Pittsburgh. John Elway, a very similar quarterback in many ways to McNabb, didn’t get his first Super Bowl victory until his 15th season. McNabb just finished his 11th year in the league.

Looking at Elway closer, you see that he matches up very closely with McNabb. He has a 62% regular season win percentage vs. a 64.1% for Donovan. McNabb’s win percentage is also better in the playoffs as well – 56.3% vs. 50%.

Through 11 seasons, Elway had very good playoff stats. After 14 games, he possessed a 53.1 completion percentage with 3,321 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions. McNabb’s better. After 16 games, he has a 59.1 completion percentage with 3,752 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions.

While you may still say that Elway is the better quarterback, consider this: he won his Super Bowls with the Broncos in his 15th and 16th seasons, but he did not carry the team on his back. It took an amazing defense, an impenetrable O-line, running back Terrell Davis, wide receiver Rod Smith, and tight end Shannon Sharpe. Elway won as many playoff games in his final two years as he did in his first fourteen.

The Eagles main problem throughout most of the last decade was that they had an excellent defense and top-notch quarterback, but the rest of the team suffered. In 2004 when the team was truly a full package, they made it to the Super Bowl and just barely lost to a better New England Patriots team. Only teams that are excellent on every level win the big game.

It’s not time to move on. It’s time to fill in the missing pieces. We know what the Eagles have with McNabb, and while he is not a player that can carry the team on his back, he is a great quarterback who will be able to lead the emerging offense in the years to come.

And Andy Reid, the man of few words and many coughs, needs to continue doing what he does best – identifying and developing talent. While the Eagles are not a year away from a Super Bowl title, the parade is likely closer than you think.

I can’t wait to say I told you so.

If you’re interested in the other side of the argument, please read the piece from our own David Foley posted earlier this evening.

I have a little bit of unfinished commentary to post about the Flyers big win against the Columbus Blue Jackets the other night. The Flyers are of course 2-2 in their last four after a convincing shutout by Emery tonight at home over the Rangers, and after a few terrible losses to the Maple Leafs and Capitals, they seemed to have turned themselves back around quickly.

But, for now, the focus is on RJ Umberger. Umberger was loved in Philadelphia, and it was a really hard decision to make between him and Jeff Carter at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Of course, Umberger was traded for a 1st round pick that was used to select Luca Sbisa. Sbisa, along with some other things, eventually became Chris Pronger, but Umberger feels no hard feelings for being dealt a cruel fate in Columbus, away from the city where the fans loved him.

Umberger of course was a Pittsburgh native, but won the Calder Cup during the lockout with the Philadelphia Phantoms. He was a well liked guy in the locker room and in the stands, but following his moment of glory in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Montreal Canadiens, cap issues forced his departure.

I am now going to re-post ANTHONY SANFILIPPO’s blog about RJ Umberger and the Columbus game, because I think it really deserves a read.

Delaware County Times -- Umberger: A Young Player Who Got It

Tomorrow, when newspapers publish my two stories from the Flyers 5-3 win over Columbus, you’re going to read a lot about R.J. Umberger.

It helped that the former Flyer scored two goals, and nearly a third, in his first game back since being traded from Philadelphia to Columbus, but the fact is, I likely would have devoted a good chunk of my space to Umberger because he’s such a quality human being who was well-liked during his four years in Philadelphia (I include the season with the Phantoms during the lockout).

The fact that he had a big game only made his prominence in stories more applicable.

So, why dedicate so much space to a former player who is now doing his thing for the opposition?

Because he is everything you want in your locker room and on your hockey team and the Flyers really miss that kind of player.

There is a reputation, deserved or not, that the Flyers younger players, for the most part, are bratty.

Umberger, while he was close with all of them and remains friends with all of them, always seemed a bit more mature, a bit more refined.

When the young Flyers were moving into homes in Voorhees, NJ or transplanting themselves onto the Philadelphia side, Umberger was buying a home for himself and his lovely young wife in secluded Medford, N.J. -- near then coach Ken Hitchcock.

He was always a player who was willing to buy into Hitchcock’s system, something a lot of young players are not apt to do.

Mike Richards and Jeff Carter speak politely about Hitchcock, but they don’t ever say anything glowing about their former coach who rode them very hard.

Patrick Sharp, now starring for the Chicago Blackhawks, also struggled under Hitch as a young player, but learned to appreciate Hitch’s lessons after he was traded from Philadelphia.

Simon Gagne grew up from being a pure scorer to one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL under Hitchcock.

So, when Hitchcock had the opportunity to bring Umberger into Columbus, he jumped at the chance.

“R.J. has really grown into the kind of player who I can sit down and talk to and have him get the message across to the other players that I want to get across through him as a leader,” Hitchcock said.

He’s on pace to have the best year of his career. He has 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points. That would be third best on the Flyers right now.

But it’s so much more than that with him. He gets the fans. He gets the media. He knows how to be communicative. He can express his feelings properly without sweating the small stuff. If he has a bad game and gets criticized for it, he’s not going to let the printed words eat away at him. His Teflon personality works.

Here’s all you need to know about the guy.

After the game tonight, rather than go immediately to the team bus, he sought me and another writer out and asked us to do him a favor.

He wanted us to let the fans of Philadelphia know that he wanted to come onto the ice to thank them for the way they’ve treated him, both in the past and tonight, but couldn’t because there was an immediate team meeting after game.

“I don’t want them to think I’m blowing them off or anything,” he said.

He could have simply got on the bus to the airport. He could have popped in his I-pod and drowned out all distractions. He could have just ho-hummed his way through another loss and looked forward to a little nap on his short flight home.

Instead, he wanted to find a way to say thank you to the fans of Philadelphia and made it his mission.

He got to a couple of us. I spread the word through the press box in hopes that all in attendance at this game as well as all those who follow the FLyers from home get to see how genuine Umberger really is.

And who knows, maybe one day when he’s a free agent, this organization will bring him back.

Because he always wanted to be a Flyer for the rest of his career. He has a tattoo of the logo to prove it.

And he is a model of what a class act is in the sport of hockey.

I want to thank RJ Umberger for everything he did in Philadelphia and for his devotion to the fans. If there is justice in this world, Umberger will return to Philly soon, finish off his career, and retire a Flyer. Just think of what our lineup would be without a salary cap right now. It’s a scary thought, but even so, I wish Umberger the best of luck in his future. I hope Umberger and the Flyers’ paths cross again, but it’s not likely that the Blue Jackets will trade him even if we had the cap space to seek him out at the deadline.

You’re starting to get glimmers of the 2007-08 season, and just how magical it was. The 2004 playoffs were just incredible, but 2008 was close.

Thank you RJ.

Flyers Pummel Rags

The following video tells just about the entire story:

Gaborik decided to fight Carcillo; a very unwise decision. Hartnell then pummeled Avery. There were a few more draws later in the game as the Rangers tried to claw their way back.

The Rangers’ head coach John Tortorella had some over-reactive post-game gold about Carcillo’s bout with Gaborik, but Laviolette defended his player:

“Well, there’s no honor in that,” said the Rangers’ head coach of Carcillo after the game. “I don’t play the game, I don’t wear the uniform. I don’t want to say too much about it, but there’s simply no honor in that.”

Predictably, Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette saw it differently. In fact, anyone who saw a replay of the fight would agree with Laviolette that it was in fact Gaborik who started the whole thing.

“We were out numbered, Danny came in and picked somebody off the pile and Gaborik dropped his gloves first,” said Laviolette, stating the obvious. “So, Danny can either get punched or he can drop his gloves and fight. I think the ref saw it that way as well, because they [each] got five minutes for fighting.

“I don’t think [Carcillo] makes a habit of going after the other team’s top players and skilled players. He does a lot of dirty work that other people don’t want to do and usually it’s with guys like a [Sean] Avery or a [Aaron] Voros; guys that are pretty tough on the other side as well. I didn’t see it happen the way [Tortorella] did.”

Despite some last second dramatics, Emery gets the 2-0 shut out with a pretty goal by vanRiemsdyk, a buzzer beater by Richards, and some more golden chances from Giroux botched by various recipients. Eventually someone’s going to expect Giroux to sneak a pass across the paint, and it’s not going to end pretty for the other colors.

There’s some good games coming up this weekend as well. Saturday the Flyers play the Eastern basement Carolina Hurricanes at home at 1:00 PM followed by a welcome party for Sidney Crosby on Sunday at 12:30 PM on NBC. They are definitely some big games for the Flyers. A couple more wins this weekend would give us a nice foothold in the playoffs; a place where we want to be headed into the Olympic break.

Just a couple days after the Olympic break is the trade deadline, so discussions and scouting have already begun all over the NHL. Carolina and Edmonton have declared firesales, and impending veteran UFA winger Ray Whitney of the Carolina Hurricanes may be a option if the Flyers can figure things out. I love Asham, but I’d very much enjoy a stacked top 9 going into the playoff push.

As has been the custom around Citizens Bank Park the past few years, the Phillies avoided arbitration with two more players today, with Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton joining Chad Durbin in signing contracts.

First to be announced today was a 3 year deal with Heavy Joe for a total of $24 million. A little less than the $10 million/year he was asking for in arbitration, but still a great deal nonetheless. Blanton has been a very solid #3 for the Phillies the past year and a half, so this is a great reward for him. It’s a good deal for the Phillies as well to be able to lock down a very important part of their rotation. Blanton is an innings eater and is important to have the middle of the rotation signed for a few years.

In an interesting twist, Blanton will only make $1 million in salary this season, with the rest of the money coming in a $6 million signing bonus. He then makes $8.75 million in 2011 & 2012.

While this will upset people who think the Phillies should have kept Clifton Phifer, it wasn’t possible. Blanton is a hell of a lot cheaper than Lee would have been. Lee will command a contract around $20 million/year after this season, and the Phillies simply can’t afford to pay that much money to pitchers. Lee is gone, Blanton is here, move on.

Later in the day, news started coming out that the Flyin’ Hawaiian was also signed to an extension. It’s apparently a 3 year extension, which will get him through his final two years of arbitration and his first year of free agency. No financial numbers are out there yet, but they’ll probably come out tomorrow. (UPDATE: According to Zo, the deal is worth $22 million.)

Not a surprise that Victorino signed an extension, as he was named to the All Star team for the first time and won his second Gold Glove this past season. However, with Victorino and Ibanez locked up for the next two years, and Dominic Brown knocking on the door, there are some doubts that Jayson Werth will be signed to an extension after this season. I like Werth, but it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of contract he is looking for next year.

That leaves the Phillies with one arbitration player left unsigned. Carlos Ruiz is the only one left, and with no young catchers in the system, it’s almost a given that Chooch will be signed to an extension.

Ruben Amaro is doing his best to keep this team together, while still looking out for the future. He’s made major moves in his short time as GM and I’m looking forward to seeing what else he’s got up his sleeves.

(The Zo Zone: Phillies lock up Victorino, too, Phillies sign Blanton to three-year, $24 million extension.

“Insanity [is] doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

- Albert Einstein

Another rollercoaster ride of an Eagles season has finally come to an inevitably disappointing end. In the weeks following the Birds’ depressing list of late season losses there is always that period where fans dwell on what went wrong, and this offseason is no different.

Five years from now we’ll look back on this Eagles team as a complete disappointment primarily because of the way the season ended; with two brutal losses at the hands of the hated Cowboys. The 2009 Eagles may have (at least statistically) been the most prolific offense in franchise history, but how much does that mean when most of the team’s success came against non-playoff teams?

You can blame injuries all you want…yes the losses of Stewart Bradley and Shawn Andrews devastated the team on both sides of the ball…but at the end of the day 2009 played out just like almost every other year of this past decade for the Eagles: great hope and promise ends in a horrific Hindenberg-esq catastrophe. As the sporting world looks on an NFC power inexplicably implodes in the blink of an eye and becomes a shadow of its former self as its leaders piss away timeouts, vomit on the field, take the blame, and look towards next year.

The Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb era may go down as one of the best in franchise history, but the two had their chances at greatness and squandered them each time. Now I stand before you saying that it is time to move on.

First, the fate of the head coach: If I ran the Eagles Andy Reid would be fired tomorrow. This obviously isn’t likely to happen given the extension he recently signed, but hear me out here for a minute. Yes he did a terrific job building this team up from the wreck it was in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, but he has consistently shown an inability to take this team to the Promised Land.

Take the past two seasons as examples. In the NFC Championship Game last season the Eagles were clearly the better team than the Cardinals. Call me a sore loser all you want, but the Birds didn’t even show up for the first half of that game and STILL managed to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. What should have been a glorious triumph resulted in a close, brutal defeat thanks in large part to a team that was unprepared to play.

This season the Eagles came into their last two games against the Cowboys as one of the hottest teams in the conference. Two weeks later the Birds had humiliated their fans with two incredibly pathetic performances where they were not only out-played, but out-coached by a fat, bumbling “yes man” to Jerry Jones.

Any Eagles fan who has watched this team week after week needs no lecture on the horrendous game day management Andy Reid has become known for, or the huge holes he fails to address on the roster each season (remember the kick returner fiasco a few years back?!? Damn you Reno Mahe!)  I understand he’s one of the winningest coaches of the decade, but that success hasn’t translated at all to the postseason. It’s time the Eagles shook things up and brought in a fresh face with a new voice.

What about #5? Donovan McNabb was not the only player to blame for those two embarrassing losses to Dallas, but every time the Eagles needed a leader to step up and play at a high level McNabb folded faster than you could say, “air guitar.”

If a team in desperate need of a QB offers a first and a third round pick for McNabb it’d be hard to say no, especially considering Donovan’s “advanced” age (at least by NFL standards.) Ideally though I’d hang on to him for at least one more season and let Kevin Kolb compete with him in camp for the starting spot. Keep the winner, and move the loser for picks. That being said the Eagles are supposedly extremely high on Kolb, so if they have no plans of giving McNabb an extension I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he is traded before the draft. Those picks could go a long way toward filling other holes on this roster.

Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb both deserve a lot of credit for resurrecting the Eagles from the doldrums of the late 90’s, but both have had the time and opportunity to bring a Super Bowl to Philly and failed. It’s time for a change on at least one of those two fronts to bring in a new perspective to get this team to the next level.

Our own Dany Sloan will have a pro-Reid/McNabb follow up later tonight.

The 76ers continued their struggles Wednesday Night, losing to the Andre Miller and the Portland Trailblazers 98-90.

Andre Miller returned to Philadelphia wearing Blazer red this time. Though, he was white hot in his return, netting 24 points.

The bright spot lately for the 76ers has been the inspired play of their defense. They continued that trend Wednesday Night. Playing the Trailblazers tough practically all night long. Unfortunately, the trend of playing bad 4th Quarters also continued Wednesday night.

See-Sawing back and forth all night, the Sixers were in a position to win the game. Like they have been many times this season, they came up small when it mattered.

In the 4th Quarter the Sixers time and time again chucked up ill-advised shots. There seemed to be no flow, and if plays were called they certainly weren’t executed properly. That falls on the Coach Eddie Jordan. Who seems to be coaching on the fly. When the offense is clicking for this team the defense is no where to be found. Now that the defense is finally coming around, there is no one on the court there to hit the big shot when this team really needs it.

There are plenty of guys on the court who seem willing to take the big shots. As of yet, no one has proven they can be relied on to hit those big shots. Part of this is they haven’t been put in the positions to hit those shots.

Trailing by only 4 with under a minute to go Andre Iguodala chucked up a three-pointer, he missed. Another example of this team not being on the same page. You have to applaud Iguodala for wanting to take, and believing he can hit, that big shot. Though, his inability to realize the situation, and make a smart decision speaks volumes about where this team is maturity wise.

You have to believe that by the way Eddie Jordan’s rotation has been going these days he’s searching for players to fill roles. Either that, or he has no idea what he’s doing. Sitting guys like Lou Williams and Allen Iverson late in close games has to stop. They may not be the difference makers per-say, though they are guys who can get to the basket and draw contact.  Something the Sixers need to do more of, they are not a jump shooting team. They just can’t win games that way.

In the end, when this team needs to come up clutch no one is able to come through. Not the players and not the coach. There is absolutely no sense of urgency, and little if any strategy at work here. The players seem ill-prepared and Eddie Jordan doesn’t seem to have a clue. Jordan’s press conferences are becoming more and more repetitive. He seems to be looking for that “killer instinct” when the team is up big. And the “heart” to come back when their down big. Now I guess he’s searching for a “superstar” to arise out of this roster who can take over games like tonight.

Good luck with that Eddie.

-Mike Santa Barbara

*** Follow me on Twitter @Mike__SB ***