On Ville Leino, Chris Therien, Bobby Clarke and Ray Emery

Last night, I had to go run an errand midway through the first period of the Predators-Flyers game. A few moments after I got in my car and turned on WIP, Chris Therien and Tim Saunders were discussing Ville Leino.



The conversation began with Saunders relaying that Peter Laviolette said, very carefully, that he doesn't necessarily mind when Leino turns the puck over as much as he does when other guys do it because he is so creative offensively and he doesn't want to stifle that creativity. Therien agreed, saying his only real criticism he has of Leino is that he doesn't shoot the puck enough in his opinion. It turned out to be unintentional foreshadowing at its best.

By the time I got home and watched a relatively bland, scoreless second period, I settled in for a tense third. This was two of the NHL's top teams — the Flyers first in the East and the Predators 4th in the west — really wanting those two points. A few minutes in, Scott Hartnell put the Flyers in position to take control, drawing a hooking penalty.

That's when Ville came calling. He set up shop on the power play behind the net, dished it to Richards near the circle next to boards, and when Richie fired, Leino drove from behind the net toward the crease, pounced on the rebound and banged it home.



It was Leino's first shot of the game, and it went in. Maybe Therien was on to something.

The goal was huge on a couple levels. Obviously, it gave the Flyers the lead with just over 13 minutes left in regulation. Secondly, it came on the power play against the third-besting penalty-killing unit in the NHL. Nashville has climbed to 4th in the West behind great defense, great goaltending and a damn near impenetrable PK unit, one that kills off more than 85 percent of penalties.

As good as the Flyers have been offensively this year, the power play has been the one area they've struggled. To capitalize late in a game against one of the best penalty-killing teams is a very encouraging sign.

Unfortunately, a few minutes later the Flyers returned the favor. Claude Giroux, who has done so little wrong since his NHL debut, made a crucial mistake. He lost control of his stick, getting it up on a Predator, taking a high-sticking penalty in the offensive zone with his team trying to protect a one-goal lead late.

The Flyers' penalty kill couldn't bail Giroux out, as Joel Ward — the player who hooked Hartnell, leading to Leino's go-ahead goal just minutes before — erased his mistake with a game-tying power-play goal of his own. Not good.

Moments later, Therien's words of advice to Leino came to full fruition. On the ice with Giroux and Jeff Carter, Leino was probably the last forward out there you would expect to occupy a vacant spot in the slot, spin and shoot a surprising backhand, picking the top corner. But that's exactly what Leino did.



It was one of the rare times that Leino was clearly thinking shot all the way, even going so far as to pull an impressive spin and fire an almost blind backhand. That surely had to make Therien happy. It definitely made every Flyers fan alive jump for joy.

And perhaps it will give Leino a little more confidence and/or inspiration to shoot the puck even more. His two goals were his only two shots on net all night, and for the season, he has by far the least amount of shots (80) among the top 9 forwards on the team. With now goals 12 and 13 last night, he uncoincidentally has the second highest shooting percentage on the team (.163), trailing only Giroux's .178. So yeah, maybe he should shoot it a little more.

It was an encouraging win coming off a terrible performance against Tampa Bay. Ville was the hero, Jeff Carter and Claude Giroux continued to be the hottest players on the team, with Carter opening the scoring and assisting on both of Leino's goals and Giroux notching assists on the first and last goals of the night. It was a very nice win and an important two points as the Flyers try to fend off the Lightning, Penguins and the rest of the Eastern Conference.

The opening ceremony honoring Bobby Clarke was great as well, as was Clarke's interview with Steve Coates before the game.



Clarke is the single most recognizable Flyer of all time, and few if any athletes are as beloved and respected (at least as a player) in Philadelphia than him. He was the captain on the only two Stanley Cup winners in franchise history. He's the all-time leading scorer in Flyers history. And he won 3 Hart Trophies as the league MVP. Even as a general manager, while he never built Cup winner and made several controversial moves, he was aggressive, always trying everything in his power to make the Flyers better. And he did turn the franchise from a few down years to a perennial Cup contender.

Bobby Clarke was known for a lot of things. What he's never been known for is his emotions. Clarke has always put on a stoic face, whether it was winning hockey games, facing the media or the camera panning on him in the press box. But last night, as he was being interview by Coates before the game and as he was out there at center ice, Bobby Clarke became emotional. He was fighting back tears and didn't even try to hide his smile. That's a rarity for the one man who represents the Flyers more than anyone else. And it was really nice to see.

I have to admit, when I heard the news that the Flyers might be interested in acquiring Ray Emery again, I kind of thought Clarke was back in the GM chair. It's the type of move he may have made at one point in time.



When the murmurs started to trickle in before last season that the Flyers were considering signing Ray Emery, I did not want, at all. For real. The Flyers signed him anyway, and Emery actually played pretty well … for all of 29 games, before a hip condition ended his season and many thought his career.

Now the word is out he's been cleared to play, and the Flyers are one of three teams interested in his services. I have to say, I just don't get it, once again. Now, I'm not nearly as opposed to this move, given that Emery accepts a two-way contract, as I was last season. Emery was a good citizen and played decently last year. But this team already has two goalies entrenched, albeit a career backup and a 22-year-old rookie still learning the nuances of the NHL game, and they still have last season's hero as another option down in the AHL. I just don't see the point in bringing in yet another goaltender at this point, especially with Brian Boucher and Sergei Bobrovsky doing a much more than adequate job thus far.

It's not like Emery has ever been a great goaltender. He had one fantastic season in Ottawa. That was in 2006-07, four years ago. Then he became a locker room cancer, mediocre goalie and sustained a huge hip injury, an important body part of goalies. If it were Evgeni Navokov or somone at that level or higher, I'd get it. But Ray Emery coming off a year hiatus? No thanks. I'll stick with Bob and Boosh, thank you very much.

It may happen, though — I'm just not sure why.

Goaltending Like It's 2000 and Bombs Away

If there's been one overriding concern about the Flyers goaltending situation since Michael Leighton established himself as the No. 1, it's what the heck happens if he goes down? Leighton has played so well that Peter Laviolette has been loathe to take him out of the net, even for just one night, meaning backup goaltender Brian Boucher has been glued to the bench. How can you expect a guy to play when he never sees the ice?



Well, we're about to find out. At least for a little while. In the Flyers' 4-3 shootout loss in Nashville last night, Leighton went down with a high ankle sprain in the first period. That's not exactly a great injury for a goaltender to have. As we all know, high ankle sprains are tricky injuries — they can heal in a week or nag for months. Considering a goalie has to be on his feet often and push off to go post to post, you have to think a high ankle sprain is a pretty big deal. Skating puts a lot of pressure of your ankles with stopping and turning and pushing off, and I would think that becomes intensified for goaltenders. Who knows how well Leighton will recover? There's a chance he won't be able to get back to form.

That means Brian Boucher, a guy who has played in just 20 games this season and started only 14 — and none in a long while — will be vital here down the stretch. Whether or not he is forced between the pipes only temporarily or not, it's evident Bouch will need to play much, much more than he has of late. With an injury like this, Leighton will need time to heal and may need some days off even when he returns. Now more than ever, the Flyers need Brian Boucher to recapture that magic from 2000.

Remember that? I sure do. Sure, it was a decade ago and I was only 15 going on 16, but I remember it like it was yesterday. A 23-year-old Boucher took the reigns from remarkable free agent bust John Vanbiesbrouck (an aside, Bieser spent his entire career killing the Flyers: he was awesome against them when he was in Florida and terrible for them when he came to Philadelphia) down the stretch, starting 33 games in all during the regular season and posting a truly awesome 1.91 goals against average with a .918 save percentage and four shutouts. He led the Flyers all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals against the hated New Jersey Devils, where he made this save:



I was there at the Meadowlands to witness it live. Sadly, we all know how it ended, but it was through no fault of Boucher. He was incredible all season long and continued that success in playoffs. Unfortunately, he never could reclaim that magic and has bounced around the NHL since. Ten years later, the Flyers need Brian Boucher to step up again. Now 33, he can draw on a bevy of experience to help the Flyers along during this important stretch run before the playoffs, but the question is can he? He had a very solid year last season in San Jose, playing the role of spot starter behind Evgeni Nabokov, posting a 2.18 goals against average and .917 save percentage in 22 games, 20 of those starts. That's proof he can still be effective in stretches.

This season, however, hasn't been quite what he or the Flyers envisioned. Boucher was brought in to be the backup with Ray Emery and expected to fill the role he did so admirably in San Jose. When Emery got hurt, Bouch played pretty well in a couple games before he himself got injured. Enter Michael Leighton, and ice time has been hard to find. And when he has gotten it, he hasn't exactly instilled the most confidence. His numbers are very pedestrian: 2.77 goals against average, .899 save percentage.

The good news for the Flyers is Boucher has had success in this form before. It first came a decade ago, and then he did a similar job last season, albeit it to a much lesser extent. Now he'll have the chance to get a little playing time, to get a little more comfortable and shake off some of that rust. Hopefully he can do what he did last season and hold down the fort. And who knows, maybe he has a little magic left. Regardless, it's time for Boucher to step up. Michael Leighton already has. Now it's Bouch's turn, at least for a little while.

He performed admirably last night. After giving up a goal on the first shot he saw, which was really another defensive breakdown, not his fault, he stopped the next 24 shots he faced.

Unfortunately, his teammates couldn't lift him to a victory. Despite dominating the majority of the game, outshooting Nashville 45-30, the Flyers needed another furious third-period comeback just to send this thing to overtime. Thanks to sloppy defensive play yet again, the Flyers broke down and let up three goals in the first period. Not good. What is good is that Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne continued to be red hot, and Chris Pronger is showing exactly why the Flyers traded a lot of talent for him.



Not only is he eating up ice time like a machine, he's leading the Flyers in +/- at +22. He's bringing some much needed discipline and leadership this team that lacked that last season. And lately, he's been incredibly clutch. Last night, he snuck in on the power play and scored his 10th goal of the season to tie the game with less than six minutes remaining in regulation. It was Pronger's 50th point of the season, courtesy of a great feed by Richards. It may become something of an annoyance in a few years when Pronger is an old man and Luca Sbisa, Joffrey Lupul and those draft picks are still young and talented, but right now, Chris Pronger is living up to every expectation. If only the Flyers could say the same on the season. Still, they managed a point last night and sit in 7th with 77 points, just two points out of 5th and games in hand.

After the Flyers game, yes, I did tune in to the NIT to watch UNC take on William & Mary. The Tar Heels did manage to win 80-72 to avoid even further embarrassment in an already embarrassing season, thanks in large part to Deon Thompson's monster game (20 points on 9-13 shooting, 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block) and Tyler Zeller's efficient 13 points on 5-6 shooting, not to mention two huge steals and slams to seal the victory.

But forget all that. I want to talk about William & Mary. Taking a look at this team, it was hard to believe they are a serious Division I men's basketball squad. The Tribe looks more like a bunch of guys you'd see running pickup games at the gym or local playground, if not a taller version. Not that William & Mary was a tall team, especially in comparison to UNC.

To make the pickup game comparison even more complete, being the smaller, less athletic team, William & Mary employed the same technique smaller, less athletic pickup teams have employed since the dawn of time: Bomb away. And bomb away William & Mary did. Of their 62 shots last night, an astounding 43 of them were from beyond the arc. That's the exact same strategy Arkansas Fred and I used to employ at the IM Building at Penn State, the same strategy silver fox and I have been using since high school. Gotta play with 1's and 2's so we can bomb away and stand a chance. All 1's and we're screwed.

Well, that's what it was like for William & Mary last night. If they were going down, they were going down gunning. So they just kept shooting and shooting and shooting from deep, and it almost worked. William & Mary led late and stayed close until the end, before Goliath eventually squashed David.

But man oh man did W&M senior guard David Schneider put on a show.



The guy scored a game-high 21 points, with 8 assists and 5 rebounds. But more importantly, he kept William & Mary in it with his hot shooting. Schneider took 15 three-pointers, more than anyone, and made 7 of them. And down the stretch with the game tight, he couldn't miss. I thought he would carry W&M to the upset, he was so scorching hot. It was a remarkable performance, something to truly marvel.

It was like watching that one kid on the court that you know you can't leave open. If he can get his shot off, it's going in. That was Schneider in the second half last night, bringing a smile to the small, unathletic pickup players everywhere. And best of all, he did it while still allowing the Tar Heels to win. Well, best of all for me anyway. Not so much for him.