Sami Kapanen, the spunky jack-of-all trades saw the writing on the wall when the Flyers made him a healthy scratch/bit player during their playoff run. After a regular season which saw the little bugger get a whopping eight points in 74 games, it's not as if the Flyers were going to utilize Kapanen in a big role.
Flyers right wing Sami Kapanen has decided to end his NHL career with the Flyers and play in his native Finland next season.
Kapanen, who will turn 35 on June 14, has agreed to return to KalPa Kuopio of the Finnish League, where he played 10 games during the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
Kapanen had one year remaining on a contract that would have paid him $1.25 million next season. That salary will come off the Flyers' books for the 2008-09 season.
Part of me has always thought as Kapanen as a disappointment. Given his speed and smarts, I figured he be able to put up much better offensive numbers than he did. Sure, 458 points in 831 games is nothing to scoff at, but Sami only ever crossed the 60-point barrier twice in his career, and took a huge nosedive in 2002, when he was 29 and still in good shape.
On the other hand, Kapanen has been one of the most flexible and useful players during his later career. How many other players would you be comfortable playing at both forward and defense, and in any situation? Sami could do it all and never put up a fuss about it, unlike Sergei Fedorov.
Flyers fans are probably feeling a bit sad and glad today, given how much Kapanen busted his balls for the Flyers, but also knowing that this gives Philly a much needed bit of cap room to use on a younger player who isn't skating with a giant fork in his back.
We're near the quarter point of this fine NHL season, so let's have a peek at some statistical odds and ends, trends, and other useless information you can impress your co-workers with.
While no coach would have much of a reason to put Jamal Mayers on the power-play, it's quite amazing that Mayers has played 532 NHL games and never had a single goal with the man advantage (63 career goals in that time). Not one! Even Donald Brashear, a man with far less offensive skill, has four power-play goals in his 'distinguished' career.
Are the refs asleep on Long Island? The New York Islanders have both the least amount of power-play opportunities for (67) and against (69). Meanwhile, the Ducks have the second most power-plays with 107 and most against with 111. So much for that laid-back West Coast mentality.
When the Detroit Red Wings won a Stanley Cup with Chris Osgood as their #1 goaltender many moons ago, many opined (including myself) that Osgood was, perhaps, the worst #1 goalie of a Cup winner, ever. This season, the Wings are rolling, despite having not getting good goaltending. With Osgood filling in for Dominik Hasek, who is injured again, the Wings have the 5th worst save percentage with 89.3%, but still have a 14-5-1 record. Go figure.
Although it's one year too late -- and what former NHL player is going to give up a fishing trip for this? -- the Florida Panthers will celebrate their Cinderella run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals this weekend. Panthers alumni like John Vanbiesbrouck, Ray Sheppard and Bill Lindsay will join the majority of the players (sans schedule-conflicted Rob Niedermayer and Robert Svehla) who led Florida to the Finals in only the third year of the franchise, before being swept away by the Colorado Avalanche. There's a golf tournament, player appearances and an exhibition game at BankAtlantic Center on Saturday that will give hockey fans something they've long dreamed about: another chance to witness the majestic skating of Terry Carkner on NHL ice.
In 1995-96, they finished third in their division (41-31-10, 92 points) and fourth in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, then beat in the Bruins 4 games to 1 in a seven-game series, the Flyers 4-2 and the Penguins 4-3 before losing to the Avalanche in four games in the finals.
Right winger Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the dressing room with his stick minutes before the home opener that season, then scored two goals that night, prompting Vanbiesbrouck to declare Mellanby's feat a "Rat Trick." Throwing plastic rats on the ice after goals soon became a phenomenon.
"We accomplished some pretty lofty things with a group of guys who were considered mediocre players at the time," Lindsay said.
"Mediocre players at the time?" Has history been that kind to Johan Garpenlov and Jody Hull? Florida Panthers fans have every right to celebrate this unexpected season of meteoric success, lest they fall deeper into the depressing reality that their franchise is now known more for losing Roberto Luongo and failing to make the playoffs in the Southeast Division than plastic rodents. But for the rest of us, this weekend begs the question:
Are the Florida Panthers the most mediocre Stanley Cup finalist of the last 25 years?
If I had to hand out a rookie of the year award for Hockey blogging for the 2006-07 NHL season, one of the top contenders for the award would have to be The Forechecker. Bursting onto the scene as a regular presence in the preseason, The Forechecker combined hockey smarts, number crunching and a penchant for detail to produce consistently compelling prose.
In his latest post, parceling out a number of postseason awards that nobody really wants to win, he fearlessly names names and unearths stats that most NHL player agents would rather see remain buried:
CROSS-CHECKER OF THE YEAR: The nominees are...
Joni Pitkanen, Philadelphia Flyers (5) Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks (5) Sheldon Souray, Montreal Canadiens (7) Brendan Witt, New York Islanders (6)
And the winner is... Sheldon Souray! It's been a season of extremes for Souray - the most goals scored among NHL defensemen (26), the worst +/- rating (-28), and the third-most penalty minutes (135) to go along with this Cross-Checking award.
Ouch! Bet you're thinking twice about seeing your favorite team drop a couple of million a year to bring Souray to town now, eh? Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from. As for The Forechecker, here's hoping he'll be cycling back into the zone next season to cause some more havoc.
As you can imagine, the mainstream media, New Jersey Devils, their fans, and the NHL itself, is going to play this up as the "world's bestest achievement".
Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils had a record-setting night against the worst team in the NHL.
Brodeur surpassed Bernie Parent, Philadelphia's stalwart Stanley Cup-winning goalie, for wins in a season with 48 and the Devils clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 3-2 win over the Flyers on Thursday night.
"I think with him being an icon as far as goalies for the Flyers, to go into Philly and do it here, I couldn't write it a lot better than that," Brodeur said. "This is his year," said Parent, his retired No. 1 hanging from the rafters. "He's played fantastic hockey. It couldn't have happened to a more fantastic individual."
Parent sent a personal note that Brodeur said he would read at home.
What is on the note? "YOUR RECORD IS TAINTED" ??
Look, anyone with some semblance of individual thought knows that Brodeur's record is a sham. Parent, classy as he is, has a right, if he wishes, to be pissed off that he's lost his record thanks to the advent of the shootout.
We're near the quarter point of this fine NHL season, so let's have a peek at some statistical odds and ends, trends, and other useless information you can impress your co-workers with.
If I had to hand out a rookie of the year award for Hockey blogging for the 2006-07 NHL season, one of the top contenders for the award would have to be 
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