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I would say the difference is that the league had said after the Chara hit that they are not trying to judge on the outcome, they were trying to decide on the intent (as if that were really possible). I'm not saying it's right, or that I agree, but that's the idea.

As for the Chara hit itself, I never defended it, I thought it was an ugly play, and I was shocked he wasn't suspended. I'm pointing this out largely to show that I'm not just a foaming-at-the-mouth homer here. I criticize my home teams more than anyone else I know. Papelbon is prick, Garnett is a punk, Marchand is an instigating weasel, I hated having Rodney Harrison on the Patriots when he was here, because he was as dirty as a pig-sty.

Timmay is channeling his inner Ron Hextall. Good Stuff.

Well, I've been absent from this thread for a few days, and by golly there is a shit-ton of content that could be discussed during that time.

I've got to start by saying that I was a touch overly defensive of Rome's hit. I've obviously seen a couple of replays since then, and yeah, the hit was late. Five minutes and a game, fully deserved. A couple of game suspension, deserved. But four games, really?

To go back a series, think of Eager's hit from behind on Henrik. Thankfully, Hank bounced right back up, but that was a much more malicious hit. But no suspension.
Or McGinn's hit on Aaron Rome. It was a dirty hit from behind, Rome missed a couple of games with a concussion, no suspension.

I'd be absolutely, one-hundred percent a-ok with four games for Rome if the NHL called this stuff consistently. But whether it's been Campbell or Murphy, it seems like they just throw a dart at a board and pick the number they hit for the number of games suspended. Oh, and if you're a star player, no suspension at all typically.

Hopefully Brendan Shanahan will put an end to this inconsitency and favourtism and start doing suspensions properly next season.

As for the two games in Boston, yeah Luongo wasn't good enough, but the Canucks d-men were atrocious in front of him.
You wouldn't believe the general beck and call in Vancouver the last couple of days that Lou should be benched for game 5 in favour of Schneider.

Clearly Vigneault was correct in trusting in Lou for game five, picking whether he or Thomas was better tonight is basically an impossible proposition. I don't know that I've seen a better goaltended game than this. And it's great watching the totally opposite styles the two goalies use, Luongo is big and impecably positioned whereas Thomas looks down and out, but dear lord that man pulls saves out of his ass with his acrobatics.

The next game (or two) or sure going to be fun. I suspect that Thomas will play lights out in game 6 and send it back to Vancouver for a seventh game, but I really think the Canucks will finally put an end to the frustration in this city and win a cup.

Well, that was absolutely not what I expected out of game 7. I'm not gonna rub it in and be a dick, Colin. This was a pretty exciting series, and I just think Luongo just let himself get rattled too many times this series. He'd let one bleed past, and then he'd just cave. Plus, the Bs had god descend from heaven and play goal for them for a couple months. That always helps. Anyways, this was fucking sweet and I'm gonna go have my eighth beer of the night to celebrate.

FUCK the hair pulling finger biting fucks!!!
Congrats Boston! Enjoy your cup big chief!!!

word to tim thomas, the second us born con smyth winner!

So I was at the game, pretty disappointing that the Canucks shit the bed and didn't even make a game of it

Vancouver is a fucking disaster right now, I ended up right in the middle of a mini-riot. There was a car flipped over and on fire right next to me and riot cops five feet away from me were shooting off tear gas

I got the hell out of there as soon as possible(but not before) falling in an open storm sewer while avoiding riot cops on fucking horses. Apparently it's even worse down there now

Tim Thomas better get that Vezina. I was rooting for the Canucks,....but a huge Congrats to the Hubs. They erased the disappointment from last years Semis and made this one count. I'm not sure if they got extra motivation out of that,....but last years loss in the semis is now most certainly a moot point. In the grand scheme I'm glad that the Flyers bowed out to a team that ultimately won the cup.

Flyers going through an overhaul! Carter being shipped was kinda expected in order to get the cap room to sign Bryzgalov but trading your captain for a gritty young winger and a bluechip prospect? What'd you make of this Hoy?

Jeff Carter to Columbus for Jakub Voracek plus 1st (8th overall) and 3rd rounder. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=369793

Mike Richards to the LA Kings for Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=369795

I've been following this. My kneejerk reaction is WTF,....but it also confirms to me; the rumors that Jeff and Mike were creating some sort of divide in the locker room. To be honest the Flyers were mailing it in after the All Star break this past season,....so I think a message has been sent that your position with the organization is only as safe as how good your work ethic is. Who knows; maybe Richie and Carts wanted these deals to go through.

It's also been loosely confirmed that the Flyers signed G Ilya Bryzgalov to a 9 year $51mil deal. That's good from a goaltender stand point. The guy is good,...but has just been stuck on a shitty team for too long. The Flyers are restocking draft picks and will be able to select a 1st rounder for the first time in 3 seasons. That's also good,...as long as they don't give up too quickly on them. Brayden Schenn is a former 1st rounder,....so I have high hopes for him. Voracek is also a former 1st rounder.

I've heard unconfirmed rumors that the Flyers are making a play for Steve Stamkos.

It's going to be an interesting off season. I like Richards enough that I bought a jersey when he was still an alternate captain,....so he'll be missed,....but I think that him as well as Carter getting traded was of their own doing. I'm excited to see how these changes effect the Flyers in the coming seasons. To be honest though,...this is somewhat of a Karmic payback for Homers fleecing of Atlanta and Nashville in previous seasons (a young and talented Braydon Coburn for an about to retire and ineffective Alexi Zhitnik,....the revolving door that is Peter Forsberg, for Ryan Parent and Scottie Upshall).

The Flyers have had some offensive depth for a while now. Remember the Briere, Hartnell, Leino line that was so effective in the 2010 playoffs and the beginning of the 2010-2011 season. We've also got some other young players about to hit their stride in JVR and Claude Giroux (who has been my favorite Flyer for a while now). TBH I think the Flyers have been to offensively deep and the blueline has been neglected so thinning out the front end and bolstering the D in front of a top 5 goal tender and I expect the Flyers to remain competitive.

I figured they'd trade Briere before Richards, though his No-Trade complicates that. What I do find amusing is that Carter signs an 11 year extension in November, which includes a no-trade that doesn't kick in till after next season, but gets moved to a team like a Columbus which to me is a team you get a no-trade clause for to begin with.

It's gotta be locker room type stuff to give up your Captain and not get an impact player in return. Though a lot of people are fawning all over Brayden Schenn as (one of) the best center prospects out there. I think the return for both trades is pretty good. Simmonds is hard-nosed so should fit well and is young enough for him to develop some more offense and if Schenn turns out as great as 'experts' expect him to the deal is fine. You also get a 2nd rounder in next year's draft.

TSN reported that the Leafs were offering a package that included Nazem Kadri and Kulemin for either Carter or Richards which doesn't seem as good as what the Flyers got.

Bryzgalov contract has been confirmed. He's been very good with Phoenix so that should settle the goalie situation in theory. Can you still be surprised at the length of these contracts? 9 years is a lot especially when you have a guy that you think (thought?) could be your starter shortly. This should give the Flyers enough cap room to re-sign Leino (didn't they give up a 4th rounder for him to Detroit? not bad either).

Yeah I think they're still one of the top teams in the East provided Pronger is healthy.

You going to be able to watch the Draft? ESPN America is airing it Saturday afternoon euro time.

I'll have to look and see if I can P2P the draft. Honestly I pay very little attention to prospects and undrafted players. I should I just don't. I'll know who they pick or if they make a move,...but I'll likely have no idea who the guy is unless he plays for the Spokane Chiefs (WHL)

Yeah,....Leino was gotten off Detroit for a bag of pucks. He's turning out to be a pretty solid player. I know that Detroit just couldn't find a spot for him on their roster so his movement was essentially a salary dump. Homer wants to re-sign him and he should be able to get that done.

The Bryzgalov deal is lengthy and I'm not sure what that means for Bobrovsky. I would like to see the Flyers hold onto him,....maybe at the AHL level and let him develop more (he still has a ways to go to adjust to the North American game) for at least another season. That way they have an insurance policy if Bryz doesn't pan out (I don't know the details of his contract,....NTC? Front Loaded?). I know I was hoping to watch Bob develop,...but I don't think it's in his best interests to remain in Philadelphia for much longer than a year. Having one bonafide and one potential starter on the team is not the best situation I think.

I think both Richards and Carter got complacent in Philly. There were a lot of complaints on work ethic from the locals and reports that they spent more time at the bars then practicing or working out. According to Homer the phone calls with both Richards and Carter (Richards especially) were emotional, so this seems to me that it was more of an issue with the higher ups (Lukko and Snider). Just frequenting the Flyers Official Facebook,....the emotions are all over the place,....from sadness to anger to good riddance to people ready to jump ship. I bleed orange and black and will be by the team always. Honestly with the Ron Hextall connection in LA I wouldn't be surprised to see Richards come back in a few seasons (pure speculation). The folks that are what the fuck I usually just chalk up to arm chair general managing from the peanut gallery.

I'm excited about the returns and from what little I've seen,....I think Wayne Simmonds will bring back some grittiness to the Flyers. Honestly I think with the disconnect in the locker room that grittiness failed. I watched often as players like Briere would get mugged and no one would come to his aide. Used to be that Richie was first on the scene in those situations. I think there were some serious divisions in that locker room. I think a lot of it was the demands that Peter Laviolette put on his players and Richie and Carts would rather party. If I were homer I would have traded away the cancer before getting rid of a cerebral coach like Lavy. I think there was a riff between Hartnell and Carter as well. I prefer Hartnell's hard nose style and work ethic to Carter's. I think we'll see Hartnell improve now that Carter and Richards are gone. Carter get's goals by virtue of shooting the fuck out of the puck,....but he is consistently high and wide,....he isn't the most accurate player.

These guys were touted as the future of the Flyers and Richards has been called the next Bob Clarke. Both of them were with the Phantoms when they won the Calder and came up around the same time to the NHL level,....so they've been part of the organization for a long time,.....so it's definitely a bummer to see them traded,....but in there are no bromances in the cap era NHL. The Flyers are a different team. It's time for Claude Giroux and JVR to step up to the plate. The torch has been past. They are both capable of being 30 goal scorers.

My only real gripe is the Flyers are now young. Carter and Richie were both 26 and in the prime of their careers. Now we have 20,21, and 23 year olds coming into the fold. I don't think we'll see the cup next year,...but the future is definitely bright.

Bryzgalov deal is somewhat frontloaded with 2 low $ years at the end, kinda making it a 7 year deal for trade purposes. No mention of a NTC anywhere that I've seen. http://www.capgeek.com/players/display.php?id=1141

Homer was emotional when he was talking to the press, hell even at the draft he still seemed a little phased by it all. Given that backstory of work ethic and locker room division I do like that they actually went with the coach for a change and threw out a bunch of big players. Generally it's the other way around. Though maybe Stevens had the same issues as Laviolette and that made the decision easier. Plus the return on players is better. It's hard not to like Simmonds, though I wonder where this leaves Versteeg.

Watched the draft from the 7th pick onwards, was fairly uneventful. The Burns trade is pretty big but I don't care for San Jose and the only other move of note was Campbell to Florida in a cap dump. Anaheim moved back to 30 to get some Swede. At least last year there was Cam Fowler sliding down and hoping the Ducks would land him to add some excitement. Not enough Pierre McGuire to entertain me either.

Flyers picked up a promising big center in Sean Coulterier in the 1st round. I'm pretty happy to hear reports that he is solid in the faceoff circle. Richards and Carter's FOW% hovered around .50 meanwhile Blair Betts would maintain a .75. The difference being that Betts was only good on a 3rd of 4th line role and on the PK (Betts is an awesome penalty killer). Get a 1st or 2nd line guy that can dominate faceoffs? Obviously I value FOW. I think it's one of the most overlooked yet most important aspect to controlling the pace of a game.

The Burns move is interesting. Setoguchi is the prize for the Wild but I don't know how that leaves their D. Campbell to FLA? Poor bastige.

Couturier was atop of the board at the start of the season, supposed to be the most compete center of the bunch with a solid defensive game. Completely agree on face-offs.

Wild weren't likely to re-sign Burns whose contract is up at the end of the year. The return is solid, Setoguchi was one of the few Sharks with some spunk to him. I like that it comes a day after he signs a 3 year extension.

Campbell waived his NTC to go to FLA, make of that what you will.