Imagine the game day thread if we could call line changes and combos.

Poor Richards would be centering every line

Poor Bouwmeester would have to fill up 20 spots if I was the only one there

Kimmo - C
Richards - A
Gags - A

This thread needs a poll, now that all the nasty discussion is out of the way.

* Poll added *

*poll answered*

Ditto.
I put Richards of course ( ). But i wouldn't mind Timonen either.

im with you

I would say Richards, but in reality I see Timonen being the next Captain. I think Richards would only take it if Timonen said no to it.

Kimmo should be captain if Richie doesnt want it.

I voted Kimmo because I feel he's best suited for it at this point. We've got Kimmo tied up in a lengthy contract, though. So, would it be weird to take it away from him in a few years to give it to Richards? I know other teams have done it but I've often kind of felt like it was a jab at the player that lost the C.

I liked it better when they let the team decide rather than the coach.

I think a person who is "right" for the captain position is going to be mature enough to know when it's time to hand over the reins. I'm sure that Timonen fits that mold.

#18 RICHARDS

LOOK EVEN REEBOK THINKS HE'S GOING TO BE THE CAPTAIN...

http://www.amazon.com/RICHARDS-Philadelphi...734&sr=1-32

Hmm, balsy. Or they know something we don't know

That's been around since last season. According to Amazon.com, Richards is the captain at home games, but not away games (look at the jerseys Away Jersey).

I'd like to see MR but I think it will be Kimmo

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i think as of now timonen is the one who should be the captain. i love richards and i think he is one of the next great players for the flyers, but kimmo is always very consistent and as much as it pains me to say this, id like to see richards have another couple good years like last year and then i think hed be a perfect captain. plus hes young, let him enjoy himself for a couple years.

Good post. Welcome to the boards.

thanks dude. i just have to find myself some flyers e-bling now(avatar and sig) and ill be all set

Something tells me you want Richards to be captain, richards for captain. It took some keen detective work on my part.

yeah richie is doing great with his leadership role, but i too think its best to just let richie be and give the C to Kimmo. Richie has plenty of time to take over captaincy and without any pressure he is sure to play at his best. i don't think he wants to be the captain for 12 years....

I think Richards will be captain. He may say he's not ready, but I think they'll show him that he's able to lead a team.

If not, well, I'm going with the Hatch man. He's been captain before. He's got experience. I like his style of play and mentality.

Yes, but he is expected to be on LTIR for the first half of the season.

Why are they taking so long to choose who`s going to be captain?
It`s not like there is any debate, it`s either Richards or Timonen.
I`m a little upset because I want to order my Richards Jersey and I want to know if I put an A or a C on it.

They probably won't decide until towards the end of training camp. Order it with the C anyway. He'll have it eventually and you can say you were one of the first to have it.

It`s done I ordered it with the C. I should get it in a week I believe. So there it is. Now please give the C to Richards ! ( or Kimmo yeah yeah )

I said Hatcher

He may not even last a season with his knees. So to give him the C is not recomended. If you could gurantee he could play the whole season then I would definitly throw his name into the mix.

Well this is probably his last year so I say give it to him this year then Richards next year and Hatcher missing games will give Richards the experience? or whatever I'm probably not making a good argument here sorry.

Nothing wrong with the idea of Hatcher as a captain. The problem is when the captain is in and out of the line-up for health reasons, other people don't always step up. I don't think that would happen with the current Flyers line-up, but it's better to go with someone who will be able to play 82 games, barring the unexpected.

I'm partial to the idea of either Timonen or Gagne. Timonen because I thought he should have had it last season so why not this year? And Gagne for seniority and because he's shown in the past that he is a leader. I thought I had heard that Richards did not want the "C" to begin with so I'm gonna go ahead and count him out.

when does training camp start?

off topic but i cant start a new thread yet and i didnt search to see if anyone else has posted this. but spawn.com has a figure of danny briere, tho i dont think it really looks like him. http://spawn.com/toys/product.aspx?product=3753

so?

so i thot id share

I'm not sure. Last year it started around 9/14 but the season started 10/4. This year, they play their first game on 10/11, so I'm not sure if camp will start a week later or not. I wish they would start the season a week earlier instead of later, so the Stanley Cup isn't played in slush, even in the north.

I'm glad you couldn't start a thread for that

You can post stuff like this in the current Briere thread.

He was probably only saying that b/c when they asked him smith was still here and he probably didn't want to disrespect smith in saying that he was going to accept the "C", and he (richards), the flyers, and smith weren't exactly sure if he'd be back even though the chances were good and he is now gone, but i think richards is the type of person who shys away from attention and hype about things he's a very humble person and probably thinks he isn't the best for the job even though many of his teammates probably look at him as the next great captain of the club... being drafted by the club i think would also add to his attractivness of being named the captain, rather than being someone from the outside b/c all the coaches and personel know him and how the other players react to him and his leadership

Richards showed how much of a powerhouse player he could be this past season. He still needs time to grow and to hone his skills to become one of the truly elite NHL players. This season he needs to focus on that. A leader on a team needs to be someone that has totally developed their skills so they can focus on the team as a whole.

Richards needs to work on himself this year. While it's exciting to think about him finally fulfilling what some call his destiny as a captain, it could also be detrimental to him as a player as the added pressure on him could become overwhelming. I mean, let's face it - He's still young and still has a lot to learn. The potential is there, but I think he needs one more solid season before becoming the team's leader. Both he and the team would be better off for it.

Good point and very true.

He still has to pass a physical to even be capable of playing this season. And I don't believe he's even had the surgery he was debating on having after failing his physical. We might not see him on the ice at all this season if his knee doesn't improve quickly.

I still feel Richards should be the choice. But, it doesn't matter anyway. A letter on the sweater doesn't make a leader. A leader will be a leader with a letter on their chest or not. Doesn't make any difference who wears what letter.

Great post, very true

I will be surprised if gagne doesn't have an A on his jersey this season , considering he actually is healthy to play. Also it is true gagne has been with the flyers the longest out of players on the flyers roster , but thats not alot of other great EX-Flyers fault , that is the flyers organize fault . They showed no loyalty to Leclair , Roenick , Recchi , to name 3 but the list goes on for hours. Well just recently we let Umberger go I was like WTF when I heard the news , he was one of our best young talent and was the only reason we got as far in the playoffs last season as we did , I would of cut J. SMITH out of the organization to make cap room for Umberger . Jeff Carter got an extension after that to and I know for a fact Carter gets paid way more than Umberger was getting paid , so we have room to give Carter a raise and an extension but not money or the effort to hang onto Umberger The flyers are going to end up just like the 2006 flyers again , if they keep getting rid of all their talent , and putting all their time and money into going out and getting teenagers that have never set foot on a NHL Rink or played against the skill level of players that are in the NHL.

I understand your frustration, but the world of the cap is a lot different the NHL of 10 years ago. Smith is gone for one thing. Umberger isn't that young any more. And Carter was more of a priority to sign than him. I'm not sure why you put Umberger before Carter on your priority list, considering we drafted Carter. I know a lot of people loved Umberger for his effort (I'm one of them), but considering our cap situation and the talent that we currently have on the roster and the talent that is waiting to enter the roster, Umberger was a necessary sacrifice. Considering that we only have 6 skaters over 30 [Asham (30), Briere (30), Timonen (33), Metropolit (34), Knuble (36), and Hatcher (36)], and 2 of them are bit-part 4th-liners, 1 of them may barely play this year, and another will probably be traded during the season, I'd say we're going in the right direction as far as getting the most out of our youth. Umberger played well in the playoffs, but don't forget that 21 of his 50 regular season points came against just 3 teams (2 of them non-division). Then he had 2 pts in 7 games against Washington in the playoffs, 9 pts in 5 games against Montreal, then 4 pts in 5 games against Pittsburgh. That's the kind of consistency he shows all the time.

I don't think the whole thing is a lack of loyalty at all. It's business.