News broke yesterday that Simon Gagne would not be traveling with the team to D.C. tonight because of a lower body injury. It was planned that he would be further examined. Today, the results came in as two hernias in his right groin.

After conducting an ultra sound that showed the hernias Gagne was examined by Dr. Alan Schurict from Pennsylvania Hospital. As of now, surgery is not definite but sounds like it will be an option. Gagne will meet with doctors tomorrow to discuss his options.

The injury is being said to not be connected to Gagne’s hip surgery during the off season or the groin injury he suffered while at the Team Canada camp.

The Flyers have a history of taking a week out of their schedule to do team bonding in places like Whistler, Canada and West Point. This year the team has chosen a warmer location for their bonding. The team will be skating in the mornings and doing other team building activities during the day.

This will be a great way for the guys to get to know each other better on and off the ice. Today, the Flyers were on a different kind of ice, melted ice. The Flyers had a Regatta on Biscayne Bay today. The Coaches team won and the team of Simon Gagne, Matt Carle, Chris Pronger, Ray Emery, Mike Richards, and Mika Pyorala came in second.

Pictures can be viewed at the following link, http://flyers.nhl.com/club/gallerylanding.htm?id=9336&navid=DL|PHI|home

In other news, Dave Schultz will be named to the Flyers Hall Of Fame. The ceremony will take place November 16th before the game against the New Jersey Devils.

The rivalry has always been alive, but was sitting dormant for a couple years as the Flyers found great rivalries with the likes of the Devils and Rangers. Once Sidney Crosby put on a Penguins jersey the rivalry erupted to what it is today.

You can point point the Crosby’s first game in Philly on November 5, 2005. Derian Hatcher made it his goal of the game to end Crosby however he could. This included a scene where Hatcher literally drug Crosby across the ice with his stick. In another scene, Crosby took it upon himself to facewash Peter “The Great” Forsberg. Never a good thing to do when trying to earn respect.

From that day the rivalry has been quicky escalating. I have been to multiple games where the Penguins have entered my home of the Wachovia Center, and I can tell you, I am getting goosebumps right now thinking about it. I have left all of these games with pounding headaches from myself, and everyone around me, screaming so loudly.

Nobody on this earth hates Crosby more than Philly fans. There is booing everytime he touches the puck. “Crosby Sucks!” chants will fill the building. There will also be chants that frankly, I cannot even write in this blog because I would like to keep it PG.

One of the best Flyers-Penguins match-ups I’ve been to was on December 11, 2007. This game included two hat tricks by Joffrey Lupul and R.J. Umberger. The Flyers won the game 8-2. The last 10 or so minutes of the game, Crosby did not play a single shift. Michael Therrien was trying to rest his star player and save him from the tough way the Flyers were playing. Flyers fans were not having any of this. Chants of, “We want Crosby!” filled the building.

Another rivalry to look at tonight is the more personal rivalry between Crosby and Mike Richards. Both young captains are likely to be seen on each others case all night.

The last two post seasons the Flyers have been put out of the playoffs by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers know they have something to prove and to fight for, especially after being kicked out of the playoffs in the first series last year. The Flyers have started their season 3-0. The Penguins are currently 2-1, the loss coming last night against the Phoenix Coyotes.

That’s right, the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins lost to the ownerless Coyotes. Furthermore, not only did they lose, they were shut out with a final score of 3-0. Expect the Penguins to come into this game with a lot of attitude and determination.

We already know Chris Pronger is ready for Crosby. From day one of being a Flyers, at his press conference, he has already said he plans on being very tough on Crosby. This obviously won the hearts of Flyers fans.

With Blair Betts out and James van Riemsdyk questionable, Riley Cote and Arron Asham may see their first ice time of the season tonight. Have these two tough guys in for this game is exactly what the doctor ordered.

This game will be a grudge match from beginning to end. I would recommend it to any and all hockey fans. GO FLYERS!

Quailer had to be helped off the ice by trainer Steve Clark. After an MRI done on Monday it has been determined that Quailer will be out for the season with an ACL injury.

This is going to be a low blow for the Huskies as Quailer, a Montreal Canadians draft pick, was expected to be a lead player this year. Last year Quailer was third on the team in goals, with 10, and fourth in points, with 25. Quailer was also named to the Hockey East all rookie team.

The first period went by scoreless. The second period would be completely opposite.  Mike Richards scored a minute and a half into the period to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. This lead would not last long with a goal by Alexander Ovechkin a minute later. There would be 5 more goals scored in the period. These were scored by Kimmo Timonen,  Ovechkin, and Alexander Semin respectively. Richards scored two more in the period getting the first hat trick in Flyers home opener history. This brought 19,567 fans to their seat, as the Wachovia Center erupted.

The Flyers took their lead into the third and kept it until 8:18 into the third Semin scored to tie up the game. Brendan Morrison scored  little over a minute later to give the Capitals a 5-4 lead. In the last 5 minutes of the game the Scott Hartnell scored to tie up the game. A scary moment came in the the last 50 seconds of the game when the Flyers were issued a hooking penalty.

The game went into overtime. Danny Briere, the birthday boy, scored the game winning goal at the 3:52 mark.

Loose Pucks: JVR passed a baseline test today but is likely to sit out Thursday against the penguins… Blair Betts be out for at least a month with a dislocated should, sustained after falling awkwardly after a faceoff…  Riley Cote and Arron Asham, who have been scratched, maybe make their season debut this Thursday… The Flyers are inviting all fans to come early to the game on Thursday to watch the Phillies-Rockies game… Danny Syvret practiced as a Winger today instead of Defense.

Chris Pronger is also ready to greet Ovechkin. In a post on Flyers’ On The Fly, Pronger said, “You can grind on players like that and dishearten them a little bit and frustrate them a little bit, and deny him the puck. Players like that, they want the puck, and you’ve got to do a good job of keeping the puck away from him and not allowing him easy opportunities and easy shots.”

Ovechkin is already leading the league with six points and the Capitals are 2-0. Ray Emery also commented on Ovechkin, “I’ve played against [Ovechkin] quite a bit, so I might watch a bit of their power play and things, but I kind of know how he shoots the puck,” said Emery. “I’ll probably watch tape on some of their other guys that I haven’t seen as much.”

The Flyers are obviously excited about how this season has started and would like to keep up the winning.

Full article from Flyers’ On The Fly can be seen here: http://flyers.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=35835&navid=DL|PHI|home

Matthew’s Arena was the place to be tonight when the Huskies took on the St. Thomas Tommies in a heated exhibition game. From the start of the game the Huskies showed a lot of energy and went hard to the net. The Tommies tallied the first goal of the game 6 minutes into the first. However, the Huskies would retaliate with three goals before the period’s end scored by, Chris Donovan, Wade MacLeod, and James Driscoll.

In the second period things began to heat up. There were lots of hits and pushing and shoving after almost every whistle. There were a total of five goals in the second period. Matt Eagles scored for the Tommies only 28 second into the period. The Huskies responded three minutes later with two goals scored within 30 seconds. The first was by Drew Daniels, which was his first collegiate goal, and Drew Muench. Only a minute later the Tommies scored, which led to the Huskies’ starting goalie, Michael Binnington, being pulled from net. Freshman, Chris Rawlings, came in to replace him. Alex Labonte closed off the scoring in the second for the Tommies a minute after the half way mark of the period.

The Tommies started the third out on the right foot with a quick goal to tie up the game 5-5.  Huskies’ captain, Tyler McNeely, scored four minutes later to regain the Huskies lead. Finally, with five minutes left in the game Robbie Vrolyk notched his first collegiate goal.

A scary moment came in the third when Steve Quailer went down bad. Quailer stayed down on the ice for about a minute while the Huskies trainer tried to talk to him. He was helped off the ice and sustained a lower body injury. It is still unclear as to what his status will be.

Tonight’s game has left husky fans still questioning, “What do we do without Brad Thiessen?” Tonight the offense was able to help out the defensive play by scoring a lot of goals. The Tommies only had sixteen shots. Five goals on sixteen shots. That is obviously going to be a problem. However, one can think that it being Rawlings first game in net, as a Freshman, nerves could have easily been getting to him.

The Huskies will be traveling to Colorado College next weekend to play games Friday and Saturday.

The Flyers came out quick in the second period scoring two goals within the first minute of the period. The first was notched by Jeff Carter, assists by Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell. The second was scored by Mike Richards. Simon Gagne had an assist, as did James van Riemsdyk, notching his first NHL career point.

Ray Emery had a very solid third period and stopped 12 shots. Keeping the Canes scoreless in the period, and the game. Emery had a total of 28 saves in the game. Emery was a big question coming into this season, and if he can keep up for the whole season the way he played tonight, it will greatly help the team go far this season.

Starting out the season with a win was very good for the Flyers and will definitely help for when they play the Devils tomorrow.

Loose Pucks: Alternate captains will be Simon Gagne and Kimmo Timonen at home games. Jeff Carter and Chris Pronger will where the A at away games. If any of these players are scratched, Danny Briere will where the A…. Riley Cote, Arron Asham, and Marc-Andre Bourdon were scratched in this game…. Flyers have already landed in New Jersey for the game tomorrow. Only the scratched players will skate tomorrow morning.