Boulerice Gets 25 Games

Maybe now Philadelphia will really get the message: The deliberate and dangerous hits that put two Flyers on the suspended list no longer have a spot in a safer NHL.

Jesse Boulerice is now suspended for 25 games for his vicious hit on Vancouver's Ryan Kessler. It ties Chris Simon's suspension last year for the longest suspension in NHL history.

Now Boulerice may have gotten off easy hear because he wasn't a repeat offender in the NHL. But in 1998, Boulerice was suspended for one year by the Ontario Hockey League for violent stick-swinging. He went to the American Hockey League the following season and was ruled ineligible until mid-November.

Boulerice is the second Flyer in two weeks to draw a long suspension -- rookie Steve Downie was suspended 20 games for an intentional hit against Ottawa.

Many are now making comparisons that the Flyers right now could be the a re-creation of the broad-street bullies. But the Flyers coach is saying that that is not the case. "It's almost implied that's the direction we're going when it couldn't be further from the truth," Stevens said.

The Flyers are now at risk at being fined by the the league, and I think they should be. There is now place in hockey for stick-swinging and cross-checking to the face.

Flyers Dip Into Free Agent Pool Early

Because of the unknown future with the Nashville, the Predators arranged with the Flyers to give them exclusive negotiating rights to two coveted free agents - defenceman Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell.

Now, the Flyers have reportedly signed each player to multi-year, multi-million contracts. Hartnell has signed a contract for a 6-year, $25.2 million deal for a cap hit of $4.2 million per year. Timonen was also signed to a 6-year, $37.8 million contract for an annual cap hit of $6.3 million.

The Preds in return for those 2 players will receive a 1st-round pick from the Flyers, which is the pick that was sent to the Flyers in the Peter Forsberg trade. Although the deals aren't official, they are pretty close to being official. "We're extremely close to getting it done," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. "We'll get it done in the next day or two."

The Preds wanted this to happen before July 1st, when the free agent signing happens. ''We expected both Scott and Kimmo to be among the most sought after at their respective positions when the unrestricted free agent marketplace opens on July 1, and it did not appear as if we were going to be able to sign either player before then,'' said Predators executive vice president/ and general manager David Poile. ''That being said, we received a first-round pick for the exclusive right to negotiate with two players who ultimately could have hit the market in two weeks.''

''Timonen was our team captain this past season and an All-Star,'' added Poile. ''Hartnell is a young player that we drafted, inserted in our lineup at age 18, and saw develop into a 25-goal scorer. Both of these players have been important contributors to our franchise's success and we wish them the best going forward.''