Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips- July 22, 2011 FLYERS Headlines 1. Camden Courier Post Flyers to play Pine Hill on Sept. 13 2. Philadelphiaflyers.com Grand Lappy NHL Headlines 1. TSN.ca- Stamkos deal means centre could cash in again in five years 2. TSN.ca- Checketts sees Blues having new owners by next season 3. TSN.ca- Sabres sign G Enroth to multi-year deal 4. NHL.com- Citing travel, Emrick leaves Devils, joins NBC FLYERS Articles 1. Camden Courier Post Flyers to play Pine Hill on Sept. 13 Chuck Gormley Members of the Philadelphia Flyers and Flyers Alumni will participate in the Philadelphia Flyers Celebrity Golf Invitational at Trump National in Pine Hill, NJ, on Tuesday, September 13. Proceeds of the Tournament, which is being presented by AlliedBarton Security Services, Deutsche Bank, Fastrack Construction, and Philadelphia Property Management Corporation, will benefit the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and Comcast-Spectacor Foundation. In addition to golfing with members of the Flyers and Alumni, guests can bid on many one-of-a-kind priceless items in the silent and live auctions, including a trip on Ed Snider s private jet to attend an away Flyers game. Golf begins at 12:30 p.m. with a 5:30 p.m. dinner and awards reception. Honorary Co-Chairs of the Tournament are Flyers Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell, and Kimmo Timonen. The Tournament is in memory of legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster, Gene Hart. Members of his family will present the winners with the Gene Hart Cup. A limited number of sponsorship opportunities are available at esyhf.org or by calling 215-952-5780. The primary beneficiary of this year s event is the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation; a 501 (c) (3) charity serving 2,500 inner-city children through its multi-faceted recreational and supplemental educational programs. The mission of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation is to use the sport of hockey to educate young people to succeed in the game of life. Snider Hockey, largely through a personal commitment by Ed Snider, will contribute $6.5 million to match a grant from the Commonwealth s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. This unprecedented public/private partnership has resulted in a $13
million restoration project to preserve after-school, recreational, and supplemental educational activities for children, youth, and families in the City of Philadelphia. The tournament also benefits Comcast-Spectacor Foundation, which is committed to improving the quality of life in Greater Philadelphia. Since its inception, CSF has contributed nearly $23 million to deserving local charities. If it matters to Philadelphia, it matters to Comcast-Spectacor. 2. Philadelphiaflyers.com Grand Lappy Philadelphia Flyers Ian Laperriere is having one heck of a summer. He kicks it off by winning the NHL s Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey at the NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas in June. Not resting on his laurels, he helps run the annual summer Prospect Camp for a week of teaching on-the-ice, off-the-ice and even getting down and dirty with the Flyers hopefuls during a paintball game in early July. Last Saturday night, Lappy was once again the face of the organization that he s come to care so much about by being the Grand Marshal in Ocean City s annual Night s in Venice boat parade. I said yes a couple month ago and I didn t know what I was getting myself into, but more and more as we got closer to the event people were saying wait until you see this, said Laperriere. When you get on the boat and you see all of the people and the individual parties with everybody putting decorations on their boats and houses, they know how to party that s for sure. Laperriere and his family joined the Colangelo family and their boat for the event, which produced a total of 85 boats and over 180 houses all decked out along the bay for the night s festivities. Larry Colangelo and his family graciously accepted Laperriere and his family to marshal the Blue Angel, the dubbed name of the ship. We had a blast. I brought my kids and my wife and, along with the Colangelo's, they let us be a apart of their boat and they took care of us like we were one of their own, added Laperriere who spent an entire week leading up to the event down at the shore town with his family and friends. The theme may have been Broadway on the Bay but the one thing that stood out for Laperriere was the consistent Orange & Black throughout the ride.
[There were] a lot of Flyers fans. We saw a party that was decorated with everything orange waiting for us to get by, so FlyerNation was well represented that s for sure. So much so, that the Colangelo s decorated boat with Laperriere on board took home the title of first place in the Lead Boat Division of the event. With a busy summer more than half over, Laperriere & Co. are looking for a little R & R until Flyers Training Camp gets under way at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone in September. There is however one project Lappy s looking forward to completing the most. We re building a new house now too, so that s exciting and we re going to go home to Montreal for around four days, but mostly to pick up more stuff to bring into the new house. NHL Articles 1. TSN.ca- Stamkos deal means centre could cash in again in five years TSN.ca Staff The top restricted free agent of the off-season is now off the market, without even receiving an offer sheet, at least to his knowledge. "To be completely honest, I wasn't aware of any of those discussions," Steven Stamkos told TSN, a day after signing his new contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. "Obviously I heard the rumours, being in Toronto for the summer, but to be completely honest I was unaware of any conversations, if there were any." After another season in which the 21-year-old centre recorded more than 90 points, Stamkos signed a five-year, $37.5 million contract to stay with the Lightning for the foreseeable future. "It's crazy," said Stamkos. "Obviously I'm very excited about the deal with Tampa and I can't thank the organization and family and friends enough. It's just amazing how fast time goes. I remember watching the NHL playoffs as a fan and now, three years later, I got my first taste of the playoffs and now signing a new deal. I'm just very excited." The former first-overall draft pick helped Tampa Bay advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final - scoring 13 points along the way, and while he made it clear he wanted to stay, he stopped short of signing a mega-deal that would keep him in a Lightning uniform for the majority of his career. "The Collective Bargaining Agreement is up after this upcoming year and we have such a strong (Players Association) with Donald Fehr and the guys there are working great. And at the end of the day you don't expect any problems there but it was just something that
worked for both teams. Things change a lot in five years and you just want to have that flexibility." With the five-year deal, Stamkos has set himself up to cash in with a possibly even bigger contract as a 26-year-old. "It seems so far down the road right now, I haven't really thought that far. At the end of the day, that puts me one year past unrestricted free agency and it's something that gives Tampa a year window to hopefully get things done, if everything goes well, and I can sign an extension there." But as the former "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner pointed out, he won't have to worry about contracts for a long time and right now he is just looking forward to playing the game he's loved his entire life, and enjoying more than ever right now. "Even more so now. Once you realize your dream has come true you just want to work harder and become an even better player. Now the pressure and expectations - especially after signing a deal like that - are more, but I'm really excited." "I got my first taste of the playoffs last year and that was the most fun I've ever had playing hockey in my life so I can't wait to get back there." 2. TSN.ca- Checketts sees Blues having new owners by next season Associated Press Blues owner Dave Checketts believes the team will have new ownership by the start of the 2011-12 season. The Blues, who have been on the market since Checketts announced the team was up for sale in April, saw limited interest from the outset but he said in recent weeks that interest has heated up. "We expect to have something done by the start of the season.... We expect to have an orderly sale process. It'll be done by the start of the season," Checketts told reporters on Wednesday evening. Boston-based Game Plan LLC is conducting the sale of the franchise, just as it did when Checketts and his group SCP Worldwide along with majority investor TowerBrook Capital Partners, L.P. purchased the team for US$153 million in 2006. "There's a lot of interest and I really think Game Plan is really doing a great job with the people we're working with. There will be a successful conclusion," said Checketts, who also owns Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer and its stadium.
Forbes Magazine valued the Blues at $165 million in their annual report last year. The Blues, the lease to Scottrade Center and the team's AHL affiliate in Peoria, Ill. are all up for sale and could fetch up to $200 million or more. "The price of an NHL franchise in St. Louis... in my view is a healthy franchise," Checketts said. "It's a healthy, healthy price because we have a healthy franchise." Checketts certainly hasn't put any limitations on the Blues' management as they try to improve a hockey club that's made the playoffs once since the 2004-05 lockout and without a playoff victory since April 12, 2004. The Blues didn't go after any of the higher-priced free agents this summer but have brought in veterans Jason Arnott, Jamie Langenbrunner, Scott Nichol and Kent Huskins as well as sign their own free agents. "If fans had a reason to be worried, it would be we hadn't signed T.J. (Oshie), we did nothing at the free agent (signing period)," Checketts said. "That would be a cause of concern. We went out and kept our whole team together. The young talent is back. I think we're solid everywhere. I really feel good about it and we went out and got two guys (Arnott and Langenbrunner) to come into the locker room who have both won Cups. That's what I'm excited about." 3. TSN.ca- Sabres sign G Enroth to multi-year deal Associated Press Ryan Miller finally has some backup in Buffalo. Impressed with how Jhonas Enroth capably filled in for an injured Miller at the end of last season, the Sabres rewarded their top goalie prospect by re-signing him to a two-year contract on Thursday. Enroth earned what's anticipated to be a significant bump to his US$685,000 salary last season. He was an restricted free agent, whose rights had been retained by the Sabres when they tendered him a contract earlier this month. General manager Darcy Regier described the signing as being "both important and good." Though the deal was agreed to a day after former backup Patrick Lalime announced his retirement, Regier made clear that Enroth had already been pegged as the heir apparent for the No. 2 job based on his performance last year. Enroth posted a 9-2-2 record, including a shutout, and a 2.73 goals-against average in 14 games. He was particularly effective in going 3-0-1 in place of Miller in helping the Sabres clinch a playoff berth in the final week of the season. "The fact that he came in and played the way he played, had the record he had with Ryan being injured, it really gave us a lot of confidence in him," Regier said.
Selected in the second round of the 2006 draft, the native of Sweden had spent much of the past three seasons in the minors. Overall, Enroth has a 9-3-2 career record. He also became the first NHL goalie to win his first three career games in shootouts, starting with a 3-2 victory against Montreal on Feb. 15. Enroth's contract leaves the Sabres with only one player unsigned, restricted free agent defenceman Marc-Andre Gragnani. Aside from focusing on talks with Gragnani, Regier said he's also now turning his attention to trim the team's payroll. Prior to Enroth's signing, the Sabres were already about US$2.5 million over the NHL's $64.3 million salary cap. Though teams are allowed to spend as much as 10 per cent above the cap in the off-season, they are all required to be at or below the cap once the season begins. Regier said his first option to cut payroll will be through the trade market. 4. NHL.com- Citing travel, Emrick leaves Devils, joins NBC NHL.com Staff Play-by-play Mike "Doc" Emrick has left the New Jersey Devils and MSG to join NBC and Versus on an exclusive basis. Emrick, considered one of the sports best play-by-play men, has spent more than two decades with both MSG and the New Jersey Devils. He cited a lightened workload in announcing his decision Thursdsay. "I've been extremely fortunate to have been able to spend 23 incredible years with the MSG Network channels and 21 equally enjoyable years--including 3 Stanley Cup championships--with the New Jersey Devils," Emrick said in an open letter to Devils fans. "However, considering the long-term significance of this decision, I was able to construct a lighter regular season-schedule and the usual complement of Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final games for NBC and VERSUS." For an entire generation, Emrick has been the voice of the Devils, narrating the club's rise from a tough start in the Garden State to its heyday of the aforementioned three championships in an eight-year period to their recent move to Newark. "Devils' fans, including myself, have had the great privilege to watch and listen to the talents of Mike Emrick for more than two decades," general manager Lou Lamoriello
said in a statement. " Doc' is a unique individual and the ultimate professional, both in and out of the broadcast booth. He is always well-prepared, entertaining, insightful, and focused, not just for each and every game, but each and every player. Joining NBC/VERSUS will allow the entire hockey world to experience what we have all enjoyed as Devils fans. "I would like to thank Mike for what he brought to our organization. He and his lovely wife, Joyce, will always be part of the Devils' family. I look forward to continue watching him on a national level." Emrick has been the lead play-by-play man for the hockey coverage on both Versus and NBC. Among his assignments for NBC, he has covered three Olympics. Emrick won the Lester Patrick Award is 2004, an annual presented for "outstanding service to hockey in the United States." In 2008, he received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his contributions to hockey broadcasting. He has also won several regional Emmy awards and been nominated for national Emmy awards on several occasions. -FLYERS-