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On Jagr and On Change

October 6, 2006, 3:14 PM ET [ Comments]
Tim Panaccio
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
A little humor to break the tension in the Flyers' dressing room after a 4-0 loss... With the Flyers taking on the Rangers tomorrow in Philly ...

Reporter: What frustrates Jagr?

Petr Nedved: Everything. Especially, when you sleep with his girlfriend. We got to go and find her tonight."

Nedved's response had everyone rolling with laughter.

***

Saturday vs. NYR at the Wachovia Center:

Nedved and Peter Forsberg said this was a "huge" game and it's just the second game of the season. I agree.

The Flyers and Devils finished with 101 points last year. The Devils won the third seed in the East and the Atlantic Division crown on the strength of one more victory.

Divisional games lost in October can come back to haunt yuo in April

***


Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock is changing up the lines for tomorrow's game against the Rangers.

The CCR Line is history. Kyle Calder gets bounced into a defensive role on Petr Nedved's line with Sami Kapanen.

R.J. Umberger moves up a line and replaces Calder with Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.

Why?

“We felt like we just needed a little more bulk with Richie,” Hitchcock told me. “And we felt Nedved and [Sami] Kapanen really do well off the rush. We wanted someone who can make plays off the rush. Calder is great at making plays off the rush.

“We think it is something we can float through and experiment with during games. For us, we felt we needed a forward with Richards who can get the puck off boards and do grunt work and has size to do battles against bigger defensemen.”

Umberger was pleased. He had very good chemistry playing with Carter and Niko Dimitrakos during the stretch run into the playoffs last season.

“We expect [change],” Umberger said. “If you have something good going, you keep it. But going back to pre-season, we had not been scoring too many goals. And we’re struggling. We’re getting chances, but we are not bearing down or finishing.

“Carts and I always had chemistry before. Maybe they are trying to go back to that to spark something. Maybe it has something to do with me getting back to left wing.”

***

Antero Niittymaki in goal vs. Rangers
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