NOTE: Flyers just announced that the first on-ice session will be Sunday and NOT Saturday ...

**

Flyers rookie camp opens Sunday at Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J.

I will miss the first, couple days covering the Phillies, who might be out of the NL Wild Card race by then _ if they aren’t already, following yesterday’s disgraceful 9-8 collapse in Atlanta.

I never get too excited about rookie camps. It’s a prelude to the big camp. And it serves one purpose.

“More than anything, a lot of times if you throw younger guys in with older guys, the intimidation of the actual process is not good for your young players,” general manager Paul Holmgren told me today.

“If they are in there among their peers they get a sense of where they are at within their group. Hopefully, when the older players come in 4-5 days later, your younger players are more settled and have their wits about themselves.

“Being with their own peer group gives them a chance to do what they can think they can do when the big boys show up.”

Everyone wants to know whether Steve Downie or Claude Giroux has a chance to make this club. Holmgren says it is “a stretch” for either to be here. Barring something unforeseen happening, Downie is penciled into the Phantoms for the fall, while Giroux will go back to junior.

“And yet, when you finish where we were last year, you have to be open to a lot of things,” Holmgren cautioned.

Translation: Downie or Giroux must make an enormous impact in camp and unseat a few regulars which is unlikely, given all the new faces the Flyers have brought in.

Now, defenseman Ryan Parent, on the other hand … he could make the roster. Holmgren is eager to see if he can.

The list:



Player: Pos. 2006-07 Team How Acquired

FORWARDS:

Josh Beaulieu RW London (OHL) 5th round (152nd overall) in 2005
Frederik Cabana C Phila. (AHL) 6th round (171st overall) in 2004
Steve Downie RW Peterborough (OHL)/Kitchener (OHL)/ 1st round (29th overall) in 2005
Phila. (AHL)
Claude Giroux RW Gatineau (QMJHL)/Phila. (AHL) 1st round (22nd overall) in 2006
Triston Grant LW Phila. (AHL)/FLYERS 9th round (286th overall) in 2004
Kyle Greentree LW Alaska-Fairbanks (CCHA)/Phila. (AHL) Signed as a free agent on March 15, 2007
Mario Kempe C St. John's (QMJHL) 5th round (122nd overall) in 2007
Garrett Klotz LW Saskatoon (WHL) 3rd round (66th overall) in 2007
David Laliberte RW Prince Edward Island (QMJHL) Signed as a free agent on May 17, 2007
Patrick Maroon LW St. Louis (NAHL) 6th round (161st overall) in 2007
Jon Matsumoto C Bowling Green (CCHA)/Phila. (AHL) 3rd round (79th overall) in 2006
Gino Pisellini RW Phila. (AHL)/Trenton (ECHL) 5th round (149th overall) in 2004
Darroll Powe C Princeton (ECAC)/Phila. (AHL) AHL Contract
Jared Ross LW Chicago (AHL)/Phila. (AHL) AHL Contract
Denis Tolpeko RW Phila. (AHL) Signed as a free agent on July 5, 2006
Pete Zingoni C Phila. (AHL) AHL Contract


DEFENSEMEN

Chad Anderson D Alaska-Anchorage (WCHA)/ Try-out
Las Vegas (ECHL)
Oskars Bartulis D Cape Breton (QMJHL) 3rd round (91st overall) in 2005
Adam Bourque-LeBlanc D Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)/ Try-out
Shawinigan (QMJHL)
Kevin Marshall D Lewiston (QMJHL) 2nd round (41st overall) in 2007
Ryan Parent D Guelph (OHL)/Phila. (AHL)/FLYERS Trade from Nashville on Feb. 15, 2007
Ryan Wilson D Sarnia (OHL) Try-out

GOALIES

Rejean Beauchemin G Phila. (AHL)/Bakersfield (ECHL) 6th round (191st overall) in 2003
Jeremy Duchesne G Halifax (QMJHL)/Val-d'Or (QMJHL) 4th round (119th overall) in 2005
Martin Houle G Phila. (AHL)/FLYERS 8th round (232nd overall) in 2004
Scott Munroe G Phila. (AHL) Signed as a free agent on March 18, 2006



**

One of the great singing voices of the 20th Century was silenced last night in his hometown of Modena, Italy. Heaven gained a fabulous tenor in Luciano Pavarotti.

There is no cure for pancreatic cancer. Pavarotti knew his diagnosis was a death sentence more than a year ago, which is why he cancelled his Farewell Tour 2006.

I covered the World Cup (soccer) when it came to the U.S. more than a decade ago. I was privileged to have been selected as one of several American “pool” reporters, assigned to the Azur.

We have exclusive on and off-field access to the team on game days. The soccer was great and so were the festivities when the event reached LA.

Pavarotti sang with “The Three Tenors” in Los Angeles in a concert days before the Cup final between Italy and Brazil.

What a performance by a man with a voice to die for. Here is my favorite among his many … “Nessum Dorma.” :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONUCPKdGcrk

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