1) Defenseman Christian Marti, who signed an entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers last summer, is going back to Switzerland. The Zurich Lions have signed the 23-year-old to a
three-year contract, according to RTS.CH among other sources.
Marti got a late start last season with the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms due to a shoulder injury over the summer. He eventually appeared in 27 games with the Phantoms and two ECHL games with the Reading Royals. Marti, who had previous smaller-rink experience in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, struggled badly at the AHL level and did not make significant progress over the course of the 2015-16 season.
Among Marti's new teammates in Zurich is former Flyers forward Patrick Thoresen. Marti, a native of Bülach, Switzerland, originally developed in the Kloten Flyers junior system. After a year with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL, he played for Swiss National League A team Geneva-Servette before signing last year with Philadelphia.
The 6-foot-3, 210 pound defenseman struggled to move up on the organizational depth chart over the course of the season. He was perhaps a notch below Jesper Pettersson, who has been in the same boat over his two seasons in North America.
2) Flyers Hall of Fame defenseman Eric Desjardins, perhaps the most accomplished blueliner after Mark Howe over an extended period of team history, celebrates his 47th birthday today.
During the course of his 10-plus season career with the Philadelphia Flyers, Desjardins was one of the most under-appreciated sports stars in the city. He just went about his business in a quiet, graceful and dignified way and it was easy for even many Flyers fans to take his play for granted. "Rico" was a model of consistency, game after game and year after year.
While fans may have underestimated Desjardins, his teammates and coaches fully recognized his critical importance to the team. Perhaps Terry Murray, who coached Desjardins with the Flyers from 1995 through the 1996-97 season, said it best.
"What stood out the most for me was the professionalism that he brought every day," said Murray. " He did things right, with concentration, with focus, whether it was a game against a premier team or a bottom place team or the first day of training camp.I'm sure he played mistake-free games many times in is career."
During his career, Desjardins may not quite have been a Norris Trophy candidate at the very top of the NHL heap, but he was in the category a half-step down: perennial All-Star caliber two-way defensemen. While there is temptation to compare Desjardins to other top Flyers defensemen such as Mark Howe or Kimmo Timonen, the best comparison player may be someone who never played for the Flyers: Teppo Numminen. They played a similar style, both shot righthanded and had similar temperaments.
An often over-looked part of Desjardins' career is the way he adjusted his game over the years as major injuries set in. A turning point season for him was the 1998-99 campaign, when he valiantly played through an 80 percent tear of his left anterior cruciate ligament (wearing a brace while essentially playing on one leg). Subsequently, he had a pair of serious shoulder separations and a shattered forearm that required a titanium plate to be inserted for stability.
Desjardins adjusted his game accordingly over the years. For example, he employed a six-day-per-week workout regimen to add strength after the ACL tear -- which affected his skating for a couple of seasons -- caused him to lose a step. Previously, Desjardins had been one of the smoothest skating defensemen in the NHL. He coped without missing a beat.
"Rico" always played a highly intelligent and structured game. Perhaps it was no coincidence, then, that he played the best hockey of his Flyers career under the structured approaches implemented by Murray, Roger Neilson and Ken Hitchcock. It was under Hitchcock that Desjardins experienced a latter-career revival after a couple of uneven seasons both for the team and for himself.
3) Also celebrating birthdays today are fan favorite forward Sami Kapanen (1973), current Flyers forward Matt Read (turning 30 today) and late 1970s/early 1980s finesse forward Yves Preston (1956).
4) Today in Flyers History: June 14, 1978: Continuing the retooling of the Broad Street Bullies era roster, the Flyers traded Tom Bladon, Orest Kindrachuk and Ross Lonsberry to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for the sixth overall pick of the 1978 NHL Draft. The Flyers used the pick on the selection of end-to-end rushing, frequently brawling defenseman Behn Wilson.
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Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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