AGRI Biz

This Thursday night, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins will go at it for the first time this season. The matchup will serve as a prelude to the NHLÆs Winter Classic and, from all accounts, this game is sure to be one for the ages. This year's NHL Winter Classic will feature the Flyers and the Bruins, taking place at historic Fenway Park in Boston on New ...

Written By: Mark ôThe Hard Hitterö Ritter For the past few NHL seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been widely viewed as the NHLÆs most potent duo down the middle. Combined, Crosby and Malkin have scored 159 goals and added 305 assists, totaling 464 regular season points over the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons, tops in the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings duo of Pavol ...

Written By: Mark ôThe Hard Hitterö Ritter According to Philadelphia Flyers General manager Paul Holmgren, the Flyers have acquired 5Æ10ö, 185-pound Stefan Legein from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Michael Ratchuk. Legein made a name for himself as a key contributor to CanadaÆs Gold Medal effort as a member of CanadaÆs 2007/08 Under 20 World Junior Championship team. Legein hurt his shoulder in ...

Written By: Mark ôThe Hard Hitterö Ritter The Nashville Predators have a reputation of developing good goaltenders, case and point, Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne. Like a lot of things in life, nothing lasts forever, so too is the case with NashvilleÆs goaltenders, or so it seems. Dan Ellis arrived on the NHL scene with little fanfare. But, with the Predators struggling in the regular season, Ellis made ...

Written By: Mark ôThe Hard Hitterö Ritter Marred in a three-game losing streak, the Philadelphia Flyers fans are looking for answers. Where are all the questions being directed at? You guessed it, head coach John Stevens. Ok, so this isnÆt the first time that Flyers fans have come running at Stevens with an axe in their hands in hopes of beheading their teams leaderùquite the contrary. Fact is, ...

Written By: Mark ôThe Hard Hitterö Ritter á What Are You, Three? You are off to the worst start in franchise history. Your goaltending is in a shambles, your defense has looked like Swisscheese and your forwards couldnÆt penetrate a prostitute on a Saturday night. So, what does Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson ask the players to do? ôLETöS PLAY DODGEBALL!!!!ö WhatÆs next? Hide and seek? Perhaps a ...

Written By: Mark ôThe Hard Hitterö Ritter Coming off a two game losing streak, the Philadelphia Flyers players have spent a good portion of this week working on their fishing and team bonding. The Flyers have had five days off since their 3-2 loss to Anaheim last Saturday. The decision to use the time to concentrate on team bonding should pay dividends down the road, but it ...

Written By: Mark ôThe Hard Hitterö RitterStarÆs diminishedItÆs very early in the NHL season and already the injuries are piling up, especially amongst star players. The Detroit Red Wings Johan Franzen, Montreal Canadiens Andrei Markov, Vancouver Canucks Daniel Sedin, Buffalo Sabres Thomas Vanek and, to a lesser degree, the Carolina Hurricanes are all out for extended periods of time. Oh yeah...and the Toronto Maple Leafs Vesa Toskala is injured ...

Written By: Mark ôThe Hard Hitterö RitterIt was 92 years in the making, never before have Toronto Maple Leaf fans witnessed as poor a start to the NHL season as they have this year, but now, to the dismay of Leaf fans everywhere, it has happened. Through six games the Leafs have compiled an 0-5-1 record. To nobodyÆs surprise the Leafs are the proud owners of the 29th ranked penalty ...

Written By: Mark ôThe Hard Hitterö RitterAfter last seasonÆs tough loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Finals, Philadelphia Flyer fans put their collective tails between their knees and high-tailed it back home.Flyers fans are arguably the fiercest bunch in the entire NHL. WeÆre talking about fans that boo successful airplane landings (especially when the opposing team is on board). Fact is, this is a resilient/tough group and, ...