Flyers Claim Thoresen; Playoffs?

The Flyers claimed Norwegian forward Patrick Thoresen off of waivers from Edmonton today. What's his role? Your guess is as good as mine. Because Giroux had to be returned to his junior league, the team needed another forward to fill out the roster, and I guess Thoresen will be that guy. Edmonton thought enough of him to sign him as a free agent out of the Swedish Elite League, and he's still only 24 years old. Maybe he has a little potential in him. We'll see.

"Playoffs? Don't talk about... playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game!"

"We couldn't do diddley poo offensively."

Jim Mora isn't the Flyers' coach, but his post game tirades seem to fit what's going on right now. They've lost nine in a row, and out of the 18 possible points in those nine games, they've gotten one. Can you believe that? They haven't won since February 2nd. The only person losing more than them in February is Hillary Clinton. Think about it. They had just beaten the defending champions 3-0 and were rolling along at 14-2-2 in the last 18 games. Peter Forsberg's return was coming, and the team would get even better. There was talk of even challenging conference power Ottawa for the #1 seed. The Atlantic division was in the rear view mirror.

Now, Forsberg isn't coming back, and he might never play a hockey game again. They're 10th in the conference just trying to get back into the playoff picture. The Atlantic division is speeding away. This has to end now, or this team is going to get buried again. There might be two guys playing well. Soft goals are the norm. Shots aren't going in. The puck still isn't getting out of the zone. Stephane Auger still has a job. When you're not executing and not even getting a lucky bounce or call or two in your favor, things aren't going to go well, like now.

With Hatcher now on the LTI and the injuries piling up, the Flyers need to come together. The rest of the season won't be easy with guys like him, Lupul, Gagne and Downie coming and going, mostly going, out of the lineup. What does this mean for the deadline? I take the same approach as I would a few weeks ago. Maybe this team isn't as good as they were playing in January, but they're not as bad as they're playing now. If there's a deal to upgrade the team out there, and you can make it without hurting the long term future of the team, make the trade. The East is there for the taking, even if you're on a nine game slide.