It's been a rough season for the Philadelphia Flyers this season. Having won just one game in their first seven, and falling to the Florida Panthers Friday night 3-2, I guess owner Ed Snider had seen enough.

Early this morning, Snider accepted Philadelphia Flyers GM Bob Clarke's resignation and continued the front office purge by firing Head Coach Ken Hitchcock. The writing was on the wall, but this move still surprised me. The Flyers tryed to shake up the roster after a humiliating 9-1 defeat to the Sabres earler this week, by waiving forwards Petr Nedved and Niko Dimitrakos, and defenceman Nolan Baumgartner to the AHL. The move did little to inspire the team, as they lost two more games.

Clarke had been the GM of the Flyers for 13 seasons, and to his credit has kept the Flyers consistently on top. Although never able to bring a Stanley Cup Championship to Philadelphia, his teams could always be considered contenders. However, the post-lockout NHL has seen the Flyers fail to adapt to the new wide open, faster style of play that the game has become. The Flyers have always been a big, bruising team, but that mold no longer works in the NHL, and it is very apparent that hulking defencemen like Derian Hatcher, and Mike Rathje will become a liability rather than a foundation on a defence corps. Speed kills, and so far this season, it has murdered the Flyers.

Ken Hitchcock also relieved of his position found out early this morning that he would no longer be the Head Coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. Owner Ed Snider was apparently seeking a coaching change after the 9-1 loss to Buffalo. Hitchcock had recently signed a new contract for three years during training camp and had coaced the team for 4 years.

Assistant Coach John Steven will assume Ken Hitchcock's head coaching duties while Paul Holgrem will replace Bob Clarke as the GM of the Philadelphia Flyers. For more on this story, check out TSN.ca.

Quick Shave:
The Ottawa Senators are back in session! After losing 4 straight (it may have been 5), and seemingly unable to buy a goal, the Senators exploded on the New Jersey Devils and for an 8-1 victory, their first at home this season. Jason Spezza had a goal and two assists, and linemate Dany Heatley scored. Perhaps this is what the team needed, because if not, they were headed down the same path as the Flyers, and Muckler and Murray could be on the hot seat. Will someone please protect Jaromir Jagr? Last night the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in the shootout, however, victories like this one will prove costly if they continue to let Jagr get run by the other team. Last night is was Darcy Tucker's turn, and he continuously pummelled Jagr throughout the game, and faced little adversity because of it. Rangers, if you don't protect Jagr, you are going to have a very long season. Oh Jose! The Montreal Canadiens pounded their old goaltender with 5 third period goals and defeated the Colorado Avalanche 8-5. David Aebischer the former netminder of the Avs, had a rough first period, but got the win. Guess what? The Buffalo Sabres are still undefeated. They trashed another team last night in the Boston Bruins 6-2. At this point, the Sabres are actually scoring more points than the Buffalo Bills. Rick DiPietro returned to the New York Islanders line up last night and help them to a 4-3 overtime victory over the defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes.
The Detroit Red Wings fell to the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 last night and dropped the third straight game of their road trip. Panic time yet?

Game of the Night:
Anaheim at Los Angeles 6:00 PM

Only one game on the night, so it wins Game of the Night honors by default. Enjoy the games!

Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh