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Desjardins is expected to retire on Thursday. The second-highest scoring defenseman in Flyers history, Desjardins is ending a 17-year career that was slowed by injuries in recent seasons. The 37-year-old two-time All-Star played 45 games for the Flyers in 2005-06 after appearing in only 48 in 2003-04. |
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Desjardins scored 136 goals and added 439 assists for 575 points with 757 penalty minutes and 58 powerplay goals in 1,143 games for the Montreal Canadiens (1988-95) and the Flyers (1995-2006). |
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The Philadelphia Flyers acquired Calder from the Chicago Blackhawks late Friday in a trade for center Michael Handzus. Calder had team-highs of 26 goals and 33 assists in 79 regular season games for the Blackhawks last season. |
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Calder was drafted by Chicago in the fifth round of the 1997 NHL draft and tallied 85 goals and 125 assists in 359 career regular-season games. |
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Meloche was acquired by the Flyers from the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday in exchange for the rights to Vaclav Pletka, who is a restricted free agent. The right wing scored eight goals and 16 assists in 57 total games for Norfolk and Philadelphia of the AHL last season. |
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Meloche has scored eight goals and nine assists in 61 career NHL games -- all with the Pittsburgh Penguins from the 2001-02 season to 2003-04. |
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The Blackhawks accepted to pay Calder $2.95 million next season on Thursday, after an arbitrator's ruling on Friday. |
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Calder led the Blackhawks in all scoring categories last season with 26 goals, 33 assists and 59 points in 79 games. The left wing has scored 85 goals and 125 assists for 210 points in 359 games over six seasons with Chicago. |
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The Blackhawks accepted to pay Calder $2.95 million next season on Thursday, after an arbitrator's ruling on Friday. |
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Calder led the Blackhawks in all scoring categories last season with 26 goals, 33 assists and 59 points in 79 games. |
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Sanderson signed a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. The left wing had 25 goals and 21 assists in 77 games last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Phoenix Coyotes. |
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Sanderson, 34, has 341 goals and 317 assists in 1,005 games over parts of 15 seasons in the NHL. A two-time All-Star, Sanderson has played for the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus and Phoenix. He scored a career-high 46 goals with the Whalers in 1992-93. |
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The Flyers re-signed top defenseman Joni Pitkanen to a one-year contract Friday. In two seasons with the Flyers, Pitkanen has 21 goals and 52 assists for 73 points and 122 penalty minutes in 129 regular-season games. |
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Pitkanen won the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers' most outstanding defenseman and the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy as the most improved player for the 2005-06 season. Pitkanen, the Flyers' 2002 first-round draft pick, had career highs with 13 goals and 33 assists for 46 points in 58 games last season. |
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Forsberg met with a doctor on Tuesday who informed him that he doesn't need surgery on his left ankle and may be ready for the start of the regular season. The Flyers center underwent right ankle surgery in mid-May and was scheduled to have surgery on the left ankle as soon as the right one healed. But Tuesday's analysis was that damage to the left ankle was minimal and wouldn't need to be corrected. |
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Forsberg signed a two-year, $11.5 million contract with Philadelphia before last season and had 19 goals and 75 points in 60 games while battling several injuries. |
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Forsberg began rehabbing his surgically repaired right ankle on Thursday, seven weeks after having the procedure. Forsberg will have his left ankle repaired as soon as the right ankle heals. He missed 22 games last year, his first year with the Flyers, because of groin problems. He finished with 19 goals and 56 assists in 60 games. |
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Umberger and the Flyers agreed to a two-year contract on Thursday. The center had 20 goals and 18 assists in 73 games in his first NHL season with Philadelphia. He was originally signed by the Flyers in June 2004 after failing to reach a deal with the New York Rangers. |
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The Flyers re-signed Niittymaki to a one-year contract on Wednesday. The 26-year-old goaltender went 23-15-6 with a 2.97 goals-against average in 46 regular-season games during 2005-06. His 23 victories tied for third among NHL rookies and were the most by a Flyers first-year player since Ron Hextall won 37 contests during the 1986-87 season. |
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Murray signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers after spending the 2005-06 season in Germany. It is his second stint with the Flyers, after spending the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons with the club. He had 23 goals with 30 assists in 150 games for the Flyers. The center has not played since the 2003-04 season with the Carolina Hurricanes, where he scored five goals with seven assists in 66 games. |
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Murray has scored 31 goals with 40 assists and 37 penalty minutes in 242 career games with three teams (Calgary, Carolina, Philadelphia) from 1995-2004. |
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Kapanen underwent surgery on his right shoulder on Thursday. The Flyers right wing needed a bicep tendon and rotator-cuff tear fixed. He played through the injuries, which he suffered in January and decided not to have surgery until the offseason. |
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Kapanen scored 12 goals with 22 assists in 58 games for the Flyers during the 2005-06 season. He was held without a point in six playoff games. |
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Forsberg underwent surgery on Monday to repair torn ligaments and have several bones realigned in his ankle. It's the first of two surgeries scheduled for the Philadelphia Flyers center. "It went very well, actually," Flyers head trainer Jim McCrossin said. "Obviously Peter had to have some bones shifted in his foot to get proper alignment, and that went very well. He had the ligaments that he tore -- that were lax -- strengthened." |
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Forsberg has had ankle problems for about seven years. The team expects the surgery to make him less prone to groin and abdominal strains. Forsberg had 19 goals and 75 points in 60 games durin the 2005-06 season. He likely will be sidelined until January. |
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Forsberg faces surgery to repair ligament problems in both of his ankles, injuries that will force him to miss the start of the 2006-07 season. The Philadelphia star could be out until January. He played in 60 games for the Flyers in 2005-06, tallying 19 goals and 75 points. |
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Forsberg said he would have surgery on his right ankle early next week and the left ankle will be repaired when the right one has healed. Forsberg said doctors told him each ankle should take four-to-six weeks to heal. |
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Hatcher underwent successful knee surgery Tuesday to repair two small tears. Philadelphia's captain will require 10-14 days to rehab from surgery, so he should be ready to go when the Flyers begin training camp in the fall. |
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A 33-year-old defenseman, Hatcher had four goals and 13 assists in 77 games in his first season with the Flyers. |
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A host of Flyers face going under the knife during the offseason, and Gagne is expected to have surgery on his right hip and have bone spurs removed Wednesday. The left wing, who scored career highs in goals (47) and points (79) in 72 games for Philadelphia, will need about eight weeks of rehabilitation. |
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Umberger is "good to go" according to Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock after he took a tremendous hit in Saturday's 3-2 double-overtime loss to Buffalo. The Philadelphia rookie center was leveled midway through the first overtime by Sabres defenseman Brian Campbell and never returned. Umberger did not appear to lose consciousness, but appeared woozy. He was up and walking around the dressing room following the defeat. |
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Umberger finished the regular season with 20 goals and 18 assists in 73 games. |
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Esche made a career-high 55 saves in Saturday's 3-2 double-overtime loss to Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs. The Flyers' goaltender is 11-7-1 in the postseason during his career with a 2.29 goals-against average. |
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Esche was 22-11-5 with a 2.97 GAA during the regular season and beat out Antero Niittymaki for the starting spot in the postseason. |
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Forsberg, who had missed five of the past six games with a groin injury, returned in the regular-season finale to help Philadelphia beat the Islanders 4-1. The center, critical to the Flyers' playoff hopes, proclaimed himself ready for the postseason. |
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Philadelphia was 35-16-9 with Forsberg in the lineup and only 10-10-2 without him. He finished with 19 goals and 56 assists in 60 games this season, his first in Philadelphia. |