The question left to be answered is, is this the piece that the Flyers needed to win themselves a Stanley Cup? Well the 2008-09 version of the Flyers finished the regular season with a 44-27-11 record which earned them 82 points which was good enough for fifth seed in the eastern Conference. The Flyers then went on to lose in the first round to eventual Stanley Cup Champions the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It is important to note that the flyers also got the rights to 24 year old center Ryan Dingle in this deal, but let us take a look at what they are getting in Pronger.

Pronger is a 34 year old 6’6” 221 pound defenseman who has played in the NHL since 1993. He has played for the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, and the Anaheim Ducks. He was the MVP of the NHL is 1999-2000 season and won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007.

Flyers General Manager had this to say, “I made it sort of clear myself, would I like to get a hammer, a guy who makes life miserable for the other team…  this is one of those guys.”

It is also important to note that Pronger is due to make 6.25 million dollars next season, and is in the final year of his contract. The Flyers will have some work to do to fit this contract under the NHL salary cap due to be 56.8 million dollars. It is also quite possible that Pronger’s trip to Philly will be short term only; the Flyer may have just “rented” Pronger for a run at the cup in the upcoming season.

“He’s a proven winner, the size, how he passes the puck, and he’s an ideal fit for this team,” Holmgren added.

Pronger had this to say, “I’m very excited.  It’s obviously a city that’s very passionate for the sport of hockey.  The style of the play that the Flyers have been known to play certainly fits my game.  They’ve got some great young talent and I hope to help not only develop the team into being regarded as one of the top teams in the league, but winning a Stanley Cup.”

Pronger seems to think hat he could be that missing piece he added, “I’d like to think so, but I don’t really know a whole lot about the team right now.  I’ve seen them play a few times in the playoffs, and I like what they have up front.  I think they’ve got a good core group of defensemen on the back end.”

In the end only time will show us if this is the deal that led the Flyers to a Stanley Cup Championship, but one thing remains certain they are a much better team with Pronger than without.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Ottawa Senators
The first battle of an Ontario of this season, and both teams will be looking to have a good showing. The Maple Leafs have started off better then some expected and they would like nothing more then to beat the Sens on Hockey Night in Canada. Ottawa on the other hand is off to a tough start, and already seem to have a goalie controversy. Martin Gerber is off to a bad start and the Senators coaching staff is searching for ways to win. They have split up there big three, Heatley, Alfredsson and Spezza, trying to find the mix that will work. The Maple Leafs lineup has been different every night and you never know who will be in there. The Leafs don’t have near the talent of the Sens, but they work hard and play a good defensive system. These teams are kind of opposites Ottawa has no problems scoring while that is the Leafs biggest problem. Toskala is Toronto’s advantage in net, while Gerber just can’t figure it out in Ottawa. There might some new players and the teams might not be as good as they once were, but that doesn’t change the fact these franchises don’t like each other. If Ottawa gets decent goaltending and defense they should win, but you can’t count on that.

New Jersey Devils vs Philadelphia Flyers
Philly still hasn’t won a game this year and if they want to get that win on Saturday they will have to beat future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur. Brodeur is off to an amazing start and has proved that he is still the best goalie in the National Hockey League. Philadelphia is deep up front, but struggle playing defense and haven’t gotten very good goaltending thus far. The Flyers have to win eventually, they are to good to be playing this bad. They will be hard pressed to beat the Devils trap. These two franchises are in the same division and that usually makes for a high energy game. Every time the Devils play you have to expect a low scoring game, they will trap from the drop of the puck to the last buzzer. It’s the only afternoon game and probably won’t be the most exciting game you have ever seen. If the Flyers want to win there defense is going to have to play way better then they have and they will have to take advantage of any opportunity the Devils give them. The Flyers can score, but the question is can they score on the Devils.

Detroit Red Wings vs Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are young and this game will be a measuring stick for them. In the past couple of years Chicago has played Detroit well and have had more success against them then any other franchise. Detroit is off to a fine start, but haven’t been as dominate to start the year as some predicted. Detroit is still the better team then Chicago, but the Hawks have some good young talent. The Blackhawks will be up for this game and look to continue there dominance of the Wings. Since Quenneville took over as the coach in Chicago, the team has played well and look like they might just be a playoff team this year. Both teams can score at will sometimes and to win this game the goalies will have to play well. If you like to watch stars this will be the game for you, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hossa and Lidstrom vs. Kane, Toews, Havlat and Campbell. This should be a high energy, fast game that might be the most entertaining of the evening.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers
Two of the best teams in the East will do battle on Saturday night. Since Pittsburgh have started playing there super stars Malkin and Crosby together they have been on fire. New York has slowed a little bit, but still boast two very good scoring lines. The story early on has been the Rangers second line of Zherdev, Voros and Dubinsky who have played great hockey and produced for the blue shirts. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is off to a great start and the Penguins have a good goalie of there own in Marc Andre Fleury. This will be a premiere match up and I don’t think it will disappoint. Any time you get a chance to see great players and great teams go head to head it makes for great entertainment. There might even be some fights in this game, and I look for a tough physical affair. You can’t go wrong if this is the game you choose to watch, big stars, big game and on a big stage.

Other big games on this night will be Canucks vs Oilers, San Jose vs Tampa Bay and Anaheim vs Montreal. This should be a whole night of great National Hockey League action, and will make all hockey fans extremely happy. Whether you like offense, defense or physical play you will be able to find a game for you on Saturday October 25th. Enjoy the action and for all you fantasy players I hope you have a big night.

Philadelphia Flyers – A lot of hockey people picked the Flyers to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, and guess what they have zero wins.. There seems to be a lot of problems here, but the most prevalent is the goals they are allowing. Don’t blame it all on the goalies, the defense looks lost out there. This team might need to trade one of there forwards to get a good defenseman. I don’t know if there is a trade to be made, but I would be looking if I was the GM in Philadelphia. Its obvious that something has to change, the defense is soft and Biron isn’t good enough to over come these time of defensive problems. The Flyers don’t tend to be a patient franchise and if this continues they will make deals that they think will improve there club. I am not ready to give up on this team, its only six games and they are to talented.

The Anaheim Ducks have only scored 16 goals in 7 games, they will not win a lot of games in the West averaging just over two goals a game.

Back to Canada - I have heard a lot of talk this week about putting another team in Canada. I hope this is a relocation idea, not expansion, this league doesn’t need more teams. We need to face facts some southern teams are struggling and they could end all that by putting a team north of the border. A lot of the talk surrounds putting a team in southern Ontario and maybe even a second team in Toronto. Not a bad idea, I’m not sure whether another team right in Toronto will work, but there are a lot of fans and money in southern Ontario. Other possibilities have putting team back in Winnipeg or Quebec City or what about Halifax. First off I think if a team is going to move the likely candidate is Nashville, sorry Preds fans, but you have ownership problems and you just don’t have enough of a fanbase. Hockey people realize that it is easy money to put a team in Ontario and it will be harder and harder to keep the franchises away.

Jason Blake is going to be a healthy scratch from the Maple Leafs lineup when they take on Boston. This has to hurt for a guy who had 40 goals just 2 seasons ago. He has never produced in Toronto and it looks like he has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff.

Evgeni Malkin leads the league in points with 11 and Thomas Vanek leads with 7 goals. Big surprise Malkin leads the league in assists and Vanek looks like he might be that star Buffalo hoped he would be.

Goalie Problems – I am not surprised that some teams have some serious goaltending problems early in the year. I am not surprised about Martin Gerber in Ottawa, Jose Theodore in Washington or Peter Budaj in Colorado. If these teams want to compete this year, they will need to figure this out. Budaj and Gerber especially, how about making a trade, we all know Khabibulin is available. “The Bulin Wall” is off to a great start, and it might be time one of these teams make a move for him. Yes, he makes way to much money, but you have to do what you have to do if you want to win. All around goalies haven’t been very good guys like Turco, Osgood, Luongo and Bryzgalov are all not playing as we expect them to. It is early and there is no reason to panic for most team, but if I was an Ottawa or Colorado fan I might be a touch concerned about the future.

Martin Brodeur had his 98th career shutout. Brodeur is a future hall of famer and is getting close to the all time shutout and wins records. When it is all said and done Brodeur might be considered the best goalie of all time.

Sarah Palin will drop the puck at an NHL game again, this time in St. Louis. I am sure her and her supporters hope to get a better response then they did in Philly.

The Ottawa Senators continue to struggle at home and have started re arranging there lines. Spezza will try to play on the second line, while Fischer will play with Alfredsson and Heatley. This team is struggling and I think need to make a major shake up move, in my opinion trading Spezza might be something they should look into.

Don’t worry its not panic time yet for most teams, the season is still very young. Goaltending is a big issue all over the league, but that was predicted in the pre season. You cannot truly evaluate how a season is going until your team has played about 20 games, at that point you might see some teams scramble to make there clubs better. The NHL product has been great so far and I look forward to more great story lines as the year continues.

Detroit Red Wings
The Wings have about $450 000 in cap space currently, but have a couple of players on injury reserve. Chris Chelios and Darren McCarty are hurt and if they are going to be on the roster, Detroit’s management will have to make a move. Detroit also likes to add veteran pieces at the deadline and that will tough with there current cap situation. Detroit was forced to put a couple of good young players in the minors and I think they will want them to be with the big club sooner rather then later. The Red Wings have a few moveable pieces, they could make a trade and get some room. Kyle Quincey is the 8th defenseman on the team and is out of options and might be traded for a pick when Chelios is ready to come back. Detroit is also deep in the forward lines and could trade pending free agents like Mikael Samuelsson or Thomas Kopecky to create room for younger players. The Wings are the best team on paper this year, but they aren’t immune to cap problems. If they stay healthy look for them to make a move relatively early in the year.

Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are a great team, but they are flirting with the cap. They have less then $200 000 in room and have a lot of money committed to forwards. They have almost $30 million committed to there top six forwards and have some good young talent almost ready to come up. Top prospects like Claude Giroux could come up and contribute with the team. I think they will look to move one of there top six forwards and the easiest one to move will be Mike Knuble. Knuble is a free agent at years end and makes $2.8 million this season. The Flyers are also currently carrying three goaltenders and might look to move either Nittymaki or Aubin to a team that needs a solid NHL goalie.

New York Rangers
The Rangers might be in the worst shape overall, with 6 contracts that are more then $4 million annually. The thing about the Rangers is that they have a lot of players locked up long term and there is no obvious player they could trade to get some space. The Rangers have been rumored to want Mats Sundin and Brendan Shanahan and they won’t be able to get them without moving one of there big contracts. Beyond the big names this team isn’t overly deep and might find it hard to move money. They do have guys like Petr Prucha who is a restricted free agent next year and other teams would want him. The bottom end of there roster is filled with guys who will be restricted or unrestricted at years end. In the long run I think they will eventually have to trade some of there high price talent, but that will probably happen in the off season. For now they could move Paul Mara ($1.95 million) or Aaron Voros ($1 million). New York’s real problem will be next year when a lot of there players are free agents.

Phoenix Coyotes
Phoenix is in great shape, with more then $9 million in room. Phoenix has a great young team and are looking to make the playoffs this season. In my opinion the Coyotes management will be ready to take advantage of some teams who will be looking for cap relief. Phoenix might be able to make some one sided deals to improve there team and help them make the playoffs and sell some tickets. They might be able to add some expiring contracts of good veterans to improve there team and help the young players progress in there careers.  If great players like Sundin, Shanahan and Forsberg want to return, Phoenix might be able to take a real shot at them if they truly want to make a run this year.

Vancouver Canucks
Much like the Coyotes, the Canucks are in great shape cap wise and ready to take advantage. The Canucks have been looking for offense all off season and you can be guaranteed that if solid offensive players become available they will be involved. They have some guys who will be free agents at years end, so they won’t be looking to take on long term contracts. They have already made a pitch for Sundin and if they can get a guy like Prucha from the Rangers or Samuelsson for the Wings I am sure they will jump at the chance.

We have already seen some movement early this year, with the Schneider trade and players like McLaren, Schaefer and Khabibulin being put on waivers. If Forsberg, Sundin and Shanahan return some teams will be forced to scramble to find the cap room. I think we will see a lot of moment early this year and teams with cap room will be able to make excellent trades to improve there teams. Good teams like Vancouver, Phoenix, Columbus and Dallas could make moves and take the next steps with there franchises. It should be interesting to watch and I look forward to see which teams will be the most creative and improve there teams.

Phoenix Coyotes – The Coyotes have been struggling for years, but they went out and improved there young team in the off season. They finally picked up a first line center in all star Olli Jokinen to play along side Shane Doan. That’s not enough in the West they will need contributions from young guys like Kyle Turris and Peter Mueller. They have an excellent goalie with Ilya Bryzgalov and a solid defense led by Ed Jovanovski. This team isn’t very deep yet, but have the talent to make the playoffs. They will play tough hockey and if they avoid the injury bug will battle for one of the final spots in the Western Conference.

Pittsburgh Penguins – Coming off a finals appearance last year, expectations are high on the Pens. They still have two of the best centers in the world with Evgeni Malkin and Sydney Crosby, but the cast around them has changed. They lost some key forwards in the off season and hope guys like Satan, Fedotenko and Cooke can have good years. The injury bug already hit this team losing top defenseman Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney, they will be out for extended periods of time. The Penguins are still very good, but not as good as they were at the end of last season. With the injuries on defense it looks like that will be there weakness and will put a lot of pressure on Fleury in net. Pittsburgh is a playoff team, but I don’t think they will have a run at the Cup like they did last year.

San Jose Sharks – Perennial favorites in the West, they look like a good team again. They have a new coach and a new system that they hope will take them from contenders to champions. They have great goaltending in Nabokov and talented forwards like Thornton and Marleau. They got the puck moving defenseman they needed in Dan Boyle and they rest of the D looks pretty good. We will have to wait and see with the Sharks, definitely a playoff team, but there year will be evaluated after the playoffs. I think if they don’t at least make the conference finals, there season will be a failure.

St Louis Blues – Looks like the Blues are going to struggle yet again and try to build towards future years. They have some solid vets with Kariya, Tkachuk, Brewer and goalie Legace. This year will be about bringing along there young talented players like T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and Alex Pietrangelo if he makes the team. The Blues are moving in the right direction and with a couple more good drafts they should be set up well for the future. For the fans out there be patient with this team, they probably aren’t going to be very good this year.

Tampa Bay Lightning - This is not the last place Lightning, they have completely retooled there line up. It started when they drafted Steven Stamkos and then signed free agents Ryan Malone, Radim Vrbata, Vaclav Prospal and Gary Roberts. That gives them a solid four lines up front, the question marks will come from defense and goalie. The defense is unproven and the goalie tandem of Smith and Kolzig isn’t great. This team is going to score goals, the question will be whether or not they can stop them. Look for a lot of high scoring games when you watch the Lightning this year. In the East I think they are good enough, there division isn’t very good and I think they will fight it out for the division title.

Toronto Maple Leafs - The Leafs have some of the most die hard fans in all of sports, and this year will test there patience. The Leafs are not good, but at least they some changes. The big problem is goal scoring, they have no true goal scorers or top line players on the team. They still have Toskala in net and he should get them some wins. The defense isn’t to bad with Kaberle and Kubina, but they will have to be excellent for them to make the playoffs. The Leafs aren’t a playoff team and they might not say it, but they hope to get the 1st overall pick in next years draft and grab Tavares.

Vancouver Canucks - They had a great pre season and will look to continue that trend. Luongo there goalie has been named team captain and will lead this team all year. They have a great defense, but are a little thin in the goal scoring department. To make the playoffs they need great years from the Sedin Twins and Pavel Demitra. Luongo is great and will  keep them in the hunt for a playoff spot, but they will have to fight it out with a few teams for the final couple spots.

Washington Capitols – Alex Ovechkin is the best goal scorer in the NHL and will lead this team. The Caps will be looking to build on last years success with a good mix of veterans and young guys. The problem might be in net with Jose Theodore, if he is good the Caps will be good. I like this team and I think they will make the playoffs, but there not quite ready for a big run at the Stanley Cup.