I was really hoping to hear some news from the Flyers today about Tollefsen, but still no word other than some speculation over the kind of contract he was offered. I’d be happy just hearing whether or not he passed his physical.

Also, the Lightning are looking to buy out Vaclav “Vinnie” Prospal’s contract. They’re just waiting to hear if he wants to be put on waivers first. Okay, first of all, who “wants” to be put on waivers? I know some of the Flyers faithful would love to see players put on waivers, cough Jones cough, but noone ever “wants” to go on waivers. Second, if he decides to take the waiver route, someone needs to tackle him, imitate his voice and say, “No, I want the buyout.” And finally, I don’t know about you, but I loved it when he was on the Flyers and hope this buyout would be a way to get him back for some third line depth. If he’s willing to take a little pay cut that is.

Okay, there’s the news that’s worth being news, on to the second installment of my New Blood series, Ian Laperriere.

“Ian is a warrior — he’s one of those players who will do whatever he can to win. He adds a wealth of experience to our team and he’s played (1,001 games) over his career. He’s still durable and is capable of playing against skill players while killing penalties. He can do the little things and relishes that role.” – Paul Holmgren via NHL.com

I have to be honset, I wasn’t really sold on Ian until recently. I’m a stat guy to the core. I judge players by their score sheet if I haven’t seen them play. I knew I’d be writing this little piece about Ian so I started looking up his numbers a couple days ago. Color me far from impressed. His highest goals in a season is 21 in 05-06. Not bad actually. But he only cracked 10 one other time in his career (10 exactly) the next season. So looking at his stats, he might be good for seven or eight goals, ten or eleven assists. I worry about his penalty minutes (163 last year), but then I read something like this…

“I’m not known as a goal scorer, but I did have one year where I fooled everybody and scored 21 (in 2005-06 with Colorado). I come to work every night and do the little things. I’ll get into fights at the right time — that’s how I made a career for myself and that’s how I play today. I’m not going to score goals like a Danny Briere, but I’ll tell you one thing, I’ll be there for Danny when he’s in trouble. I think players know that — that’s the kind of guy I am.” – Ian Laperriere via NHL.com

And that puts me at ease. He’s a team player. He’s not worried about his stat sheet as much as I am. He’s ready to go out there and do what he has to do to put a “W” in the scoring column.

That’s all I needed to hear. Welcome to Philly, Ian. Can’t wait to see you live.

Wait a minute… How is Alexei Semenov still a free agent? Homer! Get on the phone man!