Via sportslogos.net

The Adirondack Phantoms took on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last Saturday, and came out of it with a 4-1 victory.

The biggest change to this game over their previous defeat at the hands of the Binghamton Senators, was that Brian Boucher was in the net. The former NHLer who has bounced between the Flyers and the Phantoms, is once again back with the AHL organization.

Interestingly enough, he was not the only former NHL goaltender to be in net and sent down into the minors. The Sound Tigers are an affiliate of the New York Islanders, who put their always injured goalie Rick DiPietro down into the minors.

DiPietro was pretty vocal about how much he disapproved of this move. In an interview he said he “felt like his heart was ripped out of chest” and at times he wanted to “drive his car off the Throgs Neck Bridge into a tree.”

So the Phantoms were in for an interesting game to say the least, and with the backing of Boucher, they were able to defeat DiPietro.

It wasn’t just a battle between the two ex-NHL goalies, but a literal battle between the skaters in front of them. Almost immediately Cullen Eddy and Brandon DeFazio were dropping the gloves in the first period.

The momentum from the fight certainly riled up the Phantoms’ Kyle Flanagan who scored his first goal with the Phantoms a few minutes later.

Since Eddy got into a fight earlier, it was only natural for Zack FitzGerald to join in on the fun. The frequent fighter dropped the gloves with Nathan McIver.

Again the fighting amped up the Phantoms who dominated the second period with three more goals. Goalscorers were Derek Mathers, Jon Sim and Marcel Noebels.

DiPietro was pulled at the start of the third period after letting four goals in and Kenny Reiter went in his place. DeFazio thought he could revive his team in the last period, but it was the only goal the Sound Tigers would get past Boucher.

There was one more fight in this game towards the end of the final period between Brandon Manning and Joe Diamond. It’s didn’t really do much for either team. The Phantoms were still victorious with a 4-1 win.

April 18, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Andreas Lilja (6) ties up Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) during the first period of game four of the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the at Wells Fargo Center. The Penguins defeated the Flyers, 10-3. The Flyers lead the series three games to one. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Flyers re-acquired goaltender Brian Boucher from the Hurricanes last week but they have now put him on waivers, along with defenseman Andreas Lilja. They set their rosters yesterday for today’s season open game and had to make room for defenseman Andrej Meszaros who is coming off an Achilles injury.

The NHL is putting a lot of players on waivers right now due to the buyout option in the new CBA, but neither Boosh or Lilja were put on waivers due to this. GM Paul Holmgren specifically put them on waivers in order to put them down into the minors. They both cleared earlier this week and have been sent down to the Adirondack Phantoms in Glen Falls, NY.

Right now Meszaros is set to play and Holmgren is confident that his injury is healed, but if he is injured again most likely Lilja will be recalled to the Flyers. It’s less likely that Boosh will be called up, as he was acquired as an insurance policy for the goal tending situation between Michael Leighton and Ilya Bryzgalov.

The Flyers open their season today at 3 pm at the Wells Fargo Center as they take on their most heated rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Let’s go Flyers! Beat the Pens!

Mar 27, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward (30) is congratulated by goalie Brian Boucher (33) after his shutout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. The Hurricanes beat the Maple Leafs 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

So the NHL lockout is officially over! Last night the players voted to approve the new 10 year CBA and finally signed the memorandum of understanding. Which means that the NHL lockout is officially over and the new season is set to begin. Schedules went out almost immediately upon the signing of the MOU.

The Flyers training camp starts today at 11 am. They are also already making headlines in terms of trades. Yup, 24 hours or less into the season they are already making choices that have fans stumped.

Firstly there was rumors that they were going to sign free agent Kurtis Foster, which they did this morning. That signing was not that out of the blue, and most fans expected it. What was out of the blue was them re-acquiring goaltender Brian Boucher from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for prospect Luke Pither.

If you’re sitting there saying to yourself, “Why? Is this 2009?” don’t worry you’re not alone. Let’s go Flyers?