FanHouse PhiladelphiaFlyers

NEW YORK -- This wasn't the time to wonder where these New York Rangers have been hiding all season, or whether they'll soon suffer through another identity crisis. This wasn't the place to ask if the Rangers will be one-and-done wonders, justifying their owners' satisfaction with mediocrity.

No, this was an oh-happy-joy night to be savored by Rangers fans, because the Blueshirts have slipped into the NHL postseason for the fourth straight season. Even more delicious, the Rangers had to beat their bitter rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, to clinch a spot, setting the scene for the perfect hockey vortex at Madison Square Garden.

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NEW YORK -- This wasn't the time to wonder where these New York Rangers have been hiding all season, or whether they'll soon suffer through another identity crisis. This wasn't the place to ask if the Rangers will be one-and-done wonders, justifying their owners' satisfaction with mediocrity.

No, this was an oh-happy-joy night to be savored by Rangers fans, because the Blueshirts have slipped into the NHL postseason for the fourth straight season. Even more delicious, the Rangers had to beat their bitter rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, to clinch a spot, setting the scene for the perfect hockey vortex at Madison Square Garden.

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Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: A pair of ex-Islanders and no one else who is very exciting; Arron Asham, Bryan Berard, Ossi Vaananen, Glen Metropolit. Unlike last year, the Flyers did not make a big splash this summer, mainly due to cap concerns.

Who's Out: Salary dumps galore; RJ Umberger, Vaclav Prospal (who was a rental), Jim Dowd, Jaroslav Modry, Jason Smith.

What's Changed: Not a whole lot. The Flyers are basically returning the same team that finished sixth in the conference with 95 points a year ago minus RJ Umberger and his 50 points. Jeff Carter, Joffrey Lupul and Randy Jones all received contract extensions to push this team closer to the cap than any other in the NHL, according to NHLNumbers.com. But hey, at least Derian Hatcher's $3.5 mil will only count for one more year!

This team is basically going to stay the way it is for this season unless they unload some money. When they locked up $37 million on six players, you could could kind of see all this coming. Not that they're a bad team -- not at all -- the Flyers just happen to be locked into their current roster for the time being.

It is an obvious trend of dirty play by the Philadelphia Flyers when that franchise has 50% (four of eight) of all suspensions handed out this season. When you see one franchise continually dish out dirty hits, you cannot simply say that it's a cosmic coincidence.

Well, the NHL certainly didn't help matters by giving Scott Hartnell with a lame 2-game suspension for his cheap shot on Bruins d-man Andrew Alberts. With that slap on the wrist, the Flyers knew they could continue to be bullies.

With that in mind, Riley Cote of the Flyers, a pure talentless goon, had no fear of any serious punishment as he become the latest Flyers thug to cheap shot an opponent. His victim? Matt Niskanen of the Dallas Stars. With the Flyers well on their way to a loss, the Flyers decided to act like sore losers, and put themselves in line for a fifth suspension.

Riley Cote slammed into defenseman Matt Niskanen and got his forearm high on the Dallas player, driving his head into the glass and dislodging his helmet with 2:14 to play in Saturday night's game.

Cote received a 10-minute match penalty, which is an automatic league review.

If Cote is suspended, he joins Steve Downie (whose 20-gamer ended), Jesse Boulerice (10 games left on a 25-gamer), Randy Jones (two games) and Scott Hartnell (two-gamer ending Saturday night) on the Flyer "hit'' list.

Yes, folks, the Broad Street Bullies are back, and the NHL is content to sit by and allow the Flyers to have their way with opposing players. You can just imagine that any player on another team is worrying about just surviving a match against the Flyers without getting bug-squashed into the boards. This is not good for the safety of the players nor the image of the league. Fighting is great, but cheap shots are not.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Wait, Jose Theodore Did What?
The incredible decline of Colorado Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore's reputation has been well-documented. Winning the Hart and Vezina trophies, and then ending up as a $6 million bench-warmer, with the stats to match. Propecia-gate before the Olympics. His public tryst with noted scholar Paris Hilton.

Last night, all of that was back-burnered, if at least for a game. After the Calgary Flames chased Avs starter Peter Budaj with four goals, Theodore came off the pine and stopped 17 shots, winning the game in a glorified skills competition the shootout, 5-4. "I was trying to keep it simple, give my team a chance to win, and they showed a lot of character coming back," he said after the game. Don't you love it when the male models play humble?

I found it interesting that the Associated Press led with Theodore's unexpected performance, but that Adrian Dater of the Denver Post didn't drop his name until the eighth paragraph and downplayed his efforts while lauding those of the team in front of him. Perhaps he knew other publications would be playing the Theodore angle. Perhaps Dater, and Avs fans, have been conditioned in the post-Roy years to expect a goalie to lose a game and a team to win one. Or perhaps even on a redemptive night, Jose Theodore will always be seen as a cap-killing financial albatross and an unqualified bust between the pipes in Denver.

(Coming up next: The Hartley/Waddell Death Watch continues, Marty Brodeur's afraid of his own stats, Most Embarrassing Stat Line of Last Night, this week's "Aitch Effy," and Tonight's Games You Should Be Watching.)