Flyers

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

So where do the Flyers - after a very good regular season that morphed into a very weird playoff showing - go from here? Well, in a best-case scenario, they would become one of the NHL's best teams if they somehow signed New Jersey winger Zach Parise and Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter, a pair of prospective free agents. Will they have the cap space for both? Doubtful. And even if they were to make a deal to free cap space, the odds of them beating out a long list of suitors for both players would not be favorable.

INSIDE JAROMIR Jagr's locker stall, in the bowels of the Wells Fargo Center and any arena where the Flyers play, a small memento is wrapped in blue felt. It is a trifold, no more than 6 inches in length. It sits next to Jagr's hockey tape, stick wax, and various weights and braces and training contraptions. It does not stand out, except for the shine reflecting off the gilded hand-painted faces of the Eastern Orthodox Church's Holy Trinity, and the fact that religious icons in hockey dressing rooms are rarer than Stanley Cup-clinching goals.

The Flyers want goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to perform like Martin Brodeur, not Martin Lawrence. Like Jimmy Howard, not Jimmy Fallon. Like Jonathan Quick, not Jonathan Winters. That was the gist of a comment made by general manager Paul Holmgren the other day. "His job is to stop pucks and help us win games," Holmgren said. "It's not Comedy Central. " Holmgren's tone was good-natured, and he was not being critical of Bryzgalov. Fact is, he enjoys the goalie's different outlook on things.

The Philadelphia Flyers hold "The Meeting" every spring, and this was the one in 2006. The team employs more than a dozen scouts, scattered in outposts around the globe. Their task is both simple and simply daunting: to identify kids who will grow up to look good in orange and black. In the weeks before the NHL draft, the scouts gather to assemble and sift through a list of these kids. Arguments are had. Voices are raised. It is the scouts' business, after all, and their passions are being tested, their reputations on the line.

Shutouts have been rare for the Flyers in the playoffs, but not against the Sabres this year. Consider: The 1-0 shutout Wednesday was the first time in franchise history that the Flyers have been shut out, 1-0, twice in the same series. The two shutouts are just the third and fourth 1-0 shutout losses in the playoffs in franchise history. The Flyers had not been shut out twice in a series since the 2002 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, when they were shut out in Games 2, 3 and 4 by Ottawa.

"I think anytime you get a player that is well-versed on the opponent, you spend a lot of time with them. Max and I had a lot of conversations in my office, talking about personnel, players we're not as familiar with that maybe come in because of injury, systems. And we go over it . . . Max was right there . . . So not only was Max great on the ice, maybe one day he'll make a great coach as well. " - Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, after Sunday's 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh.

FLYERS 4, STARS 3 SCORE BY PERIODSSHOTS ON GOAL Dallas. . . 1 2 0 - 0Dallas. . . 5 12 8 - 25 Flyers. . . 2 1 1 - 4Flyers. . . 14 4 7 - 25 SCORING First Period No. TeamPlayerAssistAssistTimeS-F 1. FlyersUpshall (3)Lupul (2)-3:170-1 2. StarsWilson (1)Sydor (2)-11:331-1 3. FlyersKnuble (9)Gagne (15)-16:001-2 Second Period 4. StarsModano (7)Eriksson (5)Parrish (2)2:302-2 5. FlyersCarter (15)Hartnell (6)-14:222-3 6. StarsModano (8)

The Flyers have scored 13 unanswered goals in these playoffs. The last NHL team to do that was the Anaheim Ducks in 2006. This is the fourth time the Flyers have scored 10 or more unanswered goals in the playoffs: 13: 2010, Bruins & Canadiens 12: 1980, North Stars 11: 1987, Rangers & Islanders 10: 1974, Flames & Rangers  

Sidney Crosby was making no excuses. On a day that his Pittsburgh Penguins team needed him to recapture his Stanley Cup winning past, Crosby's lack of production drew notice. The Flyers closed out their first-round series with the Penguins with Sunday's 5-1 win at the Wells Fargo Center, winning this sometimes crazy series 4 games to 2. On the surface, Crosby's statistics looked solid, three goals and five assists for eight points in the six games. Yet Crosby didn't register a point in the final two games.

AFTER A SEASON and a half, the Flyers fired Phantoms coach Joe Paterson on Tuesday. It comes after Adirondack's best single-season AHL record (37-35-4) since the franchise moved there from Philadelphia in 2009. "As an organization, we feel the Phantoms need a new voice moving forward," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said in a statement. "We feel a new direction is needed at this time. " Paterson, a former Flyer, was named the Phantoms' head coach on Dec. 20, 2010. He posted a combined record of 62-55-8 in 125 games.

The Flyers signed two prospects - forwards Derek Mathers and Andrew Johnston - to entry-level deals on Monday. Mathers, 18, was the Flyers' last draft pick in 2011, 206th overall in the sixth round. He collected an astounding 348 penalty minutes over the last two seasons, including 49 fighting majors, with Peterborough of the Ontario Hockey League. The 6-foot-3 bruiser added two more fights in nine games with the AHL's Phantoms this spring on an amateur tryout contract once his OHL season was finished.

So where do the Flyers - after a very good regular season that morphed into a very weird playoff showing - go from here? Well, in a best-case scenario, they would become one of the NHL's best teams if they somehow signed New Jersey winger Zach Parise and Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter, a pair of prospective free agents. Will they have the cap space for both? Doubtful. And even if they were to make a deal to free cap space, the odds of them beating out a long list of suitors for both players would not be favorable.

The Flyers released their postseason injury report Saturday, and it included three players who recently had surgery, and two players who will have operations this week, according to general manager Paul Holmgren. Star center Claude Giroux, who had said Scott Hartnell took some of his playoff faceoffs to give him some work, had surgery on both wrists. The 24-year-old Giroux had surgery on his right wrist to repair torn cartilage, and on his left wrist to remove bone spurs. Recovery time is six weeks.

Flyers center Claude Giroux will receive the 2012 John Wanamaker athletic award June 5 at the Wanamaker Building's Crystal Tea Room. The Philadelphia Sports Congress, a division of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, presents the award each year in conjunction with Amerimar/Behringer Harvard. This season, Giroux scored 28 goals and had 93 points and led the NHL in scoring during the first two rounds of the playoffs. Since 1961, the Wanamaker Award has been presented "to the athlete, team, or organization that has done the most to reflect credit upon Philadelphia and to the team or sport in which they excel.

The Flyers want goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to perform like Martin Brodeur, not Martin Lawrence. Like Jimmy Howard, not Jimmy Fallon. Like Jonathan Quick, not Jonathan Winters. That was the gist of a comment made by general manager Paul Holmgren the other day. "His job is to stop pucks and help us win games," Holmgren said. "It's not Comedy Central. " Holmgren's tone was good-natured, and he was not being critical of Bryzgalov. Fact is, he enjoys the goalie's different outlook on things.

It's funny because of all the talk of how much Philadelphia hates all Boston teams, the rivalry between the Sixers and the Celtics is the only one that is actually a rivalry. Familiarity breeds contempt, and the NBA rivalry between these two Northeast cities is the only one that has enough encounters to inspire true hatred. Despite their shared regionalization, Boston and Philadelphia only share the NBA's Atlantic Division. DAILY NEWS WRITERS SPLIT ON SERIES The other teams are either in other divisions, conferences of leagues.

Right winger Jaromir Jagr hinted he will test the free-agent market, and general manager Paul Holmgren didn't rule out the return of captain Chris Pronger next season. Those developments highlighted the Flyers' season-ending news conference Thursday at their practice facility in Voorhees. Jagr, 40, who had a 19-goal season, was given several chances to say he wanted to return to the Flyers. He did not bite. It appears he will test the free-agent market on July 1. "Hopefully, we are going to find some team where I can play," said Jagr, who earned $3.3 million this season.