Holmgren

FLYERS General Manager Paul Holmgren was listed in stable condition at Cooper Medical Center in Camden last night after a scary end to the Labor Day holiday. Holmgren, 55, was injured in a bicycle accident yesterday while exercising in Avalon, N.J. Exact details and the cause of the accident remained unclear last night, but Holmgren was admitted to the hospital with multiple fractures and cuts that required stitches. Holmgren was reportedly wearing his helmet. The Flyers issued no statement or comment about Holmgren's health, though a few of his players took to Twitter.

Maybe Paul Holmgren remembers too well what it was like being an NHL player, dragging through the final installment of a three-game road trip, playing for the fourth time in six days. Or maybe coaches see the game differently than most folks, evaluating effort on such criteria as poise, composure and scoring chances allowed. Whatever the reason, Holmgren stood up for his players last night, asserting that he thought they did not get outworked in a somnolent 4-1 loss to the host Washington Capitals.

Perhaps Paul Holmgren's stance on the eve of his club's first full-scale workouts was predictable. But the Flyers' coach professed no anxiety over the absence of goaltender Ron Hextall. In fact, Holmgren professed a high degree of satisfaction with his goalies, who will take the ice at 9:15 this morning. All Flyers veterans except Hextall reported to training camp yesterday, at the Coliseum in Voorhees on a brutal 95-degree day. They joined the rookies, who have been in camp since Wednesday.

MY, MY, HOW the world has changed. The Flyers, yesterday, shipped off a player who Ed Snider just last month compared to Bobby Clarke and Sidney Crosby so they could give a goalie $51 million. A Russian goalie. Think of the irony here. The last time the Flyers won a Stanley Cup, the Russians were the bad guys. Now, they're your guys. Now, your Stanley Cup hopes rest on two goalies who wouldn't get served at Geno's, on account they don't speak da English real good.

The Flyers received positive medical news Monday: Right winger Ian Laperriere and center Jeff Carter are recovering ahead of schedule. Especially Laperriere. In a surprising development, Laperriere - sidelined since April 22 because of a brain bruise, a broken orbital bone, and a concussion - could be returning to the Flyers during the Eastern Conference finals against the Montreal Canadiens. The Flyers have a one-game-to-none lead in the series, which resumes Tuesday at the Wachovia Center.

SAN JOSE - As Paul Holmgren carved out his final trade-deadline preparations on Sunday afternoon from his bunker at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J., he spoke to coach Peter Laviolette on the other side of the country to get his take on the Flyers. The two talk almost every day, regardless of whether Holmgren is on the trip. "I told him that I really liked our team, our makeup, and I like our chemistry," Laviolette said after his team wrapped up a 65-minute skate at Sharks Ice. "We're hard to play against.

Andy Reid insists he wasn't your typical quarterbacks coach in Green Bay, wasn't just a garage mechanic of an assistant whose sole function was to give Brett Favre a monthly lube and oil change. "Coach [Mike] Holmgren and [general manager] Ron Wolf gave me a tremendous amount of responsibility with the Green Bay Packers," Reid said yesterday after being hired as the Eagles' new head coach. "They gave me the kind of responsibility that makes me feel very comfortable im taking this next step [to head coach]

WITH A PLATE of food perhaps simmering to the side and a press box overflowing with pro scouts from a bevy of teams, the Flyers' brass put its first foot forward last night toward improving the team before the Feb. 27 trade deadline. Without giving up a key piece of their lineup, the Flyers bolstered their defensive corps by adding Dallas blue liner Nicklas Grossman in exchange for a second-round pick in 2012 and a third-rounder in 2013. Neither one of the picks is the Flyers', though both are shaping up to be better than their current selections in those rounds, based on standings.

FIRST, James van Riemsdyk was being shipped to Toronto last February. This week, he reportedly was holding up a deal to be sent to Columbus. Van Riemsdyk, 23, has heard the trade rumblings for the better part of a year now - since signing that 6-year, $25.5 million extension that kicks in this fall - but he can do little more than laugh. On Sunday night, NBC10's Howard Eskin reported that van Riemsdyk has delayed surgery on a torn labrum in his hip to "make it difficult for the Flyers to complete a trade" that includes Blue Jackets star Rick Nash.

General manager Paul Holmgren said the Flyers, who completed their lackluster season on Saturday, need just a little offseason tweaking to return to the playoffs. "I still think we have good-enough talent to win," Holmgren said. In a far-reaching, 24-minute media session Sunday after the Flyers cleaned out their lockers at their Voorhees practice facility, Holmgren said that bolstering the defense, which was decimated by injuries this year, will be a priority. "We're always looking to get better on the back end. We're always looking to get bigger," he said.

Peter Laviolette will return as the Flyers' coach next season, general manager Paul Holmgren said on Sunday after the players cleaned out their lockers at their Voorhees practice facility. Laviolette has two years remaining on his contract, but Holmgren had declined several chances to say the coach would return - until Sunday's news conference. The Flyers finished 23-22-3 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Holmgren said he had "no doubts" that Laviolette still was getting his message through to the players after nearly four seasons as their head coach.

KURTIS FOSTER was laughing. Unless you include call-ups Erik Gustafsson and Brandon Manning, who played a combined 34 games with the team last season, no defenseman in the Flyers' lineup in Tuesday night's win against the Bruins was on last year's roster. Foster and Luke Schenn were the only two to start this season with the Flyers. For some, a glimpse at the Flyers' injury list - with more than $30 million committed to 12 players - at the close of the season may be a good reason why the Stanley Cup playoffs will go on without Philadelphia for the second time since 1995.

MONTREAL - Forget the rumors about Peter Laviolette's being fired after the season. It sounds as if the Flyers' fiery coach is staying. Without formally announcing it, general manager Paul Holmgren gave Laviolette a strong vote of confidence in Montreal on Monday. Asked whether he planned to make a coaching change after the season, Holmgren was succinct. "I haven't even thought along those lines," he told The Inquirer in a phone conversation. "I think it's been a difficult year because of the [injury]

PAUL HOLMGREN is not very fond of the NHL's trade deadline. Last year, on Feb. 27, hockey's annual frenzy came and went without the Flyers actively participating. The Flyers general manager made his moves in the weeks prior, adding Nick Grossmann and Pavel Kubina. The year before last, on Feb. 28, 2011, the Flyers barely snuck a trade under the 3 o'clock wire with Tom Sestito joining the crew from Columbus. For as much as there is a perception of the Flyers making franchise-altering trades at the deadline, there have only been two since 2000: Dan Carcillo for Scottie Upshall in 2009 and nearly an entire draft's worth of picks in 2002 for playoff rental Adam Oates.

TAMPA, Fla. - Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, who has been criticized for the team's tumble, is not in danger of losing his job, according to a source close to the situation. "Look at his body of work. He's done a very good job," the source said. "He's not going anywhere. " Entering Monday's game against Tampa Bay, the Flyers were 13-15-1 and 11th in the Eastern Conference. Holmgren is in his seventh season as the Flyers' GM. In 2007-08, Holmgren's first full season in the position, the Flyers collected 95 points after registering just 56 points the previous season.

General manager Paul Holmgren said he was not considering a coaching change, and he criticized the Flyers' "compete" level during an impromptu news conference at the team's practice facility in Voorhees on Thursday. At first, Holmgren gave coach Peter Laviolette a seemingly lukewarm endorsement. Asked if Laviolette was on the hot seat, Holmgren said, "I don't think so. " Holmgren later added: "I haven't even thought about" making a coaching change, and he was "not at the point" of consummating a major trade.

IF THE FLYERS are going to avoid watching the Stanley Cup playoffs go on without them for only the second time since 1995, they will do so with Peter Laviolette coaching mostly the same crop of players. Despite swirling rumors and speculation, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said Thursday he has not given any consideration toward firing Laviolette. "I haven't even thought about it," Holmgren said. "It hasn't even entered my mind. Right now, I think our team needs to play better.

As their reeling team tried to regroup from its latest clunker, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette and general manager Paul Holmgren were given a vote of confidence Sunday. Asked whether the Flyers' dismal start had put the jobs of the head coach and the general manager in jeopardy, Peter Luukko didn't hesitate. "Absolutely not," said Luukko, president of the Flyers' parent company, Comcast-Spectacor. "We just need to be patient, and to even think the general manager or coach are in trouble [is false]