Nashville

ABC'S GOING a little bit country this fall. On Wednesdays at 10, Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights") will star in the drama "Nashville" as a country-music star whose career is beginning to flag and whose record label thinks the answer might be having her join forces with a younger singer (Hayden Panettiere, "Heroes"), who turns out to be a bit of a schemer. Callie Khouri ("Thelma & Louise") wrote the pilot, which was directed by documentarian R.J. Cutler ("The War Room"). In November, actual country- music star (and sitcom veteran)

Florida State beat North Carolina twice this season. Did the same to Duke, too. But it was Andrew Nicholson and little St. Bonaventure who nearly sent the Seminoles home in their first NCAA tournament game. Bernard James scored 19 points and Florida State barely avoided a big upset, rallying to beat the 14th-seeded Bonnies, 66-63, on Friday at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The third-seeded Seminoles (25-9) shook off a slow start and won their sixth straight game, including their run to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship last week.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Flyers stood pat at the trade deadline on Monday, feeling the two recent deals they made - acquiring massive defensemen Pavel Kubina and Nick Grossman - will help make them a Stanley Cup contender. Provided, of course, that goalie Ilya Bryzgalov gets his game in order. "There wasn't anything that was pitched to us that . . . would have made us as good a team as what's on the board right now," general manager Paul Holmgren said in a conference call from the team's training facility in Voorhees.

Flyers center Danny Briere is getting "close" to returning from a concussion that has sidelined him for the last four games. "I felt good today. I was able to push myself fairly hard on the ice at practice, which is a good sign," Briere said after Thursday's morning skate. Briere and winger James van Riemsdyk, who is also out with a concussion, took part in the morning skate but did not play against visiting Nashville on Thursday night. Van Riemsdyk was unavailable for comment.

The stunning blockbuster trade that sent captain Mike Richards to Los Angeles last June looks better with each game. Wayne Simmonds, the rugged forward who was part of the deal, scored a pair of goals Thursday to carry the Flyers to a 4-1 win over Nashville at the Wells Fargo Center. Simmonds has 15 goals - one more than he scored all of last season with the Kings. "I think the change of scenery helped me out a little bit," said Simmonds, who totaled four points in the two games against Nashville this season.

AT FIRST glance, it was a throwaway moment - a routine play in the NHL that you probably wouldn't spend another second thinking about. The Predators' net, with Anders Lindback on the bench, was as empty as the Wells Fargo Center, since Wayne Simmonds' goal with 4 minutes and 41 seconds left had already sent most of the 19,823 in attendance sprinting toward the parking lot. Jaromir Jagr picked up the puck in the neutral zone and barreled in...

Nashville, the NHL's hottest team with 10 wins in its last 11 games, will try to continue the Flyers' home struggles on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Once upon a time, opponents feared facing the Flyers in their South Philly rink, and it wasn't uncommon for foes to mysteriously come down with what was known as the "Philadelphia flu" because they knew a physical, punishing game was ahead of them. Not anymore. The Flyers have won just half of their 22 home games (11-7-4)

The stunning, blockbuster trade that sent captain Mike Richards to Los Angeles last June looks better with each game. Wayne Simmonds, the rugged forward who was part of the deal, scored a pair of goals Thursday to carry the Flyers to a 4-1 win over Nashville at the Wells Fargo Center. Simmonds has 15 goals - one more than he scored all of last season with the Kings. With 32 games remaining, Simmonds is one goal shy of his career high in goals. The right winger was acquired with Brayden Schenn and a No. 2 draft pick in 2012 for Richards, who has one fewer goal and two fewer assists this season than Simmonds.

OTTAWA - It may not match last year's wild 11-10 contest for goals scored, but don't expect Sunday's NHL All-Star Game at Scotiabank Place to feature defense. "You know you're going to be scored on," said Boston goalie Tim Thomas, who will play for Team Chara, "but you just don't want to be embarrassed. " Team Chara will include Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, while Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell will play for Team Alfredsson. Timonen will be paired with his former Nashville teammate Ryan Suter, who has drawn interest from the Flyers.