Sean Couturier

If there is an NHL lockout, the Flyers may send a handful of their young players to the AHL Adirondack Phantoms to start the season. Players who are exempt from waivers could be sent down, and that list features Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, Erik Gustafsson, Eric Wellwood, and Zac Rinaldo, general manager Paul Holmgren said on Friday. The Flyers would have to loan the players to the minors before the possible Sept. 15 lockout. The Phantoms will report to camp at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Sept.

PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY will be played in the Delaware Valley this week. It just won't be at the NHL level. With established NHL players like Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, Zac Rinaldo and Erik Gustafsson chewing up valuable Phantoms roster spots during the lockout, the Flyers assigned six prospects to the ECHL's Trenton Titans on Monday. One of the surprise cuts was Jason Akeson, who spent a good part of the summer training with Claude Giroux in Ottawa. Akeson, 22, led the Phantoms last year with 55 points in 76 games.

SUNRISE, Fla. - Flyers center Danny Briere, who missed the first four games because of a hairline fracture of his left wrist, made his first appearance of the year Saturday night. Before the game, Briere said he had no problems shooting the puck, but faceoffs still gave him difficulties. He began the night at left wing. Earlier in the day, general manager Paul Holmgren said Briere was "probably a no-go" for Saturday, but Briere apparently talked his way into the lineup. Briere played on a line with center Sean Couturier and right winger Jake Voracek.

NEWARK, N.J. - Scott Hartnell skated Friday, but there is no change to the timetable for the injured left winger. Hartnell suffered a broken bone in his left foot Jan. 22 and was expected to miss four to eight weeks. Three weeks have passed since Hartnell underwent surgery. He met with a doctor Friday. Hartnell led the Flyers with a career-high 37 goals last season, and his absence has been felt this month as scoring has become an issue for the team. "He's a big part of our locker room.

SUNRISE, Fla. - Flyers center Danny Briere, who missed the first four games because of a hairline fracture of his left wrist, made his first appearance of the year Saturday night. Before the game, Briere said he had no problems shooting the puck, but faceoffs still gave him difficulties. He began the night at left wing. Earlier in the day, general manager Paul Holmgren said Briere was "probably a no-go" for Saturday, but Briere apparently talked his way into the lineup. Briere played on a line with center Sean Couturier and right winger Jake Voracek.

Ilya Bryzgalov has struggled recently, but coach Peter Laviolette doesn't pin the blame on the 32-year-old goaltender. "We definitely need to play better in front of Bryz," Laviolette said before the Flyers faced the New Jersey Devils on Friday night   - and before Bryzgalov gave one of his best performances of the season. The defense was better than it has been, and Bryzgalov was brilliant. He made 27 saves and allowed just one goal in three shootout attempts as the Flyers outlasted the Devils, 2-1. "He got us the two points," Max Talbot said.

PITTSBURGH - The Flyers and Penguins cannot do normal, or sedate. Starting last spring, and continuing until today, these two rivals have been incapable of playing a hockey game that does not resemble a coin spinning wildly on its edge, spinning and toppling in an unpredictable direction. And for all of this, we are glad. A dozen preposterously fun things happened Wednesday night at Consol Energy Center, and maybe more. "There were just so many crazy parts to the game," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said.

Maybe it's because opponents now have a book on them, or maybe it's because some of the second-year Flyers are pressing. Whatever the reason, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn are going through sophomore slumps. Ditto Matt Read, who has stumbled after a hot start. Entering Thursday's game against the New York Islanders, all three were in long goal-scoring droughts: Couturier at 24 consecutive games, Schenn at 12, and Read at nine. Coach Peter Laviolette was asked whether he was concerned that the streaks might start weighing on the players.

Center Nick Cousins, regarded as the Flyers' top prospect, was charged with sexual assault and arrested over the weekend, police in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, said Sunday. Cousins, 19, and two of his Sault Ste. Marie Soo Greyhounds teammates - Mark Petaccio, 18, and Andrew Fritsch, 19 - were charged with sexual assault against a female known to them, according to a release from the Sault Ste. Marie police. Petaccio, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound right winger, is from Sicklerville, N.J., and he has a bail court date on Monday.