Flyers GM Paul Holmgren points out that Ian Laperriere will add something that he said should rub off on Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.

Namely, winning faceoff draws and taking them very seriously:

“Ian provides us with another option on faceoffs,” Holmgren said. “He’s a good faceoff guy mostly because he hates to lose. He’ll do whatever it takes to win. A lot of times, that is what faceoffs come down to.”

Laperriere told me that he really dislikes losing and won't tolerate not taking losses seriously. I do like that because too many Flyers seem to take losses as, "there's always tomorrow."

Laperriere:“It was a tough year for me last year and tough for the team,” Laperriere said on his cell phone. “Going through the year we had. I’m sure looking for a change in Philly. I don’t take losses easily. I’m sure a bunch of those guys don’t either.”

**

I don't have a problem with Brian Boucher as a backup goalie.

He has shown he is capable of handling the starter's job and he fits under the cap. '

And he played pretty damn good in San Jose last season.

The Ian Laperriere signing is stunning.

I was expecting once Mike Knuble would not take a one-year deal, the Flyers would go get Ruslan Fedotenko on a multi-year deal for a younger player and get real close to the cap.

Initial fan reaction so far as been to burn down Flyerdom, but as the readers have pointed out in the hours since I posted, there's support, for the deal, too. Some of the personal emails I have gotten have swung the other way.

I don't like the signing, but I understand the rationale. I would have kept Knuble but, I get what Holmgren is thinking:

* if Danny Briere is healthy, and Chris Pronger gets his usual 50 points and Laperriere gets his usual 10 goals, it more than makes up for the 50 goals lost by Knuble leaving and the Joffrey Lupul trade.

**

Boucher on the new "Boosh":

“When I was in Philly before, I was a young guy still learning and success came early and I wouldn’t trade success in for anything, but I’ll tell you, I wasn’t ready to deal with it or be a No.1 goalie at that time. I think, in a sense, it set me back a couple of years.

“It took me a while to learn the position, learn the ups and downs of the position, and now 10-12 years later, I feel I’m better goaltender and more experienced. I’ve had different goalie coaches. I’ve seen a lot. Sometimes you don’t have the results to prove it, but deep, down inside I feel I’m a better goalie than I was back then.”

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