Yesterday evening's Flyers practice session in front of 15,202 fans at the Wells Fargo Center was destined from the start not to be a run-on-the-mill practice.

Of course, no one minded. Everyone associated with the hockey team realized that the event was the least they could do to acknowledge Flyers fans after the lockout. Similar events -- sometimes in the form of scrimmages, sometimes as "regular" practices -- were held around the NHL.

In a large-venue event designed for the fans, it was impossible for the coaches to conduct business in a normal manner as they would at the Skate Zone in Voorhees or for the players on the ice to be fully focused on the task of preparing for the season opener on Saturday afternoon. There were simply too many distractions.

But as hockey practices less than 48 hours before a clash with the Pittsburgh Penguins go, well, if it was a morning session in Voorhees, Peter Laviolette would not have been quite as content as he was last night. The tempo never hit a tight rhythm. The passing was downright awful at times early in the sessions, as the Flyers players were a bit distracted. There were jitters to work through, to an even higher degree than on Sunday, when roughly 3,000 people came out Voorhees for the opening morning of the six-day training camp.

That was to be expected. Laviolette said afterward with a straight face that he wanted it to be just like a regular practice in Voorhees, with simulated game conditions. In reality, the coach seemed to understood that, by its nature, the event last night was as much about public entertainment as team preparation.

Yes, the team ran the standard drills and special teams work that have been a staple of the latter-half of each day's practices throughout this week. But during the session, the team also mixed in a set of 5-on-0 rushes against the Flyers goaltenders (something that had better NOT be a "game condition" come Saturday or Laviolette will have a coronary right on the bench). There was also a shootout session at the very end.

Laviolette said that there was some practical value to the event in terms of letting the team's new players get used to the Wells Fargo Center and for everyone to get used to working again in front of a big Philadelphia crowd.

Above all, it was a chance for the crowd to give a big ovation to newly appointed captain Claude Giroux and for his teammates to prank him as he took to the ice with no one else following out behind him. It gave Scott Hartnell a chance to play to the audience by deliberately tumbling to the ice at the end of a liine rush rep so people could make "Hartnell down!" cracks.

In short, the open practice was a way to thank fans for their support, to promote the season and to announce that NHL hockey is finally back in Philly.

By the way, as if the Flyers needed any little extra motivation for Saturday or little reminders about last season is now a distant memory, the folks at NBC Sports unwittingly provided a little extra incentive. Most every Flyers fan on the internet has seen -- or at least heard about -- the game-promo commercials that say the Flyers will "have their sights set on revenge for their playoff loss" to the Penguins last year.




My memory may be faulty here, but I vaguely remember a different outcome to that series. I also kinda sorta recall that the clinching game was broadcast by... oh yes, the very same television network that is now so collectively unaware of the outcome that the commercial made it on the air without anyone noticing the mistake.

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The Flyers will announce their season opening roster this afternoon. Assuming the injured Danny Briere is placed on injured reserve to start the season, the club will not need to make any more immediate roster cuts. When Briere is activated, a roster move will be necessary. A forward (most likely Tom Sestito) will be sent to the Phantoms or else rookie Scott Laughton may be returned to his OHL team.

In addition to Briere likely being placed on IR, the Flyers will place defensemen Chris Pronger (post-concussion issues), Matt Walker (back, groin and abdominal injuries) and Marc-Andre Bourdon (concussion-like symptoms) on the long-term injured reserve list.

It appears, but is not absolutely confirmed, that Andrej Meszaros (Achilles tendon surgery) will start in tomorrow's opener, despite not yet being fully recovered. If he does not play, Bruno Gervais will make his Flyers' debut in Meszaros' place.

Based on the line combinations used in practice the last couple days, tomorrow's starting lineup will likely look this:

Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Brayden Schenn
Max Talbot - Sean Couturier - Jakub Voracek
Matt Read - Scott Laughton - Wayne Simmonds
Ruslan Fedotenko - Eric Wellwood - Zac Rinaldo

Kimmo Timonen - Luke Schenn
Nicklas Grossmann - Braydon Coburn
Andrej Meszaros - Kurtis Foster

Ilya Bryzgalov
[Michael Leighton]

Healthy scratches: Jody Shelley, Tom Sestito, Bruno Gervais.

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