Nice. Real Nice.

Well, that is just freaking great. His foot hurts and Timonen is done. Kimmo, Kimmo, Kimmo. Scott Stevens never had these sort of problems.

Well, normally you wouldn’t panic too much about the departure of a Grade B defensemen from your line-up. Except he’s probably the best the Flyers have. Consequently, this a serious problem.

Its funny- if you had a dispersal draft of the Flyers, he might not be one of the first ten players taken. Those good forwards and his age would work against him. But he’s the one guy they simply can’t afford to be without this week. A big part of the repeatable formula they’ve used to win games in these play-offs- score three goals every night and survive inside your own end- was Coburn and Timonen providing 25 minutes of “a fighting chance” to get it out. Now, instead of a mere 35 minutes of craziness, cringe-inducing turnovers and swearing- we get to for the whole boat. A full hour of me screaming foul slurs at Hatcher, Kukkonen and Jason Smith.

Jaroslav Modry is a -4 in the five games he dressed for. Guess what? He dresses tonight.

And I don’t even want to think about the power play. Randy Jones better have his jock- he brings some mobility. And Sami Kapanen has played some power play defense in the past- they might try him.

Ah, the hazards of paying free-agent money to guys a few years into their 30s.

Still, it stinks. Some talk they could get swept- as this Pittsburgh writer points out the Flyers seem to be in the same class of the Rangers and they barely made it to a fifth game.

Besides the loss of Kimmo Timonen, Philly's other tangible concerns have to include the suspicion that R.J. Umberger probably won't score eight goals in the next five games, which he did in the last five, that, while the Flyers are as hot as anyone east of the Penguins, they qualified for this tournament only 48 hours before it began, and that for all of their recent efficiency, a good argument could still be made that the Flyers might not be as good as the Rangers, who just got dismissed in five games.

I dunno- the Flyers figure to score three plus most nights- should be enough to get a game or two- particularly since the Penguins have got to be a little smug at least one night in this series. I’m just weighed down by the whole thing.