Play Ball

In the Flyers 7-1 rout of the Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon Scott Hartnell picked up his second hat trick in the last five games.

He recorded his first of the season against the Carolina Hurricanes on December 11th.

Jeff Carter also added two goals for the Flyers, which were 54 seconds apart, to bring his league leading total to 24. He is tied for the league lead with Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek.

The Flyers also received goals from Joffrey Lupul and Simon Gagne.

Carter’s line, dubbed the ‘Center City Line,’ scored six of the Flyers seven goals. He is on a line with Hartnell and Lupul.

They are called the ‘Center City Line’ because the three of them all live within walking distance of each other in Center City Philadelphia.

Only 16 games into his return to a head coaching position in the NHL, former ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose has been fired as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Melrose was hired prior to the 2008-09 season as the team’s new head coach but has since been let go after a poor start to the season.

Melrose previously coached the Los Angeles Kings from 1992-1995. He replaced John Tortorella in Tampa, who led the Lightning to the Stanley Cup title only a couple of years ago.

Melrose had been out of coaching for 13 years and with ESPN for 12 of those years as an NHL analyst.

He is replaced on an interim basis by associate coach Rick Tocchet. Tocchet last coached for the Phoenix Coyotes on Wayne Gretzky’s staff before being implicated in a New Jersey betting ring.

He had a two year absence from coaching while the betting ring investigation was taking place.

Melrose is not the first coach to be fired in the NHL this season and not the quickest to go either.

The Chicago Blackhawks fired head coach Denis Savard only four games into the 2008-09 season.

The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Friday that they had traded defenseman Steve Eminger and winger Steve Downie to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Matt Carle.

Carle is a heralded prospect out of Alaska, who was traded to the Lightning over the summer from San Jose.

He is only 24 years old.

Carle will get to make an impact against his former team this Saturday when the Lightning visit the Flyers.

Carle will hopefully bring some more pop to the defensive play of the Flyers, which has been lackluster since injuries to Derian Hatcher, Randy Jones and Ryan Parent have depleted the blue line.

Once the defense gets healthy Lasse Kukkonen and Andrew Alberts will be in jeopardy of losing their place on the active roster.

The Flyers might still sign veteran player Brendan Shanahan before the next week is over.

The Flyers also sent Boyd Kane and Nate Raduns down to the Phantoms to make room under the salary cap for Carle.

The New Jersey Devils announced on Tuesday that goaltender Martin Brodeur will be sidelined for at least a couple of months due to a torn biceps.

One of the winningest goalies in the history of the league, Brodeur will be out until at least February with the torn biceps.

Brodeur is a four time Vezina Trophy winner for the best goaltender in the league and is on the verge of becoming the all-time winningest goaltender in NHL history.

He is eight wins shy of tying Patrick Roy’s league record of 551 and is five shutouts short of Terry Sawchuk’s record of 103 in a career.

Brodeur will have surgery on the torn biceps on Thursday to repair it and hopefully get him back to full health by the time February rolls around.