The netminder, who has been out of the NHL and playing in the Russian league because of his own bad behavior, managed to stop all 28 shots that he faced and helped the Philadelphia Flyers secure a 2-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

image: TSN

Emery definitely sent a message in his debut with the Flyers by posting his ninth career shutout.  Looks like history repeated itself since the last three times that Emery has faced the Canes, he’s been able to completely shut them down.

Between the solid goaltending and newly acquired Flyers defenceman, Chris Pronger, Carolina really didn’t stand a chance.  Eric Staal did score a goal in the first but it was disallowed after it was ruled that Andrew Alberts had used a hand pass.  Tough break.

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Daniel Briere was limited to just 29 games in 2008-2009 due to injury so I’m sure he’s hoping to have a big season and I think it’s entirely possible.  Plus, if he ends up on a line with Claude Giroux and Simon Gagné they could be pretty effective. 

The first thing that concerns me is that two of their 25-goal scorers from last season are gone (Joffrey Lupul and Mike Knuble) but the Giroux/Briere/Gagné could help fill that hole (that is, of course, as long as the injury that sent Gagné home early from the Olympic orientation camp isn’t too serious).

The other thing that has me worried is the fact that they’ve taken on Ray Emery.  Before you get all pissy, hear me out.  I think Emery is a great goaltender and has shown a huge amount of potential but he’s also acted bat-shit crazy in the past so this is really one of those toss ups.

Emery has either learned his lesson and is ready to work hard or he’s just faking it long enough to get back into the NHL.  He will be backed up by Brian Boucher, who did a decent job in the number two spot for the San Jose Sharks last year.

image: TSN

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That means it’s pretty likely that the 34-year-old veteran will play out the rest of his time in the league with the team.  The contract includes a no-movement clause.

"I am very excited to be able to retire a Philadelphia Flyer and I am looking forward to many years with the Flyers logo on my chest," Pronger said in a statement.

Pronger joined the team on June 27th after the Anaheim Ducks traded him for Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa as well as a conditional third-round pick in 2010 or 2011.

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The Philadelphia Flyers have offered the goaltender a one-year contract but the financial terms were not disclosed.  Of the deal, GM Paul Holmgren said: “We are extremely excited and happy to have entered into this agreement with Ray.  We believe Ray is a good, young goalie that has a unique blend of size, competitiveness and athleticism.”

That is certainly all true.  The unfortunate part is that Emery let that “uniqueness” go to his head.  He did have something to say about his move to Philadelphia: “I’m excited to be able to get a chance to play with a team that’s a contender and I’m grateful for the opportunity that’s being given.  I think I have the ability to play consistent. I’m athletic, but I try to rely on a system and make things as simple as possible.”

I hope Emery truly does realize what an amazing opportunity this is since I know that a lot of teams didn’t want to give him a chance.  He’s only 26 and this could be a major career-changing move (for the better) so I’d love to seem him take advantage of this and turn things around.  Next season just got a little more interesting…

image: TSN

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“We have internal discussions about many players and their potential availability, including Ray Emery,” Holmgren said. “I have spoken to his agent a few times about Ray as well. Any further speculation about this would be very premature.”

Still, this is potentially HUGE news.  I really had all but written off the former Ottawa Senators netminder – not because he wasn’t good enough but because he couldn’t seem to get control over his personal problems (for which he did take some responsibility).  It was sad to me because he really has a lot of potential and even backstopped the Sens all the way to the 2007 Stanley Cup Final.

Unfortunately, things really started to fall apart after that (and, yes, his ego seemed to play a huge role in that) and he ended up playing for Moscow’s Mytishchi Atlanta in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League this season (though he did accuse the team of taking money from him).

Emery is 71-40-14 with a 2.71 goals-against average and eight shutouts in 134 NHL games and could fit in nicely with the Flyers (if he could behave) since both of their goaltender, Martin Biron and Antero Niittymaki, will become free agents this summer.

I would be happy to see Emery make a return to the NHL as long as he’s ready.  As is the case with Sean Avery, I feel that a player’s personal issues can really ruin an otherwise excellent career so I hope that Emery gets himself back on track because the jury is still out on Avery.

image: TSN

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