PHILADELPHIA FLYERS TO FACE-OFF AGAINST NEW YORK RANGERS OUTDOORS AT CITIZENS BANK PARK IN FIFTH ANNUAL BRIDGESTONE NHL WINTER CLASSIC ON JANUARY 2

Event To Be Broadcast Live On NBC in U.S., CBC & RDS In Canada At 1 p.m. ET

COMCAST-SPECTACOR TO CELEBRATE WITH WEEK-LONG SERIES OF EVENTS AT CITIZENS BANK PARK

Philadelphia, PA – September 26, 2011 – The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers will face off on a national stage when the two teams clash outdoors at Citizens Bank Park in the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Monday, January 2 at 1 p.m.

"The NHL Winter Classic is arguably the biggest game played during the NHL's regular season and it is a wonderful platform to feature our great sport to millions of worldwide viewers," said Comcast-Spectacor Chairman and Philadelphia Flyers founder Ed Snider. "It's an honor for the Philadelphia Flyers to serve as ambassadors for the NHL. We look forward to hosting the Winter Classic in Philadelphia and showcasing our great city to hockey fans throughout North America."

“This is a tremendous honor to once again be participating in this historic event, and what makes it even more special is to be playing the game in Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park,” said Comcast-Spectacor President Peter Luukko. “I know our fans will make this one of the most celebrated Winter Classics ever. We look forward to extending the Philadelphia-New York rivalry when we face-off against the Rangers at Citizens Bank Park.”

The 43,500-seat ballpark will be the setting for the fifth-ever Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, which will feature several of the biggest names in hockey. The Flyers boast an All-Star roster that includes two Hart Trophy winners – Chris Pronger and Jaromir Jagr – and key members of the team that won the 2010 Eastern Conference championship, including Danny Briere, Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell. The Rangers counter with NHL All-Stars of their own in goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, forward Marian Gaborik, defenseman Marc Staal and 2004 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Brad Richards.

Division rivals since the 1974–75 season, the Rangers and Flyers become the closest geographic rivals to compete in the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. The on-ice familiarity stems from the fact that the Rangers are the Flyers’ all-time most-common opponent in the regular-season (261 games) and Stanley Cup playoffs series (10). While the teams last squared off in the playoffs in 1997, on the final day of the 2009-10 regular-season, the Flyers and Rangers played an historic “winner takes all” game to determine the lone remaining playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Tied 1-1 at the end of overtime, the Flyers prevailed in a shootout, starting their march to the conference championship.

The 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic continues the tradition the NHL has established of hosting a regular-season game outdoors at the onset of the new year to celebrate the origin and traditions of hockey. Last season, the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field on New Year’s Day 2011, the Boston Bruins hosted the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field on New Year’s Day 2009 and the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium on New Year’s Day 2008. There were two additional regular-season outdoor NHL games played in Canada when the Calgary Flames hosted the Montreal Canadiens during the Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium in 2011 and the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Montreal Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium in 2003.

“We are honored that the NHL has chosen Citizens Bank Park as the venue for the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic,” said Phillies President David Montgomery. “We eagerly await January 2nd when our Philadelphia Flyers host the New York Rangers. It will surely be a great experience for fans.”

The Bridgestone brand, the Official Tire of the NHL® and the NHLPA, returns for the fourth consecutive year as title sponsor of the event.

For the second consecutive year, the NHL will partner with HBO Sports and its groundbreaking “24/7” reality franchise. As it did with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals last year, the four-episode, all-access series will again provide viewers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at both teams, along with in-depth interviews of players, coaches and front-office personnel as the teams compete during the NHL regular-season, including a Dec. 23rd matchup between the teams at Madison Square Garden. The premiere episode debuts in prime time, Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 10 p.m. ET, with new episodes debuting each successive Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET.

Select 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic merchandise will be available at retail immediately. Men’s, women’s and youth t-shirts, hats, pucks, mini sticks, and other novelties will be available at the Majestic Clubhouse Store inside Citizens Bank Park™, the Philadelphia Flyers team store at the Wells Fargo Center, the NHL Store Powered by Reebok in New York City, and at shop.NHL.com. Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 27, official merchandise will be available at participating Dick’s Sporting Goods, Modell’s Sporting Goods, Macy's, JC Penney and Sports Authority store locations throughout the greater Philadelphia and New York City areas.

In addition to the Flyers hosting the Rangers at Citizens Bank Park, the Philadelphia Flyers Alumni will meet the New York Rangers Alumni on Saturday, December 31 at 1 p.m.; and the Adirondack Phantoms, the Flyers' American Hockey League affiliate, will host the Hershey Bears at Citizens Bank Park on Friday, January 6 at 7 p.m. Comcast-Spectacor is also planning additional events at Citizens Bank Park during the week. Ticket information for the Alumni game and the Phantoms game will be announced shortly, as will additional events.

Pronger Named Captain
Briere and Timonen named alternate captains

PHILADELPHIA -- 9/16/11 -- The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that defenseman Chris Pronger has been named the 18th captain in team history.

In addition, Danny Briere and Kimmo Timonen will wear the “A” as the alternate captains for the 2011-12 season.

“With Chris’ experience and presence, we felt that he was the perfect player to take over as captain of the Philadelphia Flyers," said Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren.

“Having Kimmo and Danny, both former captains in the NHL, serving as alternates, really gives us a strong, dedicated leadership group.”

“All three of these players know what it takes to win and are excellent role models both on and off the ice.”

Pronger, 36 (10-10-74), was acquired by the Flyers in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on June 26, 2009. In 132 games over the past two seasons, he has scored 14 goals and added 66 assists for 80 points, while collecting a plus-29 rating and 123 PIM. Pronger has previously served as the captain of Anaheim and the St. Louis Blues. He won a Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007 and has won two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada, in 2002 and 2010.

Timonen, 36 (3-18-75), was acquired by the Flyers on June 18, 2007 in a trade with the Nashville Predators. In 321 career games over four seasons with the Flyers, he has recorded 23 goals and 140 assists for 183 points, along with a plus-28 rating and 190 PIM. Timonen has previously served as Nashville’s captain, and has won three Olympic medals with Team Finland – a silver in 2006 and two bronze, in 1998 and 2010.

Briere, 33 (10-6-77), signed with the Flyers as a free agent on July 1, 2007. In 260 career games with the Flyers over four seasons, he has scored 102 goals and added 116 assists for 218 points. Briere previously served as the captain of the Buffalo Sabres.

Conference Call Transcript – September 16, 2011

Q: Do you think you’ll be a different captain than you were earlier in your career?

“Well, I think you’re always going to be a little bit different with the experiences you go through, age, and everything you’ve gone through throughout the course of your career… learning from whether it be Olympics, Stanley Cups, five different teams I’ve been on and the different captains that I’ve had, and been, there’s no question I’ll be a little bit different. Having said that, I don’t think it changes the way I play or how I need to perform.”

Q: Does anything change by wearing the “C” for you?

“I don’t think so. I think you have to be who you are and play the way you’ve always played. Whether you have a letter on your jersey or not – if you’re a leader, lead. If you’re a quiet, unassuming type of guy who just goes out and works hard and plays to the best of your ability, then do that. Don’t do anything outside of your comfort zone or outside of anything that you’ve done to this point to be successful. Everybody that comes in that locker room and wears the jersey and wears that Flyer emblem, they’ve done something to impress upon somebody that they’re going to provide something that our team needs. I don’t think they need to change that one bit.”

Q: Do you have to handle this team differently than you handled the Ducks in ’07?

“Well, it’s a little bit different. The one in ’07 was kind of thrust upon me because Scotty [Niedermayer] retired, we were just coming off a Stanley Cup, everything was roses. I think going into it I knew it was going to be difficult because Scotty and Teemu [Selanne] weren’t there, you’re going to have a Cup hangover, you’re going to have all these things going against you, and it was all of that. It was a difficult four or five months, and then Scotty came back and eventually assumed his captaincy, and we kind of got back on track and did our thing. From that perspective, it’s different, and also in this one, Mike [Richards] was a young captain with a lot to learn. As I said before, I was in his exact same shoes 15 years ago when I got to St. Louis and I had the captaincy thrust on me there. You have to learn an awful lot as a young captain, and a lot of times you’re just learning how to play the game the proper way, and how to go about playing hockey as opposed to dealing with media and fans and the scrutiny, and the fame and fortune and all the rest of that. It can be difficult.”

Q: On a team with so many new faces, is there a correlation with the amount of chemistry created and the success this team might have?

“I think that’s the good thing you can look at is that it’s a pretty empty slate. There’s a lot of new faces. A lot of guys know one another, but don’t know one another well. I think that’s something that Peter touched on with me when we talked about this is we need to get the guys together and get that camaraderie and chemistry and that flow going early in training camp and then on to the first part of the season, to get acclimated with one another, get comfortable and get off to a good start and get feeling good about ourselves so that we can kind of get on a roll, get to know one another, and really start to form that bond that you need in the later months in April, May and June when you need to really come together and sell out for one another and be willing to sacrifice your body or whatever the case may be for the good of the team. Tomorrow is obviously the first step in that direction.

Q: At what point did you figure out that this may be thrust upon you too?

“I wasn’t really too worried about it. Again, I have to play the game of hockey first and foremost. The other part will take care of itself. But to get myself healthy and make sure I was going to be able to play at the level I’m accustomed to and the level that everybody’s accustomed to seeing me play at – that was the biggest factor before any of this other stuff came to light was trying to get myself healthy and make sure that I was going to feel not only up to the task, but up to the challenge of playing 82 games or however many I get to play at 100, 110 percent and that I’m leaving everything out on the ice so I don’t have any regrets and you don’t feel like you’re just checking in and checking out.”

Q: Is there anything a captain can do to help create chemistry?

“I think a lot of this whole captain stuff gets a little overblown. It takes in this case 23 guys, but come camp, 50 or 60 guys, it takes everybody pulling in the same direction. I said it last year, I said it the year before, I’ve said it for a number of years now to anybody who asked me that question – that the whole captaincy thing gets a little blown out of proportion with respect to who gets the blame and who gets the credit. For whatever reason, that seems to be the way it is here, but you obviously have to take responsibility and help bring guys together. But it takes everbody wanting to buy into the system and be professional, come ready to play and come ready to practice, be in shape, and be focused on the game. Our careers are very short, some shorter than others, and you have to take every opportunity you can to win championships or to play to the best of your ability.”

Q: How long back had you been talking to Paul about this?

“It was quite a ways after the trade. I came in at the end of July to see the doctor about my wrist and back. We had touched on it briefly and I think Lavi was here at the time, and we just kind of had a little conversation. I said right now I’ve got bigger fish to fry, I need to focus on getting myself healthy and back to where I need to be to be able to play the way you want me to play. If you do indeed want me to be the captain, I need to play the way I play for me to be effective. So probably back then, but we really didn’t touch on it all that much up till probably when I got back from the summer and rehab and started coming in here to work out and try to get down to business and get prepared for the season, and try to get myself as healthy as I could.”

Q: Dealing with the media seems to impact different players in different ways. Is that going to be any different, or will it not be a big deal to you because you’re dealing with them all the time anyway?

“The way I handle you guys is not going to change, so get used to it. Sometimes Tim needs to be brought down a couple pegs, and so I need to do it. However, having said that, had I not had the experiences I had from the time I was a young captain in St. Louis all the way up, there’s a way to do things, a way to be the jokester and sarcastic and what not, but there’s obviously important questions that need to be asked, and you need to give a real answer. I think having that experience, and that knowledge of when that is and when that isn’t, helps. You guys obviously have a job to do and you need our quotes to do it. We are here trying to grow a game and promote a game, and put fans in the seats and have some excitement around our game. That part isn’t lost. It’s certainly become a big part of growing our game. Having said that, will I answer every single question I get asked, no. Will I speak every day, no. There will be days when I tell you all to beat it, and I need a break, and you’re going to have to get over it.”

Q: Have you seen becoming a captain impact other people in a negative fashion?

“I don’t know about that. Again, how you are, whether you have a letter on your jersey or not, doesn’t matter. When I was in Edmonton I never wore a letter, and it didn’t make me less vocal or less of a player in the locker room. It is what it is. There was a set group of leaders already in place and they didn’t want to disrupt that, and I was fine with that. So it wasn’t that big a deal. It’s going to affect everybody differently. Having gone through it, this is my third time being captain of a team, so I think I understand what the job entails and what needs to be done and what my role is. I don’t think that changes with a letter on your jersey.”

Flyers Sign Free Agent RW Jaromir Jagr

JULY 1, 2011 -- PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that they have signed free agent RW Jaromir Jagr to a contract, according to general manager Paul Holmgren.

Jagr, 39 (2/15/1972), most recently played for Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League, where he posted 51 points (19G, 32A) in 49 games last season, Over the last three years with the club, he scored 66 goals and added 80 assists for 146 points in 155 games.

JULY 1, 2011 -- PHILADELPHIA -- The Flyers have signed 6-3, 220-lb free agent D Andreas Lilja to a contract and have agreed to a contract extension with 6-2, 214-lb RW Jakub Voracek, according to general manager Paul Holmgren.

Lilja, 35 (7/13/1975), comes to the Flyers from the Anaheim Ducks, where he scored a goal and added six assists for seven points in 52 games last season.

Voracek, 21 (8-15-1989), was acquired by the Flyers in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on June 23.

JULY 1, 2011 -- PHILADELPHIA -- The Flyers have also signed 5-11, 190-lb free agent C Max Talbot to a multi-year contract, according to general manager Paul Holmgren.

Talbot, 27 (2/11/84), comes to the Flyers from the Pittsburgh Penguins, who drafted the Lemoyne, Quebec native in the 8th round (232nd overall) of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He appeared in all 82 games for the Penguins last year, recording eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points.

JULY 1, 2011 -- PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers have traded RW Kris Versteeg to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a second-round and a third-round draft pick, according to general manager Paul Holmgren.

The Flyers will receive Florida’s second-round pick in either 2012 or 2013 (Florida’s choice) and will also receive San Jose’s third-round pick in 2012, which Florida had previously acquired.

JUNE 23, 2011 -- PHILADELPHIA --

The Philadelphia Flyers have agreed to terms with goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov on a multi-year contract.

Bryzgalov went 36-20-10 with a 2.48 goals-against average and seven shutouts in 2010-11, but Phoenix was swept from the playoffs by Detroit in the opening round.  Bryzgalov was a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2009-10.

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