Flyers comment on Emery

Philadelphia Flyers OTF -- philadelphiaflyers.com
Friday, June 12
1:46 p.m.

Today at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone, we caught up with a couple of players still in the area to get their thoughts on the newest member of the team, goaltender Ray Emery.

Mike Knuble: "I can see where the organization is going with this signing. They got a guy who wants to come back into the NHL and try to prove himself again. I think the main draw is his competitiveness. Everybody loves his competitiveness. Whether things were true or not in whatever happened in Ottawa or whether there is much behind it, who knows? Certainly things are going to be a little bit magnified when you play in a Canadian city. Guys really don’t care as long as he is going to stop the puck. I don’t think we are going to have to worry about his competing every night. I see what (Paul) Homer (Holmgren) is going with this. I think he said he wants to go with maybe a little bit of a bigger goalie, quote unquote."

Q: Do you think having him brings and edge to the team that maybe they lacked before?

Knuble: "The edge that goalies have is probably a little different than what a player in front needs to have. They are the ones who have to be more focused. They are the guys on the ice for 60 minutes. Ray has played a lot of games in this league and he has had a lot of success. I don't think he needs to do anything different. He just needs to come in, be ready to play and stop the puck."

Kimmo Timonen: "We all know about Ray and what is behind is behind now and I am ready to leave that behind and move forward. I am sure he is, too. What I heard about him, he obviously is a big guy who covers a lot of the net and is really talented. He kind of has a feisty personality. I am actually looking forward to see him on the ice. Hopefully he can help us win."

Q: Do you think he might bring an edge to this team?

Timonen: "I think so. I think I only played against him 3-4 times in my life. I don’t know enough about him to say more about him, but what I heard he is really feisty. He is not shy of fighting and that kind of stuff. That's why I am kind of looking forward to see what kind of player and person he is. I am sure he will fit right in with our team perfectly."

Danny Briere: "With the situation that we are in, I think everybody expected something to happen. Obviously with salary cap era now, we needed to find a goalie somewhere. Some decisions have to be made. But I think we just signed a really good goalie who took his team to the Stanley Cup Final before. He is a young, good goalie. Everybody makes mistakes. I think we should judge Ray on how he reacts to this new opportunity. We need to give him a chance before we judge him. I have played against him and I know he is a good goalie. He is big, athletic and very competitive. I got the chance to meet him yesterday and seemed really nice. We will get to know him more later on. He is a great signing for the team especially if he reacts the way he said during his press conference in that he was happy with the chance that the Flyers are giving him. I think we are getting a great deal. I am excited about it and hopefully this helps us going all the way next year."

Q: Do you think he brings an edge to this team that maybe we didn’t have last season?

Briere: "He is definitely going to bring an edge. Sometimes it could be that sparkplug that we need. It's too early to tell. But just the fact that he is very competitive, it is going to bring in another element to our team. I think everybody is excited of the signing. You can tell that he just wants to win. It is going to be a fun year."

Q: Are you sad to possibly see Marty leave?

Briere: "Definitely. He is a good friend of mine but it is the business of hockey. You can’t really control that. It's not that the organization wanted to get rid of Marty. It is just a business decision. Like I stated earlier, with salary cap issues, decisions have to be made and this seems to be an obvious one. I think everybody will be sad to see Marty, if he goes. He is a great guy and we all wish him well wherever he is going to be playing next year."

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Philadelphia Flyers Derian Hatcher underwent full right knee replacement surgery on June 1, 2009. Dr. William Hozack of Rothman Institute performed the surgery at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia.

Q: How are you feeling?

Hatcher: "Considering that it has been only a little over 10 days it is feeling really, really good. It is a full knee replacement. I think they just go in there and saw some of the bone away and put the new knee in. I kind of know the process but it is hard to explain. Rehab is not too bad. I am going about five-times a week. Like I said, for being 10 days out I have made a ton of progress."

Q: So will you be the first person to make a comeback with a brand new knee?

Hatcher: "(Laughs). I seriously doubt it. The doctor said 'no' so there you go."