New era begins tonight

No more Hitchcock, and no more Clarke. The new era of Philadelphia Flyers hockey begins tonight as the team hosts the Atlanta Thrashers. John Stevens will be behind the bench for his first game as Flyers head coach, and Paul Holmgren will be in the press box for his first game as Flyers GM. If the attitude of this team is to change, it must change tonight against a tough 7-1-2 Thrashers team that looks like a playoff contender.

With the new coach comes some new line pairings. Stefan Ruzicka will get a bump to the top line with Peter Forsberg and Simon Gagne. Mike Knuble will slip down to the second line with Randy Robitaille and Jeff Carter. Mike Richards will be the center on a line consisting of Kyle Calder and Sami Kapanen. Finally, newly called up enforcer Triston Grant will be on the 4th line with R.J. Umberger and Geoff Sanderson.

Meanwhile, on defense there will be a new face on the blue line. Mike Rathje and Joni Pitkanen will continue to be the top pairing as Rathje says he now feels little pain in his back after being examined by doctors and receiving shots. Veteran Derian Hatcher will mentor Alex Picard, and Denis Gauthier will be paired with the new face, Lars Jonsson.

Jonsson has a chance to be the "Hank Baskett" type player for the Flyers. Until he was sidelined by a right ankle injury in training camp, Jonsson was performing very well in drills and preseason action. He is a solid puck moving defenseman, and the Flyers can only hope that Jonsson is able to replace Kim Johnsson, who left for Minnesota in the offseason.

Antero Niittymaki will be in net, and will have to deal with a potent Atlanta offense that features Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa. Hossa is leading the NHL with 10 goals and 15 total points through 10 games. Kovalchuk is a close second with 14 points.

Game Information: 7:00, ComcastSportsNet, 610WIP