GAGNE HAS COME BACK TO PHILADELPHIA

February 26, 2013

So here's your out of nowhere news for the day.

Simon Gagne is a Flyer again. He has been traded back to Philadelphia by the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional fourth round pick.
“Simon is an experienced veteran who will help us in a lot of areas,” Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said in a press release. “We are glad to have him back.”

"I'm going to a place I know well," Gagne said to RDS hockey reporter Renuad Lavoie. "It's like going back home. I know everybody there and I'm going back where it all started."

A Flyer for his first 10-years in the NHL, Gagne has scored 259 goals and earned 265 assists in the orange and black.

But his career defining goal most likely came in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

You all probably know the story well by now.

Down three games to none against the Boston Bruins, the Flyers came roaring back to force a game seven.

Much like the series itself, the Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Flyers decided to make one more comeback.

The Flyers scored three unanswered goals, and then Gagne netted what would become the game-winner in the the third period.

The historic comeback was followed by a 4-1 series win against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Finals, sending the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1997.

Following that unforgettable year, the Flyers traded Gagne to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Matt Walker and a fourth round pick.

The move was a salary dump by the Flyers, as Gagne, in the final year of his contract, had a $5.25 million cap hit for the 2010-2011 season.

Gagne hit free agency after his one-year stint in Tampa Bay, and inked a two-year, $7 million deal with the Kings.

Now in the second-year of his contract, Gagne is carrying a $3.5 million cap hit that the Flyers will now have to deal with.

Although he did win his first Stanley Cup in Los Angeles, last season wasn't much of a successful campaign for the 32-year old forward.

Gagne only played in 34 regular season games in the 2011-12 season, and had to deal with concussion issues. His only appearances in the playoffs were in the final four games of the Stanley Cup Final, in which he did not register a point.

In 11 games with the Kings this season, Gagne has no goals and five assists. He totals seven goals and 15 assists in his whole stint with LA.

Ruslan Fedotenko, Brian Boucher and Mike Knuble are former Flyers who have returned to the team via a trade or signing this year, making Gagne the fourth player to keep the trend going.

(Image from InFlexWeTrust.com)
(Video posted on YouTube by NHL Video)