Sorry I've been away the past few days, but since I didn't go to San Jose and the Flyers had a day off, I had nothing to offer in the way of the Flyers until I was back with them.

Here are some thoughts on the roster moves.

Steve Downie really wasn't being given a chance to play with the Flyers, and it seemed every time he did hit the ice, he was either making a crucial turnover or he was taking a bad penalty.

Either way, Downie needs a lot of ice time, and the only place he can get that is with the Phantoms.

Barring an injury to a top nine forward on the Flyers, I think Downie will be with the Phantoms for a while.

As for Nodl, he was very impressive in training camp. He looked like a player who was positionally smart and could provide some good offense from time to time.

He'll play with Jeff Carter and Scottie Upshall, we'll see what he brings to the table.

Nodl, 21, was a second round pick by the Flyers in the 2006 draft. He is Austrian, but you wouldn't know it, as he sounds like a kid who grew up in North America. He did attend college at St. Cloud St, where he was one of the better offensive players, averaging more than a point a game.

"It's very exciting," he said. "I plan to come in, work hard, and see what happens. I just want to come in and help as much as I can. I'm going to keep it simple, dump the puck in deep, go to work and forecheck hard."

Nodl won't be able to fly in his parents from Austria to see his NHL debut, but did say if he sticks around, he'd like to get them to come to a game soon.

"They told me how long I stay depends on how I play. If I don't make mistakes and play solid... it's good for my confidence. You always think you can make the team, it's hard to crack the lineup, but now I have the chance. I'm playing with two great guys and I'm going to have to do something while I'm up here or I'll be sent down again."

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I feel bad for Downie, but I need to pass along this little incident from Denver that was pretty funny.

After the game, one that the Flyers would like to forget, I was with the other beat reporters talking to Mike Richards when all of the sudden from the training room came this:

"Ooooh....OOOOOWWWWOOWWWWWWWWWWW! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! JIIIIIMMMMMMMMYYYY!!!!!"

Whoever it was, they sounded like they were in immense pain. We couldn't tell who was injured, because the Flyers training staff deftly had the curtain drawn so as the wandering eyes of the media couldn't see (You're onto us Jimmy McCrossin!!!!)

Anyway, being the curious sleuths we are, we proceeded to spend the next several days trying to find out who exactly was hurting, but we were e-mailed by general manager Paul Holmgren saying there are no new injuries to report.

We didn't believe him.

So we started snooping around. A few players offered to investigate. But then, McCrossin himself came down the hall and told the story.

Turns out Downie, who is still recovering from an MCL strain in his left knee, was getting a little electric stimulation on his knee after the game. Downie started goofing off with the levels of the stimulator, and accidentally turned it up too high.

His muscles were being shocked. He dropped the controller and couldn't turn it off. He screamed for McCrossin to help him. Everyone in the trainer's room got a good laugh.

Poor Steve.