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Written by Ryan
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 08:28 |
 There was a very interesting stat in Frank Seravalli's piece on Scott Hartnell and the Flyers this morning:
'On Dec. 6, Hartnell and Carter both had nine goals. In the 38 games since, Carter has 21 goals and Hartnell has scored just three times.'
That is a disturbing stat. But rather than focus on the negative, I want to take a look at the positive and give Carter a little bit of credit. Not sure how he's done it, but although he hasn't yet overcome my first impressions of his season, he does sit in a tie for 8th in the league with 30 goals.
Frank goes on to average out Carter's production, which he says will land him at 38 goals this season. Which is right, if you subscribe to one school of thought - that a player's pace, at any point in the season, is dependant upon his scoring throughout the entire year. A flat line.
But there's something to be said for getting hot in sports. Everyone believes in it. Or they at least spend a lot of time talking about it to pass the interviews. So I think the trend that Frank points out earlier in the article should be incorporated into his projected totals. If the science of accounting has taught us anything it's that there's different views on what the proper way to count is. Nothing is simple in this world - except the iPhone.
So while I'm not going to project Carter at his goal-a-game pace he's been carrying over the last 8 games and hit him up with a 48 goal season, I think if there is any truth to a player getting hot, and assuming he doesn't cool off and fulfill the bell shape productivity trend that would be so 'Jeff Carter', then we need to give Carter credit where credit's due for getting his game back together, and at least assume he'll continue his scoring pace from the last 38 games, not the first 26.
Hold on tight, because here we go. Over the last 38 games Carter has 21 goals. That's .5526 goals per game. There are 18 games left. That's 10 more goals this season. That's a total of 40!
Frank, you were waaaaaaay off, buddy.
If Carter can score 40 goals this season it will really be a testament to his arrival as one of the game's true stars and not a flake who only scores against the Thrashers and Islanders. The most impressive part, and promising, would be the 31 goals in 56 games, that would see him glance against his 2008-09 scoring rate. The last Flyer to score back-to-back 40 goal seasons was Simon Gagne (yeah I looked this one up). And before him John Leclair. And before him was the Big E before the first lockout with 41 and 44 in only 125 games during his rookie and sophomore seasons. So yeah, shoot for 40 Jeff, and join the elite ranks of the back-to-back 40 club.
Don't let Frank and his calculator hold you back at 38. |
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Written by Ryan
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Monday, 08 March 2010 14:10 |
I'm not sure that's what I'm trying to say. As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure that's not what I'm trying to say. Either way you'll understand momentarily. This is a very simple though never asked question because it's too provocative for the average mind.
If you had to flop the forwards and the defense for the Flyers who would you keep?
The rest of the NHL is doing it (possibly inspired by Def Leopard's placement of the Stanley Cup last spring), and you have to organize 2 forward lines out of our 8 D-men and 3 pairs of defense out of our 14 forwards. Who are you going with? Here's what we've got:
Pronger - Timonen - Syvret
Coburn - Bartulis - Carle
Gagne - Richards
Betts - Lappy
Powe - Giroux
Up front don't even get on me about Bartulis - he played forward in Latvia before being converted to D in Juniors.
And on D Gagne is a good skater, our number two unit is defensively sound, and Powe-Giroux are the wild card!
Try and name a better lineup. Except you can't. Because there isn't one. |
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Written by Ryan
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Monday, 08 March 2010 08:45 |
 Look, I like anyone in a Flyers uniform too. And Daniel Carcillo is playing a lot better than even in my wettest dreams I hoped he ever would. But you guys have to back off, because you're heralding of his play is driving casually across state lines from Support into North Blow Job.
Carcillo made a smart decision to not fight Colton Orr. He earned himself some praise for actually taking the face shots Orr was dishing out and not pulling a Claude Lemieux like Derrick Dorsett did against Brad Staubitz on Saturday night. But like most things he does as a performer, which is really what agitators are at heart, he was even embellishing those face shots (ironically he looked a bit Upshallian, didn't he!). It's probably been made very clear to him that as a first liner he is expected to be on the ice more and in the penalty box less. You could even hear it in his words between periods because he used to be the guy playing 2-3 minutes a game. But now from the first line he can hardly see those workers anymore.
And yes, he made a nice pass to Simon Gagne. He does a number of good things throughout a game. But no, just because he's a Dementor Apprentice doesn't mean that every decent pass he makes means you have to make a power point presentation out of it and hang it on the fridge. Claude Giroux's pass to JVR in Tampa? Yes. A pass to a guy 10 feet from you in the slot? It's great but a 'nice pass from Carcillo' would be enough.
Not:
The Toyota Great Look of the Game.
The Dannon Great Preparation to Pass of the Game.
The American Standard Great Pass Into Somebody's Skates of the Game.
The Trojan Great Follow Through of the Game
The KJ and the Sunshine Band Great Celebration of the Game.
Our goony agitator didn't drop the gloves against a meathead and we didn't score on the double minor that ensued. The next period he got an assist. I like what Car Bomb brings to an extent but don't, and I'm talking directly to you Coatsey, even though I'm cross-eyed, don't act like if Carcillo did that to Orr you wouldn't be secretly chirping Orr for not stepping up to the plate. I've heard you argue both sides of the stick breaking slash penalty 217 times (last night in the same game) this year. The league 'has to reexamine that rule' when Jeff Carter knocks someone's stick out of his hands, but when Phil Kessel does it to the apparently weak-gripped Chris Pronger 'that's the rule.'
I expect a little less homerism (no pun, Paul) on Thursday. |
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Written by Ryan
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Sunday, 07 March 2010 12:07 |
 This picture just goes to show you the old adage is true - you can lead a rich person to their unobstructed view but you can't teach them that there's no need to stand when you're the very first person behind the net.
I'm not sure what the etiquette is for polo matches or crab walk races, but in sports when there's nothing between you and the action please try to be cognisant of the little children behind you who even when they stand on their seats can't see past your bald spotted dome or fried blond hair.
If you have hemorrhoids go for the top row in any arena. You can stand all game. Hell, you can even be a fat guy and dance all game, and earn yourself the clever moniker 'Dancing Fat Guy." |
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Written by Ryan
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Sunday, 07 March 2010 09:41 |
 You know those tv shows where you get tomorrow's news today, and it's up to you to decide what to do with it? Get rich, save someone's life, get in touch with that guy who's about to put his antique checker board in the classifieds and buy it before he creates a flood of demand. Well, we're always here to help you. We care - that's it. We care about humanity and most especially about Philadelphians. So if you're wavering about watching tonight's game in a 'well it could be a good game because these teams always fight and neither can play defense but I like to put on 4 pairs of sucks and get in bed at 6 PM on Sundays and have a 7 hour long anxiety attack' kind of way then don't worry, we'll tell you what happens.
I was afforded the opportunity to go into the future this morning and I didn't check to see if mine or Marty McFly's kids married a black man (© Family Guy), I went to 10 o'clock tonight and looked at the box score for tonight's game. And here's what it told me:
1st Period
16:00 - Simon Gagne (Coburn, Laperriere)
18:53 - PP Claude Giroux (Briere, Carle)
Penalties
Daniel Carcillo - 2 Min Elbowing, :028
Ian Laperriere - 5 Min Fighting, 3:58
Jed Ortmeyer - 5 Min Fighting, 3:58
Phil Kessel, 2 Min Slashing, 18:20
2nd Period
2:19 - Tyler Bozak (Kaberle, Kessel)
4:16 - Nikolai Kulemin (Phaneuf)
5:20 - Fredrik Sjostrom (Stalberg, Wallin)
8:09 - Claude Giroux (Hartnell, van Riemsdyk)
10:47 - Chris Pronger (Betts, Laperriere)
Penalties
Daniel Carcillo - 5 Min Fighting, 11:16
Dion Phaneuf - 5 Min Fighting, 11:16
3rd Period
1:17 - Dion Phaneuf (Kaberle, Grabovski)
8:28 - PP Daniel Briere (Carle, Coburn)
Penalties
Ville Leino - 2 Min Interference, 1:38
Viktor Stalberg - 2 Min Slashing, 7:50
Colton Orr - 2 Min High Sticking, 16:52
We win 5-4, which is actually kind of believable. So is us wining 1-0, and them winning 8-1. Which is always the strange thing about being a Flyers fan - you literally never have any idea what's going to happen.
My advice to you is this: buy tickets off stubhub, don't think about tomorrow or this week, go to Chickie and Pete's for dinner, eat crab fries, drink cold beers, and then cheer for Mike Richards, Chris Pronger, and Kimmo Timonen when they make you during some short opening ceremony. Spend all of your money tonight and in general live like you were dyin'. Tim McGraw's words, not mine.
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In regular time news the Phantoms were shut out last night againt Binghamton. After they more than likely lose to the Bears tonight they will be 28-32-2, and for all intents and purposes, done with their run at the playoffs. |
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Written by Ryan
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Saturday, 06 March 2010 16:00 |
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Saw this commerical on ABC during a college basketball game:
Flyers Goal Scored By...making fun of everyone who doesn't score 100 points since 2007. |
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Written by Ryan
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Saturday, 06 March 2010 09:51 |
 I'm going to keep this on the ice. The thought occurred to me that the Sabres fan who told me their whale-in-heat voiced announcer was dying or retiring a couple seasons ago may not have been as reliable a source as I had hoped. So keeping it on the water, here's an overly analytical look at the first five minutes of last night's game. The five minutes that all the 'come on boys!' are about, that are supposed to set the tone for the night.
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We're opening the game with Gagne-Richards-Carcillo and Pronger-Carle. As much as I want Carcillo to be top line material he's not. He holds his own out there but I can't help but think it's Scott Hartnell's fault for not turning into a $4.5M player that we don't have six top 6 forwards on the top 2 lines. Ok, the puck is about to drop.
The Sabres win the face off but the puck stays above the dots in each end for the first 30 seconds. Tyler Myers takes the puck behind his net and both teams make an early change as they, as well as we, can tell nothing is going on. Funnily enough this boring shift ends up deciding the pace for the entire game, more or less.
The Carter line comes out and the Sabres put a pass through Jeff Carter's neutral zone defense and end up getting a long wrister on net. The Sabres turn the puck over and we actually break out nicely, 2-48-17 double play and dump in. Leino's on the forecheck which ends up in a misplay by the Sabres and Danny Briere puts one of MANY shots wide from the right side of the boards that almost results in a Sabres break out, but Kimmo keeps it in. Leino does a good job covering for Kimmo but Carter's out of position when the puck squeezes to a Sabre in the slot, who skates it out and dumps it in. Everyone goes for a change.
Except for lonely Lucas Krajicek, who with all the time in the world ends up making the first big mistake of the game. There's an opportunity for a controlled break out, as there is absolutely zero forecheck, and Krajicek turns and blasts a slap shot around the boards. The pass was meant to got to Steve Hartnell, who is obviously at his home away from home - on the other team's blue line - but Jason Pominville places his skate on the boards, stops the puck, and makes a first pass to Derrick Roy as the Sabres attack Krajicek 2-on-1 as he comes to meet them. Saint Raffi Torres over passes the puck but Krajicek has been out there for his own shift and now is working on a second. Him being tired is one of the many reasons this turnover results in 35 seconds of Sabres puck control and shots, even though we have 4 fresh players out there. We're giving the points way too much room and at times it resembles a powerplay until Claude Giroux rips it around the boards and it bounces over the point man's stick. As we change they come right back and put one on Leighton from the blue line, who covers it.
Asham-Betts-and Lappy get their first shift. Strong puck work by Lappy leads to a clear up to Betts who dumps the puck in. These guys either are on a different system than the other lines or are the only ones who've had an opportunity to show it - they send two guys in deep and Asham is third man high. The forecheck results in a turnover and Asham puts it back down low again. This time the Sabres beat the forecheck, however, and get it deep in our zone. Nothing doing as the Sabres change and 4 guys touch the puck before our 4th line dumps it over the red.
And back to our first line. As we change you get your first look of the night of AT AT replicia Tyler Myers rushing the puck from behind his own net across our blue line. Richie is trying to lift his stick from behind but not no avail. Kimmo's poke check bounces to a Sabre and it rolls in on net, where Pronger clears it right to the Sabres left point man who has 20 feet between himself and Gagne. He rushes it into the corner, loses it, and eventually the puck makes its way up to Carcillo, who makes the Flyers first noticeably good play of the night with a chip pass through the neutral zone to Richards who has speed. This results in a 2-on-1.5. I say 1.5 because the near-side defenseman is right on Richie's hip. That pressure causes Richie to forget who's on his line and he makes a cute pass right near the blue line to where Jonathan Toews would be, not Daniel Carcillo. Like a transition drill it's right on a Sabres stick who is already crossing over in anticipation of revving it up the other way. The Sabres bring it back 2-on-3 and Kimmo's strong D leads to a turnover, and a dangerous clear attempt by Carcillo through the slot. Luckily Myers brings it back in offsides and Laviolette puts out the 2nd line.
This is our first hint of a good shift this game. The defense moves the puck up for a tip deep, the Flyers pursue, and although the puck makes its way out to the red line Ville Leino is there to pick up a not perfect break out pass and put it back deep. Repeat. This time all three forwards are on the puck as it's being worked on the low boards side hash marks. A wrap around leads to a chase for the puck in which Leino causes some disruption as he crashes into the boards. But the Sabres work it out easily as all three of our forwards follow each other to that side's hash marks. They dump it in and our D takes it right back and dumps it - a lot of punting do far.
Laviolette then skips the third line and goes right with the 4th, obviously sensing that the Flyers need some energy out there. As the 15:00 mark passes Lappy steals the puck from the Sabres defense on the break out and works it to Betts who tries a wrap around. This is the Flyers first real good shift of the game.
So what's to learn from all of this? Well a couple things. The Flyers had zero shots on net in the first five minutes. They didn't even get any puck control in the offensive zone. While last night I thought that this was a result of the two teams settling in, this morning I can see that it's the result of the Flyers coming out extremely flat. 7 shifts and hardly a promising opportunity. Their only success came when they got the puck deep and did whatever they could to disrupt whatever Buffalo was doing. It sounds simple, but that's the name of the game. Try to stop them on every single play. You see a guy trying to pass it then knock it down. If a guy is trying to skate around you with the puck then hit him. If a guy is trying to shoot the puck then block it. In every game there are thousands of 1-on-1's, 2-on-1's, etc. When your coach is playing 4 lines you don't have very much time to get anything done out there. So you can't let a pass go between your legs in the neutral zone. It's going to be three more minutes before you get a chance to get back out there again. I guess that's what coaches mean when they say 'compete.' The team that wins the Cup, which could indeed be the Flyers, will compete in every single mini-game out there. When you go into the corner with the puck and that other guy makes a play, it might not result in a goal but you just lost. Which gets me to thinking, maybe the overly discussed team aspect of the game sometimes hurts the players. When a guy scores a hat trick or a goalie gets a shutout he always say it was a result of his teammates. When you get beat 1-on-1 you know your teammate is going to cover for you, so it's not that bad. Maybe that safety net can cause you to lose your individual games and not care as much. The Flyers should hire someone to monitor every single individual 1-on-1 and give each Flyer a score for the night. When the list was published each morning and Danny Briere saw he lost 14-3 last night, as his team lost 3-2, maybe he'd see the correlation. After two nights of being the biggest loser I guarantee that a player would be focused on winning those small games, and the scoreboard would reflect that. |
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Written by Fran
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Friday, 05 March 2010 13:54 |
 Nice sweater grandma.
Tonight the Flyers continue their playoff push by visiting the always tough Buffalo Sabre. Olympic MVP Ryan Miller and company will look to break their recent losing streak as the Flyers try to bounce back from an ugly performance against Florida. It's Friday night and we got a great Eastern Conference battle. Might I suggest an ice cold Sierra Nevada to compliment your Claude Giroux?
The biggest question I have is how does Leights rebound from Wednesday's not so spectacular performance. He gave up 4 softies and zapped any momentum from the Flyers offense in the 1st and 2nd period. You can't blame just Leighton for the Panthers game, as the defense has looked pretty crappy for the first two games back from the break. Leighton is our #1, for better or worse. To make a playoff run, we need him to be sharp. Getting lit up for 4 then playing in a loud barn like Buffalo will be tough. Team defense will be important tonight as Buffalo looks to break out of their goal scoring funk...they rarely get more than 2. Buffalo brought in ex-BlueJacket Raffi "Baby Beluga" Torres at the deadline to bolster their attack. Torres will play on the powerplay as well as the top 2 lines, so keep an eye on the overhyped new Sabre.
If Darrol Powerhaus can't go look for Ville Leino to get another go with the club. Leino was the lone bright spot for the Flyers against the Panthers, and it'll be interesting to watch his output if he suits up. Clearly, the offense doesn't seem to be the problem right now, it's the defense. I don't know if its the fact that Parent messed up some chemistry or the entire unit stopped communicating, but a team filled with snipers like Tim Connoly and Derek Roy can't be given as many odd man rushes as the Flyers gave up to the 'Ning and Panthers.
Buffalo has dropped 2 already this week. They also sit 6 points ahead of us in the standings. Also, it's Buffalo, which should be renamed "America's Back Acne". Motivation should be to capacity in both locker rooms. The Flyers got lit up for 7 against the Florida Panthers. Not good. The angst of the trade deadline is gone and the team should be focused on playing sound hockey. Buckle up for the weekend. Sabres/Flyers should be epic. Cheers to Ryan Miller, but fuck their wing eating, losing their NFL team to Toronto butts off. Let's Go Flyers. |
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Written by Ryan
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Friday, 05 March 2010 09:31 |
 We occasionally give him the business for his wicked wristers from the blue line and sometimes hesitant physical play, but there's no denying that at only 20 years old James van Riemsdyk is turning into one of the Flyers most prized possessions. JVR currently sits at 7th in scoring behind Claude Giroux and a gaggle of guys that make over $4M a year. By the time his contract renegotiation comes up who knows what we're going to have to give him. But only thinking as far as the end of the season, the kid who can't even legally buy beer stands to score over 40 points, and if he gets hot could be the first Flyers rookie to score 20 goals since Simon Gagne in 1999-2000.
While his progression has been slow he's come a long way from high school. After surprising his friends by simply making the varsity squad his Freshman year Riemer notched 36 goals and 24 assists as a 15 year old sophomore. Not so coincidently he helped his club team make their way to the USA Hockey National Championships that season and earned himself and invite to the National Development Program tryouts the following summer. Needless to say he made the Under 17 team. After leading the U-17 club with 42 points in 55 games Riemer was called up to play with the big boys on the U-18 team towards the end of the year. The next season he spent the entire year with the U-18 team, leading them in scoring with 63 points in 42 games and surprising some by making the US World Junior roster as a face-mask-wearing 17 year old.
As you know we drafted him after getting shafted by the NHL's lottery system (which they subsequently changed so that in the last two drafts the worst team has gotten the first overall pick) and picked up JVR with the second overall pick. Where things turned sour between us and him was when he honored his commitment to UNH in the summer of 2007 - patience is a virtue. When we started to hate on him was when he went back for a second year. (In retrospect how can syllabi and drunken fingering not help someone's development.)
But it appears that slow and steady has been his mantra so far in his career - and it's worked. He got settled in high school and then exploded all over everyone. He got settled at the US program and then exploded all over everyone. He got settled at UNH and then exploded all over everyone with 40 points in 36 games. And right now he's settling into the NHL and the Flyers organization. If he continues to develop chemistry (not a college class joke) with Claude Giroux and the Flyers find a nice compliment to that pair (Asham's doing fine but I'm talking about a real stud), who knows what these guys could get up to over the next 5 seasons.
While we lack talented prospects in the pipeline we have a 20 & 21 year old that would give any young pair in a league a run for their money. |
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Written by Ryan
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Thursday, 04 March 2010 15:15 |
Hockey fans have an inferiority complex. I suppose that's to be expected when you're #4 (maybe #7 or #8, actually). And that's fine. But why are we always trying to force our game onto everyone else? Is it because we think that we know better than they do? Is it because we want our arenas to be more crowded and tickets more expensive? Or is it because we really love ESPN so much that it would just be easier if that were the only channel we ever had to go to?
God these people in line at Subway would love hockey…if they only knew!!
A common theme among writers and even players at the Olympics was that the Games were a great stage on which to display the NHL product. Which infers one of two things - there are either some people out there that would like hockey but don't know it exists, or that there are other people that have seen hockey but weren't into it because it wasn't skilled enough for them.
When people see hockey, really see it at its best, they will become fans.
Growing the game.
So what exactly does getting more fans do for the NHL besides make the owners and players richer? What does it do for you? When the hockey fan population doubles what do you get out of it? You get to talk puck at the barber shop? Is that what this is really all about? If you think you need to do your part to spread hockey because the NHL will one day shut down due to lack of fans then you're mistaken. The SPHL is alive. As are the UHL, CHL, ECHL, and AHL. The NHL is here to stay. If the players have to go back to making $100k a year it sure beats the hell out of what I'm doing.
Let's get mainstream!
Why? You want to see hockey highlights on Sports Center? Splurge for the Center Ice. You want to see better commercials during hockey games? Drink a five hour energy and get over it. You want read your hockey to headlines first thing in the sports section every morning? Read your paper backwards.
If you want to live in a hockey culture! Move to Canada. They already have one set up.
I just don't get it at all. I like being a fan of my own little niche sport. It's more personal and the bond with other fans, when you happen to find one, is special. When people ask you what your favorite football or baseball team is you're expected to have an answer. You wouldn't dare ask a stranger what his/her(!) favorite hockey team was for fear of crucifixion. Or just the inevitable and embarrassing "oh I don't really follow hockey." And that's the way I like it. It helps me weed out the goons who know the centers' names for half of the teams in March Madness and steer clear of them. Hockey is our secret code. And I don't see any reason to try and change that. Except everyone seems to be telling me that I should.
I'm fine being in the good band that's not big. I actually prefer it. |
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