Who's Here?

Written by Ryan
Wednesday, 27 January 2010 07:49
I don't really see any options that the Flyers have in acquiring a new bottom tier defenseman for the post-Olympic mini-season. If the best upcoming UFA that is kind of within our price range and is definitely on a seller come the deadline is Arron Ward I don't want him. I don't want him because he sucks as much as anyone we have right now and I don't want him because I always confuse him with Paul Mara for some reason. Plus how would we even get him? Ward, who would instantly become the oldest Flyers on the roster at 36, has a salary of $2.5M. We'd have to move some NHL salary and let's face it, who wants what we're going to offer in Daniel Carcillo or well…Daniel Carcillo. Our bottom half forwards simply don't make enough where we wouldn't have to ship three of them together to get even close to Ward's salary. We can't give up any defensemen because we're in this jam as a result of not having enough, and why would a seller want either of our older back up goalies? If Paul Holmgren's not happy with the make up of the defense, which I'll grant you has not been stellar but not awful, then he should have a rotating carousel of AHLers come up for single games and see if they can step up to the plate. Play bigger on a bigger stage. We have prospects we expect something out of some day. Prospects I would hope are as good now as Luca Sbisa was last year. Marshall and Bourdon's offensive prowess has not translated to the pro game yet, but can't one of these smooth skating good-sized Phantoms come up and play a responsible brand of defense that people in the know seem to think OKT cannot? I think what might need to happen is that Peter Laviolette might need to make his system more dynamic. Have the 3rd pairing play his aggressive pinching system when they change on the fly but if they get out there off a face-off match them with a line that will play a more trap-like shift. The left wing lock without all the pinching. Just for 12 minutes a game or so. It's doable. Or just wait to see what happens. And when the effects of Malkin's elbow set in on Simon Gagne's head, or when Danny Briere gets hurt during the Olympics after consuming too much cabernet sauvignon and falling off his poet's pedestal, then bring in Scott Niedermayer and give the Ducks all the draft picks of ours that they don't already have for the next two years. Add comment (11)

Therien and Saunders Losing Popularity Contest

Written by Ryan
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 10:54
It's not surprising that over the past 3 years high definition radio has just not been able to keep up with HDTV. The days of families gathering around the squawk box and listening intently to an announcer say "they take it to the right, and now back to the left, and now to the right" may be gone forever. Maybe it should therefore come as no surprise that just like how people don't have any use for "radios" anymore, that they also don't have any use for people who work in them - not even to have them say, cut your veal parmigiana for you between periods. Which would explain why the chance to sit in the booth with Chris Therien and Tim Saunders while they call a game is only at $425 while the same experience with Jim Jackson and Keith Jones is already over $800 on the Flyers Charities on nhl.com. I would have thought that sitting in the booth watching Chris and Tim do all the characters' voices while reading from their scripts, banging pots and pans, and honking horns would be way more exciting than watching JJ and KJ just sit there and talk, but maybe I'm just unwilling to let go of the past. In the end though, if I was going to drop what will surely be over $1,000 by the time the auction ends to watch anyone call a a game it would be a stripper. One of the ones that does anything for $1,000 even though they're not supposed to. The classy ones. Add comment (2)

I Dislike Sergei Gonchar. Troll me.

Written by Ryan
Monday, 25 January 2010 09:48
When Sergei Gonchar scored the 4th goal in the Penguins Shhh Comeback last April so effortlessly he became my most hated Penguin. Crosby, Staal, Malkin, Orpik - I dislike them. But I think I always had it in me to hate Gonchar. Before the puck came to him you knew he was going to score. As he began to wind up you knew where it was going. And when it was sitting in the net behind Marty Biron you were laying on the floor, beer spilled everywhere. When Sergei Gonchar laid a hit on one of the toughest little fuckers in the NHL a couple weeks ago that would have seen him suspended for 20 games if the hit had taken place in the OHL and he got off Scott free because of a supossed good reputation, he joined Steve Ott on the tallest podium I have as one of my most hated ambassadors of a game I luuuuv (Miller Lite commercial that is not funny because in real life he'd have no problem telling her that and then he'd bang her and the real problem would crop up when she started to catch on that he was lying just to bang her, which of course he has already done). When he was the one who of course scored on a bullshit double minor to Simon Gagne I vomited on my pants. Malkin hits a guy with a history of concussions right in the head with his elbow and Gagne literally hugs him and the Flyers get a double minor. It was a stupid move by Gagne but something a secure ref should let slide considering the history of the player involved, its distance from the play, and a 2-0 to 1-1 swing. And if you're a Pens fan on a last day troll go ahead and tear into my bitching in the comments because I'd be glad to have them. But I'm with Cal Clutterbuck on this one. Someone's going to get Gonchar. I originally thought what David Koci did in the '08 preseason was bullshit, but chances are it's something Gonchar had been earning dive by dive, cross check by cross check, indignant look by indignant look. Fuck him and fuck his goolash peddling mother. I can't confirm anythng, but if you told me there was a nazi in the NHL I would guess that it was Sergei Gonchar. Hypothetically. Add comment (15)

Flyers Gameday: And on the 7th Day, God created Flyers-Penguins

Written by Fran
Sunday, 24 January 2010 09:00
NBC Game of the Week. Wachovia Center. Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Guerin. Richards, Carter, Gagne, Pronger. Thank Christ for no Bob Errey and the rest of the FSN amateur hour. Can a Sunday get any better than this? The Battle for Pennsylvania rages. Let's Go Flyers. Add comment (13)

A Good Plan That Will Never Happen

Written by Ryan
Sunday, 24 January 2010 09:43
Watching my 3AM recorded NHL on the Fly this morning I came to the realization that I'm just done with the Southeast Division. I'm over it. If I catch some of the program on a weekday the number of empty seats at any given Thrashers game is enough to leave me depressed for the entirety of the working day. If I'm watching highlights from a Toronto - Panthers game on a weekend I for some reason am rooting for the Leafs. And I hate the Leafs. So I'm proposing a pretty drastic change - a change that even NHL 10 wouldn't let you do. I'm talking moving franchises, realignment, and possibly reversing Matt Cooke's resex change. So here we go. Carolina goes back Hartford. Tampa Bay goes to Quebec. Atlanta goes to Hamilton and becomes the Hamilton Fruit Stripe Gum. And the Panthers head all the way to Winnipeg. That's right Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Why make it 6 when you could make it 8? Reach for the stars and one day you'll be able to dunk with the help of a trampoline. And then let's call a spade a spade - Divisions really don't mean anything. In fact, all they do is guarantee the Caps home ice in the first round even if the have a post-Olympic slide. So what we're going to do is leave the NHL with two conferences, but consolidate the divisions from 3 to 2. And they'll look like this. Eastern Conference - Bourque Division 1. Boston Bruins 2. Hamilton Fruit Stripe Gum 3. Toronto Maple Leafs 4. Montreal Canadiens 5. Quebec Nordiques 6. Buffalo Sabres 7. Hartford Whalers 8. Ottawa Senators Eastern Conference - Lemieux Division 1. Philadelphia Flyers 2. Pittsburgh Penguins 3. Nashville Predators 4. New York Rangers 5. New York Islanders 6. New Jersey Devils 7. Washington Capitals Yes, we're taking Nashville. I mean, they're in Tennessee for Christ's sake. And the West: Western Conference - Yzerman Division 1. Detroit Red Wings 2. St. Louis Blues 3. Chicago Blackhawks 4. Dallas Stars (renamed the Ranch Hands) 5. Minnesota Wild (renamed the North Stars) 6. Winnipeg Jets 7. Columbus Blue Jackets Western Conference - Gretzky Division 1. Edmonton Oilers 2. Los Angeles Kings 3. Colorado Avalanche 4. Vancouver Canucks 5. Calgary Flames 6. San Jose Sharks 7. Anaheim Ducks 8. Phoenix Coyotes You could play each team in your division 4 to 5 times and then every team from the other division in your conference home and away, and then figure out some system with the opposing conference. I'm sure there are some of you that will disagree with my plan, but that's probably because you're inbreed, and I therefore wouldn't expect you to understand my genius. It takes a big league to admit when they've made a mistake. And the SE Division is a waste of good hockey. Or at least some good players that would be better appreciated in Canada or the Northeast. Add comment (4)

Flyers Gameday: Matinee Me

Written by Fran
Saturday, 23 January 2010 09:02
Games at 1pm on a Saturday are always a great thing. For one, it makes it socially acceptable to be drinking before lunch. It also has the potential to line up the rest of your Saturday to be spectacular. A win today against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Flyers continue climbing back into the playoff picture. The team just replaced ex-Flyer Rod the Bod as Captain with their best player, perennial All-Star Eric Staal. What did he end up doing? First game wearing the 'C', Staal potted 3 in a rout of the Thrashers. The Flyers are looking for their 6th straight at home, something that could be accomplished against the worst team in the league. But make no mistake, the Flyers have notoriously played down to their competition this year. You don't have to look back that far to see that 3-0 drubbing by the Maple Leafs and know that a good Flyers team can lay an egg against a lesser opponent. Carolina has talent, especially Staal and goalie Cam Ward. I think the Flyers 4 line surge will incapacitate the Canes from the get go, but a few things are there to watch today. Briere hasn't practiced in a few straight off days, and Timmay P. reported that Gagne has a "bit of a quad pull" so keep your eyes on them. Richards, Carter and Rabbit are all piling up the points in the last two weeks, something along with the physical play I hope continues today. No matter the standings, the Canes are a good matchup today and the team better focus for 60 minutes without thinking about Sundays tilt against the Pens. Ex-Flyer Brind 'Amour had to give up the 'C' this year. He's 39. Might be the last time Rod the Bod comes into Philly to play hockey, so if you're going, give old Rod a rousing hand. Dude is a stud and sure he's played more as a Cane now, but will always be a great Flyer. Fuck trap games. This could be the best day of my life. Let's Go Flyers. Add comment (3)

Some Thoughts and Some Stats

Written by Ryan

Friday, 22 January 2010 11:30

OKT and Bartulis - Paul Holmgren is starting to scare me with all his 5,6 defenseman talk. I think OKT and Oskars have been decent with the puck. Sure they get turned inside out in one-on-one's occasionally, but they're the third pairing. That's bound to happen. Can't wait to see what Holmgren digs up from the under $2M defenseman who are going to be free agents bin. Hope Jarolsav Modry is still in shape.

Scottie Doesn't Know - Actually maybe he does. With his hat trick last night Scottie Upshall is now on pace to net 25 goals this season and finally get paid the money he thinks he deserves. Upshall currently is making $1.5M but a stat line in the neighborhood of 25-25-50 gets you Lupul-Kunitz money, which would be somewhere around a recession affected $3.25M.

Today in Flyers History - 21 years ago in 1989 the Flyers beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-3 on the back of a Tim Kerr hat trick (30,31,32). Rich Tocchet scored his 26th, Brian Propp hit the 20 goal mark, and good old Mike Bullard netted number 17. Ron Hextall got the win with a 37 save effort and Jeff Chychrun enjoyed 5 minutes in the box for fighting.

Ben Eager - turns 26 today. He scored his 5th goal in his 34th game last night for Chicago.

You may remember a guy named Darren Reid who played a bit for the Flyers and a lot for the Phantoms during the 2006-07 season. Since his 14 games in the Orange & Black he's had a fairly rough run of it, and the 26 year old Alberta native will be suiting up for the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL for his third game tonight.

Speaking of that 2006-07 Phantoms team, there are only 2 players who played for that club that are still members of the Phantoms - Jared Ross and Jon Matsumoto.

Vinny Prospal and Rod Brind'Amour are the only two players from the Flyers 1997 Eastern Conference Champion team that are still playing in the NHL.

Simon Gagne is the 12th longest tenured Flyer in terms of games played. In three games he'll pass Rod the Bod and by the end of the season he'll move into 10th after passing Johnny On The Spot. And then it's only 6 more seasons to pass Bobby Clarke.

Of Flyers with over 320 games played John Leclair has the most game winning goals per game with a GWG every 10 games. Jeff Carter is second with one every 12th game and Reggie Leach is third by a slim margin. Of Flyers with more than 10 games JVR is numero uno with 5 GWG in 45 games.

Of Flyers with over 100 games played all time Riley Cote has the least shots per games played at 1 shot every 6 games.

Of Flyers with over 320 games played Pelle Eklund has the most distorted Goals to Assists ratio with nearly 3 assists for every goal - 118g, 334a, 452 pts. On the other side of things Reggie Leach had two goals for every assist - 306g, 208a, 514 pts. In 284 games Kevin Dineen had 88 goals and 88 assists - he should be a Canadian Supreme Court justice. Of current Flyers Gagne is pretty close to that with 248g and 255 assists.

There are two current NHLers who played less than 10 games as a Flyer - the Islanders Richard Park and the Thrashers Todd White.

Last Week Flyers prospect Zac Rinaldo was traded to the OHL's Eastern Conference leading Barrie Colts in hopes that he would provide some spark and defense for their run at the Memorial Cup. Rinaldo leads the OHL in PIM. Another prospect, Eric Wellwood, is having a break out year with the Memorial Cup defending champion Windsor Spitfires, as he has 52 points in 45 games. Last year he had 34 points in 61 games.

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Marion, Control Your Temper

Written by Ryan
Friday, 22 January 2010 08:16
Danny Briere is in a scrum off to the side of the net and Donald Brashear rips him out of it. They exchange some gloves to the face. Danny drops his gloves. What I would hope, as a Flyers fan, is that Donald Brashear would just kind of hold him and laugh at him. But as soon as Briere's gloveless hands came anywhere near Brashear's face I'm not sure what would happen. If Brashear ended up wailing on Briere I would hope someone would jump in as the third man. Either way I'd call Brashear a goon, say that there's no honor in what he did - every mild-mannered insult I could think of. But in the end, once again as a Flyers fan, all my thoughts would come back to "Danny, what were you thinking?" Last night Marion Gaborik threw a piece of raw meat to a french bulldog with rabies. The reason why Dany Briere won't get into something like that is he'd never drop his gloves with 95% of the Rangers. And regardless of your opinion on the instigator rule it exists. I don't even know what the competitive thing to do is. If Daniel Carcillo can get Marion Gaborik and his 29 goals off the ice for 5 minutes isn't he supposed to do that? The black and white is Marin Gaborik should know his role (The Tooth Fairy comes out today). They grey is what Daniel Carcillo should do in that situation. I know what he will do 100% of the time. And I'm not sure that's the wrong answer. Add comment (12)

There's only one question: How much do you like the Flyers?

Written by Ryan
Thursday, 21 January 2010 14:31
Don't ask me how, but I found this post on Craigslist this afternoon. (OK, I searched Flyers in the Philly personals, that's how.) If you can't read that it says: Fit, athletic tone safe and sane professional MWM looking for hook up with younger (18-25) guy into Flyers. I will be traveling to Philly for the day from central PA and would like day time hook up. You must be DDF, average to GL and possibly host or have fun in my car. Willing to give some great seats for upcoming Flyers I have game as thanks. stats/pic in response please. So some Mid-Western Male(?) is looking for some ok looking college-age dude to bang with him for some Flyers tickets? That is creepy and probably illegal. Regardless, wouldn't you have to know what kind of seats they were and for what game? I'm not going climbing in the back of some dude's Outback for anything less than lower level playoff tickets, but that's just me. He might have to somehow guarantee that they were for game 7 of the Stanley Cup too. "Oh, that was great. How about those tickets you mentioned?" "Oh yeah. The funny thing about that is I lost them. Sorry." Awwwwkkwwaaarrrdd! Add comment (5)

Flyers Gameday: Yeah, I'm excited

Written by Fran
Thursday, 21 January 2010 11:54
Mets vs. Phillies. Giants vs. Eagles. Rangers vs. Flyers. Games against New York teams are always circled on the calendar. Two cities separated by only 90 miles seem like worlds apart and tonight, those worlds collide as the Rangers are in town for what looks like an epic matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers. These games don't need any more voltage than what will be served up on ice tonight. Two enemies, battling for the playoffs, in a hostile barn, throughout a physical 60 minutes. Dare I say, can we ask for anything better for the start of the weekend? The build up for this game will be awesome, but what the outcome may hinge on is simply how well Henrik Lundqvist performs. He has been on a tear, going 6-1-2 with a 1.42 GAA in his last 9. Hank always plays well against Philly and will be the lynchpin to any attempt by the Rangers to steal a victory in South Philly. Hank will always be a Vezina candidate. He's a great goalie, but just like everyone else, is beatable. Last time these two teams met, he got chased after allowing 3 goals on 11 shots. I don't think that happens tonight, but steady pressure in front of him delivered by all 4 lines will shake him to his Swedish core. Marion "Glass Groin" Gaborik has been on a tear as has Brandon Dubinsky, who is the biggest turd in midtown Manhattan. "Duby" always tries to get it going with Richards, so maybe the Captain can take some of his media frustrations out on little Brandon's face. The Rangers defence, aside from Lundqvist, isn't anything special. Sure, Marc Staal is pretty awesome but I'm not sold on anyone else, including rookie Michael Del Zotto, whipping boy Wade Redden or unibrow-master Michael Rosival. Defensivly these guys are beatable, but they do provide some offensive punch on the powerplay. Watch for Del Zotto and Rosival on the points, sneaky fuckers always seem to get hit the score sheet against Philly. The Rangers are on fire, blowing out their last two opponents by a combined score of 14-4. While they're hot, they'll have to contend with a team that can score on all four lines and blocks tons of shots. For the Flyers, Atlantic Division match ups are extremely critical in the second half. These games are 4 point swings and a win tonight is a big step towards the playoffs. To put it simply, the Rangers are ahead of us in the standings, so a win tonight is a major plus. Animosity and story lines aside, establishing and keeping a lead is the most important thing the Flyers can do tonight. I'm going to drop some originality on this blogosphere and give you three, yes THREE "keys" to the "game." Scott Hartnell, Powerplay success, Aaron Asham. We need Hartnell to show us why we're paying him so much again. He's been a bit quiet the past three games, yet thrives off of matchups like this. Nothing silly(ie "hartnell" penalties), just some grindin' Birddog play in front of Lundqvist. If the Flyers can control the special teams the way they did in their previous meeting they'll be setting themselves up for huge success. This means Richards, Pronger and Giroux all maintaining pressure while putting pucks on net at will. Aaron Asham has been quietly playing the best hockey of the year during the past 10 games, amassing points, being physical and really giving Giroux and Rabbit a versatile vet to line up with. He showed some nice moves against Columbus, combine that with his energy and playing with two dynamos, he could be a difference maker tonight. I don't need you to get pumped up, because you're reading this and are very much like me (except you can't do 10,000 pushups). You're already excited. Chainsaw bear is pumped, and if he is, you should be too. I bet the music in your headphones is blasting right now. It's almost lunch people, that means the day is half over. Start coughing now, tell your boss you're taking off early and meet us in spirit at your local watering hole. It's the fuckin' weekend. It's Flyers vs. Rangers at the Wach. Doesn't get any better than Philly versus New York. Fuck the Brooklyn Blowout and LET'S GO FLYERS! Add comment (0)