Unless Paul Holmgren is performing what people from the Wild, Wild West would call a "bluff" it doesn't look like the Flyers are going to be in the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes. But I've got Russians on the brain for some reason. This morning I was asked to change one of my 500 passwords at work and I left the bulk of it the same, only changing the number on the back end by one from 22 to 23. And I immediately tried to stamp the change on my brain so I wouldn't forget by picturing a Flyer who wore 23. And of all people - Petr Svoboda, Ossi Vaananen, Denis Gauthier, and even Ilkka Sinasalo - I pictured Andrei Lomakin. Yeah, the 27 year old Flyers draftee who played parts of two seasons for us early in the '90's.
And then I got lost in all these Russian hockey websites with pictures of vodka swilling, poker playing young tennis stars that want to marry me before I found out that the only Russian in our farm system is now missing from hockey. As I write this Denis Bodrov is either hanging at the afternoon discotech or hiding out in the engine room of a freighter headed for the US, because his KHL club voided his contract in November and he hasn't played since.
Bodrov is now 23, and after 4 and 1/2 years playing pro in Russia it looks like maybe he's not cut out to wear the orange and black after all. Every summer since we picked him up in the second round there's been speculation that this is the training camp that he would show his rosy-cheeked Russian face at, but that seems to have turned into a Russia to Alaska pipe dream. Unless he's pulling a Legein and is going to come back next year and be the best player on his team. That would be ok with me.
It's not fair or realistic, but it's fun. In the 2006 draft we picked Bodrov 55th overall. Here are some of the players that were picked after him. Mind you 90% of the guys drafted after Bodrov have not and will not ever skate in the NHL, but these guys definitely have:
Steve Mason Cal Clutterbuck Derek Dorsett
I totally set you up to think that there was a Zetterberg drafted after him but there wasn't. Just a good goalie and two toughish dime-a-dozen guys. Everyone in that 2006 draft after the first round basically sucks. Except Andreas Nodl, he's really working out for us. If Bobby Clarke had known what a beast Milan Lucic was going to turn into you think he would have moved up 5 spots to number 50 to grab him? Or maybe passed on Nodl or Ratchuk? I wonder…
Everyone's probably seen this already, because if something funny has finally made its way to my inbox it's usually pretty stale. But attached below is a letter from the Toronto Maple Leafs to Jim Pappin advising him of what exactly was going to be expected of him coming into the Fall of 1962's training camp. I really can't add anything this except to repeat "20 pushups." I can also repeat "Golf will be a must."
With the Olympics now only a month away I'm beginning to actually realize that they're about to actually happen. I've now been exposed to enough Morgan Freeman Visa commercials and Olympic Roster talk that I'm kind of looking forward to them. It'll be fun to have a daily distraction from the grind every day for 2 weeks. We'll always be able to count on something to gather around or discuss during the absolute dead of winter, plus we'll all temporarily be unified to a certain extent.
4 years ago I was in this very same building during most of the Olympics. Well in this building during the week, at my apartment on the weekends, and managed to squeeze in a 5 day trip to Amsterdam - those Dutch love their speed skating. That's not a joke.
That was forever ago.
The fall just before the Olympics hit Torino that year is when hockey came back on the scene after a well deserved 16 month break - My NHL, or the New NHL, or whatever the Mad Men came up with. The Flyers were still good, somehow, and would finish the season with 101 points - by far the most they've had post lock out. And when the Olympics came around in February the Flyers were sending six players over to Italy - 3 of them Americans. We had Gagne with the Canadians, Nitty with the Fins, Forsberg with the Gold Medal winning Swedes, and Hatcher, Esche, and Knuble were all on the American squad. All players were bonafide NHLers and were expected to contribute to their team's success, but not as significantly as some of the Flyers that are headed to Vancouver this year.
Of course we have Chris Pronger and Mike Richards on the Canadian team, and Kimmo on the Fins. But we also have two players headed west who are going to be asked to bear a disproportionate load of the responsibility when competing against stronger countries' elite, as they are either the only or one of two NHLers on their respective squads. In a months time Oskars Bartulis joins Karlis Skrastins on the blue line of the Latvian team as the only other current NHL player on the Olympic roster and OKT, even though he's played 7 shifts all season, will be the only sign of NHL talent on team Norway. A lot is going to be expected of these guys, but they probably know better than anyone on their team or in the front office what the potential for embarrassment is this Winter.
Poor OKT. Norway's opening round pool has the U.S. and Canada in it, with their first game being Canada's opener. I imagine OKT's speech before the game will go something like "Keep your head up and don't worry about giving the puck up to avoid getting run over. We're going to give the puck up a lot. No one will remember the individual mistakes. If we can hold them to single digits we'll be heroes. Heroes gentlemen!"
And Oskars doesn't have it much better. While Norway gets a glimmer of hope at some competition with Switzerland in their group, Latvia has to face the three-headed hydra known as Russia, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Oskars would you please say some words, as you've played against theses players before? "Huh…? Yeah I've played against them before, but never all at once."
One of the sadder elements of this upcoming Olympics is that we don't have any American Flyers that we could doubly root for. As mentioned above we had three guys last time and in 2002, when the Canadians beat us to take the Gold on our own water, we had John Leclair and Jeremy Roenick out there serving double duty.
Regardless the WJC was a good primer for more international competition at a higher level. And if one of our players (Flyers) needs to get injured, than please have it be OKT, as he is surely used to it by now.
How are losing streaks so blatant yet incredibly successful runs can sneak up on you? Somehow after weeks of turmoil, a change in coaching, and constant trade speculation the Flyers are the third hottest team in the Eastern Conference over their past ten games. And when later today the Devils lose the game against the Lightning that they're currently in the middle of, the Flyers will be the 2nd hottest team in the East. When did this happen?
We're scoring at even strength and on the powerplay, we're killing penalties during the decreasing occurrences we find ourselves in the box, and we're closing out opponents when comebacks start to glimer in the opposition's eyes. We've had one major hiccup over the past 3 weeks (Kovalev) and all signs point to that simply being a blip on the radar screen.
And just in time too, as now we're the only game in town...
Today marks the official opening of Flyers season in Philadelphia. If you have not registered for your Flyer fandom permit applications are still being accepted, and you can get them from Holly Cote at the Flyers Wives (and girlfriends) Carnival this afternoon. From today, January 10 until a yet to be determined time in hopefully June, the Flyers will take center stage on the Philadelphia sports landscape, and you're going to want to be there. So saddle up - this is the perfect time to hop on the wagon, next stop Broad Street.
ps - Party Down on Starz (which can be accessed via Netflix if you have it) is an incredible and witty show. Very... British Office meets The State meets Arrested Development. Get into it.
Also - while I'm dropping life lessons. Steaks & Eggs and a single IPA is a great Sunday morning breakfast. Really hits the spot and takes the edge off. Which is important for getting by in this crazy, unjust world. Life. Lesson. Write it down or PDA it to yourself so you remember.
Tonight the Flyers are back home to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Everyone thought that Razor Ray would be ready to go tonight, but he is now somewhere en route to upstate New York. That means Vince Papale himself, Michael Leighton, will get another start in the Flyers crease. The Lightning, fresh off playing half a game in Newark, come to town and will try to derail the Flyers. Both of these teams are battling for the playoffs, so expect tonight to be a tense, hard fought battle.
The Lightning present a good matchup for the Flyers. Even though Philly has taken the first two this year, the 'Ning are hanging around that 10th place position and could go on a run just as much as any other Eastern Conference team. Steven Stamkos really turned into the cash cow everyone in Tampa hoped for. The guy just flat out scores. Add him in with Flyer-killer Martin St. Louis and Vinny "To the Habs" Lecavalier, and you got 3 killers dressed in silver, black and...what, neon blue? Character guys like Ryan Malone, Steve Downie and Alex Tanguay round out the gritty lineup. The Fridge is still alive and will most likely suit up for the 'Ning tonight. That will be funny. On defence, Victor Hedman already leads this group, with the cannon-shot Mattias Ohlund and FGSB buddy Kurtis Foster logging good minutes. Fozzy had two assists last night against NJ, and after I call him and tell him to let JVR skate around him, his weekend duties will be complete. Since Mike Smith didn't even finish a full game last night, expect him in net. Remember the December 23rd game, which started this Flyers resurgance, Smith got real flustered early on. After Betts and Richards both scored quick ones, he was slamming his stick around like a 10 year old. Might be a good idea to throw him off his game again. (Paging Dr. Hartnell....Dr. Hartnell to the goal crease)
For the Flyers, it had to feel good to beat those Penguins. I hope a trap game is not in the cards tonight. The team is playing good hockey again. Scoring is coming from every line and the defense has tightened up. The special teams play has been progressing nicely under Lavvy's system and should have their chances against an undisciplined team in Tampa Bay. It's a tall order, but the Flyers really need to play like they did against Pittsburgh for the remainder of the season. There will be off days (and I pray tonight is not one of them) but with the hole that they dug themselves, only quality shifts and energetic attitudes can lift them out. Now that Razor is kind of back, it'll be interesting to see how Leighton plays. Knowing that he may be playing for a job tonight could lead to trouble, but a good situation to see how the kid handles pressure. Can't imagine the Wach will be all that packed since the Birds play at 8, but the Flyers dismantling of the Lightning could be just the preview for the bigger attraction. Be interesting to see what Rabbit does tonight. Kid's on fire and that third line could be the difference maker tonight. I expect a similiar type of game to the Leafs-Flyers tilt earlier this week. High scoring, bloody knuckle action.
What a day to be a Philadelphia sportsfan. We got a nice sunny day, the cheesesteaks are ordered and the beers are slowly cooling to that perfect 34 degrees. The FGSB office let all the interns out early, except for Carl. That fucker needs to learn that you can't bang the CFO's daughter whenever you feel like it. Lightning are way beatable, and they also suck. Just don't let Steve Downie do anything stupid. Let's Go Flyers.
We thought we'd give you a chance to get to know us better this morning over your first out of hopefully 50 or so cups of coffee. So we asked you for some questions, well actually my producers are now informing me that we didn't actually reach out for questions, but we happen to have some anyway, so we're going to answer them. Enjoy. And if you actually did have any questions feel free to hit us up in the comments and we'll take 'em down one by one all day. Unless it's about how much we suck - we meaning this blog and the Flyers - because we won't have the answer to either of those.
1. Last night in the Devils - Lightning game the power went out in the arena almost exactly half way through the game. They weren't able to resume play and the game is currently on hold with 9 minutes left in the 2nd. What do you think the NHL will do, and what do you think they should do?
Good question, us. Even though the Devils announcers seemed absolutely baffled as to what might come of this game, I think they'll find a time when the Lightning are in the area again and just have them finish it. Sucks, but what can you do. If we were in charge they would have finished the game right then and there with a glow puck. Steve Downie on the lose in the dark? There would have only been about 13 Devils on the roster by the end of the night, which is fine by us.
2. What do you think about the Flyers current lines? They've obviously been producing the past two games. If you follow us on Twitter at all you know we're never going to be completely happy with the make up of the lines until Stefan Legein is on one of them. The 4th line obviously has some chemistry and doesn't appear to need to be touched. The 3rd line looks to be developing some weird Frankenstein chemistry and the 1st line sounds sexy. Where we run into a little trouble is with the 2nd line, which is strange, because on paper it looks great. We've been all over Carter as of late but I think a nice spot for Legein to slide in, at least temporarily, would be in Hartnell's position. I know we're always coming up with these hair-brained schemes, but #19 hasn't scored since Dec 5th. He needs to spend at least a game with Riley Cote thinking about it. Legein is too good not to be able to fit in somewhere. We'll see what happens when the next forward goes down with an injury.
3. How is your 2010 season simulator going? I don't occasionally write about this thing because I think anyone actually cares how NHL 10 is treating me, but sort of as a glimpse into some parallel universe - something to compare our current season against. That being said, things have finally gotten on the right track. We're nearing the end of the season having gone 9-4 in March so far to get us to an overall record of 37-32-5. That's 79 points which is good enough for 6th in the Conference, but 7 points behind the Devils in 5th. With only 8 games left it looks like we're going to be taking on the NE winning Bruins, as they're 7 points ahead of the Sens in their division but far behind the other division leaders. Some key contributors and interesting stats I'm sure we'd love to see (and not see in some cases Mike Richards) at the end of the real Flyers season:
The line goes: Games-Goals-Assists-Points-PIM
Gagne: 73-36-38-74-50
Briere: 71-26-39-65-43
Carter: 74-32-26-58-60
Pronger: 74-12-38-50-55
Richards: 74-18-28-46-75
Rabbit: 74-18-20-38-41
Lappy: 74-12-16-28-55
Hartnell: 72-17-9-26-83
Betts: 74-10-6-16-29
Carcillo: 74-3-2-5-90
Richards has been demoted and is playing with Rabbit and Powe (my lines are weird). I had to juggle the letters to to get the team out of their winter funk and while Richie still wears the C, Kimmo and Danny Briere are wearing the A's.
4. How do you like your coffee? Used to like it black for about 10 years. Over the past couple months I've slowly been getting converted to skim milk and equal. Makes it taste like a treat or something.
5. With things like the simulator above, the Olympics, and fantasy teams there is a lot of GM-ing going on. What are some Flyers jerseys that you would like to see, even if you know it will never happen?
6. Do you think JVR will ever get in a fight?
In about 8 years he'll be very comfortable going to the net and maybe even have gotten in some shoving matches. While chipping away at a rebound he and a rookie defensemen will get into it and the d-man will just drop them (keep in mind this D man is currently 13). Reimer will be slow to shed the mitts but he'll eventually go and nothing will really come of it.
7. Why do you think the WJC was so exciting?
Because everyone loves offense. And after thinking about how offensively gifted all the players were out there, especially the defensemen, I realized that they don't slow the game down as much as pros do. Those kids are so concerned with scoring that in 4-on-4 play, in overtime of the GOLD MEDAL GAME, Canada came down on a 3 on 2 and then the US D rushed right back up on a 3 on 1. It was so exciting because it's played more like really physical roller hockey. Way less board battles and cycling and a lot more transition play because these guys are just so offensively minded. I wish the NHL would make their rinks bigger so there was more room to skate and less chances to bottle up offense in a corner.
Existentialism was surely born from a wicked hangover. Who am I? What's the purpose of life? Holy shit this my subway stop!
Last night, despite the weather that hadn't hit the region yet, Fran and I took the entire office out to a Levon Helms Band concert. In case you didn't know Levon Helms was the drummer and one of the vocalists for The Band, the group that to many of you would only be recognized as the band (The Band) that has that song in the Verizon commercials about someone being overweight. But truth be told we weren't really there to see him or his new band (not The Band). And sorry Bill, as soon as he hit the stage we left. We were there for the opening act, Okkervil River. They did not disappoint during their short, short set where they wished me a happy birthday 14 times.
On to the point.
When we escaped the show we took the entire staff to a dive bar not far from the venue. Like most diligent workers would be we were all checking our phones for the score at the concert and high fiving between Our Life is Maybe a Movie and Unless It's Kicks. Zack Morris was getting the updates verbally from Screech over his cordless phone. So we knew when we walked out that it was 5-3, and we wanted to see the 3rd.
We get to the bar and low and behold there are 15 flat screen TVs, college football on every single one. Life as a hockey fan. We made a feeble attempt to ask if the game was on to which the enormous breasted bartender-for-life despite ambitions of being on an MTV reality show told us, more or less, it was not possible. She was pretty hammered though. So as will happen, being an office of mainly men and only two very persuasive and seductive women/females/ladies, we ended up making friends with our shovel faced server. Nice, but a face directly proportionate to a shovel. A good looking shovel. Ya know?
Turns out she was from Pittsburgh. She's trying to score a part in Rent. Which I think is no longer running. And the fact that we actually wanted to watch the Flyers who were playing the Penguins and not the Penguins themselves was lost in translation, and she had us watching the third on our own giant flat screen in 2 minute's time. Right in time to see Jeff Carter score (which I don't remember), Michael Rupp score (which I don't remember), and Mike Richards score (which I do remember - got ya, I don't remember that either). I think I do remember arguing with a cab driver? Maybe not.
Anyway, good job Flyers and thank God my boss got snowed in today.
GOSSIP COLUMN: Within 20 minutes of the game ending I do remember seeing Scot Hartnell and Jeff Carter's Great Aunt at the bar getting a little too close. He was fingering her. With a Naughty Barry in one hand a look of revenge on his face. Looking forward to the Inquirer breaking that story and me getting sued. Or not sued.
Because I can't be sure it was Scott Hartnell, maybe just someone that looked like him. So let the headlines read "Blogger Identifies Someone Who May Have Been Scott Hartnell Fingering An Old Lady Right At The Bar, That He Imagined Was Jeff Carter's Great Aunt." That's just news.
Continuing with Fran's theme from earlier today there is a new member of the evil empire - a new skeleton man trying to peak through our shower curtain, if you will. And believe me, you will.
His name is Luca Caputi, and although he sounds like a fat mobster from The God Father he's actually big forward from Toronto. Toronto of Canada. Canada being the country that lost the World Junior Championships in overtime the the USA!USA!USA! From what these Penguins fans say he's pretty good.
"He's pretty good." - Pittsburgh Steve
See.
In his last year of juniors with the Mississauga/Niagra Ice Dogs of the OHL he put up 111 points in 66 games as a 20 year old. Then he started a brief career in the ECHL (3 games) before notching 45 points in 66 games with the WBS Penguins last season. At some point he also managed to sneak up for 5 games last year and score his first ever NHL goal. He's was off to a good start this season, and with Matt Cooke's grant coming through for his sex change, Caputi is now getting a chance to serve as a regular in the NHL. In his first game back for a his second cup of coffee Caputi netted a goal in th Penguins win over the Thrashers.
Hockey's Future has this on him:
Caputi has all of the physical tools to develop into a power forward at the NHL level. At 6-2, 184 pounds, Caputi's game is based upon paying a price physically. He scores a lot of his goals from in front of the net, and is more than willing to muck it up in the corners. One area where Caputi must improve is his skating, where his initial stride is not as quick as it needs to be.
So there you have it. A player under ordinary circumstance you would love to have on your team, but since tainted by Pittsburgh you should spend the rest of your life rooting against. Even when he's old and retired in his big mansion. You should pray his electric chair gets stuck half way up the stairs and he just sits there crying and eventually thinks peeing in his own mouth is a good idea.
I saw something last night. No, it wasn't that terribly awkward Coatsey's Corner where Boosh and Coatsey tried to win an Oscar. No, it wasn't those insanely gross Wawa breakfast sandwich commercials where the egg looked like yellow brains....although let's be serious, we're all going to crush a classic sausage/egg/cheese in the near future. And no, it wasn't Braydon Coburn's attractive girlfriend who was in the booth with JJ and Jonsey during the second period - I commend any girl who wants to mate with a half man/half vulture. No, the thing I saw last night, was a team with its swagger back.
You know how in all the best movies from the 80s/early 90s, there is an awesome montage? Usually set to a face-melting song, such as "You're the Best Around?" The montage is when the movie's plot suddenly changes for the better. At the beginning of a montage, the protagonist doesn't get it, he or she is frustrated, a loser, down on their luck. Nothing is going right for them. Then, with practice, determination, spirit and a wise Asian janitor at their side, they start getting it. The workouts become fun, the mind becomes focused, and the Asian janitor becomes the best father figure a little guido from Jersey ever had. After the montage is finished, the protagonist has to use everything he or she learned in the last awesomly-choreographed 4 minutes of the movie to defeat their antagonist. The entity that they fear most. It's just as much mind over matter at this point. They'll be trying to sweep the leg, but as the montage proved, you can't beat something after it's worked so hard to get to this point.
This is what's happening to the Flyers. They are montage-ing the fuck out of shit right now. The were at the bottom of the bottom. Hope seemed lost. Hell, a few of them even started playing their musical instruments like they were on the deck of the Titantic and weren't going to leave their other band mates behind as the ship sank. Then, it was montage time. The guys went on the road, bonded and starting realizing their true potential. Last night's game against the Leafs showed me that the team is coming together. Guys were fighting for other guys, having fun, talking more, playing chippy, Philly-style hockey. 5-1-1 over 7 feels good, but now it's Antagonist time. Those Penguins are at the school dance, all dressed up like really ghey skeletons, and they want to fuck us up. If it felt good to see the beatdown of Toronto then it'll be even better to manhandle those powder blue puffballs tonight in Pittsburgh.
There is a fine line to how these Flyers can play dominant hockey. You witnessed it last night, as the physicality of that game brought out the best in every forward. But as easy as it is to get into a game like that, how quickly it can turn to shit. After a couple of fights and scrums, the Leafs had the momentum, which I believe was because the Flyers were too amped up. It'll be imperative to keep everyone in check tonight. And if you're going to the box, take someone with you. It won't be easy to keep the buzz going from last night as the Penguins are the herpes-on-the-lip to the Flyers yearbook photo.
Pittsburgh has been struggling itself, except for a drubbing of the Thrashers on Tuesday. They had before that lost 5 in a row and their power play dried up like Bob Errey's wife's vagina. We know what we're getting with the Penguins. They are uber-studs in Crosby, Geno and Staal. They have a great goalie. Are they a better team? Probably. Are they going to win tonight? Nope. These battles are always classic, and the Flyers are due for a victory. The Pens are 3-0 against us this year, and a win in their barn tonight could really set up a great run for the next two weeks. In my gameday post yesterday I wanted to see the fire and guts of this Flyers team. In today's post, I want to see how they can use their play as of late, their montage if you will, against their main antagonist. The team they should all hate. Stick up for each other and keep the offense going, and the Pens will have their hands full all night. If there was ever a night for a Chris Pronger Elbow-of-Doom®, it would be tonight. If there was ever a night for Mike Richards to dominate, it would be tonight. If there was ever a night for JVR to play like he did the night before, it would be tonight. The emotion and energy has been there for the past 7 games, and I think it'll continue tonight. Getting points is what matters now, and getting them against the holier-than-thou Penguins is even more important. They're ahead of us in the standings. That's all that matters now.
Four point swings from here on out. We owe the Pens, and something tells me we pay them back tonight. Birddog is getting a goal tonight, count it. Let's Go Flyers.
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Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 