Sold. Where do I get one. That was by far the best commercial I've seen all year. The Super Bowl, the opening ceremonies - you name it. Where can I pick up my 2010 David Backes?
I'll take a Bobby Ryan too.
It just so happened that these two players who seemed to be the only two actually hitting the big bad Swiss back in yesterday's 3-1 win were also the first two goal scorers of the game. Maybe there's some connection there. Anyway, the U.S. looked pretty flat all game and especially in the third when I felt like I was watching the Flyers in one of their funks, as The Clock Makers dominated play the entire period.
My initial concerns from watching the first game are that our defense isn't skilled enough, both puck moving and offensively, and that we seem to have no system at all. I understand last night was the team's first game together ever but how hard is it for Ron Wilson to say "we're going with a 2-1-2 and that's what they play. I actually missed Peter Laviolette's coaching style as pinches from the point were few and far between, and usually involved two Swiss players skating by Tim Gleason.
Tomorrow's game against Norway might be a good benchmark, as the Canadians beat them 8-0 last night.
In current and former Flyer news on the losing side of the puck, Patrick Thoresen was -3 in Norway's loss to Canada, OKT didn't dress, Oskars Bartulis picked up a cross-checking minor, and Kimmo Timonen is set to start his Olympics at 3 est today. Oh yeah, and Michael Handzus and Branko Radivojevic are ready to take on Jaromir Jagr and the Czechs in an international incident during tonight's late game in Vancouver.
Surely by the time you got to this blog you already heard that Mike Richards scored a goal last night, but did you know that he got a big hug from Chris Pronger for his efforts? He did.
It's strange to be rooting for a different group of players than I have programmed in my brain. Especially the guys from the Eastern Conference. But I'm pulling for Chris Drury to score a goal just to shut everyone up, Ryan Whitney to play better defense, and Patrick Kane to score 15 goals in the remainder of the tournament.
Even though these first three games mean nothing it was good to see the US avoid the controversy of losing or tying.
The Flyers came out of the 2004-05 lockout with a bang and were the best team in the NHL by January of 2006. But then they sent 6 players, including two goalies, to Torino to compete in a little tournament known as the Olympics that February. We all know how that season ended - getting smacked around 7-1 by the Sabres in the last game of the playoffs.
After Gags, Nitty, Hatch, Knubs, and Bobby Esche wasted two weeks in Italy and Peter Forsberg won a gold medal the Flyers stumbled into the playoffs, going 11-10-2 over the last 23 games of the season. Because of their great start the Flyers were able to finish in a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division, but lost the tie-breaker to the Devils and ended up earning the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. New Jersey made sure of that by beating the Flyers 5-1 in the 81st game of the season.
And we all know what followed that - the 2006-07 season.
This is even more reason to cheer your tits off for the US this Winter Olympics. Last Olympics one of our players won the Gold and we've been paying for it ever since. I don't care that many of those players have gone on to win the Cup with their franchise. If your friends jumped off the Ben Franklin would you? I'm talking about Flipadelphia and that's it. Last Olympics Gold and then we were the worst team in the league the next year, earning the right not to draft someone who's already going to be a leader on the US Olympic team but a hopeful for 2014.
I don't think that curse extends to equipment managers so cheer. Cheer against Canada. Against Finland. And maybe most importantly against Latvia.
Let's go Miller. Let's go Gleason. Let's go Johnson & Johnson. Let's go (ugh) Orpik. Let's go Rafalski. Let's go Suter. Let's go Whitney. Let's go Brown. Let's go Backes. Let's go (christ) Callahan. Let's go Drury. Let's go Kane. Let's go Kesler. Let's go Kessel. Let's go Langenbrunner. Let's go Malone. Let's go Parise. Let's go Ryan. Let's go Pavelski. Let's go Stastny.
Some are going as far as to call this Olympics a hockey tournament with a bunch of other smaller tournaments going on around it. From a Canadian point of view they may be right but I'm not sure any other country would go that far. For the majority of citizens from the other 80 or so competing countries this is a time to learn the names of obscure figure skaters and cheer on your bobsled team (especially if you're from Jamaica). But as a hockey fan I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm looking at this Winter Games from a very Canadian point of view. It's all about the hockey. And in about 6 hours the tournament starts. So here's an overview of what led to this being the group of young Americans that you will hopefully be cheering for during the medal round next week.
After years and years of seeing the same faces in the USA sweaters General Manager Brian Burke decided this would be the Olympics that the US totally changed directions. There are only two members of this squad that participated in the 2006 Games in Torino - Chris Drury and Brian Rafalski. They also were in the Games in 2002. Every one else, save Captain Jamie Langenbrunner (1998), is new to the Olympic scene. So what do we have.
First off it's important to note that two of our first chosen defensemen are missing the tournament with injuries - Paul Martin of the Devils and Mike Komisarek of the Leafs. These omissions resulted in the late addition of Ryan Whitney of the Ducks and Tim Gleason of the Hurricanes. Now that the squad is set let's see just what this team is made of.
We have 6 guys from Michigan and 4 from Minnesota. Three each from New York State and Wisconsin and 2 from Connecticut. And then we have one player each from California, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Our oldest player is Brian Rafalski at 36 and our youngest is Patrick Kane at 20 (cents). Of the 23 players on the roster five area 30 or over, ten are between 25 and 29, and an amazing eight are under 25.
17 of the 23 players on the roster chose to go to college (usually after a couple years at the National Development Program) as opposed to heading to Canada for Major Junior. There are 3 Badgers, 2 Terriers, and 2 Golden Gophers on the squad. There are zero Scarlet Knights.
There's an interesting correlation between the age of the players on the team and the position they were chosen in the NHL draft that I would assume has to due with the "marketing" efforts of the US NDPT. That group of guys over 30 that I mentioned before have an undrafted player, a 9th rounder, a 4th, 3rd, and a 2nd. When you get into the guys born in the 80's, right around the birth of the US Program, 12 of the 17 players are first round picks. The only exceptions are Joe Pavelski (7th), Ryan Callahan (4th), Jonathan Quick (3rd), David Backes (2nd), and Paul Statsny (2nd).
Make sure to keep checking in for the duration of the tournament for tidbits nipple bits as the Flyers recent run and the Olympics have reignited my hockey fire, and possibly my VD. And if you somehow have off today and are looking to pay special attention to a local Olympic product, keep your eyes on #54 Bobby Ryan, native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Even at the young age of 22 Ryan posses the game changing skills to be a deal breaker, ladies.
For a complete view of the roster and all the players' biographies go here. This is not something you want to wait to get involved in until the elimination games start next week. Jump on now.
** Quick note: do not come here for any in-game updates or analysis because, as I mentioned in the post below, I'm taking the Bill Cosby route. Try and get me.
Since the VCR hit the scene in 1956 man has faced a dilemma - take the news as it comes or try to avoid everyone and everything that might ruin the surprise you have waiting for you at home on your VHS tape. It's something that's been featured in almost every sitcom from the Cosby show to Step by Step to Family Matters. It's the kind of thing Elvin ruins when you have a 3 foot long hoagie in front of you and a 2 liter bottle of grape soda, just about to press play and relive the game as if it were actually happening.
So what are you going to do tomorrow? I know it's just Switzerland, but it's the Olympics! Once every 4 years! The US is only guaranteed 4 meaningful games. So how can you miss one? What are you, a Rosenberg?
But at the same time between Twitter, NHL.com, and a thousand other sites you could probably get updates and critiques on each cross over Ryan Kesler takes during warm-ups within seconds.
I've made my decision. I'll be sitting at work tomorrow at 3 when the puck drops between the USA and Luca Sbisa. And I've decided to take the fool's road and totally go offline, turn my phone off, and wear night vision goggles (not sure how that will help). Do you have the strength (or space to DVR 6 hours of USA broadcasting) in order to relive every moment of Team USA's opening game of the 2010 Olympics as if you weren't trapped in the rat race?
Let's go Miller. Let's go Gleason (what?). Let's go Johnson & Johnson. Let's go (ugh) Orpik. Let's go Rafalski. Let's go Suter. Let's go Whitney. Let's go Brown. Let's go Backes. Let's go (christ) Callahan. Let's go Drury. Let's go Kane. Let's go Kesler. Let's go Kessel. Let's go Langenbrunner. Let's go Malone. Let's go Parise. Let's go Ryan. Let's go Pavelski. Let's go Stastny.
This would be nothing short of a modern day miracle as Canada is a modern day Russia compared to this US team.
I have a confession to make. I was dragged away from the electronic world into the real world this weekend, and am only now really catching up on the Canadiens home and home. Fran nobly defended the Flyers Goal Scored By Fortress of Sexitude in my absence and for that I will pay him physically. But if you're a Flyers fan who happened to head out of town for the long weekend allow yourself to catch up with me on the Flyers 2 game sweep of the Friday/Saturday home and home.
First stop, NHL.com:
Then for a clearer look at the end of the game over to Youtube:
Thoughts: From watching only highlights I'm fairly pissed that every time I go away the Flyers bust out their black jerseys and I miss it. Can't really weigh in much on the game flow but a win is a win and it's nice to see Scott Hartnell think he has a goal and then get it taken away - because someone's gotta let him know (Steve Downie is still ahead of him in goals and points). Speaking of, on that first goal I would argue that Hartnell pushed Price into the net with his stick, which is against the rules. If I wasn't a Flyers fan. If I was a Flyers fan I would say that Carey Price has the same first name as Carrie Underwood.
The other two goals Price gave up were pretty weak and both of the Canadiens goals were weird. Anyway, whatever, they won.
Now onto game two, and I suppose there's only one place we can start:
I have to comment on this one right away. This is exactly why I own a Lappy hoody. He knows what has to be done. He doesn't care what era it is or what the latest arguments on hits to the head or slashing sticks in half are. He's there to play hockey the way you wish you would after 5 beers. And that was by far his best fight of the year. He took a couple hard ones and then tricked a less experienced fighter into offering his face up to a walloping right hand. Well done Lappy. Whether or not what follows was a result at all of this fight is simply a matter of opinion - it surely didn't hurt the Flyers game. But either way this is what happened, starting with Lappy fight again of course:
Winning is fun. I've never seen so many smiles on the bench. And who the fuck is this Michael Leighton? Even when we were winning on that 8-1-1 stretch he was scaring the shit out of me, but now he's making acrobatic saves. Any writer who brings up Marty Turco over the next three weeks has an invitation to come to my apartment and put his balls (her boobs) in my panini press. It'll be great.
So going into the Olympic Break, the Flyers: - are 7th in the NHL in goals per game - are 11th in the NHL in goals against per game - are 4th in the NHL in PP % - need to work on the PK - are 8th in the NHL in shots per game (thanks to Jeff Carter most likely) - ARE GIVING UP THE 4TH LEAST SHOTS PER GAME IN THE LEAGUE AFTER BEING AT THE EXACT OPPOSITE END OF THE SPECTRUM LAST YEAR - and are 6th in the Eastern Conference but have finally returned to their pre-Nov/Dec skid spot of 7 games above .500
All is good in Flyerdom, and we can rest easy for the next two weeks. Until Mike Richards breaks his collarbone.
Speaking of the next two weeks, I have officially got the Olympic fever, and what a perfect time - on the eve on the US Team's opening game of the tournament. Over the next two weeks we'll be bringing you updates on the Flyers Olympic players (including the # of Jeff Carter's return flight), we'll let you know when OKT gets knocked out of the tournament, we'll hit you up with some profiles on Team USA players that you might no know that well, and we'll attack you with some Phantoms news from time to time. And who knows what else. Maybe some naked pictures since I know we let FGSB reader Erin down on Valentine's Day (sorry Erin, we'll make it up to you!).
The NHL is taking a break but Hockey is very quickly approaching at least Stanley Cup level excitement as in two weeks gold medals are going to be handed out for the first time in 4 years. Team USA's game tomorrow is at 3. The only question is how do you get out of work to watch it…. Or how do you sneak the viewing at work. Any links would be helpful.
Dear Montreal Canadiens, Look, I think we left things last night on the wrong foot. It was a good hockey game, no one can argue that. But the end of the third period, just wasn't how we wanted to end things. Thankfully we don't have to wait long to make amends. You seemed pretty upset at a few of us last night, and I just wanted to clear the air before the puck drops tonight up at your barn. It looked like you were pissed at D. Powerhouse for, you know, playing hockey. I can't help it if that slack jawed should-be-working-at-an-Applebee's Jaroslav Spacek was falling to the ice when Mr. Dynamite Powder took him back to his dark place. Old Jaro probably woke up thinking he was still in Buffalo.
You know, if it wasn't for your shit play for 40+ minutes, we wouldn't have had to be in that situation where we had to kill one of your defenceman. Alot of that is most likely due to your goalie, who by the looks of things, won't be in net tonight. I understand. After jumping so many Simon Gagne's and getting pushed by Scott Hartnell's, I wouldn't want to play twice in a row either. And to you, little Scott Gomez, I'm sorry. I'm sorry your Alaskan mother made you so tiny. It must be the cold milk up there. You are so tiny, but you play like a big boy. Maybe you can head back to the ECHL like you did during the lockout to make yourself feel better. When Chris Pronger was holding you up by your tiny jersey, you looked just like one of those dolls my sister had growing up. The same dolls I gave to my dog when his red rocket was fully ready to go....And to anyone else on the Habs, if you're still upset, we get it. We'd be upset if we were in your position too. Your best players can't even reach the tops of their lockers...and your defence is the slowest bunch of skaters on earth. You also lost 6th place last night, and we aren't giving you that back tonight. We play no-keep backs...ever hear of it? Playground rules out here, bitch.
And if any of you feel like a big boy....you know, wanting to "stick up for lil' Scott Gomez" or soon-to-be-serving-me-loaded-nachos Jaroslav Spacek, that's fine. Its understandable. This is hockey right? Not that pussy shit NBA (btw, Steve Nash, Canada? really?! What...was Dave Coulier busy last night?) So if you want to be a man, that's fine. If you want to get your stinky, non-hygienic fans into more of a tizzy, go right ahead. Just know that when you do, he'll be watching.
That is, if you can stop suckling off your mother's teets for long enough.
Ohhhhhhhh. You didn't know about that did you? What better time to talk about the Flyers re-signing Les Habitants' 3rd Round pick from the 1996 draft than during the meat of a Canadian sandwich?
The Flyers made a great move yesterday by locking up and down 4th line superstud Blair Betts. That the Rangers passed up his incredible skill set for a $2.8M appartus that they have since waived and we've now signed Betts for half of that is truly amazing. I've always been a huge proponent of signing players you know you want to keep mid year and getting that 'secure future' discount, so I was wondering if there was anyone else we should look at signing before the season ends. And the only guy I think might be worth it is Arron Asham. Maybe because along with the newly acquired Lucas Krajicek he's the only impending UFA, or maybe because I love his little Chinese face. Either way it's a worthwhile question.
Arron Asham is going to turn 32 this April. Surprisingly in the New NHL that's not that old anymore. As generations of pro athletes have passed they've learned that their only real asset is their body and they've started taking very, very good care of themselves. Remeber Jim Dowd? That guy slept in one of those Michael Jackson sleeping tanks and played until he was 85. Anyway, Asham has really surprised me these past two seasons. I was against the signing to start but after almost two years I think I'm warming up to the guy.
When Smasham crash landed in Philly in the summer of '08 he was fresh off stints with two Atlantic Division teams and had fought Mike Richards a number of times - not a winning combination in my book (available at amazon.com). He was also fresh off a 77 game 10 point season in New Jersey. I thought it was a waste of $640k a year. But over the last two seasons, and this one in particular, he's really shown his true colors (Asian).
After a 20 point 155 PIM season last year Asham found himself as the odd forward out in the Flyers lineup on opening night of the 2009-10 journey. Over the summer the Flyers had signed a gaggle of bottom 6 forwards and were bringing in JVR. When the Flyers and 'Canes dropped the puck in early October #45 was in the press box next to new Flyers commentator Riley Cote. He kept saying he was going to make it back into the lineup, and when he did he was going to stay in. But why was there any reason to believe him?
And then it happened. The injuries started to come, just like they always do. And Asham was the first guy back into the lineup and he was right, as he's been dressing ever since. The guy has 19 points this season in 51 games. He's on pace for the second highest point total of his career. Lately he's been a useful part of the Flyers best line. He might even be the Flyers best fighter.
And that silky hair.
I say yes. Do it. His age is working against him negotiation wise so we could probably get him to sign two years at $800k each. I'd go to $900k but if he pushed it I'd let him walk. And that's one of the main reasons the in-season negotiation is so key - what's a 32 year old willing to pay for peace of mind?
But this raises another question. If we have Asham, Betts, and Lappy do we need Carcillo? Regardless of where Laviolette has him these days, at this point in his career he's a 4th liner. I supppose if you think he can be a real 3rd liner there's room for both. But if Carbomb doesn't develop a little more offensive skil there's no need for both.
6pm start time? Is this for serious? I know there is this special thing going down on the other side of Canada...but come on. 6pm is barely enough time to duck out of work, pick up some fermented yeast and start drinking your week away. But I guess we'll have to make due. Those Montreal Canadians are in town tonight to take on the comeback kids and to start another home and home that will end tomorrow night. 2 games in two nights and then we shift to the Olympics. Two games in two nights against a hot Montreal team. Two games in two nights that decide who goes into the Olympic break with sole possession of 6th place. Two games, 4 huge points.
Both teams are riding high. Montreal was able to stop the Red Army's winning streak , even after AO's questionable goal was overturned. Philly meanwhile, took care of the Devils twice this week with two come from behind victories. The defense has been very solid and Leighton, aside from the first goal gaffe in Wed's game, has been very solid. Two teams playing well with a history of hating each other. This is going to be good. The Habs are dinged up right now. Andrei Kostitsyn, Mike Cammalleri, Paul Mara, Marc-Andre Bergeron are all dinged up. Throw into that, two goalies who can't seem to figure out who should be #1. The Habs are a bit of a circus, but when are they not? No matter whats going on with their GM or team, they usually put up a good fight. Expect new Canadian and ex-Panther Dominic Moore to lace 'em up for the Habs tonight for the first time. Add Moore in with midgets Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and the suddenly hot Tomas Plekanec and you start to see where the Habs get their firepower from. They score on the transition, and it'll be up to the Flyers forwards to back check effectively to eliminate any odd man rushes. On defense...sorry, defence the Habs some got size and boomers. Hal Gill is more or less and traffic cone, but watch for his shot on the power play, along with ex-Sabre, still hated Jaroslav Spacek.
Bonus points if you can translate what these sneaky French Canadian's are discussing.... For the Flyers, the resiliency they've shown the past two games hopefully translates into some confidence headed into a tough match up at home. Hopefully the power play can awake from its slumber, but if it doesn't, we'll need to again rely heavily on our hard working 4th line (who, with Powe, is really buzzing) and our green 3rd line ( who, with Asham, is really scoring). After seeing Simon Gagne's great individual effort in OT, will he finally bust out for a big, dominating, circa 2005 Simon Gagne? Is Danny Breeze next in line to bust the funk and snipe one pass Halak or Price? Also...it's 1:50 now, do any trades happen before the 3pm Olympic deadline? This is almost too much to handle. Either way Flyers fans, we got two huge games to start the weekend off with. With some luck, we'll enter a two week break in the playoffs, primed and rested for the big homestretch. Weekend me. Beer me. Victory me. Let's Go Flyers.
[Update] For all sorts of Montreal fodder and Habs gameday info, check out the always great Four Habs Fans. They do it right.
I had a slightly different take on the Flyers new intro than Fran, and only saw his after I wrote this. I'm to lazy to rewrite something and to stubborn (and crunched for time to get to Vancouver) to not post it. This is what happens when you work in an office as big as ours. Speaking of, we're accepting applications for people who'd like to give us free money. Please fill out the form under the contact us tab.
In case you missed it the Flyers are pimping their 2nd half pre-game video on Flyers TV. Check it out:
Yeah it's pretty good, but give anyone who's interested in the FlyGuys full access to all their highlights, let them choose an iMovie theme and their favorite bad ass pump up song, and you're pretty much going to get the same thing every time.
For example, flyersfella28 (Claude Giroux):
Change the song to 'Chasing Cars' and cut everything a little sexier and you have yourself a nice little pregame pump off video.
What I'm saying is, I'd like to see something a little different. The sharply edited hit, fight, goal, save, metal video is good, and it's going to get meatheads going, but I'd like to see a little more creativity. Some suspense. Some build up. Some explosion.
Flyers Media Department, if you give Fran, myself, and Denis Lemieux access to all your videos we'll put together something that will leave fathers from the glass to the cheap seats covering their boners with their jackets.
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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! 