Alright I’ve been a bit lax on posting lately. Had a real busy weekend but I did get to see the Flyers lose in New Jersey and come back to Philly to take a 2-1 series lead thanks to a Dan Carcillo OT goal.
Tonight’s game will be a series changer either way you look at it. If the Flyers win, they go back to New Jersey with a 3-1 lead and a chance to take a strong hold of the series. It puts the pressure on the Marty and Devils who would need to fight in every game to not lose and go home for good. If the Devils win, it’s a 2-2 series and the Devils have momentum and home-ice back on their side going back to their home crowd.
Expect Krajicek and Parent to be that 3rd pairing again as they played a much better game collectively on Sunday night. Richards needs to continue getting involved in the offense until guys like Carter and Briere find their niche and produce some offense like we’re paying them to do. Not much else to be said about tonight… a win would be huge.
It was Sunday June 7th 2009 and I was in the Campbell’s Field parking lot in Camden, New Jersey tailgating and enjoying the pre-concert festivities for the return of one of my favorite bands, Phish. The last time they were touring, I was merely in middle school and did not even know they existed. It wasn’t until my guitar teacher got me to finally give them a shot late in high school did I find myself adding them to my list of all-time favorite acts. It would be my first time seeing them live, obviously. What does this have to do with the Flyers and their playoff series with the Devils?
Phish frontman Trey Anastasio is lifelong Flyers fan and is very public with his love for the team and for the city of Philadelphia. I remember him reciting this rhetoric at the show I was at, and I own an audio copy of the show and can listen to it whenever I want. Here’s a direct quote from that same show last year in Camden after they finished playing Tweezer, which is what I believe is the first time he’s made this prediction:
“…We just love Philadelphia… Flyers fan, lifetime Flyers fan. Next year is the year, I know that. I have personal knowledge of that for next year.”
This was towards the end of the set, they then encored with the premiere of one of their new songs, Joy. Then, they followed that with a stellar ending of Bouncing Around the Room > Run Like an Antelope > Tweezer Reprise. Great set.
Then there was Trey’s rocking of the Richie Winter Classic jersey at the November 24th show, and then he went on The Orange Line a few months ago and had this to say:
“But we’re waiting for the next dynasty team. By the way that’s starting this year, we’re going to start the new dynasty.”
Can Trey be right? The Flyers were playing for their playoff lives against a New York Rangers team who were doing the same thing. It came down to the wire in a shootout. An event the Flyers have struggled with endlessly and one that the opposing goaltender happened to be one of the best with. Brian Boucher was in net for us, one of five goalies to do so this season. We won. The New Jersey Devils were one of the teams we best matched up with during the regular season. Flyers fans everywhere were calling for a first round draw with the Devils. We got it. The stars aligned here… Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday’s game sure as hell was something special. As I said yesterday, it was going to be a tough game. I’m stating the obvious there, but when you have two Atlantic division rivals going at it for a coveted last spot in the playoffs yet to be determined; wild things are going to be done. I missed the second and third periods, getting updates from friends with calls and texts while I was unable to be near a TV or radio. I finally got in the car with some friends to head back to a TV and I hoped I could catch overtime at least. But then I’m listening to the last minute of play in overtime on 610 WIP. Tim Saunders is calling it and I’m starting to get nervous… Can Boosh out-duel the Rangers in a shootout? Does this game really have to get decided by a skills competition? Read the rest of this entry »
That’s what the Flyers will be doing if they don’t win this afternoon. This game has everything a hockey fan could want. A game between two arch rivals for a shot at the Stanley Cup. If the Flyers win, they’ll be in 7th place and play either Buffalo or New Jersey. If the Rangers win, they will take 8th place and the Flyers will have 9th place; early golf season.
The Wachovia Center is sure to be rocking today for the 3 PM face-off. The playoff atmosphere will be imminent in this situation, cause I’m sure the Block Party is going full force right now as the Phaithful prepare to help cheer their Flyguys into a first round playoff berth. They’re going to need to score early and often to put away a Rangers team who, like the Flyers, has had trouble playing from behind. There’s going to be some desperate hockey played this afternoon…
The Flyers will be giving out their team awards prior to today’s game. Pronger will receive both the Bobby Clarke and Barry Ashbee award (MVP and Best Defenseman). Matt Carle will get the Pelle Lindbergh award (Most Improved), with the Yanick Dupre award (Best Character and Dignity, on and off the ice) and the Gene Hart award (Most Heart) both going to Ian Laperriere… a worthy candidate to say the least. The Toyota Cup is going to go to Richie since he has the most points with all of his appearances in the Three Stars of the game this year.
These awards don’t mean anything today. A win does. Pronger is probably in the locker room right now getting everyone ready. We need a veteran like that to make plays today and lead this team. Richie needs to be the team leader he always is and play his heart out. He needs to lead by example. Bring the physical game to this New York team, crash Lundqvist’s crease as much as possible, collapse around Boucher, score some goals. Do those things and I’m hard fought to see this team not making the playoffs.
And oh yeah, I want to be able to write a playoff preview on here this week, not have to shut down the blog until post-season happenings like FA signings, trades, and the draft. Crossing my fingers today.
Adam Kimmelman from NHL.com talks about Carcillo’s maturation into his role on the Flyers.
Bill Metzler of HockeyBuzz.com talking about tonight’s important match-upwith Toronto.
Eklund of HockeyBuzz.com writes about NHL conspiracy theories and opens it up for debate. The Flyers vs. NHL anyone? I don’t seriously believe there’s a conspiracy, but damn our reputation kills some calls for us sometimes.
Some clinching scenarios at stake tonight for some teams. Flyers aren’t one of them, barely holding onto 8th place.
Anyways, the Flyers tonight are going to Toronto and then to Madison Square Garden on Friday to end their season with a home-and-home against the Rangers. That’s going to be one scary series, considering the Rangers are breathing down our necks for a spot and they could easily take it from us. They are playing good hockey as of late, and they’re a division rival whom we always seem to have competitive games with.
But tonight they need to not focus on that series and win an ever-important game against a spoiler Toronto team who has also caught their stride; winning 6 of the last 10. It’s going to be a tough match-up tonight. Will the Betts line with Lappy and Car Bomb stay together and push the physical game? Can Car Bomb lure Colton Orr into more penalties? Boucher needs to hang tough as always, and hope he gains some confidence. Playing desperate hockey like this can be a good thing if they execute, as it prepares a team for the desperation of the NHL playoffs. There’s much at stake tonight, and a win would definitely help solidify a play-off spot that is going to be hard-earned come Sunday when they finish their season at home.
The 6th seeded Flyers have six games on their regular season schedule. Three home games, three away games. That’s all that separates us and the Stanley Cup playoffs. A final game at the Islanders, a home finale against Montreal, Red Wings in town on Sunday on NBC, finale at Toronto, and a home and home finishing in Philadelphia against the Rangers. That’s a couple tough games right there. After looking like a great team on Sunday against the Devils (winning 5-1), the Flyers will be without Dan Carcillo who has been drawing many penalties lately and has been helping out with key scoring chances in the offensive zone. Dan Carcillo has been suspended two games by the NHL for an infraction that occurred during Sunday’s Devils game with Clarkson. The video was found by a commenter on The 700 Level (Chris) and can be seen here.
The call for a suspension in itself is questionable. Clarkson and Carbomb were throwing punches and Carcillo’s stick was in there, and seemed to get pushed up when Clarkson was shoving him. Still a penalty, but not necessarily a suspend-able offense when you have Matt Cooke skating around and knocking peoples’ heads off. It’s unfortunate that he has to sit against the Islanders and Montreal this week, because he looked really good on Sunday with Richie and Giroux. Looks like Cote will definitely be playing another game, and if JVR can’t come back yet, we will have to call up a Phantom (Laliberte?). Shows how inconsistent the NHL is, especially to the Flyers as of late. Gagne was denied another goal at Pittsburgh this weekend in their loss; a play that changed the game.
I’m not going to complain about all that though, they need to move on from it. The game on Sunday was a great start, but they need to follow-up that effort and sweep the Islanders on Thursday. They should use the days off to get better, healthy, and focused for the stretch of six games ahead. The first round of the playoffs isn’t going to come easy, the best they can do is work hard towards it and hope they get a more favorable match-up then the top-seed.
The Flyers have been on a downward path the past week or so. With key injuries to goaltender Michael Leighton and top-scorer Jeff Carter, this team’s path to the playoffs will be anything but easy. Currently sitting in 7th place, they are barely hanging onto a playoff spot with Boston breathing down their necks and Atlanta not too far. The most recent games have shown the Flyers are still having trouble scoring on a consistent basis even though they boast a pretty good set of forwards over their 4 lines. Brian Boucher has been having trouble in some games as well, usually giving up a goal before settling down. The lines have been juggled and guys like Claude Giroux, James VanRiemsdyk, and Danny Briere need to step it up. With Carter’s injury Laviolette can now play Asham and Leino without having to decide which player to sit. Briere is moving back to center which may or may not have an impact on tonight’s game. He will be centering Leino and Gagne, so I’m hoping that line finds some room to skate. They need a team effort tonight to beat Minnesota, because this weekend is full of Atlantic division rivalry with games against the Pens and the Devils. There are nine games left in the Flyers regular season, they better not be the last of their season.
I wasn’t able to watch the last two games but I got a chance to watch the highlights and although I was pleased at the barrage of shots they put in against the Thrashers on Sunday, I got the feeling that they were disenchanted with winning against Ottawa on Tuesday. I saw the hit on Gagne and although I am baffled about some of the calls (that hit included), they need to move on and win some hockey games because complaining isn’t going to improve their playoff position.
Tim Panaccio is reporting that Jeff Carter will undergo surgery… Not sure what’s going on there. They’re saying the time of recovery will be the same if he gets surgery, so why even get surgery?
The Broad Street Bully 