Connect Four!

The Flyers have won four in a row, The Flyers have won four in a row, The Flyers have won four in a row, The Flyers have won four in a row!

Annoying? Or poetically brilliant?

The fact that you can't see me prancing around my room, ala John Stevens after the 2-1 Game 7 OT win in Washington, takes away from the effect, however.

On that note, does anyone think Joffrey Lupul would be a good candidate for Dancing With The Stars next season?

I mean, look at that form!

But yes, Philadelphia has strung together four consecutive wins - their longest streak of the young season.While the first two games were blitzkrieg efforts against Carolina - the equivalent of beating a deaf kid in "name that tune" - and Tampa Bay, the latter two were of the more impressive variety.

The Buffalo game was closer than the 5-2 final score, and the Flyers were the beneficiaries of a few lucky bounces. However, they were opportunistic with their chances. It did appear as if Ryan Miller was still suffering from the effects of YoMamaWeen, but it was a textbook road effort, nonetheless.



The Orange and Black then rebounded to play a tightly contested defensive game at the Wachovia Center, against the St. Louis Blues. Another gritty effort, and another SHOOTOUT win. I have to say, this team has been playing outstanding hockey.


Sticking with the theme of four; let's talk about the fourth line. Daniel Carcillo, Blair Betts, and Ian Laperriere have been absolutely monstrous for this team. John Stevens has been using them in every situation, including starting the majority of the periods. Carcillo, taking advantage of his new found playing time, potted two goals in the Buffalo win and Lappy added two assists. Yup, they score too. Teach them how to make a sandwich and do my laundry and let's head down to the altar.

Jack Black would approve of their Tenacity, The South would applaud their Grit. Paris Hilton would relate with their willingness to get dirty, and Chris Brown would envy their hits.

They cycle harder than Lance. And their play with the puck is just (Arm)strong.

But really, Betts, Lappy, and Carbomb turn the half-boards into their workshop. Constantly winning battles in the corner, and supplying the puck in behind the cage. It is intoxicating to watch, and as a Flyer fan, I can only hope their effort can get the rest of the team drunk with energy - night in, and night out.

Fun Fact: The Flyers are 7-0 when Blair Betts is in the lineup.

Next up: The battle of former teams. Ray Emery's old club, the Ottawa Senators come into town tonight, followed by Danny Briere's former team - the Buffalo Sabres - on Saturday.

It appears that Danny Boy's elderly hip of a groin has finally healed.

Should he wear more protective gear to prevent further injury?

Why, Danny, Why?

November Blues

Remember, remember the fifth of November!

While the Flyers aren’t blowing, or Fawking, up the standings, they are far ahead of their pace from a year ago. In fact, at this time last season, the Orange and Black were in the midst of a three game losing streak, which inevitably capped a Parliamentary—oops, pardon the Freudian slip – putridly, we’ll go with that one, awful 4-6-3 start. For everyone that has their counting gloves on, that is 11 points in 13 games. Scotty Hartnell would be computing with us, but unfortunately, he threw his glove in disgust. Can you really blame him?

As of today, November 5^th, 2009, the Flyers have accumulated 15 points in the 12 games played thus far. While their 7-4-1 record isn’t going to start any bonfires, at least they aren’t lining up for the gunpowder rigged cellar.

On the injury front, Daniel Briere has now gone out of the lineup with a case of a mild H1N1 strain. Wait? Sorry guys, a citizen from Calgary stormed my computer like the beaches of Normandy.

Apparently, this guy tought his occupation – teacher - was more important than the Calgary Flames hockey team. You need to worry about the flame coming from your pipe buddy. That is a ludacris notion!

Back to Briere – he has a mild GROIN strain. But I mean, it’s Danny Briere, the guy has leg strengh like Sidney Crosby has a “big boy” beard.

Floating back to reality, the NHL, not just Philadelphia, has been hit with a rash amount of injuries in this young season. Names like Malkin, Gonchar, Savard, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, and Horcoff are missing from their teams lineup.

Jeff H. Carter, the Calgary guy is back, and he’s telling me that Horcoff doesn’t belong on that list! What type of heresy is that?! The guy has a caphit of 5.5 million dollars, that means he’s a superstar, right? Calgary bashing on Edmonton; real original buddy.

Not only are key players getting hurt; teams as a whole have been bogged down with the flu; some of the "twine" variety. Vinny Lecavalier, I’m looking at you!

Fortunately for Flyer fans, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards are recovering from their Twine Flu after a recent shot of Lightningillin.

During their past two games, the Flyers really did look like they had been given a shot to the arm. Apparently they decided to dress up as a Legimate Eastern Conference Contender for Halloween. For the sake of the 34-year drought, keep that costume on!

While it was only the Hurricanes – whose confidence looks like the shards left behind from a storm – and the Lightning, the Flyers did exactly what they were supposed to do. Win. And not only that, they won in dominating fashion, outscoring the two South Eastern Division teams by a tally of 12-3 (6-1 over Carolina, and 6-2 over Tampa Bay).

This is very encouraging. With Gagne, Briere, and Parent out of the lineup the Flyers are fighting through adversity like a championship team. It is all the more impressive when you take into consideration that Danny Syvret can’t remember which locker room he belongs to.

Emery has been a Monster, sorry Jonas, between the pipes. In his last 5 games, he is posting an 1.98 goals-against average. He is 4-1 in that span.

Lastly, the team has been getting contribution from role-players. David Laliberte, recently called up from Adirondack, has potted goals in each of his first two NHL games. No Flyer player has ever started his NHL career with goals in three straight. That will be something to watch for when the Flyers take the ice against Buffalo tomorrow night.

The Sabres present themselves as a formidable challenge (much tougher than the Carolina’s and Tampa’s of the past). If the Orange and Black can muster up a gritty road win, in spite of all the injuries and flu stuff, it will speak volumes to their mental makeup.

Then they can worry about battling the Flu Blues. Oh, pardon me, the St. Louis Blues – who will be waiting for the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Until next time, keep on smiling!

Jonesing To See What Happens!

While the Flyers won't lace up their game skates until Saturday morning, things "Off-ice" in the past 48-hours have been not quite Dwight.


Wednesday morning, following the teams 4-2 loss in Washington, Holmgren announced that Simon Gagne will be returning to the LTIR - his asylum for much of the 2007-2008 season. The source of discomfort - not one, but TWO, hernia's. Only needed one more for the trick (or treat), Simon. But hey, two is the new three in Washington...

I realize we are closing in on Halloween, but Gagne really needs to stop mimicking his teammates for the holiday. Dressing up as ex-Flyer Keith Primeau in '07 was one thing, but he's gone too far with this years Danny Briere costume.

The scary thing...both injuries occured within a week of All Hallows Eve. An elbow to the head from, now Flame, Jay Bouwmeester spawned Gagne's concussion demons. The date? October 24th, 2007. This year, Gagne left October 25th's contest against San Jose with a lower-body injury - an ultrasound later revealed two small hernias - this coming after a game in witch he scored his first ghoul of the season.

Danny Briere's sports hernia limited him to 29 games a year ago.

Another haunting statistic coming your way. Since Danny Briere's arrival in Philadelphia, the two French Canadians have only been in the lineup together 60 times. Which is astounding, considering the Flyers have been on the ice for 174 regular season games during that span. For all those angsty math rebels - 60/174 = .345, or 34.5 percent of the GP.

That would be a good number, if say, IT WAS A BATTING AVERAGE. Watch out Pujols, Gagniere is coming to get you! In fact, Gagniere could be the first batting triple crown champion since the infamous Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

Okay, moving on, this injury stuff is killing me.

In other news, Randy Jones was put on re-entry waivers Wednesday afternoon. Sure enough by Thursday, he was no longer a Flyer. Gee, what a surprise. The LA Kings snatched him up, meaning the Flyers are stuck paying half of Jones' salary. A contract spot was gained, however, that remaining salary is going to be shelled out to a ghost.

And that is the tale of how the Holmgren limerick began:

There was once a GM in Philly
Whose waiver affairs were silly
He gambled with Jones
And was stripped to the bones
leaving Flyer fans asking, "Really?"

In closing, I'd like to mention that John Stevens actually cancelled a scheduled day off on Wednesday. The effort hasn't been good enough to win, he said.

What's that? Is our beloved coach finally getting a:

Happy Halloween to all those in Flyerdom!

Ouch!

Derek's Journal: October 24th, 2009. Tonight, a Panther died in Philadelphia.

Too soon?

It was my intention to update this blog after every game, but like David Booth's flight back to Florida, things got delayed. Before I enter the Jungle and discuss the Fun and Games, I do want to say that I wish Booth a hasty recovery. You never want to see a player go down in that fashion. It was absolutely frightening. We'll get to that later. For now, on with the show!

What were we talking about last time? Inconsistency that Marion Gaborik's groin would be proud of, suspect defensive coverage, and blown leads? Something like that, right? Well ten games into the season, the Flyers sit at a poultry 5-4-1. Somewhere a Philadelphia fan is ripping up their planned parade route.

Hey John. Happy belated 3-year Head Coaching Anniversary; what are your two-cents?


Oh, my apologies. Need us to slow down? No problem, Captain Calm.

Last Thursday, the Flyers returned from their second five day hiatus of the season and hosted the Boston Bruins. With the Winter Classic looming, this game provided "Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition" type intrigue.

However...

Imagine walking to your stoop in the morning. Your Columbian Roast shooting wispy slices of steamed morning to the sky, the orange and black robe tightly entrenched around your body. You reach your hand down to pick up the sheer brilliance. Sorry Obama, but this is Nobel worthy...and then you see it.

Instead of women dressed in dental floss, the banana smile of Dale Earnhardt Junior is staring back at you. NASCAR Illustrated?! AHHHH, THE HORROR!

That basically sums up the Boston game. Hype followed by Dale Earnhardt. The pregame buzz was more exciting than the actual contest. Now, the Bruins came into town more banged up than Rihanna before the Grammies. Ouch. No Savard. No Lucic. Tim Thomas on the bench. Second game in as many nights. Easy victory for the Orange and Black, right? Not so much.

Sloppy play in the first, score tied at one. More sloppy play in the second, score tied at three.

Enter Ole-Kristian Tollefsen.

With a career-high two assists in the second frame, he came out punching in the third. Literally. After an Emery save early in the period, OKT got tangled up with Trent Whitfield behind the Flyer cage. And then like Tom Cable on his defensive assistant, he unleashed a series of vicious rights to Whitfield's head. Decision: Tollefsen.

The rest of the game went scoreless, which meant the dreaded shootout. The Flyers sent out Briere, Richards, and Gagne and they all missed, failing to lift the puc...wait, what? Stevens put young Claude "Girouxsberg" Giroux in? AND he scored?

Run to your nearest liquor store and purchase one of those scratcher lotto tickets, RIGHT NOW. If the Flyers can win a shootout, hell, even YOU can win the lottery. What's next, a Buffalo Bills Superbowl victory? Okay now I'm dropping things a little too far down the wishing well. A lottery win is more realistic.

The following game saw the Florida Panthers come to Wachovia. With an embarrassing loss at the hands of the Cats the week before, the Flyers were playing with a chip on their shoulder. Coincidently, Mike Richards was also playing with David Booth's head on his shoulder.

Okay, I REALLY need to stop with the Booth jokes. It was a stomach twisting scene. With the Flyers up 3-1 in the second period, Richards prowled through the middle like a frat boy at "Two-Dollar Beer Night" (Come on, I had to sneak a party joke in. Those Center City boys be crazy!). He found his man of coverage, and laid a devestating shoulder check. David Booth, the recipient of said devestation, immediately lost consciousness. Look for yourself:





Horrible, horrible play. But honestly, there is no one to point your finger at.

Was it a scary hit?

Yes.

Was it a hard to watch?

Yes.

Was it a legal open ice check?

Yes.

There was no charge. Richards kept his elbow tucked in and lead with the shoulder. It wasn't from behind. It was simply a hockey play gone wrong.

You have to take into consideration the speed of the game. This all happened faster than Pauly Shore's fall from grace. I've heard people say, "What a dirty scumbag, he aimed for the head."

I've also heard echoes of, "Booth shouldn't have turned his head, he was admiring his pass."

Well to both of those people, I say...False.

If Booth didn't turn his head, Richards would have made contact with his head. This is evident from the video. However, Booth only swilveled to get a glimpse of the oncoming freight train. There is no one to blame.

David Booth has been released from the hospital, which is fabulous news. I'm sure I speak for the rest of Flyerland when I say, "Get better soon, pal."

The Flyers went on to win that game 5-1. Holy winning streak, Batman!

And then, just like a TV star hassling with deadly aquatics, things went a-ray.

Two straight losses. Wee! All aboard the John Stevens thrill ride!

A putrid effort earned the Flyers a 4-1 loss against San Jose (speaking of deadly aquatics).

Note to Boucher: You are NOT a Shark anymore. I mean seriously, was he purposely letting some of those goals in?

"Hey Jumbo, just tell the boys to shoot from behind the goal line, I'll take care of the rest...by the way, any chance you can buy me a steak from Henry's when we come to town?"

Holy toledo. Now, I am one of the biggest Boosh fans out there, but he HAS to be better.

Man, I really need to update this more often. Novel length blogs are like blown two-goal leads... Dammit.

So yeah, for the gist of the Washington game. Just looked up there. ^

Let's face it. Verizon is a hell of a building to play in, and all things considering, the Flyers put forth a decent effort. But these blown leads are becoming a joke.

Speaking of jokes, what caused the downfall of the 2009 Florida Panthers and the 2000 Presidential Election?

A jacked up Booth.

BA DUMP, CHHHHHH!

And you wonder why I'm stuck blogging?

Next up on the menu: The Jon and Kate sage of our beloved coach.

In closing, I will say this. Instead of calling out your backup goaltender in the media, you should probably be giving more direction to this fellow.




Till next time!

The Sky is Falling!

Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Off in the distance…something eerily descending from the heavens…is that Falcon Heene? Oh no, never mind, it’s actually the sky falling.

Six games into the 2009-2010 Philadelphia Flyers season, doom and gloom has reared its ugly head again. Like the vexatious Republican uncle (every family has one), sentiments from outside the Flyers camp are rather bleak at this juncture in season. Yes, I’m referring to the fans. Me. You. Angel…

The echoes are apparitions of seasons past. Playing a full sixty-minute game. Holding third period leads. Defensive zone brain freezes. Hell, the Flyers might as well sign Bill Murray and adorn him with a number two jersey. That’s how “Brian Bridges” this situation is. Cranking up the tube on game day has become equivalent to that pesky box of chocolates; you just don’t know what you are going to get.

Yup, I just quoted a retard. But hey, that is better than quoting John Stevens, right?

“I thought we did a lot of good things…”

Really, John? How many times are we going to hear the SAME phrase after a game in which the Flyers committed mistakes uncharacteristic of any championship caliber team?

Ok, ok, I realize that my dramatics are on par with high school quarterbacks singing and dancing on FOX, but sometimes it’s fun. From a realist’s standpoint, it is only six games into the season. And, in this version of the NHL, the Flyers have a winning record (3-2-1). And while we are on this whole realist trip, I LOVED Forest Gump. But moving on. The season started in near flawless fashion. Two power-play goals and a Ray Emery shutout closed the door on the Eastern Conference semi-finalist Carolina Hurricanes in the opener. The following night, Devil fans played the part of the heartbroken North Carolinians, as they left their arena reeling from a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Flyers.

Two nights, two victories. Dominating victories at that. All is good in the kingdom of Orange and Black.

Then Obama’s favorite Russian, Alexander Ovechkin, came into town and we saw an early season candidate for Game of the Year. There was so much up-and-down action that even an inebriated prom queen would be impressed. Probably a classless joke for a hockey blog, but who am I kidding, no one is going to read this.

In the end, Danny Briere scored the overtime winner whilst celebrating his 32^nd birthday. Still undefeated!

However, the game against Washington contained what has become common foreshadowing for a John Stevens coached team.

Let’s go down the list:

1) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde hockey– a scoreless first to a 7-goal second.

2) Defensive lapses that the 2009 Tennessee Titans would be proud of.

3) Untimely turnovers (noticeably following atrocious line changes).

4) A third period lead that vanished faster than Titan fans at Gillette Stadium last Sunday.

Ok, my apologies to Jeff Fisher, but that was way too easy.

Although the team showed a tremendous amount of heart tying the game late and winning it in the extra session, it was the beginning of a week of “Uh oh.”

Next on the docket, a 2006-2007esque performance against a division rival and hated foe. The Pittsburgh Penguins. How could this team not show up to a game of this value? I mean come on. What were they doing the night before? Taking jello shots and playing Deer Hunter at Scott Hartnell’s apartment? Or perhaps they were doing their nails and discussing which aspects of Scottie Upshall they missed the most…

I mean, the performance against Pittsburgh was putrid. Disgusting. That one “now famous internet video” disgusting.

This sums up the game:

The fourth line of Riley Cote (replacing the injured Blair Betts, which I haven’t even touched on), Ian Laperriere, and Arron Asham were responsible for an inexcusable turn over at the Penguin blueline. Ryan Parent and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen went off for a change, assuming that the forwards were dumping the puck deep. The result? Bill Guerin embarrassing Sugar Ray on a breakaway. “I just wanna fly…”

Sorry Ray, no one is putting their arms around you, baby.

The most defining moment of the game, however, came when Braydon Coburn did his best Bryan McCabe/Niklas Backstrom impression and threw a puck into his own cage. Ok, he didn’t THROW it in ala Marc Bergevin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3J8ZFKwE5c), but he legitimately shot it into his own net.

This is probably close to how the critical moment went for some fans:

Fan getting a snack in the kitchen. Hears, “COBURN SCORES!” Fan excitedly sprints to the living room preparing his or her Sidney Crosby slander. Divesby, good one. Alas, the end of the commentators gargle leaves the full sentence at:

“COBURN SCORES! IN HIS OWN NET!”

Snack ejected from nearest window.

What a pitiful game for Braydon. He was tentative with the puck, and was making questionable decisions all night long. The Penguins forecheck was causing him to do “hot potato” like things with his passes. It would have been one of those games you could just omit from your memory, but I forgot to add something earlier, he played like vomit against the Capitals, too!

Now putting the 5-4 loss solely on his shoulders would be giving him too much credit. Timonen was awful as well. In fact, the pairing has been shaky at best so far this young season.

What else stood out from the Penguin game? Emery looked bad. Gagne looked bad. Cob…oh wait, the whole Bill Murray thing, my fault. Tollefsen looked bad. Richards looked mortal. You get the point.

Since this blog has had more bitching than a Dawson’s Creek message board, I’m going to shorten up the description of the next two games.

Anaheim – third period collapse, looked like children in the gimmick..erm…shootout. What a surprise!

Honestly, let’s just give the muckers and grinders a shot, they couldn’t do any worse.

Florida – third period collapse, looked like children again in the shootout…

Wait, what’s that? The game didn’t go to OT? The Flyers didn’t even get a point? They were playing the Panthers though, right?

Ah hell.

One fun fact. The Orange and Black gave up their SECOND shorthanded goal of the year against Florida. Radek Dvorak promptly made Pronger look like Derian Hatcher, and tucked the puck past Emery on a partial breakaway.

That’s two shortie’s allowed in six games. Count ‘em. The Flyers gave up one shorthanded goal ALL of last season.

Since this is getting a little bit lengthy, I’ll spare you, and close on a positive note. I doubt you are reading at this point anyways, so I could just say ridiculous things without worry of scrutiny. Coburn for Norris! I watch GLEE!

After all the rambling, the season is six games old. Now, Flyer fans have been sitting on the Anaheim and Florida losses for, get ready, ELEVEN days. That is enough off time to make even the sanest fans lose it.

“I blame John Stevens! He made the schedule!”

But really, let’s take a look at some of the good.

Mike Richards has 6 goals already, and is very much looking fully recovered from his offseason surgery. Jeff Carter is Jesus. And he is tied for the team lead in points (8). Feverous start for the two young stars.

And how about Matt Carle? I mean, Jeff H. Carter! He is blossoming into the talent that scouts originally thought he could be. His 3.5 million dollar cap hit is starting to look more acceptable. It’s easy to see that the savvy veteran Pronger has had an immediate impact.

James van Riemsdyk is looking like he belongs. He’s not tearing up the league, but nobody expected that from the twenty-year-old. He just looks like an NHLer, and that is promising.

The fourth line has looked like a real pain in the Crosby to play against. Lots of puck control, and cycling. Very fun to watch.

AND Emery has been an upgrade over Mary Biron. But I mean let’s face it, Darren Pang would have been an upgrade over Marty Biron.

That is all for now. It has been a fun first blog. If you enjoyed, let me know. If you hated it. Well, then I guess you’ll be seeing me at a podium in the near future.

“I did a lot of good things…”

Ciao!