ECQF Game 1 Preview: Flyers @ Penguins 4/15/09

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Holy crap, we're here. As of writing this, there's about nine hours until the Flyers begin their run in the playoffs. It's been three hundred and thirty-two days since the Flyers last played a playoff game. That's a long time. A LONG time.

(This is mostly general stuff for the whole series, but it's mostly for tonight).

Why the Flyers Will Win:

• Because they've got something to prove. About 97% of pundits are picking Pittsburgh to win this series, which is pretty ridiculous for a 4 vs 5 match-up. Plenty of bulletin board material.
• Because the Penguins' record against the Flyers this year is really deceptive. They won four of the six, sure, but one of those was in a shootout (in a game the Flyers were leading with three minutes left), and the other was because of this shit.
  
• Because the Penguins' record against the Flyers this year is really irrelevant. The Flyers had a winning record against the Penguins in the regular season last year, and we all know how much that meant. The Flyers also did not have winning records last regular season against either Washington or Montreal, and we all know how much that meant too.
  
• Braydon Coburn. Kimmo Timonen. Simon Gagne. Claude Giroux. None of them were around last year. Those additions plus the subtractions of Ryan Malone, Marian Hossa, and Derian Hatcher should mean good things.
• Last time the Flyers and Penguins played, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin combined for zero points. And more importantly, zero shots. This is a team with it's current lineup that knows how to shut them down.

Why the Penguins Will Win:

• Goaltending. I definitely don't dump on Martin Biron as much as the rest of the world does, but I don't think he matches up well against Marc-Andre Fleury. Mostly because Fleury is the key to the Penguins success, and doesn't get anywhere near the credit he should for it. Ever since Fleury got rid of those yellow pads, he's been real good. The Flyers scored a combined eight goals on him in five games last year (plus an empty netter). That's a GAA of 1.60. Which is real good.
• The Penguins ended the season in the right way, winning their last few games pretty convincingly, finishing a run that saw them move up all the way from tenth to fourth. The Flyers, on the other hand, finished the season by blowing three different leads against the Rangers to squander home ice.
  

Prediction: Penguins take Game 1, by a score of 4-1. Shaky night for Biron. He'll have a big Game 2, though.

Game #72 Review: Devils 2 @ Flyers 4 3/23/09

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Beating Pittsburgh and New Jersey back to back? Doesn't get much better than that.

• That was about as good a night on the power play as you'll ever see. Flyers were perfect at 3-for-3 with the man-advantage, scoring three goals in only 3:15 of power play time. The penalty kill was pretty solid as well, holding the Devils to only one power play goal in eight chances, in 14:23 of 5-on-4.
• Remember when Daniel Briere was really terrible? Ever since he got his first goal in this comeback vs. Buffalo on Thursday, he has been phenomenal. His goal on the great feed from Kimmo Timonen was a beauty, and his feed on Mike Knuble's was just as nice. He's got his poaching feel back, and it's really a great thing to behold.
• Daniel Carcillo and Arron Asham can't trade lines soon enough. Carcillo has the penalty taking skills of Steve Downie with the grooming habits of Adam Morrison. It's a really horrible thing to watch.
• I accidentally initially put just "Martin Brodeur" as a reason why the Flyers would win this game. But was it wrong? He was not great at all, especially on Gagne's goal. Flyers are now 3-1 against Brodeur this season. Not bad.

For getting his fortieth goal of the season, The Hat goes to Jeff Carter.

Flyers are off until Thursday, with a couple of potential trap games coming up, vs. Florida on Thursday and at Nassau on Saturday.

Flyers Geography / In Defense of Randy Jones

Back in November, the Flyers were named by the Finnish Embassador to the United States as "the most Finnish team in the National Hockey League", due to the league high presence of four Finnish Players (Antero Niittymaki, Kimmo Timonen, Lasse Kukkonen, and Ossi Vaananen), as well as Finnish-American team President Peter Luukko. Add some past Flyers like Illkka Sinisalo and Sami Kapanen, and you've got yourself quite the Little Helsinki on Broad Street.

The Finns knew the Flyers were especially deserving of this award, as they did not allow any player who is not Finnish, Canadian, or American player into their lineup. The Flyers expressed their gratitude for this honor by putting Vaananen and Kukkonen on waivers.

The Flyers currently only have players from three countries, sharing the title of least international team with the Calgary Flames, who incidentally also only have Canadians, Americans, and Finns. Not a Swede, Czech, Slovak, or Russian to be found for miles.

This isn't to say that the Flyers don't have some demographic uniqueness. Randy Jones is from Quispamsis, New Brunswick. And despite the fact that there are 736,000 Canadians from New Brunswick, Randy Jones is the only New Brunswicker to currently be in the NHL. Out of the 476 Canadians currently in the NHL, Randy is the only one from a population that, proportionally, should have ten. Even Prince Edward Island, with a population of only 140,000, has more NHLers than New Brunswick (2).

I'm definitely not a Randy Jones hater. He got the highest vote total in the dump the chump poll, sure, but he's a pretty solid, physical defenseman who led the team in +/- last year, and is fifth in the team this year at +12, behind only Richards, Gagne, Carter, and Timonen, even though Randy has played only 32 games this season. None too shabby.

He's clearly overcome some major obstacles making it out of the hockey black hole that is New Brunswick. Props, Mr. Jones, Props.

(I wrote all this not counting Andreas Nodl, because we all know he doesn't matter).

Game #62 Review: Flyers 4 @ Bruins 2 3/3/09

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Huge.

Huge.

Huge.

Big big game. Right to it.

• This was a real reassuring game for a team with a whole lot of drama surrounding it. The drama won't necessarily end in these last fifteen or so hours before the deadline, but this game might take away some of the urgency Holmgren is probably feeling.
• I'm one to play favorites, but I really haven't had one Flyer stand out for me since Sami Kapanen left. I'm not looking for like a Carter or Richards who everyone knows is awesome, but somebody whose name isn't on a lot of jerseys. And damn, Scottie Upshall sure was that guy tonight. He's not big but absolutely leveled people out there, and he's not known for being a great goal scorer, but he had a real nice goal tonight, and if you remember he got a game-tying goal in Game 7 against Washington and the series winning goal vs Montreal in Game 5. He gets stuck on the third line mostly, but if he was on one of the top two lines he'd most certainly have ~25 goals a season.
• The NESN announcers made some reference to Scottie Upshall complaining that the media is obsessed with his good looks and should focus more on his hockey abilities. Did I miss his anointing as the Anna Kournikova of the NHL? Someone more informed on puck bunny culture needs to catch me up here.
• If they trade Scottie Upshall tomorrow after my above slurping, I won't be amused.
• Simon Gagne had a huge game too, with two goals. Overshadowed now by the younger guns, but Gagne is a real reliable veteran presence that will be huge come playoff time, guaranteed.
• Kimmo Timonen makes such a huge difference. It still makes me slam my head into walls thinking about how that Penguins series would have gone had he been healthy for all of it...
• Here's how it had gone the previous four games. Great Niittymaki game, great Biron game, bad Niittymaki game, bad Biron game. And now, on the eve of a trade deadline game, a great game from Niittymaki. It might just be luck of the draw for Niittymaki, sort of a "she loves me, she loves me not" situation where his name happened to come up on the last petal. Biron's name has been swirling around more than anybody's most recently, and he's awfully pricy to be a backup. Niitty getting the start tonight and capitalizing on it might be the straw that puts Biron on a plane tomorrow night.
• Randy Jones might have been the only player with a real bad game tonight. I haven't been as hard on him as a lot of people have, but this was bad. He has to be pretty distracted by the trade rumors, and his morale is probably low from seeing the results of the poll here (53% of the vote as of now...ouch).
• But right after I write that, I see that Jones was a team leading +3 on the night. I'm full of crap, clearly.
• Daniel Briere, the biggest name potentially on the trade block, had a pretty decent game given that it was only his second back. That Giroux-Briere-Upshall line is a thing of beauty, and should definitely see more time together.

Predicted 4-3, got 4-2. Not bad. The most Flyersy Western Conference team, the Calgary Flames, come to town on Thursday. Should be a good show.

Knuble, Richards, Timonen, and Stevens post-game reactions here for ya

Game #62 Preview: Flyers @ Bruins 3/3/09

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1 vs. 4 tonight in a potential second round playoff match-up that may be more of a sure thing than anyone realizes. 5-8 in the East is really a joke, so look forward to a Boston vs. Philadelphia rematch of the last World Series come early May.

What's that you say? The Red Sox didn't make it to the World Series last year? They lost to the Devil Rays? The Devil Rays? Yikes...

Why The Flyers Will Win:

• For the first time since 1987 or so, the Flyers are playing with a full deck, all the arrows in the quiver. Biron, Niittymaki, Richards, Carter, Briere, Gagne, Knuble, Hartnell, Lupul, Upshall, Giroux, Timonen, Coburn, Jones, Parent, Carle, Alberts, Powe, Asham, hell even Cote will all be there. That's some serious all killer no filler. No Guenin, no Kukkonen, no Sbisa, no Metropolit, no Ross. It's a beautiful thing.
• Timonen back makes a huge difference. He's fairly invisible as far as huge deals go, but he sees the ice better than anyone on the team, and should help give some Viagra to a power play that's been horribly flaccid lately.
• Last time Tim Thomas played, he let in a shot from just inside the concourse. Sure he's an "all-star," but so were Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist, and they've all sucked unbelievably hard of late.
  

Why The Bruins Will Win:

• Even though the Flyers are hitting unparalleled levels of stackedness, the Bruins are still damn good. #1 in the east, and playing at home.
• The trade deadline has to be hell for any player, more so on the noise-making Flyers than on the pretty quiet Bruins. If I had no idea who I'd be playing for in two days, I'd be pretty distracted to say the least. If I'm Joffrey Lupul or Randy Jones and I really want to stay in Philadelphia, I play like shit tonight, and maybe get suspended for a dirty hit or something. Hard to trade a player who just got suspended.
  

Prediction: Flyers win 4-3. Epic. Maybe OT.

The NHL has been cracking down on livestream sites with far too much effectiveness, so viewing may be in peril for me. But I'll try. Let me know if you know of any reliable, decent feeds that haven't been shut down yet by the man.

Happy as a Claude

Normally when you google an athlete, most all the pictures have them trying to look all stoic or tough, game faces on. Not Claude Giroux. Claude knows that the best way to make your opponent shake in his skates is to show off a big toothy grin. Or toothless, as the case may be for many an NHLer.

The Flyers should be smiling as they take the ice in Boston tonight. Claude is back from a bizarre loan to the Phantoms, Timonen is back from being the 26th Flyer this season out this season with the flu, For the first time this season they'll have all their big names in the lineup at once. No more excuses. The names on the ice tonight will be the names on the cup in June.

Except for the whole trade deadline distraction and the goalie controversy deals...

Game #58 Review: Flyers 4 @ Capitals 2 2/24/08

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My cell phone photography skills are unparalleled.

• Arron Asham's goal was real pretty, but what doesn't get talked about enough on that play was what a horrible effort it was by Jose Theodore. Theodore started solid, but once the goals came they came hard and fast. As much as they don't like to agree with the rest of the league telling them this, Caps need a goalie at the trade deadline.
• You know who doesn't need a goalie at the trade deadline? The Flyers. Antero Niittymaki has really locked up the starting job barring any huge collapse. The Flyers need to be ready to remove him from the role if necessary, but it's gotta be his for now.
• Huge night for Riley Cote, which I don't think anyone expected. Riley was a +1 for probably the first time in his life, getting an assist on Asham's goal AND avoiding getting his face broken in half again by Donny Brashear. NO idea why Stevens put him on the ice with under eight minutes left in a one goal game, but the demoralization his playmaking caused was probably the highlight of the night.
• The Flyers depth on defense is amazing. As good as Kimmo Timonen, the Flyers really didn't miss a beat with their #7 d-man, Ossi Vaananen, in his place.
• Jeff Carter was the #1 star, but really didn't deserve it after that horrible turnover that led to Ovechkin's goal. The #1 star should have been...
• ...Claude Giroux, who clearly has studied at the Daniel Briere school of standing next to the net behind the goalie. The Flyers don't need Briere with Giroux playing this well (though one of those angles he took a shot from was absurdly acute).
• Scott Hartnell (erroneously second star) still has one of the best shots on the Flyers (probably second behind Carter), but needs to start being fined for these penalties. He now leads the league in minor penalties (link I found all by myself, I'm awesome)

Flyers play the Kings tonight. Dangerous opponent, could very easily be a letdown game. Kings won in a shootout in Minnesota last night, so did way more traveling. Hopefully Flyers ride this wave well, and hopefully Martin Biron feels like he has something to prove, because he does.

Game #58 Preview: Flyers @ Capitals 2/24/08

This game is important, yeah, but by no means make or break for either. These are two good teams that can score and play defense. They both may have some goalie issues, but that's par for the course. Jeff Carter's flu symptoms, plus late breaking news that Kimmo Timonen is out with the flu hurts (seriously, do none of these guys get flu shots?), as does the location. The Caps are also plus a Fedorov they didn't have in previous meetings. But the last game these two teams played in DC in January was a nailbiter that went to a shootout, so this one should remain at least marginally close.

One of the pretty cool things about the standings right now is that there is absolutely no doubt who the four best teams in the east are. It's Boston, Washington, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. It would be a huge stunner really, even this far out, if any one of those teams didn't make the second round of the playoffs. The other eleven teams really aren't keeping up (maybe Florida), which I'm absolutely fine with. And arguably the weakest of the top four is Boston. It's gonna be a clusterfuck to the cup, just the way it should be.

Flyers games in DC are no longer in the sea of orange they used to be, but away fan support is still pretty stellar, and will be even more so because of yours truly honoring the Flyers with his presence tonight. They so lucky.

Carter Lone Flyer To Make All-Star Game

Jeff Carter, the NHL goals co-leader, was the lone Flyer put on the Eastern Conference roster for the 2009 All-Star Game. Carter wasn't even on the ballot, but led the league in write-in votes.

So did the other Flyers, the ones who were actually on the ballot, get screwed? It's not what I should be thinking, but my reaction is no. Daniel Briere has missed way tooKimmo Timonen is a phenomenal pure defensemen, but doesn't have the offensive stats that voters look for when getting people in the offense-happy all-star game. Simon Gagne missed a bunch of games with injury, and has cooled off since his hot start. Mike Richards may have the strongest beef, with his character play, and only two fewer points than Carter, but he may not have been flashy enough to elbow his way in to this crowded group.

The crowding was made even worse this year by out of control fan voting. The two teams whose fanbases did the best job were Montréal fans and Pittsburgh fans. Pittsburgh fans had the most help getting their two All-Star game starters, Crosby and Malkin in, since those are actual deserving players who would have gotten votes from non-Pittsburgh fans. But Montréal got a whopping four players in the starting lineup: Alex Kovalev, Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek, and Carey Price. Markov getting in is understandable, and outside of his absolutely shitteous play against the Flyers last year (for which I am forever grateful), Carey Price has a case. But Alex Kovalev and Mike Komisarek getting in is absolute garbage. Kovalev especially, getting a starting spot in place of the league's undisputed MVP, Alex Ovechkin.

Changes have to come to the voting system, but I think it's safe to say that other teams should have bigger beefs than should the Flyers.

Here are Carter's subdued thoughts on the selection:

Game #41 Preview: Wild @ Flyers 1/8/09

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Home sweet home. And halfway home. Whichever aspect of this homecoming you think is more important for the Flyers, there's one thing that's for certain: this is a big game.

After going 2-2-2 on an absurdly injurious road trip, the Flyers return home to the Wachovia Center to face a hot team in ugly jerseys, the Minnesota Wild.

Why The Flyers Will Win:

• The Flyers played extremely solid hockey, especially defensively, in their last game against the Washington Capitals. A lot of that momentum should carry over.
• In their four losses during the road trip, the Flyers scored a combined three goals. That has to come to an end soon, right?
• Fans who haven't seen the team since last year are sure to be loud, and pumped up by the newly close division standings.
• Mike Richards, Kimmo Timonen, and Simon Gagne are sure to play well to show the All-Star roster makers how much they got wrong. Jeff Carter, conversely, should play well to validate his roster spot.
• Flyers are 4-1-0 all-time against the Wild in Philadelphia.
• Marion Gaborik, one of about three Wild players I could name,

Why The Wild Will Win

• Nicklas Backstrom (the Capital) scored the lone goal for Washington on Tuesday, and the other Nicklas Backstrom (the Minnesota goalie) has two consecutive shutouts. Any deja vu would be bad.
• Flyers haven't seen each other in anything but white for a while--there could be some confused turnovers because of that

Predicition: Flyers win by at least three.

Nine Best of 2008 -- #8

The eighth-best game of 2008 in the countdown is kind of an odd pick. It didn't lead to anything, it wasn't even that close a game for the most part.

But it was super important all the same. The Flyers went into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals down 3-0. The Flyers hadn't played too badly in Game 1, but really stunk up the joint in Game 3, easily their worst game of the year. Facing a sweep at the hands of Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and without two of their top defensemen in Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn, the Flyers needed to salvage something, if for no other reason than to avoid the embarrassment of a sweep and to make the last game of the season at the Wachovia Center a win.



And win they did. Three garbagey first period goals from Joffrey Lupul, Daniel Briere and Jeff Carter put the Flyers comfortably up, and gave fans something to cheer about for the first time in weeks. Jordan Staal knocked a couple past Martin Biron in the third, but the Flyers hung on, and Lupul added an empty netter to lock in the win with the score of 4-2.

But the fun didn't stop after the second Lupul goal. Derian Hatcher (remember him?) beat the living crap out of Ryan Malone, and then Mike Richards treated Sidney Crosby with the respect he deserves.



Flyers lost Game 5 badly, but that shouldn't detract from how awesome Game 4 was. For that one night (and the two days between Games 4 and 5), the Flyers gave their fans reason to be happy, reason to be hopeful, reason to believe. And that's what being a fan is all about.

Well, not really. But it's a nice idea.

Hartnell and Timonen Injured

Because the 5-1 loss to Chicago wasn't bad enough on its own, news broke that the Flyers will be without at least two of their starters for the forseeable future.

By ED MORAN
Philadelphia Daily News
morane@phillynews.com
CHICAGO - Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell were injured in last night's 5-1 loss to the Blackhawks.
Timonen had a soft cast on his right foot after chipping a bone in the ankle.
"It will depend on how Kimmo feels, but it looks like [he'll be out] a minimum of a week," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. "Hartnell broke his big toe blocking a shot. We'll see how he feels, but it's a very slim chance [he'll play tonight]."

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/36771924.html