Carcillo vs. Sbisa By The Numbers

During the much maligned Daniel Carcillo era, the Flyers have gone 10-10-1, which makes for a 47.6% winning percentage.

During the Luca Sbisa era (October-January), the Flyers went 26-14-9, good for a 53.1% winning percentage. They also had a much greater percentage of their losses in OT, which of course is largely meaningless in playoffs, but speaks to the losses being closer.

All in all, good news. Unless you read between the lines...

The record during the interregnum between Carcillo and Sbisa? 8-4-1, good for a 61.5% winning percentage. That was the stretch leading up to the Upshall-Carcillo trade, since which the Flyers have only won 47.6% of their games. That's a drop-off of about 14 percent, which is pretty huge.

I promise I'll try not to say anything more about Scottie Upshall the remainder of the playoffs. I'll try to try. But it's so hard...

My Name is Luca, I Play in the Second Game

An angel descending from the north (see the halo?), Luca Sbisa makes his triumphant return to Flyerland in what is only the biggest game of the season. Welcome back, little Swiss guy.

Daniel Carcillo finally got the Flyers on the suspension board this season, after being held suspensionless for an uncharacteristic 83 games. He'll have to watch from the press box, where scared reporters will try not to make eye contact with him for fear of him biting off their faces.

So what does Sbisa's return mean? Sbisa and Carcillo combined for zero goals this season, true, but Sbisa has the excuse of playing on defense most all of his time with the Flyers, whereas Carcillo's only excuse is that he's terrible.

Sbisa will be on offense tonight, which was always fun to watch. He is crazy fast and plays like he's crazy small (even though he's allegedly 6'2''), bouncing around wildly like a ping-pong ball. Whether he's good or not is not really important--he'll be a different look for the Penguins to deal with, and has to be a pain to play against. Facing Luca Sbisa on offense has to be like playing poker against someone who has no idea what the rules are. They have no idea what they're doing, but neither do you, so it's dangerous for both.

So please, Luca, do big things tonight. The bar is set dangerously low, just be careful not to trip over it.

Game #80 Preview: Flyers @ Rangers 4/9/09

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The Flyers are in, but still can finish anywhere between third and sixth, with home ice or without it, against Carolina, Pittsburgh, or even New Jersey. So these last three games against the New York teams are big.

Why the Flyers Will Win:

• The Flyers are much better than the Rangers. That oughta count for something.
• Next to the Penguins, it's pretty safe to say that the Rangers are this team's least liked opponent. The Flyers would undoubtedly love to keep the Rangerss out.

Why the Rangers Will Win:

• David Sloane, who has never before played a game at ANY professional level, will be starting tonight for the Flyers in place of the injured Ryan Parent. I'm not sure why it's not Luca Sbisa making his triumphant return, but it's probably a cap issue. Work it out, Holmgren. Jared Ross, John Kalinski, and Luca Sbisa are all much better than Danny Syvret, Andreas Nodl, and whoever this Sloane clown is.
• This could be the Rangers' last home game 'til October, potentially. That could be some motivation for them.

Prediction: Rangers win 3-1. No idea why.

No Fly Zone

November 5th, 1988. Ronald Reagan is president, and the nation hadn't even voted on his replacement yet. The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Zaire, East Germany (and the Berlin Wall), are all in great shape. Barack Obama is 27, and just started law school. Luca Sbisa is not even a sperm yet.

A lot of things have changed since that day, but one thing has stayed the same--the Flyers' luck in Detroit. In seventeen games in Joe Louis Arena, including two in the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, the Flyers have won exactly zero times. 0-15-2. Bizarre and gross, especially considering that the Flyers have the second best all-time winning percentage of any team in the league.

So what is it about Detroit that makes it such a horrible place for the orange and black?

• Does being in Detroit, the capital of industrial decline, depress the hell out of them? It sure depresses the hell out of Tim Panaccio.
• Is it an allergy to octopus residue?
• Does the Wings' lack of a third color bewilder them?
• Is it their creepy Europhilia? The Red Wings are the only team in the league where North Americans are the minority. For all the "Buy American" stuff the other Detroit industries promote, the Red Wings sure do love the importeds.
• Or does all the weirdness stem from the Flyers' second-most recent win in Detroit, a 1988 game where the Flyers were down 5-1 and came back to win 11-6. That, my friends, is weird.

Whatever the reason may be, I believe I have the antidote. It is, of course, me. The Flyers are 4-0 in their last four games with yours truly in the building, with wins over Washington, Montreal, Pittsburgh, and Washington again. Not too shabby.

Nothing Like a Little Pre-Game Passive Aggression

From the Flyers P.R. blog, On The Fly:

Schenn over Sbisa? - Flyers rookie defenseman Luca Sbisa was not chosen to participate in this year's YoungStars Game in Montreal, part of the NHL All-Star weekend. The game features 10 NHL rookies and 10 sophomores playing against one another.

Two defensemen are chosen from each conference, and Toronto rookie Luke Schenn was picked ahead of Sbisa despite playing in eight fewer games and having four fewer points for a club that looks poised to miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season. He is the only representative from a Canadian team on the Eastern Conference squad.

Gotta love that.

Game #41 Review: Wild 1 @ Flyers 3 1/8/09

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Home is where the win is.

The Flyers got plenty of fan support during their road trip (six games, six sellouts), but nothing compares to playing at home in a building full of the best hockey fans in the country.

A slow start and a buttload of penalties weren't enough to stop the Flyers at home, where the Flyers have now won seven straight.

• I remembered during this game why I never watch the Wild. They play the most boring post-lockout hockey imagineable. It's like New Jersey during their cup years, but without as much physicality.
• The Flyers played as well on special teams as any team possibly could. 1-for-1 on the power play, and 8-for-8 on the penalty kill. That's 9-for-9 as a team, and conversely 0-for-9 for the Wild. Nice stuff. But of course, giving up eight power plays is totally unacceptable, especially on so many dumb penalties. Especially the too many men penalty during a penalty kill.
• Nice to see Scottie Upshall get on the score sheet for the first time in way too long. It was only his sixth goal of the season, but it sure was a pretty one. First star, too.
• How awesome was the straight out of the penalty box fight between Arron Asham and Erik Reitz? Don't know that I've ever seen players go straight from the penalty box to each other before. Well, at least not in a game from this decade.
• Nicklas Backstrom set a Wild record for longest shutout streak at just short of 150 minutes. He was solid in the first half of the game, though once the streak was broken, he was decidedly less than tremendous.
• Martin Biron, on the other hand, was very solid, for the second straight game. This is the kinda play we need from him down the stretch and into the playoffs.
• Luca Sbisa was not missed. And as long as the team stays reasonably healthy, he really shouldn't be needed the rest of the year. Let him bulk up and develop with the Phantoms.
• I know it's not as important with a two-goal lead, but that was a really pathetic effort to get the puck in the empty net. Especially by Simon Gagne. Be a little more eager to pad your stats, dude.

That Gagne nonchalance spoiled my prediction of a three-goal win. But I'm still pretty happy with my clairvoyance.

Toronto, who got crushed tonight, are up next on Saturday, for a little Hockey Night in Canada action.

Game #40 Review: Flyers 1 @ Capitals 2 (SO) 1/6/09

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Fatty Backstrom struggles to keep up.

The game went exactly as I predicted. Shootout victory for the Capitals which left the Flyers satisfied and the Caps super happy.

What I didn't expect was the defensive effort from the Flyers, holding the Caps to only one goal. This was a really nice game for the Flyer D, who not coincidentally have avoided most of the injury wave. I'm not worried about the Flyers' ability to score goals come playoff time, it's the defense that gives me pause. And they played a real nice game tonight, from the goal line out.

• The Devils' regulation loss tonight really helped make this loss not so bad. We're a game away from the half-way point, and though making the playoffs is looking pretty safe, a division title since 2004 would be much appreciated.
• Hats off to Marty Biron. The one goal against was by far his lowest in some time, and tonight certainly represented his best effort since that shutout of Buffalo. He was pretty decent in the shootout as well, though in a losing effort. He had some absolutely atrocious technique in the second period, and needed a two-pad stack from Ossi Vaananen at one point to stop a Nylander shot, but other than that he was real good. This will be a good time for him to get a lot of games in, with the injury to Niitty hopefully ending in time for Biron to recover from all the starts during the all-star break.
• Two goals in three games for Braydon Coburn. No reason he can't get up to ten goals by the end of the season.
• Next to Ovechkin, the easiest player to identify out there on the ice tonight was Luca Sbisa. He's like a mini-Briere (yes, I realize normal-size Briere is like 5'7'') out there, minus the goal scoring ability. If he works on his finishing ability, he could be a real scoring threat. Until then, he's something of a liability because of the penalty taking. You think as a defenseman he'd be more of a backchecker.
• Thank god there's no shootout in the playoffs, or this would be a real issue. Three in a row makes me hate them even more. The Flyers just stink at these things. All three players tried the exact same move tonight, and all three almost scored on it. Almost doesn't cut it, though. There should be more going for broke in the OT to avoid them at all costs.
• Dontcha wish we got to play the Penguins sooner than a week from now? Let's pray they haven't recovered by then.

I really don't like sugarcoating all these losses like I've been doing. It's just that these losses really haven't been that sour. All the same, it's time for a new, more Philly outlook on things. So I say that from here on out, anything less than two points is unacceptable. Road trip is over, and 2-2-2 is about as mediocre as it could've been.

So wins only, from here on. Especially against Minnesota on Thursday. Git 'er done, boys, or I'll be one pissed-off fish.

Game #39 Review: Flyers 1 @ Kings 2(SO) 1/3/09

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Down, but happy.

This game never really seemed to get out of first gear, not entirely surprising given that the Flyers probably burned out their clutch in that second period of the Ducks game. Decent but unspectacular goaltending foiled far below spectacular offense from both sides. And a point is a point. And three out of four points in California is not bad. It's not perfect by any means, but we feel better about it when we come up with excuses.

Some quick thoughts...

• FIFTH straight road sell-out. In another market with mediocre attendance. Flyers = America's Team?
• A point is better than no point. Especially when that one point puts you in sole possession of first in the Atlantic for the first time all season, with a Rangers loss to the Caps last night.
• The Flyers are absurdly injured at this point. When Luca Sbisa is forced to play forward, you're having injury problems. When Luca Sbisa is a STARTING forward, it's gotten completely out of hand. Gone is "Broad Street Bullies" for the time being, we've got "Team Red Cross" now.
• He's been ultra solid in regulation, but Antero Niittymaki has been exposed as an awful shootout goalie. Pull to the right, let him go down, put it over his glove. The Devils did it twice to win, now the Kings did it twice to win. I think some thought has to be given (at least come March or so when things get tighter) to putting Biron in net for shootouts. Hey, it worked for Gordon Bombay and Julie Gaffney...

• As bad as Niittymaki is at 1-on-0's, , Scott Hartnell is infinitely worse. He has gotten an amazing number of breakaways in the past few games, and always manages to make an ass of himself. I laughed when he got awarded a penalty shot, and had absolutely zero confidence in him doing anything but embarrassing himself. Especially in a situation like a penalty shot where there's no backcheckers, he should just wind up between the dots and rip a slapshot, which is by far his best weapon. Save himself the humiliation. Hartnell's on pace for thirty goals, but he might as well just dump and chase if he finds himself alone inside the blueline.
• As it's abundantly clear from the locker room interviews... ...it's good to see the Flyers staying calm and grounded. Let's hope they get their pulses up a little bit though before they play the Caps, though.

Flyers flew home to Philly for a day or so back home before hopping on the train south to DC. I would say that returning to Philadelphia makes this a seperate road trip if anyone asked me (no one asked me).

There will be a lot of good memories returning to Verizon Center to face the Caps. A lot. Even that beer bottle to Carter's head.

Game #39 Preview: Flyers @ Kings 1/3/09

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Flyers take the freeway down to the House of Kobe for the second of back-to-back games in Southern California, this time against the less-than-regal Los Angeles Kings, who currently rest at fourteenth in the West.

Why The Flyers Will Win:

• The Flyers are playing with a lot of confidence now, even if they're not playing their best technically. And Los Angeles is not good enough to beat a confident team.
• I have a hunch that newly minted forward Luca Sbisa is gonna score like five goals tonight. Against Anaheim he was bouncing around like a ping pong ball, and managed to put himself in the net, if not the puck. By the second game he should have the hang of it.
• Now that La Barbera got traded, I can name exactly TWO Kings players, Stamkos and Handzus. I like 'Zus a lot, but no way he's enough for them to win this.

Why The Kings Will Win:

• The Flyers won last night, but they played anything but solid hockey. The offense-only game last night was a lot of fun to watch, but it's not a style that's gonna lead to any long term success. If the Flyers don't clean up their defense some (lookin' at you, Randy Jones)Jones), they could be in trouble.

Goin' to Rangers @ Caps tonight in DC. Here's hoping they both lose.