Game #74 Review: Flyers 4 (SO) @ Islanders 3 3/28/09

4 (SO)

@

3

(Game summary videos haven't been working on the NHL TV pages lately...)

Epic win over a terrible team? Why not.

• This was a game the Flyers needed to win, because losing two straight to teams out of the playoffs would have been a huge bump in the road. If the Flyers hadn't dug themselves such a hole, this game wouldn't have been nearly as impressive. But two points are two points.
• Arron Asham or Darroll Powe can't replace Daniel Carcillo on the third line soon enough. Carcillo has now played twelve games in the orange and black, and has scored exactly zero goals. The only other forward not to have scored in this stretch? Riley Cote.
• I like Giroux with Gagne and Knuble, but the reuniting of the Hartnell-Carter-Lupul line was way overdue. They never should have been split.

Joffrey Lupul, in a rare performance as an energetic player, gets The Hat, with two goals.

And he was kind enough to the fans to reveal the back of the hat while talking to Coatesy.

Antero Niittymaki (who?) gets the start tonight against Boston, a game the Flyers will barely lose.

Game #67 Review: Flyers @ Rangers 3/15/09

2

@

4

Et tu, Justin St. Pierre?

• I'm really not big on blaming the officiating. I don't know that I ever have on here before. But holy crap, there were some absolutely terrible calls in this game. A blood drawing high stick on Braydon Coburn gets ignored, then he hits the guy behind the play and gets a game misconduct. The fourth, backbreaking goal, was a result of the Flyers letting up thinking a call was imminent on the hook against Matt Carle.
• The Flyers gave up four power play goals to the team ranked 28th in the league on the power play. Horrendous.
• This weekend made the goalie situation even clearer. Martin Biron played well yesterday, then today Antero Niittymaki was mediocre at best. Lundqvist started both games this weekend--should Biron have as well?
• Jeff Carter and Ryan Parent were both on the ice for three Rangers goals. Shame.
• Daniel Briere makes his linemates on the fourth line look real good. Not because he's a great playmaker, but because he makes them look good by comparison. He's been absolutely awful and out of shape, and needs to be a healthy scratch until he can skate faster than a sled hockey player. The only thing he contributed was a penalty.
• There were some real odd combinations out there late in the game. Every single Flyer, including Darroll Powe and Riley Cote, played on the penalty kill. Bizarre.
• Speaking of Riley Cote, he saw less than three minutes of ice time today. There has to be a better use of a roster spot.
• Having Sean Avery score four goals on his team is something no hockey fan should ever have to experience.

Real big week ahead. At Detroit, At Buffalo, At Pittsburgh. Need at least three points there.

Game #65 Review: Capitals 2 @ Flyers 1 3/12/09

2

@

1

And so the Flyers win the season series 2-1-1 instead of 3-0-1.

My feed crapped out and was spotty all through the first, so I don't have any great insights into anything except what I've read and what. But when has that ever stopped me?

• Not a bad game. Like I said in the preview, the Caps were the more determined team, especially Theodore, and it paid off. Though not by a whole lot. Real close game. A lot more of these to come the rest of the way.

• Alex Ovechkin scored. That happens. But who was on the ice for the Flyers when he scored? Arron Asham, Darroll Powe, and Riley Fucking Cote. That's completely inexcusable.

• Only one goal for the good guys tonight (from Mike Knuble), but it was a real nice one. Flyers did a lot of things right in terms of setting up shots, just that the actual shots weren't enough.

• Jose Theodore had a good night, which we all know he can do. Though that "spectacular" save in the second that's shown like three times in the highlights above was really just him having to make up for being in terrible position and getting across way too slow.

• Daniel Briere didn't get hurt today. Mixed emotions on that. I liked him a lot in the playoffs last year, but that groin is just a distracting time bomb these days.

• Not happy to see the Penguins salvage a point after being down 3-0 in the third. Not happy to see the Devils or Rangers win. Nice that the Islanders held the Canadiens to one point. And nice to see the Panthers lose.

Big home-and-home, back-to-back matinees with the Rangers coming up this weekend. Beating Sean Avery and Co. twice in two days should be a lot of fun.

Game #65 Review: Sabres 2 @ Flyers 5 3/10/09

2

@

5

Bam.

What a great time to be a Flyers fan.

• Jeff Carter breaks a five-game goal-less streak for the second time in a month. He's been cold lately, but he was real good tonight. Being out of the goal race seems to have hurt his urgency somewhat, hopefully it returns as the games mean more.
• Scott Hartnell scored twice, neither with his stick--one off the leg, one off the nipple. Maybe on March 26th he'll score one off his wig.
• Second real good, multi-point game in a row for Joffrey Lupul. Definitely glad to see him still in the orange and black.
• The first goal was a total fluke, but for the next fifty-something minutes, Martin Biron was real solid, if unspectacular. The late second Buffalo goal was weak, and since it was so late may leave a lasting impression. Biron should still get the start vs. Washington, but it was an annoying blemish on what was otherwise a pretty nice night.
• Claude Giroux is pretty good at this sport, ain't he?
• In case you haven't noticed, the Flyers depth is absolutely absurd. There are easily eight guys who wouldn't surprise anybody with a multi-goal night.
• Arron Asham had a nice scrap, his first in a while. Word that Riley Cote left the game injured really can't worry anyone too much. Flyers have plenty of tough guys that are far more useful with the puck.
• Bunch of penalties from Daniel Carcillo, but they were all matching. Flyers are good four-on-four, so that's fine. But when they stop being matching it's gonna be a big problems.
• No hat in today's post game videos, which means it didn't go to Hartnell, Carter, or Biron. Maybe Giroux? Lupul? Or maybe whoever won it just didn't wear it on camera (Carter never has that I've seen).

Washington, Pittsburgh, New Jersey AND Montreal all came from behind to win tonight. Pittsburgh was sloppy enough to hand Florida a point in the process. While it's frustrating for the Flyers to not gain much ground tonight, it has to be absolutely killer for Buffalo. They're done.

Capitals roll in to town to wrap up their series on Thursday. Flyers lead the series with them 2-0-1 so far, so expect big things.

Game #65 Preview: Sabres @ Flyers

@

Why The Flyers Will Win:

• Martin Biron has owned the Sabres of late, and was awesome vs. Nashville on Saturday. He has a real chance to lock down the #1 spot solidly with a big game tonight.
• Last time these two teams met, Mike Richards notched five points. Always improving, we expect him to tally around eighteen tonight.
• Buffalo's logo is not a Sabre. It's a buffalo. And that's just weird. It's not like the Devils' logo is a new jersey, or the Coyotes' logo is a Phoenix. The bills do the same sort of thing, and I just can't endorse this. The Flyers logo is flying, so it's fine, but the buffaslug on the Sabres jerseys isn't sharp or being fenced with or anything. That has to cost them at least a couple goals a game.

Why The Sabres Will Win:

• Patrick Lalime will probably get the start tonight, and while he might be pretty crappy nowadays, once upon a time he was a serious Flyer killer, allowing only two goals in five games in the first round of the 2002 playoffs. Yikes.
• When was the last time a Flyers goalie put together two solid games back to back? Not since at least 2008.
• No idea why Mike Richards missed practice yesterday.

Why Everybody Wins:

• The game is on Versus, so it will be in HD and seen nationwide, AND that horrible Sabres announcer will have the night off.

There is definitely going to be an anything you can do I can do better moment from Riley Cote aimed at Carcillo at some point during this win for the Flyers. I see four goals.

Mike Knuble wears The Hat tonight.

In-Fighting

The 30 GMs of the NHL are meeting this week, and fighting is to be the main topic of discussion. Pro-fighting Brian Burke of Toronto decided the best way to approach this subject was to challenge any other GM who disagrees with him to a fight. I'm sure Paul Holmgren is firmly in the pro-fighting camp as well, but I'm sure just about every Flyers fan would pay good money to see our GM beat the crap out of Brian Burke.

Hockey fights are sort of unique in sports skirmishes, because unlike baseball, basketball, or even NASCAR throwdowns, there's really not usually much animosity or genuine dislike there. Fighting in hockey is just what you do. It's always been part of the game and probably always will be. And in the extremely transient NHL, former sparring partners often wind up sitting on the bench. Or current sparring partners, as was the case with R.J. Umberger and Jim Dowd about a year ago, who fought in practice and had to be broken up by Steve Downie. Wonder if it's a coincidence that none of those three are with the team any longer...

Flyers haven't had any incestuous thrown downs that we know of this year, but it doesn't mean none of the 20 guys on the current roster have ever gone at each other.

I dug up three such regular season tussles between current brothers in orange, all of them with a common, unsurprising participant. And they all happened in early-mid November, for what that's worth (not a whole lot).

In chronological order:


Arron Asham (NYI) def. Mike Richards (PHI) 11/10/2005


Arron Asham (NYI) def. Mike Richards (PHI) 11/9/2006


Riley Cote (PHI) vs. Arron Asham (NJD) 11/8/2007 (draw)

With 100% of Precincts Reporting...

Democracy is as Philadelphian as driving to Delaware to buy cheaper booze. Flyers fans Philadelphian and non-Philadelphian made their voices heard in our entirely scientific poll, and voted in a strong plurality to dispose of Randy Jones. Although it is possible that sixteen or so of Jones' votes were cast by the Bergeron family.

And yet, despite the overwhelming mandate of the masses, Paul Holmgren sent away Scottie Upshall, who only got one vote, a vote which I know came after his trade had been announced.

So should Paul Holmgren get a pass? Sam Cardichi and Flyers Goal Scored By... seem to think so. I'm not so sure. Daniel Carcillo hasn't been terrible by any means, but he hasn't been great. Upshall wasn't putting up huge numbers either. They've been about the same. In the long run, Carcillo for Upshall will probably be a pretty even trade.

Except that the deal wasn't just Carcillo for Upshall. It was Carcillo for Upshall and a second round pick. And picks, except for the occasional James Van Riemsdyk, are worth holding on to. I don't think anybody can honestly say at this point that the deal has worked out well for the Flyers yet. If Carcillo catches fire down the stretch and into the playoffs, then it's time to be giving the deal a thumbs up. But not until then.

We still love ya, Homer. You took the Flyers from 30th to the conference finals in one season, which was totally unprecedented and unexpected. And it's just hard to stay mad at a guy whose hair manages to stay at such sharp right angles.

Game #64 Review: Predators 1 @ Flyers 4 3/7/09

1

@

4

Didn't see this one coming.

• The bounce back from that flameout Thursday was pretty unbelievable. A very commanding win over a team on a six-game win streak is exactly what the doctor ordered.
• Martin Biron was at his lights out best. Flashy as hell, with absurdly overly dramatic glove saves and that absolutely nuts goal line stop that leads off the above recap vid. He let in a soft goal, sure, but the swagger was great to see. Asked why he made so many big saves, Marty replied "I just want to be on TV." Martin was in the SportsCenter Top Ten for his save on Jokinen vs. Calgary on Thursday, and is clearly already addicted to the fame. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but it looks like the goalie controversy has subsided for the time being. Sorry Niitty, but Montreal and Calgary were both real shitty efforts.
• Easily Joffrey Lupul's best game of the year, as he becomes the sixth Flyer to hit 20 goals on the year. And he gets the hat? More on that later, as the FF's crack research team is hard at work pursuing all leads hat related. We're on to something big here.
• Poor Riley Cote clearly feels his usefulness diminishing to nothing. Daniel Carcillo arrives Thursday, and Riley feels threatened so he fights on Thursday. Carcillo drops the gloves tonight, and Riley feels threatened so he has to have an even bigger fight the very next shift. Carcillo got a point tonight too, which has to stick in Riles' craw all the more. Honestly, Riley can't possibly get any ice time in the playoffs, so it should be only a matter of time before Holmgren lets him get comfortable with the Phantoms.
• Flyers gained a game on the Devils tonight to boot. Because they lost to the Islanders. They lost by four. They lost to the ISLANDERS by FOUR. Sit back and enjoy this.

Huge set of games coming up. Sabres on Versus, Capitals, Rangers, Rangers on NBC, Red Wings on Versus, Sabres, Penguins, Devils on Versus, and Panthers, all in the next eighteen days. Should be fairly awesome stuff.

Game #63 Review: Flames 5 @ Flyers 1 3/5/09

5

@

1

So this is how good the Flyers are after the trade deadline. Pathetic.

• While the Flyers were busy giving up FOUR goals in the first period, a guy you may have heard of named Scottie Upshall was busy scoring a goal up in Boston, and leading his lowly Coyotes to a win over the mighty Bruins. Remember when he was scoring goals for the Flyers? That was nice. The video is below, if you wanna twist the knife some more.
  
  
• As much as I'm ready to hate him, Daniel Carcillo wasn't all bad tonight. Didn't do much special, but didn't do anything worse than anybody. Then again, his new teammates set the bar perilously low.
• This was the second REAL bad first period in a row for Antero Niittymaki in as many home games. Gave up four to Calgary after giving up three to Montreal. The goalie carousel keeps turning...
• These Flames look damn good with their new acquisitions. You gotta like their chances of making it out of the West.
• Riley Cote fought early for a reason. He really has to prove his relevance now with two capable fighters in Arron Asham and Carcillo in the line up, both of whom can occasionally put a puck in the net. Something Riles can't even imagine doing.
• More on the Briere injury disaster later. I don't hate myself enough to write about it now.

In conclusion, this game was absolutely gross and horrible. Paired with wins from Pittsburgh and the Rangers, this night went just about as badly as it possibly could have.

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

4

@

2

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.

Wise Words From Riley Cote

I didn't do a ton of writing on Bruce Boudreau running his mouth, because I thought it was all pretty stupid and meaningless. But pretty much everyone on the Flyers got asked about it, with different levels of engagement in their responses. My favorite stuff quotes, though, came from team poet laureate, Riley Cote.

From the team P.R. blog, On The Fly: (Link)

Cote said the following, before the Flyers-Capitals game at the Verizon
Center on Tuesday night:

"I didn't read the article, I only kind of heard about it second hand. The fact that he's wasting his energy and time talking about something like that, he's just nit-picking I think. He's digging for something to talk about. We won last game, we played a good team game. You get into a couple fights, and you win some and you lose some. Brashear is a tough guy, there's no question. I don't feel bad. So I did my job, came out on the wrong end of the stick, big deal? It's a whole new game tonight and a brand new battle.

"I'll be the first one to tell you I got my ass kicked. I really don't care, I got back up and fought him again. For me, it's no big deal. All that stuff just gives me more incentive to do my job better. I'm sure the team can say the same thing.

"If you've got a coach chirping at the way we play, I take that as a compliment because that's Flyers hockey and we're not going to back down from anybody no matter how physical a team is."

Cote also scoffed at the suggestion that the Flyers were running up the score.

"How do you run the score up in hockey? I mean, it's a hockey game. You try to score goals. I don't know how you can run the score up unless you pull the goalie or something."

As for his shot at Cote for losing the battles with Brashear...

"He can carve me up all he wants, I'm still going to come out swinging."

Beautiful stuff, Riley.