The Hat, Part Deux

Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Daily News today broke the story of the Flyers' ugly orange Player of the Game Hat. Oh wait, that's not right. Yours truly was all over this story weeks ago. And I don't even write about this stuff for a living...

In my continuing efforts to be the preeminent source for all things related to The Hat, I now present the updated gallery of all The Hat winners in 2009:

New Jersey 3/23/09 -- Jeff Carter (1 goal, his 40th of the season).

Pittsburgh 3/22/09 -- Ryan Parent (1 assist, held Malkin and Crosby to zero shots)

Buffalo 3/20/09 -- Danny Briere (2 goals)

NY Rangers 3/14/09 -- Arron Asham (2 goals)

Buffalo 3/10/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.


Nashville 3/7/09 -- Joffrey Lupul (2 goals).

Boston 3/3/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Los Angeles 2/25/09 -- Martin Biron (34 shots, 34 saves in the shoutout).

Washington 2/24/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Buffalo 2/19/09 -- Mike Richards (2 goals and 3 assists)


NY Rangers 2/15/09 -- Claude Giroux (1 goal and 2 assists)

NY Islanders 2/14/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.


Atlanta 2/8/09 -- Scott Hartnell (2 assists and ZERO(!) penalties)

Boston 2/7/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.


Tampa Bay 1/30/09 -- Antero Niittymaki (42 shots, 41 saves, and an assist).

Atlanta 1/21/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Florida 1/16/09 -- Antero Niittymaki (34 shots, 32 saves)

Toronto 1/10/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Minnesota 1/8/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Anaheim 1/2/09 -- The Hat not seen in interviews.

Game #71 Review: Flyers 3 @ Penguins 1 3/22/09

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That was strange. I had absolutely zero hope for this game. Clearly, I was rendered hopeless by the fact that only one Sweet Sixteen team is ranked below #5, and deluded by recent Penguins successes. And for that I apologize. It will never happen again.

• The stats guy says that Crosby and Malkin combined for zero shots. Ryan Parent is getting a lot of the credit for this, but it was really a huge team effort. And if they really got zero shots, how to explain this huge Biron save on Crosby?
• Goalie controversies are an omnipresent cliche for the Flyers, but Martin Biron looked really good. Really good. I'm still nervous when he gives up one that another quick one is going in, but that didn't happen today.
• Daniel Carcillo = still terrible. His dive was largely called on reputation alone, but having his reputation regularly cost the Flyers penalties is just as bad as having him regularly called for legit penalties. He needs to be on the fourth line (or just scratched), moving Asham or Powe up.
• Speaking of Darroll Powe, he has become a bizarrely huge part of this team's defensive core for a fourth liner. He's getting regular time on the PK, and scored the empty net goal with less than a minute left in the game because Stevens put him on the ice in a one-goal game with less than a minute left. Bold move.
• The main lesson we learned in this game is that I'm a genius. I said in the preview that all the Penguins success has been because Fleury has been playing better. And today, he was bad. And the Penguins lost. Simon Gagne's goal was pretty soft, and he probably could have had Hartnell's. The Flyers were sticking to the formula that worked so well for them against Montreal in the playoffs last year--demoralizing a team by getting a lead despite being horribly outshot (Penguins led in shots 21-10 after two despite being down 2-0).

Despite not getting on the scoresheet until an assist on Powe's empty netter, Ryan Parent gets The Hat for the first time. Not a bad pick.

Big stuff against New Jersey tonight on Versus at 7. The back-to-back is a built in excuse to lose, but winning is much preferable.

Game #69 Preview: Flyers @ Red Wings 3/17/09

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For the first time in three years, it's time to play at the JLA. And it's on Versus, the second in a stretch of four out of five Flyers games that will be on national TV. Amen to that.


Why The Flyers Will Win:

• Sure the Flyers haven't won in their last seventeen trips to Detroit. But the eighteenth time's the charm, right?
• Martin Biron has been real solid in March, and is playing with a lot of confidence having finally locked up the starting gig. Look for him to be big tonight.
• The Red Wings have a lot of question marks in goal, and a propensity for getting blown out of the water. In their last three losses, they've given up eight, eight, and six goals. If the Flyers can get a first cut in, the Red Wings have proven to be a pretty hemophiliac team, completely unable to stop the bleeding.
• The Flyers are 4-0-1 this year in games on Versus, including wins in the last four.
• The Flyers are one of the few teams that can match Detroit's offensive depth. Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Joffrey Lupul, Mike Knuble, Claude Giroux, Daniel Briere and even Arron Asham make for quite the stacked front lines.
• Pretzels are only $1 all night long at the Joe. While this will boost morale, it will mean the locals will be too busy chewing to loudly support their boys in red.
• It's Ryan Parent's birthday, and he doesn't like losing on his birthday.

Why the Red Wings Will Win:

• The Flyers haven't won in their last seventeen trips to Detroit. No reason the eighteenth would be any different.
• Daniel Briere has been a mess in this latest incarnation. He's been slow and not even coming close to making goals happen. Until something changes he's going to keep being a huge hindrance to the team.
• Randy Jones is out for a week, and though he has his haters, he is clearly way better than Danny Syvret, who has been called up to take his place (no Guenin?).
• In case you haven't heard, the Red Wings are really, really good. They lead the league in points, and were the first team to clinch a playoff berth.

Prediction: Red Wings win 4-1. They're good.