Two minutes for cross-checking

Q&A with my favorite Swedish Twinboy. Here are some few quotes, with my comments.

"'My first goal was at home in January, against Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff.'" Now that must have felt especially good. Scoring on one of the best goalies in the league -- and a dastardly, rival Finn at that. "'Looking back, we all kind of had a little laugh that it happened against a Finn. Sweden and Finland have a good-natured rivalry, so that added to the experience.'"

"'My role here was a little different than my role in Iowa. Here, I am more of a hard-working player.'" Apparently he was lazy in Iowa? Gee. Perhaps I misread.

"'It is always special to represent your country and I hope I get to do that more in the future.'" Just think -- an Olympic team with Henrik in goal and Joel out checking and grinding through his shifts. I'd still prefer Finland to beat them, but it would make a good final.

"'Like I said before, when you come from Des Moines and the AHL, you appreciate it. ... I still have an apartment in Iowa, but I think it's getting a bit dusty. Hopefully, it will get really dusty.'" Tsk. I know you really just want to play in the NHL, but what's with this Iowa trashing? You had to start somewhere, and I meant it when I said we loved you there. I wish I had gone ahead and gotten an Iowa Stars jersey with LUNDQVIST 20 on the back and had him sign that, instead of just having my plain, unadorned jersey signed on the shoulder patch. Well, that chance is gone forever, for so many reasons.

I will dream that some day he will play for the Flyers. Then he would get to face his brother in many games.

Days go by and Pitkanen's still a Flyer. It's now just 50 hours to the free-agency free-for-all and I'm starting to relax; I just don't think he's going anywhere.

I don't want to get too complacent, though; being blindsided by bad news isn't high on my list of fun, believe me.

And as far as the arbitration business, some folks wonder if in arbitration he will be awarded a value that the Flyers will choose not to accept. I just can't see that he will be given anything outrageous and there is no way the Flyers let him walk for anything less than outrageous. If the Flyers don't win the arbitration (which I feel they will), they'll pony up whatever, as long as something unthinkably ridiculous is awarded. Which it won't be. So, does that make it moot?

Just get him signed.

Now, Sunday: rumors have it that the Sabres made offers to both Briere and Drury and they said thanks but not thanks, and are both going to see what happens. There is also that Gomez fellow out there. Who do you think the Flyers are going to get? One of these three or someone else out there that will be a surprise?

[Foppa has some minimal surgery on his foot again. I have an awful feeling that not only will he not be back with the Flyers, which I will happily admit I would like (though not in a #1 C role), but that he may not be back in the NHL at all. At least not to start the season. It makes me sad. He's so good, he knows he's so good, it must be horrible to know that his body just won't let him be as good as he knows he is.]

We have been provided with a better translation of what Joni says in the Finnish article: (courtesy of a kind poster at hfboards, I have cleaned up some of the spelling)

"In the beginning the writer just speculates whether Joni will continue in Philadelphia, whether he'll get a raise and such. Then they mention that Joni is taking it easy and enjoying the summer in Finland.

"On whether Joni will continue in Philly:
-'The agents do the negotiations, and all I can do is to practice hard so that I'll be in good fit when the season starts.'

"On how long the negotiations will take:
-'The situation is actually rather normal, and we must remember that many players are in the same situation. I have learned to think that "things will be fine eventually". Negotiations are like a game, so there's no need to rush things now.'

"Then the writer speculates about how Kimmo's signing will affect Joni's role in the team.
-Joni: 'I don't think it really has an effect in my negotiations.'

"Then they say that Joni rejected Flyers' $ 2M offer and that continuing in Philadelphia is not sure yet.
-Joni: 'Philadelphia is a nice place, but...everything is possible. Things aren't really in my hands.'

"Then they mention the rumour about Edmonton.
-Joni: 'Canada is a great hockey country, but it's just as possible that I'd play in the West coast, for example.'

"Then the writer mentions arbitration as a possibility, and Joni just talks about his scrimmage games with his friends and such."

I wish that I knew Finnish so that I could understand when they talk in their own language ... people sound a lot more ... with it. If you know what I mean.

Joel Lundqvist (among others I watched while in Iowa and others I did not) was made a qualifying offer by the Dallas Stars.

I bet he doesn't play in Iowa this year. In fact, I read that he said on Swedish radio that it will be the NHL on a one-way contract or he will be back in Sweden playing for Frölunda again. What, Iowa was that bad, Joel? But we LOVED you there!!!

Maybe it wasn't Iowa at all, instead it was the bus rides from here to hell and back. I can see how that might sour a person on the AHL, especially since that doesn't happen in the NHL (or the Swedish elite league?). Also, he may just think he's better than the AHL, which perhaps he is, and won't subject himself to it again.

Curious to see what he ends up with.

Oh my god, nothing in the Inquirer about trading Joni??

An article in a Finnish paper with an interview with Joni: I can't read it, as my Finnish, once merely tourist-level, has now faded badly. But a kind poster at Orange and Black mentions the following couple quotes:

"'I am property of the Philadelphia Flyers until proven other wise', Pitkänen comments silently." [odd translation ... was he speaking in sign-language?]
"Philadelphia is a good place but...everything is possible. It's not my decision and my means to affect it are quite slight."

Hm. I wonder what gets lost in the Finnish-to-English conversion, here.*

However, discussion remains rampant on message boards. There was one in reference to a TV segment with Al Morganti (Philly sports dude) and Keith Jones in which they discussed a Pitkanen-to-Columbus trade. Ummmm. Joni back to Hitchcock? Why don't I see that? Besides, what do the Blue Jackets have that Philly could really need in exchange for someone like Joni Pitkanen? According to someone who actually watched the segment, there was a lot of "doesn't look like" and "might" and other speculation-type words, plus there is a prevailing feeling that certain people don't really know what they are talking about, so I'll just leave it at that.

In the absence of any other real news, the message boards are a good read.

For example, the following from a fan on the hfboards, which says everything just about as well as can be said:

In response to a post that Joni looks disinterested and willing to accept losing:

"We see how he feels every time he steps on the ice, but because we're ****ing Flyer fans we're too dense to see it. Two years ago when he was tearing apart the NHL, Pitkänen had a smile every time he stepped on the ice. Last year when **** hit the fan, Joni looked like he was searching for the nearest rock to hide under, and can you blame him? Nearly 20,000 fans, in some city you're not all that familiar with, are booing you every time you touch the puck. Put yourself in his shoes, and tell me that wouldn't crush you too."

I totally agree. Joni wears his freaking huge heart on his sleeve. You want an example? In that game vs. Boston where he was the sole cause of the Bruins taking the lead, it was painful to see on his face how upset at himself he was. His despair at having made such a costly mistake practically reached out and grabbed you and shook you. So what did he do? Did he willingly accept that he had lost? NO FLAMING WAY. He took charge; he scored the tying goal in the last minute. And did he look disinterested? Christ, no. You might have thought he had just single-handedly won the Stanley Cup. And then what did he do? Decide that the tying goal was enough? No. He scored the game-winner in overtime, and again, he didn't skate around looking like humdrum. The boy feels the game. And last year blew. So that's what his face reflected. (But I saw him grin, once or twice. I wasn't booing him. I wished him paljon onnea. And the big, young defenseman appreciated it.)

And then the poster responded to a comment that the labels "stud", "future Norris", and "dominant" are not rationally applied to Joni at this time.

"Stud: Joni is 6'3" tall, full framed, and an effortless skater. He handles the puck with ease, can make tape to tape passes without any difficulty, and is very gifted offensively. Defensively, he's an underrated shot blocker. I don't see how you couldn't call him a stud.

"Future Norris: In his third year of playing professional hockey in North America, Joni was one groin tear away from making the NHL Second All-Star Team. And seeing as how defensemen don't typically come into their own until the age of 27, I could see him winning a Norris Trophy by the time he retires.

"Dominant: With age comes experience. With experience comes confidence. And we all know what he's capable of with a little bit of confidence. Dominant is a very appropriate adjective."

Thank you, user known as Roger's Pancreas, for your adept descriptions.

*Free online translation is ... uproariously hilarious and basically of no help whatsoever (unless you need help laughing).

Another day, another chance for Tim Panaccio to bring down Joni Pitkanen in the Inquirer:

"The Flyers came out of the draft having failed to make a trade, although defenseman Joni Pitkanen's name continues to come up ... Holmgren tried to work deals at the draft. He listened to several offers for Pitkanen. He said some groundwork had been laid for a possible trade but would not get into specifics about which players were involved."

The picture at the top of the web article is of Joni falling between two Dallas Stars. Thousands of pictures of Joni Pitkanen available, and the one that is chosen is one where he looks foolish. Not very subtle, Tim.

Now, on the flipside, in the Daily News (Ed Moran):

"One player being speculated about is 23-year-old defenseman Joni Pitkanen. Holmgren said that interest in Pitkanen was minimal despite reports to the contrary. 'There has been very little talk about him in the last few days,' Holmgren said. 'There's been more speculation about him by [agent] Larry Kelly and the media. Lots of teams ask about our players, but I'm not sure [Pitkanen] is the one they ask the most about.'"

I'm really starting to wonder what Joni did to Panaccio to deserve the constant oh god get him out of town at any cost bid.

Also, someone on the hfboards had the nerve to suggest we might try to get Jordan Tootoo. I didn't even have to read the thread before I was thinking, "Is this a joke?" and, fortunately, most other posters have sense and their responses are all in the same "No way no how (are you crazy?!)" vein. You know, the way Nashville is getting rid of all its good players (Timonen, Hartnell to Philly, Vokoun now to Florida) all they are going to have left is Tootoo and dudes who normally would never make it out of Milwaukee. Who's gonna wear the awful Skeletor jerseys next season if everyone else is in Nashy?

With the number 2 pick, the Flyers chose James vanRiemsdyk, a New Jersey-born forward who will be playing in New Hampshire next season.

Patrick Kane went first, to Chicago; Kyle Turris third, to Phoenix.

From what I have been reading this afternoon, it seems to me that the Flyers got who they wanted.

And so far, so have I: Joni Pitkanen has yet to be traded. I am very tired of every single article Tim Panaccio writes that has some sentence in it about how Pitkanen's trade is being/was being speculated for this and that. I was #10 to add my username to a list of hfboards posters who are also tired of it -- a list up to 55 posters by now. ("If he's so intent on driving Pitkanen out of Philadelphia, then let's drive him out as well in our very own smear campaign.") Not that it will do any good, but it was mildly, if briefly, cathartic to do so. Even if he saw it, I'm sure, in his mind, he knows hockey and knows he is right and we are merely misguided -- impassioned, certainly, but severely misguided and perhaps even blind -- plebs. But give me a break. He killed me just now when I read in his Hockeybuzz blog the following:

"...if Edmonton got the negotiating rights to Scott Gomez from New Jersey, the Oilers would flip those rights to the Flyers for defenseman Joni Pitkanen."

HELLO? Trade away a possible franchise defenseman for the right to TALK TO a player??

Sure. Unlike the Timonen/Hartnell deal, I seriously doubt that acquiring Gomez would have unquestionably followed that -- in which case, who would do that?!

Another day in the week done, another day where a trade has not happened. Now it is Thursday, tomorrow is the draft, and we're gonna get through this, people.

Bill Meltzer says it well. (He says everything well, but on this, I salute him.)

(i.e., DON'T DO IT.)

The Flyers sent me an email ad this morning. There is a link to a video of the Dancing Guy bopping through the Italian Market, and the message at the end that Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell are coming to Philadelphia -- GET EXCITED!!!

Maybe you can't tell it from the other side of the Internet, but I AM. WOOOO!!!

Now even Pitkanen's stupid agent is on the trade-by-the-end-of-the-week bandwagon and the nervousness that I feel about the whole situation is about ready to carom out of control and I just want the week to be done so all this "He will be moved by the draft" crap will be over. Of course, that will just leave the next few weeks available for continued speculation about a contract, trade, etc., but at minimum the frantic Pitkanen-trade frenzy will have passed by.

Just in case you haven't gotten it yet:

The Flyers absolutely should not trade away their puck-moving, offensively-skilled defenseman, Mr. Led-in-Assists-in-2006/07. He should be given at least another year to develop his defensive game, under circumstances more conducive to development (i.e. having a mentor or two in the form of veteran, friend, whoever -- and not being expected to be the leader at the blueline at the age of 22 while the entire rest of the team crumbles around him). He has skills that will be hard to shop for if he is unloaded to someone else, and that someone else will laugh and point at Philly for years to come (worse, even, than the way Philly fans now laugh and point at Nashville, given the Forsberg trade results). Players like Joni (when he plays the talent he has) just don't happen very often and there aren't many out there that can be picked up as replacement for the price for which they can have Joni. And, and, and, a huge list of other reasons Joni should not be traded this year. So, bottom line:

DON'T DO IT.

I guess the only reason Pitkanen should be traded is if he stands up and says (and I paraphrase) "God damn but I hate Philadelphia. I have never gotten comfortable there, and I have never been so miserable in my entire life. If I have to stay and play there one more game I will kill myself, and I am serious. Please trade me/let me go back to Finland to play/whatever." I am pretty selfish, you know, but even I wouldn't demand he play in Philly if it made his life hell. That wouldn't translate to good hockey and he'd be a liability.

But he hasn't stood up to say that and until he does, I will demand that he not be traded. Because my voice matters, dammit!!!

Expect more of the same, because I'm worried about it, aaaand there's not much else to talk about until the draft and July 1 free agency wheeling and dealing.

On an AHL message board, it was noted that the Quad City Flames have revealed their "new logo." It's not that new. It looks a heck of a lot like the Calgary Flames, only with an added Q. (By the end of the thread, they are being called the Flaming Qs.* Which amuses me.) I have no strong feelings about it. In the thread there are arguments for and against calling a minor league affiliate the same thing as the NHL team (e.g. Iowa Stars, Worcester Sharks). On the one hand, it's pretty obvious, immediately, for whom the AHL team farms. On the other, it robs the AHL team of its own identity, which, though affiliated with a larger club, it certainly has. Another positive is that it takes away the opportunity to name itself something stupid. (The Crunch, anyone? Plus, obviously, as ranted against before, the IceHogs?) Can you imagine what dorky name the Iowa Stars might have been given? I can, with the minor-league baseball team Cedar Rapids Kernels as an example. I suppose with all the baseball teams out there, it can be hard to come up with something that's original, and I can see the attraction to give a team something "local", but come on. The Iowa/corn/farm connection gets super old. So, I am glad that the Iowa Stars just stapled on the same name as Dallas, and didn't become the Iowa Porkies or Iowa Soy Hounds or Iowa CornCzars. As one user mentioned, these hokey names sound bush league. And even mentioned a hypothetical "ultimate bush league name": the Fighting Ice Donkeys.

Lastly: my daddy bought me a Bobby Clarke figurine this past weekend. Apparently, he was going to do so even before I gave him a Forsberg Flyers jersey as an early birthday present. What a nice dad. I will take a picture of the figurine and post it, because, well, that's the sort of stuff that will have to fill this blog for now.


*Also suggested was that they might be referred to as the Moline Flames, since the team will actually play in Moline, which could then, conveniently, be altered to "the Flaming Moes." If that's not hilarious, on so many levels, I don't know what is.

I think my favorite post about Pitkanen trade rumors has got to be this one:

No Way You Trade Pinkinen!
Hes Young And A Big Part Of The Flyers Future.
But I Have Seen Bobby Clark Make Stupider Trades

by user HOOFHEARTED88.

...seriously?

1) Pinkinen?
2) Bobby Clark?

It can't be real.

But good for a laugh at 15 minutes until time to go home.

Ok. I was three days in Iowa and did not look at the Internet or read a newspaper that might have even a sentence about what went on in Flyers land the last few days. This morning, I opened my email to see this as a subject line:

Flyers acquire rights to Timonen and Hartnell

And I immediately jumped up out of my seat. Yes, I really did that. And I read the news in the email, which said only that the Flyers had obtained the right to negotiate with these guys, by trading back to Nashville theor 1st-round pick, acquired by Philly in the Forsberg trade in February. (You know, the trade that happened the day I flew out for the interview in Wilmington.) I emailed J. and told her what I had read, all WOOHOOO in tone. Ok, so, knowing how excited I was just to read that the Flyers had gotten the rights to talk to these guys, imagine my response when J. emailed me to say:

"Umm, the Flyers actually signed both Timonen and Hartnell. They are Flyers!"

DOH! I should have kept reading before I jumped the gun and emailed! I hopped out of my seat again and bustled down the hall to the lab to tell my technician, giving him a bit of good news (in the face of malfunctioning report-writing programs). I would actually stand up and do a happy dance, but my enjoyment of this stellar coup by Paul Holmgren -- i.e. acquiring, for Peter Forsberg alone, the following: Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent, Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, and a 3rd rounder -- has been tempered by the fluctuating and uncertain news about Joni Pitkanen.

Reports have it that the Flyers have taken Pitkanen to arbitration, and there are many routes of speculation as to what this means. Given Holmgren's history of saying things with his mouth while his deal hands are working elsewhere, I really cannot pin down what I think will happen, nor can I judge any of the scenarios posted by other Flyers fans. In my heart, I see Joni stays, at least through midseason, but Holmgren (and others) may see benefit to trading him that I simply cannot. My vision is a little bit clouded by a personal attachment to Joni (he is my favorite), but that aside, I really cannot envision a positive to unloading this kid before he's given a second chance, after last season, on a much better team.

And this team has to be much better. Even on paper it's much better. And while "on paper" does not always translate into the real deal in Real Life, you have to work under the assumption that it will, until the season is underway and you can assess the reality of the situation.

Keep Pitkanen. Please let this just be a way to keep others' hands off until something can be arranged.

However, say they do keep Pitkanen. Here is a minor dilemma:

The Flyers' roster website has both Timonen and Pitkanen listed as #44. Timonen is already labeled the Flyers' Captain. Who gives up the number? Likely Pitkanen. Then what do I do with two Pitkanen jerseys that have #44 on the back?!? BAH!

Oh well. Small price to pay for the holding-onto of Joni.

It's going to be an interesting week, what with this unresolved Joni situation and the draft starting on Friday. It will probably take me that long to absorb everything there is to be read and considered about both the signing of Timonen/Hartnell and the arbitration of the young Finnish defenseman. Plus, I have work to do. So, näkemiin.

[sarcasm on]

Why don't they give Sidney Crosby all the trophies? You know they want to. So what if he's not a goaltender. He's still better than Brodeur, right? FORK OVER THE VEZINA, MARTY.

Etc.

[sarcasm off]

Continuing in the hate-y vein ... it pleaseth me that Lindy Ruff did not win Coach of the Year. Awwwww. I didn't see the awards show, but did he leap up and whine at full volume about it?


NON-HATE STUFF: Niittymaki signs a TWO YEAR contract with the Flyers. WOOO HOOOO Suomalainen!!! According to Tim Panaccio, it's 2-yr., 2.45 mill. Not a bad deal at all. I wasn't too afraid Niitty wouldn't sign with the Flyers again, but I like that it's for two years. The Flyers now have a solid goalie tandem and maybe this year we don't need to worry about which goalie's gonna show up in the pipes. Biron/Niittymaki: it sounds as good as it gets when Lundqvist/Brodeur/Luongo et al. are tied up on other teams. And while we were all pretty sure Robert Esche was not going to be playing for the Flyers again, this pretty much is the last nail in that coffin. Wonder where he will play next year. Just one more of those mysteries that will be solved come July 1.

Dang but I can't wait for next season.

Are you KIDDING ME? Do these people need me to come down there and proofread their stuff?

On the other hand, a draft party sounds kind of fun. I wonder if I could scrounge someone up to go up to Philly with me. You know, I still can't believe that Chicago gets the first pick. I still can't believe that after all the sucking of the suckage that the Flyers did this year, finishing waaaaay behind everyone else, they still got the shaft and have to pick second.

2006-2007: Season of Unfairness.

However, I was thinking back, the other day, and remembered that the Flyers killed Anaheim, when they played in Anaheim and handed the Ducks their first loss at home of the season, 7-4.

The Flyers may have been ultra-last in the league, but they still managed to beat the Stanley Cup champions.

A nice little memory to start the day.

Help me to understand this sentence (in an article about Nittymaki's imminent re-signing with the Flyers):

"Holmgren does not harbor any hopes of signing Niittymaki's younger Finn countryman, defenseman Joni Pitkanen. Also a restricted free agent, Pitkanen will be tendered a one-year offer of $1 million by the June 25 deadline for qualifying offers, Holmgren said."

Is Rob Parent trying to tell me that Joni is not likely to sign with the Flyers this year, or is this some kind of crossed-wire communication-slash-smokescreen situation? I am on the verge of trying to get season tickets with a co-worker, and I must say that if Joni Pitkanen is not wearing a jersey for the Flyers this coming season, I may not. I am hesitant to read too much into the sentence, which doesn't really say much anyway. All it will do, I am sure, is re-initiate the thousand trade "offers" between Edmonton and Philly (or similar ridiculousnesses that made me want to slap people during the season when they flew around like disease). PEOPLE: how many times do you have to be told that to give up now on Pitkanen would be an enormous mistake? Give him this season to prove himself. You know if he goes somewhere else, he will become the another Chris Pronger (sans the physics problems), and we will regret it for-ev-er.

On the other hand, it's good to hear that Niittymaki will likely be back, though he won't get the starting job out the gates. With Biron and a healthy, sound Niittymaki, the Flyers just might have gone a long way toward solving the goaltending issues that have been dogging them for these past two seasons.

Plus, I like Niitty, and don't want to see him play somewhere else.

EDIT 10:40 a.m. There is no way Pitkanen's QO is $1 mill. It's gotta be $2 mill.

The Flyers signed defenseman Lars Jonsson to a 1-year, 2-way contract. I suspect he sees good time with the Phantoms. If you look at the stacked defense possibilites/certainties the Phantoms have lined up, you can't help but feel a little happy:

Lars Jonsson
Jussi Timonen
Ryan Parent
Nate Guenin
Martin Grenier
John Slaney
Oskar Bartulis
Alexandre Picard (will he only play NHL?)

Honestly, there is no reason, with guys like these on the blueline, the Phantoms don't make the playoffs next year (unless the offense doesn't happen, but let's ignore that for now).

Then again, if one looked at what the Flyers had, is there any reason they shouldn't? I mean, now we can look back with our rose-colored glasses shattered and have perfect 20/20 hindsight and maybe see where things are most likely to have gone wrong, but at the start of the season, let's go back to 2005, would we have realized just what happened after the Olympics? What happened this year? I didn't. I know I'm not the only one.

But the Phantoms, now. Calder Cup 2008, friends. You heard it here first.

Speaking of Calder Cup, Hamilton Bulldogs are the 2007 champions. Ajay Baines, roundly booed by me in 2005, scored the shorthanded tiebreaker in the third period. The Bulldog's goalie is only 19 and was named playoff MVP after having made his professional debut only on April 13 this year. Gee. (Are Canadiens fans already salivating?)

The other day, when I wrote "(Timonen, please!)" in reference to possible additions to the Flyers lineup, you know I meant Kimmo, right?

I think the only thing I like about Anaheim winning the Stanley Cup last night (I'm a little sorry I didn't see it, after all) is that it is about time Teemu Selanne got to hoist that thing.

I haven't read much else about the game -- I will later, I'm sure -- but just looking at the score makes me ask, "Did Ottawa even show up?" 6-2??

Last year, I chose the team that won the Cup. This year, I didn't. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

Speaking of losing, I think I picked the wrong team for the Calder Cup, too. Hershey is now down 3 games to 1 after another sound loss (also 6-2) to Hamilton last night. Bulldogs feasting on bear, or something. Sorry, Hershey. (Actually, whatever.)

Wait, it just hit me. I don't get to see hockey again until September at the earliest. [flash to Crusher counting the months] Ohhh no.

More later, probably. Right now I have a report to prepare. Silly interfering work!!!

While I daily read the Flyers message boards at Orange and Black and HFboards, there is apparently a new board associated with the Philadelphia Flyers website: forums located here.

It seems dark. You can find me there as "crusher." (What else?)

Speaking of message boards, on HFboards, someone posted a list of other suspendable offenses Chris Pronger has in the past committed, and slipped in one that was fiction (but hilarious) that I only noticed on second reading. Apparently, I was not paying close attention.

Pronger's Rap Sheet:

V. Pat Peake, slashing, four games, 10/29/95
V. Jeremy Roenick, highsticking, four games, 12/27/98
V. Kelly Buchberger, leaving bench for altercation, one game, 10/11/00
V. Snowy (A small kitten), eating it, two games 03/12/01
V. Brenden Morrow, crosscheck, two games, 04/03/02
V. Ville Nieminen, kicking, one game, 03/14/04
V. Tomas Holmstrom, elbow to the head, one playoff game, 05/15/07

According to another user, Snowy and Ville had it coming.


I read today that Neil Little will join the Phantoms as the new goalie coach. I really like the way this sounds, since Little spent so much of his career with the Phantoms (successfully, I might add -- two Calder Cups in his past) -- he's a good guy and should be a good influence with whoever it is that will mind the net for the Phantoms this next season {Houle? Duchesne? Munroe? Esche? [Hahaha (snork)]}

I went to the Phantoms' website just now and the image banner across the top has Matt Ellison in it. Doh.

Side note: I think the Phantoms are going to be good this year. Which is nice, since I will get to see them a lot. Always more enjoyable to watch a good team, and given their divisional rivals, they can't even really be slightly-better-than-mediocre. They have to be good. Great would be preferable, but for now, I'll settle for good, and see how it goes.

I was also reading an article in the Philly Inquirer about the Niedermayer brothers. In it, there was a paragraph that made me think back a couple years and sigh a gusty sad sigh of hindsight being 20/20:

"During the 2004-05 lockout, there was considerable speculation that either Scott Niedermayer or Chris Pronger would sign with the Flyers. Instead, the Flyers split their free-agent bucks on signing two defensemen - Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje."

While I am not much liking Chris Pronger at the moment, can you imagine how different the last two seasons might have been with him stabilizing the blue line? Hatcher's shown some improvement in the second half of the most recent season, but other than checking guys and hanging out by the net to redirect pucks, he struggled to accomplish much, don't you think? And Rathje, before he got hurt, was a good pairing with Pitkanen, but, as you know, he got hurt and then things rapidly spiralled downhill. I'd say the Flyers didn't get what they hoped for, not by a long shot, when they signed these two guys. We can only imagine what kind of seasons might have happened with Pronger or Niedermayer. Fortunately, all signs point to a keener, sharper GM shaping the team this off-season. (Timonen, please!)

For fun, check out what R.J. Umberger and Sami Kapanen have been up to during their off-season: bowling with some Phillies. Sami ("Gutter Gun") apparently decided not to stick with the shaved head look. There is a photograph of the scoreboards after 2 frames: R.J. has got 14 points and Sami has 7. Sami! I weigh half of what you weigh and somehow I can still bowl better than that! You'd think you could get some power behind that ball. Hee hee.

Not exactly off-topic, but not really hockey-related: I have seen the Lucky Strike alley in Center City and am intrigued by the idea of a bowling alley stuck directly downtown -- it even appears to be upstairs. I may have to scrape some friends together to check it out. Given the way these Flyers bowled, I doubt I will run into them there, though.

Tonight is Game 4 of the Calder Cup final. And it is also Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final. I won't be watching the game, folks -- I have other plans, plus I think I would prefer not to see Anaheim win the Stanley Cup tonight. Maybe if I don't watch, the Sens will work some magic, and Saturday I can watch again.

Yesterday, while I worked at one microscope and my technician worked at another, we discussed the weekend's Stanley Cup game, agreeing that Chris Pronger deserved more than a single game's suspension (given that it was the second egregious elbow/forearm incident he's committed in the space of only a handful of games -- does the NHL not know how to read its own rules, you know, the one that says punishments for repeated offenses will get worse?) and that it was fitting that the game-winning goal not only was scored by the guy that Pronger clotheslined but the puck also ricocheted off Pronger on its way to becoming a goal.

Last night, I watched 1.5 periods of Game 4. This was about all I could take, given levels of tiredness I was experiencing. The first period was awesome. I enjoyed that Anaheim didn't get a shot on goal until after ten minutes had passed. I loved that they got only two the entire twenty minutes. The pace was exciting and furious. I loved the last-second goal by Ottawa; I had just shifted to the floor from my chair while they were on that period-ending time of power play, and thought, "Wouldn't it be great if they scored just before the end of the first?" and shortly after -- WOO! But as the second period started, I was drooping, energy-wise, plus NBC wasn't coming in all that great -- the picture was black and white and a little grainy. I got tired of having to concentrate through the graininess, and after Ray Emery let in two goals in the second period to put the Ducks up 2-1, I decided that if there was going to be a dramatic comeback, it was going to have to happen without me, because either I was going to bed or was going to fall asleep in front of the TV --

But it didn't. Ottawa's in big trouble now, going back to Anaheim down three games to one.

This morning, all my technician had to say to me on the subject: "Anaheim sucks."

Right on, my friend.

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You know what? I think I thought Hershey would have an easy time about the Calder Cup final, seeing as they have had such an easy time about everything this season; however, they are struggling against Hamilton. In three games, they have won just a single match, and they are losing by some sizable margins (4-0 in Game 1; 5-2 in Game 3). What's happened? I guess it's OK with me that the Bears lose, but this is the second series in a row where Hamilton's making a fool of my inner predictions!!!

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The Iowa Stars signed Steve Silverthorn to a 1-year contract ... I'm not surprised by this, seeing as he just backstopped the Stars' ECHL team, the Steelheads, to the Kelly Cup championship, and add in those two shutouts in his first two AHL games mid-season -- he's probably got some good promise for Iowa in goal. But let's look at the goaltending situation. There is Dan Ellis, and there is Tobias Stephan. Are the Stars going to carry three goalies? I doubt it. Which one do you think gets the door? I think Ellis. And not because Dallas is going to call him up -- why would they, they've got Turco and Smith (unless one of those two is going somewhere?). My call is that Ellis plays somewhere else next year.

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The Flyers traded Matt Ellison to the Predators for "future considerations." This is the guy they got in the Patrick Sharp trade, no? So much for that. Anyway, Ellison, have fun playing in Milwaukee. They have pretty jerseys!!*

*Hahaha! Anyway, I wonder what considerations might end up in Philly. Pekka Rinne? Please god oh please not Sheldon Brookbank. Or Tootoo. Ugh².

I'm in the Poconos, watching Game 3 on a TV twice as big as the one I have at home and connected to the internet wirelessly.

So much for roughing it in the "mountains." I am having to watch it with no one who cares, though, so you could call that my roughing. (Roughing! 2 mins!)

But the Senators ... this is a great game. Bang bang bang, questionable goal, so what?

Go Sens Go!

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A commanding game by the Senators, after going down by one early on and then keeping down by one until suddenly, the tides turned. 5-3 win, even after Pronger was victim again to the laws of physics when his elbow went right into McAmmond's face, even after a few fights: the Ducks just couldn't get it back together.

2-1 series for Anaheim right now, but if the Sens can just keep the play like this -- hard-hitting, stifling D-wise, offense offense OFFENSE, I think they will grab the next, too.

I want seven games, so that I can see another four matches. Watching the game tonight, I realized how much I miss watching hockey.

What should happen in the offseason, as suggested on the Orange and Black board (I paraphrase):

Flyers sign UFA Kimmo Timonen.
RFA Vanek ends up at Philly (you know, the offer sheet dealie).
Some "player resource trade with pick to Florida" gives the Flyers Olli Jokinen.

Sound go to you? Sounds good to me.