Friday, October 31, 2008
A week ago, I threw myself onto the couch to watch the Flyers/Devils game with every expectation of seeing the Flyers lose. Can you blame me?
1) The Flyers had yet to win a game and nothing they had done to that point seemed to indicate to me that anything would magically have been fixed.
2) The Flyers so rarely beat New Jersey period, let alone in New Jersey (the last time being in March 2004, if I remember the stat correctly).
Thus, I was not prepared for the beat-down that I saw.
I am a scientist, so in spite of my adherence to such “rules” as not saying the s-h-u-t-0-u-t word, not saying things like “Jagr has never scored on Niittymaki!”, etc., I don’t actually believe in supernatural sorts of forces affecting my team. However, when I am presented with information such as the following, I am given a reason to reconsider.
1) Governor Sarah Palin dropped the puck at the Flyers home opener on October 11. The Flyers proceeded to not win six games in a row in spite of scoring outrageously in the process.
2) The Flyers immediately dropped behind the Devils in the game on October 24.
3) Governor Sarah Palin dropped the puck at a St. Louis Blues game on that same night, October 24, about an hour after the Flyers’ game in Newark, NJ began. The Blues' goalie tripped on the rug they put on the ice for Palin, got hurt, and the Blues went on to lose 4-0 to the Kings.
4) While the Blues were losing to the Kings, the Flyers came out of their defensive-zone nightmare and beat the Devils, 6-3. The Flyers won for the first time this season, beating the Devils badly in an away-game situation they had not won in more than 4 years.
5) The Flyers won again in an overtime decision the next day, at home, beating the Devils and Marty Brodeur again, 3-2.
6) The Blues managed to win their next game, but their next goalie was hurt too.
7) The Flyers won two more games following the home-and-home sweep of the Devils.
What am I trying to say? That Palin took her accursed puck-dropping to St. Louis and the hex was lifted from the Flyers almost the moment she did so. So powerful was this curse-lifting that not only have the Flyers won four in a row, but the only Philadelphia major-league team to have lost since last Friday was the Sixers (and in that time, the Phillies won the World Series!). How can you not think maybe there is something to the supernatural, after all?
Ok. Back to seriousness here, I was perfectly happy to come to work last Monday and humbly state to my co-workers that I had misjudged the Flyers’ chances against New Jersey. But, realistically, would you have honestly been able to do much but agree with me?
The Flyers headed to Atlanta on Tuesday. The Flyers have an astonishingly clean record against the Thrashers (since they lost to them, at home, in November 2005 – once again I will mention that that was my first-ever Flyers game) and no one seemed to disagree that they would win again Tuesday. Not after the way they played against the Devils – the defense sewed up so many holes that they looked respectable and perhaps not terrifying. But I don’t like to think that any game is a given, though I expect them to win (it’s not the same thing). And no one should have been surprised that Stevens played Niittymaki, in spite of how good Biron was over the weekend. Niitty’s got some kind of magic surrounding him when he plays against Atlanta / Kari Lehtonen. And that magic was out in full force again Tuesday, though to be honest, it’s not like the Thrashers gave him much trouble. I feel a little bad for Ilya Kovalchuk, to be such a good player and have to do everything himself. (I predict he plays for someone else before the end of the season.) I don’t feel bad for the Thrashers losing to the Flyers 7-0. The Thrashers have been the Flyers’ punching bag for years now, even when the Flyers were the punching-bag for the rest of the league.
It’s almost boring to see your team run up the score, because that means it’s not a good hockey game, but it is still satisfying. Three Flyers had two-goal nights (Knuble, both goals reviewed; Gagne; Carter) and Metropolit, getting a lot more ice-time with Briere sitting out injured, carried the balance. With those seven goals, the Flyers had taken the league lead in goals-for. Too bad that the goals-against was pretty crappy.
Last night, the Flyers played the Islanders. The Islanders are not a very good team, but somehow, when they play the Flyers, they look better than they are. It is possible the Flyers were not pressing as hard as they should have, coming off such an easy win, perhaps a little complacent at the idea they were playing the only team in the division with a worse record (the worst team in the NHL). I think the Islanders should not have been able to keep the game as close as it was. Biron played well, and to be fair, the tying goal came off of Vaananen’s shoulder and was not his fault. That the game had to go to overtime was uncalled for. But it did allow Jeff Carter to be the hero for the second OT in a row. Eight goals for Carter. Aren’t you glad he wasn’t traded?
So it’s been a good week as a Flyers fan. Sunday they play the Oilers and I’m thinking going into next week with a five-game streak would be a good way to start the end of DST.
--------------------------
The Phantoms have been away since I last saw them lose to the Senators a couple weeks ago. In that time, they’ve gone 2-2. They lost horribly to Bridgeport (5-1!), less horribly to Hartford (2-1), beat Albany 3-0, and Norfolk 5-4 in OT (Jared Ross scoring the game-winner, from Steve Downie, who had four assists). The Albany game sounds like a zoo; in addition to a couple fighting majors handed out between Szwez and Angelidis in the second period, the second closed with the following, uh, altercations:
PHI Downie, 19:29 - High-sticking , 2 min
PHI Downie, 19:29 - Fighting , 5 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Instigating , 2 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Unsportsmanlike conduct , 2 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Fighting , 5 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Misconduct - Instigating (47.10), 10 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Game misconduct - Persisting a fight (47.5), 10 min
“Persisting a fight” is something I don’t think I’ve seen before. Apparently, Tim “Are you going to grow up to be a Conman?” Conboy bit Downie’s hand, drawing blood. Um, berserk much? Conboy: almost half an hour of penalties at once. Not bad.
Wasn’t it against Albany that I witnessed the 5x fights happening at once, last season? I guess the no-love-lost between these teams hasn’t eased since the playoffs.
I’ll finally get to see the Phantoms again on Sunday, at 5 p.m., when they play the Bears. It’s been a bit of a live hockey drought for me, and so I am really looking forward to it.
-----------------------
Next weekend, I will be turning the very unexciting age of 32, and on that day, the Flyers play the Tampa Bay Lightning at home. For my birthday present, I’m getting tickets to the game. Last year, the Flyers were playing on my birthday in Newark, and K. and I made the trip. Flyers: is it too much to ask for you to win this year? Last year it was apparently far too much to ask, seeing as asking you to merely play would have been too much.
---------------------
Not going to the Phillies parade today. I am going to save calling in fake-sick for the day the Flyers have their Stanley Cup parade.
1) The Flyers had yet to win a game and nothing they had done to that point seemed to indicate to me that anything would magically have been fixed.
2) The Flyers so rarely beat New Jersey period, let alone in New Jersey (the last time being in March 2004, if I remember the stat correctly).
Thus, I was not prepared for the beat-down that I saw.
I am a scientist, so in spite of my adherence to such “rules” as not saying the s-h-u-t-0-u-t word, not saying things like “Jagr has never scored on Niittymaki!”, etc., I don’t actually believe in supernatural sorts of forces affecting my team. However, when I am presented with information such as the following, I am given a reason to reconsider.
1) Governor Sarah Palin dropped the puck at the Flyers home opener on October 11. The Flyers proceeded to not win six games in a row in spite of scoring outrageously in the process.
2) The Flyers immediately dropped behind the Devils in the game on October 24.
3) Governor Sarah Palin dropped the puck at a St. Louis Blues game on that same night, October 24, about an hour after the Flyers’ game in Newark, NJ began. The Blues' goalie tripped on the rug they put on the ice for Palin, got hurt, and the Blues went on to lose 4-0 to the Kings.
4) While the Blues were losing to the Kings, the Flyers came out of their defensive-zone nightmare and beat the Devils, 6-3. The Flyers won for the first time this season, beating the Devils badly in an away-game situation they had not won in more than 4 years.
5) The Flyers won again in an overtime decision the next day, at home, beating the Devils and Marty Brodeur again, 3-2.
6) The Blues managed to win their next game, but their next goalie was hurt too.
7) The Flyers won two more games following the home-and-home sweep of the Devils.
What am I trying to say? That Palin took her accursed puck-dropping to St. Louis and the hex was lifted from the Flyers almost the moment she did so. So powerful was this curse-lifting that not only have the Flyers won four in a row, but the only Philadelphia major-league team to have lost since last Friday was the Sixers (and in that time, the Phillies won the World Series!). How can you not think maybe there is something to the supernatural, after all?
Ok. Back to seriousness here, I was perfectly happy to come to work last Monday and humbly state to my co-workers that I had misjudged the Flyers’ chances against New Jersey. But, realistically, would you have honestly been able to do much but agree with me?
The Flyers headed to Atlanta on Tuesday. The Flyers have an astonishingly clean record against the Thrashers (since they lost to them, at home, in November 2005 – once again I will mention that that was my first-ever Flyers game) and no one seemed to disagree that they would win again Tuesday. Not after the way they played against the Devils – the defense sewed up so many holes that they looked respectable and perhaps not terrifying. But I don’t like to think that any game is a given, though I expect them to win (it’s not the same thing). And no one should have been surprised that Stevens played Niittymaki, in spite of how good Biron was over the weekend. Niitty’s got some kind of magic surrounding him when he plays against Atlanta / Kari Lehtonen. And that magic was out in full force again Tuesday, though to be honest, it’s not like the Thrashers gave him much trouble. I feel a little bad for Ilya Kovalchuk, to be such a good player and have to do everything himself. (I predict he plays for someone else before the end of the season.) I don’t feel bad for the Thrashers losing to the Flyers 7-0. The Thrashers have been the Flyers’ punching bag for years now, even when the Flyers were the punching-bag for the rest of the league.
It’s almost boring to see your team run up the score, because that means it’s not a good hockey game, but it is still satisfying. Three Flyers had two-goal nights (Knuble, both goals reviewed; Gagne; Carter) and Metropolit, getting a lot more ice-time with Briere sitting out injured, carried the balance. With those seven goals, the Flyers had taken the league lead in goals-for. Too bad that the goals-against was pretty crappy.
Last night, the Flyers played the Islanders. The Islanders are not a very good team, but somehow, when they play the Flyers, they look better than they are. It is possible the Flyers were not pressing as hard as they should have, coming off such an easy win, perhaps a little complacent at the idea they were playing the only team in the division with a worse record (the worst team in the NHL). I think the Islanders should not have been able to keep the game as close as it was. Biron played well, and to be fair, the tying goal came off of Vaananen’s shoulder and was not his fault. That the game had to go to overtime was uncalled for. But it did allow Jeff Carter to be the hero for the second OT in a row. Eight goals for Carter. Aren’t you glad he wasn’t traded?
So it’s been a good week as a Flyers fan. Sunday they play the Oilers and I’m thinking going into next week with a five-game streak would be a good way to start the end of DST.
--------------------------
The Phantoms have been away since I last saw them lose to the Senators a couple weeks ago. In that time, they’ve gone 2-2. They lost horribly to Bridgeport (5-1!), less horribly to Hartford (2-1), beat Albany 3-0, and Norfolk 5-4 in OT (Jared Ross scoring the game-winner, from Steve Downie, who had four assists). The Albany game sounds like a zoo; in addition to a couple fighting majors handed out between Szwez and Angelidis in the second period, the second closed with the following, uh, altercations:
PHI Downie, 19:29 - High-sticking , 2 min
PHI Downie, 19:29 - Fighting , 5 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Instigating , 2 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Unsportsmanlike conduct , 2 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Fighting , 5 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Misconduct - Instigating (47.10), 10 min
ALB Conboy, 19:29 - Game misconduct - Persisting a fight (47.5), 10 min
“Persisting a fight” is something I don’t think I’ve seen before. Apparently, Tim “Are you going to grow up to be a Conman?” Conboy bit Downie’s hand, drawing blood. Um, berserk much? Conboy: almost half an hour of penalties at once. Not bad.
Wasn’t it against Albany that I witnessed the 5x fights happening at once, last season? I guess the no-love-lost between these teams hasn’t eased since the playoffs.
I’ll finally get to see the Phantoms again on Sunday, at 5 p.m., when they play the Bears. It’s been a bit of a live hockey drought for me, and so I am really looking forward to it.
-----------------------
Next weekend, I will be turning the very unexciting age of 32, and on that day, the Flyers play the Tampa Bay Lightning at home. For my birthday present, I’m getting tickets to the game. Last year, the Flyers were playing on my birthday in Newark, and K. and I made the trip. Flyers: is it too much to ask for you to win this year? Last year it was apparently far too much to ask, seeing as asking you to merely play would have been too much.
---------------------
Not going to the Phillies parade today. I am going to save calling in fake-sick for the day the Flyers have their Stanley Cup parade.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
You'd think a team that could score six (6) goals on Evgeni Nabokov could win a hockey game. But that team would also have a defense that did its job -- and I'm not just talking the blue line dudes. And, a goalie that didn't let an opponent wrap-around the easiest, most sickening goal AGAIN.
BAH.
BAH.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
I cannot believe they call this a hockey game. It is garbage. 6-5 Sharks with 17 left to go in the third? Please.
Niittymaki gets the start tonight! Who cares about baseball -- LET'S GO FLYERS.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Flyerland a-buzzing since Saturday night’s cough-up to San Jose. While the game against Colorado was one shock after another (“shock” meaning a bolt of “What the hell happened to this team?”) the Flyers looked better against San Jose. However, the Sharks are not the kind of team that you can make mistakes against and get away lucky. Especially if that mistake is like the following:
Pavelski coming down the middle with the puck. Coburn and Timonen have the situation in hand. But no! Pavelski knocks the puck between them, and goes to Niitty. Niitty made a terrible save – that is, he let it rebound straight back out. And then suddenly, Timonen and Coburn part – why, why, why? Did one think the other was going to handle Pavelski? Well, neither did, and Pavelski went right through the doorway they made for him, gathered that fat, smoky, juicy rebound and fired the puck past Niittymaki.
The mistake wouldn’t have been so costly had Niittymaki done something with that puck besides let it bounce directly back at Pavelski, who then had all the time in the world to bury it behind him. (Related: have I mentioned before that I simply cannot understand / stand how Niittymaki (and Biron, sometimes) can make the most dazzling, cheer-worthy, pulse-pounding saves, only to fall asleep and allow the most baby-soft goal in all the possible universe??)
See, at one point the Flyers were up 2-0. And they were also up 3-1 because Jeff Carter tallied a really nice shortie. But mistakes and penalties and other controllable stupidities allowed them to let the game get to OT where they let it slip away, 5-4. They have to be doing some part of the game right to score 4 goals on Nabokov. One of them was the Briere goal. Timonen was out by the blueline with the puck, and had the wherewithal to know that if he shot at the goal, the puck would pinball and probably be lost to the Sharks. Instead, he aimed at the boards for a rebound. And Briere was right there to collect it and tuck it into the net just between Nabokov’s skate and the post. He scores in that place so many times that you’d think a goalie would start to expect it and do something about it. Timonen’s brain worked there – and the Flyers did something right. But they have to be doing a lot else wrong in order to allow 5 to be scored on them. No sense in analyzing every last bit of that, because it will only be depressing and no one really wants to read a depressing blog (and with the way the Flyers’ season is going now, all a person can write is depressing stuff, so I don’t know why anyone goes around reading anyone’s stuff these days).
So, because the Flyers both lost and allowed more than four goals, the magnet stays upside down to display my displeasure at the way this season has started.
Some things I read following the game indicated a belief that there would be a shakeup somewhere following that loss. Numerous predictions involving Steve Downie were made. Yesterday, those predictions were realized when Downie was sent down to the Phantoms (along with Jared Ross). He made a bad play and had some bad penalties in the game Saturday and was benched for all the third period (if I am not mistaken) and so played very little. According to management, the demotion is not “punishment” but is directly related to how little ice time Downie has been getting (for one reason or another, namely, his knee strain in the pre-season has kept him from being the player he was before that happened); not enough for a young guy, they say, the assumption being he will play more and get more done while with the Phantoms rather than slugging it out 5 or so minutes a night on a 4th line. Well, it would be nice for the Phantoms if Downie comes down and plays well; it’s also going to be nice to have Ross back [though it’s just less than two weeks until a home game again, and who knows what might happen between now and then; he should play in one / some of the away games in the interim. The Phantoms lost Sunday at Bridgeport – badly, 5-1 (Aubin in net!!) – they desperately need something.]. However, with the players going down, it leaves a hole in the Flyers, and so … Andreas Nodl has been called up. Nodl has picked up a few points in five games for the Phantoms and perhaps he will provide a little spark – plus he does PKs (and with the way the Flyers love to sit in the penalty box, this might be OK).
I had an offer for tickets to the game tomorrow night but I turned them down because 1) no one was willing to go with me, due to the Game 1 of the World Series and 2) I didn’t want to go by myself and shell out cash to risk another bad loss. I will regret it when the Flyers win their first game of the season without me there, though.
Pavelski coming down the middle with the puck. Coburn and Timonen have the situation in hand. But no! Pavelski knocks the puck between them, and goes to Niitty. Niitty made a terrible save – that is, he let it rebound straight back out. And then suddenly, Timonen and Coburn part – why, why, why? Did one think the other was going to handle Pavelski? Well, neither did, and Pavelski went right through the doorway they made for him, gathered that fat, smoky, juicy rebound and fired the puck past Niittymaki.
The mistake wouldn’t have been so costly had Niittymaki done something with that puck besides let it bounce directly back at Pavelski, who then had all the time in the world to bury it behind him. (Related: have I mentioned before that I simply cannot understand / stand how Niittymaki (and Biron, sometimes) can make the most dazzling, cheer-worthy, pulse-pounding saves, only to fall asleep and allow the most baby-soft goal in all the possible universe??)
See, at one point the Flyers were up 2-0. And they were also up 3-1 because Jeff Carter tallied a really nice shortie. But mistakes and penalties and other controllable stupidities allowed them to let the game get to OT where they let it slip away, 5-4. They have to be doing some part of the game right to score 4 goals on Nabokov. One of them was the Briere goal. Timonen was out by the blueline with the puck, and had the wherewithal to know that if he shot at the goal, the puck would pinball and probably be lost to the Sharks. Instead, he aimed at the boards for a rebound. And Briere was right there to collect it and tuck it into the net just between Nabokov’s skate and the post. He scores in that place so many times that you’d think a goalie would start to expect it and do something about it. Timonen’s brain worked there – and the Flyers did something right. But they have to be doing a lot else wrong in order to allow 5 to be scored on them. No sense in analyzing every last bit of that, because it will only be depressing and no one really wants to read a depressing blog (and with the way the Flyers’ season is going now, all a person can write is depressing stuff, so I don’t know why anyone goes around reading anyone’s stuff these days).
So, because the Flyers both lost and allowed more than four goals, the magnet stays upside down to display my displeasure at the way this season has started.
Some things I read following the game indicated a belief that there would be a shakeup somewhere following that loss. Numerous predictions involving Steve Downie were made. Yesterday, those predictions were realized when Downie was sent down to the Phantoms (along with Jared Ross). He made a bad play and had some bad penalties in the game Saturday and was benched for all the third period (if I am not mistaken) and so played very little. According to management, the demotion is not “punishment” but is directly related to how little ice time Downie has been getting (for one reason or another, namely, his knee strain in the pre-season has kept him from being the player he was before that happened); not enough for a young guy, they say, the assumption being he will play more and get more done while with the Phantoms rather than slugging it out 5 or so minutes a night on a 4th line. Well, it would be nice for the Phantoms if Downie comes down and plays well; it’s also going to be nice to have Ross back [though it’s just less than two weeks until a home game again, and who knows what might happen between now and then; he should play in one / some of the away games in the interim. The Phantoms lost Sunday at Bridgeport – badly, 5-1 (Aubin in net!!) – they desperately need something.]. However, with the players going down, it leaves a hole in the Flyers, and so … Andreas Nodl has been called up. Nodl has picked up a few points in five games for the Phantoms and perhaps he will provide a little spark – plus he does PKs (and with the way the Flyers love to sit in the penalty box, this might be OK).
I had an offer for tickets to the game tomorrow night but I turned them down because 1) no one was willing to go with me, due to the Game 1 of the World Series and 2) I didn’t want to go by myself and shell out cash to risk another bad loss. I will regret it when the Flyers win their first game of the season without me there, though.
Friday, October 17, 2008
WTF, Biron? Your GAA is now 5.74.
Not all his fault, of course; WTF, defense?
Not all their fault, either: WTF, secondary scoring?
And lastly, referees last night: 21 penalties? WTF?
Going 0-3-1 leaves me with little eloquence on the matter. I know it changes nothing in the universe, but I will display my displeasure by keeping the logo magnet upside down on my car until such time that the Flyers win a game. Do you think that’s too much? I might lower my expectations and turn it back around when they give up fewer than four goals a game.
------------------
Let’s go back in time a little bit. It was a week ago today that the Phantoms opened their season at the Spectrum against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. J. was supposed to arrive on her plane at 5 p.m. but was delayed an hour. No problem – the Spectrum’s close to the airport and we were plenty on time and J. even got to sit with us because no one claimed row 9, seat 3. It was a little comforting to be back in those seats with the same season ticket holders in the section around us, and I tried not to think about how I won’t be in that seat again next year (difficult, though, with all the “Last season here let’s honor the Spectrum!” stuff going on). Last year, Bridgeport wasn’t very good but the Phantoms would still struggle against them at times. I was afraid it might happen again. But the Sound Tigers were still not that good and while the Phantoms didn’t run quite as roughshod over them as I’d hoped they would, they still took the win, 2-1. Munroe kept the goal and the Phantoms had tallies by Matt Clackson and Claude Giroux. 1 down, 39 games to go to this year’s Calder Cup season. By the way, not having Jared Ross, Kyle Greentree, or Pete Zingoni in the lineup was a little sad. I suppose I will quickly get used to not having #4 and Zingo around, and since Ross hasn’t been in the Flyers lineup since opening night, I will not have to get used to him being gone.
Saturday, the centerpiece of the hockey weekend, the Flyers’ opening night. J., B., and I had burgers from Five Guys to eat beforehand since it seemed to be tradition, since that’s what we’d done the previous two home openers, but given the results of the night, we’re starting to rethink that. After all, the Flyers did not win two years ago when they opened against the Rangers and we had Five Guys. And this year they did not win, opening against the Rangers after we had Five Guys. (And since what we do affects game outcomes, we really must be more careful.)
Very exciting pre-game warmup, since we were so close. As always, I seem to forget just how big these guys are until they come out that tunnel next to us and skate around just a few feet away. Even Danny.
I was pretty excited to see the guys again, and some of the new ones. I liked to see Jared Ross in a Flyers jersey, though I knew he probably wouldn’t be playing big minutes and it might not happen again for a while. (He was wearing Esche’s number 42.) I liked seeing Richards with his captain’s C again – suits him well. And I liked seeing my favorite goalie and a favorite forward have a laugh together.
The night was starting out OK, with excitement, with the right kinds of feelings.
Then, of course, it had to get ugly when the bad ceremonial puck-drop decision was carried through, when that Vice Presidential Candidate came out to a chorus of boos and some cheers. As it happened, she came out through the Flyers’ tunnel – which was right next us, of course. So she was just on the other side of the glass from us, and in no way did not hear us, and some around us, booing. She went out onto the ice, and the music got so loud that you couldn’t hear anything else. (Nice cover-up!) She had the nerve to kiss Scott Gomez on the cheek – I mean, I know he’s from Alaska too (she probably thinks that make them relatives) but really? Come into our house, make cozy with the captain of a hated rival, a guy who used to play for another hated rival? Boo! Get out of here with your Flyers-jersey-wearing little human shield that did nothing to temper that boos before you jinx the team – oh, she didn’t get out fast enough, as it turned out.
The game got started and I could try to put hard feelings aside for a while. But not for long because the first period was a nightmare. By 16:13, four goals had been scored -- all by New York. And the third one was simply mind-boggling. Biron was at one side of the net, and the Sjostrom just circled around behind the net. Biron didn’t really move at all as he curled up onto the other side and simply dumped it into the wide-open other corner. Barely a flicker of movement from the goalie, and no one around to impede Sjostrom. You cannot be serious – maybe Biron wouldn’t have gotten the save anyway, but to at least have tried would have been some consolation. When the fourth goal went in, I knew it was done. Niittymaki put his helmet on and left his place next to us, and Biron stalked down the tunnel. The Flyers as a whole were not playing very well, and J. and I wondered why it is that even now they cannot seem to pull together anything other than a slow start to games. Some people have said since that the Rangers were at an advantage because they had already played three games together and had, perhaps crucially, already gotten farther along the gelling process than the Flyers. Perhaps that’s true, but the Rangers had already played the night before and should have been more tired than the Flyers. Of course, Valiquette was also in goal, and you know he shares the middle name that all backup goalies do – “Flyer killer.”
Biron came back out to watch during the second period, though.
And the Flyers played a much, much better 40 minutes. They got two goals in the second period, one from Scott Hartnell and Gagne’s first goal of the season. Having Gagne back is such a relief. He was out so much of last year that it was almost easy to think that he wasn’t a Flyer any more. And almost easy to forget just what kind of player he is – i.e. awesome on both ends of the ice.
Going into the second intermission only down 2 goals at least made the game look halfway respectable, from a scoresheet perspective. Also, Niittymaki was simply outstanding. He made Biron look like … well, I don’t want to get into that. In the third period, Niitty continued to keep the Rangers out of the net, and Richie pulled the Flyers within one goal. There was a flurry of close chances as the time wore down, revving up the crowd with actual hope, but unfortunately, the clock waits for no team and the game had to end. Loss #1, 4-3. Had they simply not fallen into that monstrous four-goal chasm before 20 minutes had even gone by, it might have been a different outcome. But it is what it is.
Better luck at the home opener next year, maybe. At least I had great seats to see the good when it happened.
Monday night, I watched them play Montreal on TV. I was looking forward to the game, because I enjoyed so much the way the Flyers dealt Montreal killing blow after killing blow during the playoffs. I didn’t sit there and expect a similar situation this year, after what I saw on Saturday, but I liked hoping that the ship’s listing had lessened a bit in the two days that followed. S., my technician, and I were discussing who might start the game in goal. I argued it would be Biron, because 1) they pay him and consider him to be the number one, and 2) they wouldn’t start up a goalie controversy about who they consider to be number one so early – they would give him a chance to show that Saturday was not going to be the status quo, and 3) a rematch with Price and the team that he stoned over and over again in May might get him going. S. argued that since Niittymaki had looked so good Saturday, that he should be playing. I said that if they played Niitty, it would be because they wanted Biron to be in net against the Penguins the next night – whoever they played wouldn’t be doing back-to-backs so I guessed we’d be seeing one each night – not because he was better than Biron.
It was Biron. And he was average. Gone was the Habs’ nightmare in net. The Flyers were OK – not great, maybe not even good? – and even got up 2-1 on Montreal with goals from Carter and Richards before blowing the game 5-3. One of those Montreal goals was an open-net, which means that Biron once again allowed four goals. It was so depressing, because when the third period started, the Flyers were winning; two minutes later, they were down a goal because the Canadiens scored at 1:18 and then again at 2:02. What is the deal with the blow-up on the shift immediately following a goal? Ten minutes of play before another Habs goal started to put the game out of the Flyers’ reach … but Gags brought it back within sights with a nice power play goal a minute later. To get so close again, but digging from behind, it’s already getting old by two games. No equalizer with Biron pulled, just another goal for Montreal.
Ok, so they were 0-2. Not a great start to the season, but, you know, they can’t go 0-82. Right?
In Pittsburgh the next night. As expected, Niittymaki got the start. Again, the Flyers did not score in the first period (fortunately, neither did the Penguins). It wasn’t nearly the penalty-fest that you come to expect with the Penguins as your opponent (though there was an eye-rolling call – I think the one on Vaananen – interference, involving Sidney Crosby, of course you can’t get in his way, right? But a short time later, there was another penalty involving Crosby, who slashed and then went down. When the whistle blew, a Flyers fan could be forgiven for getting hot under the collar and believing that the call was going to go against the orange and black. But lo! It was Sidney who was sent to the box! AMAZING!). The game was going OK. But later in the second period, the Flyers allowed two goals, the second not even ¾ of a second after the first. Honestly, guys, do you just go to sleep after a goal? Down 2-0 and not looking very exciting, the Flyers actually pulled off something that they usually allow other teams to do – they scored in the last minute of the period. Not only that, but they scored TWICE in the last minute of the period. Carter, then Gagne, putting Gagne on pace for an 82-goal season. (I predicted this might be his 50-goal season; 3 down, 47 to go!) I perked up for the first time, with the game tied after two. There was no score in the third, so the game went into overtime. Hey – the Flyers got one point, at least. They won’t finish the season with zero even if the don’t win a single game, right? That’s something, right?? Ok, enough gloom and doom sarcasm. The game was in OT and was played strong and well, and it looked like the Flyers were going to go to their first shootout of the year when there was a bad play that let Dupuis alone with the puck near the boards, kind of far out, with no one between him and the goal but Niittymaki. Niittymaki, who had just played so well all night, and who was beat. Glove side. Zzzzzzzzzzzip. The Penguins won with ten seconds to go.
As J.’s text message put it: Well, that sucked.
And then there was last night’s game, which I summarized above. A good thing from all of this: Gagne is still on his 82-goal-season pace.
It hasn’t been a good start, people. I’m really disliking the way that 06-07 feeling is creeping back into the pit of my stomach. I want to have faith that it’s only been four games; sure, a bad start, but they’ll get it together. San Jose on Saturday? No problem. $10 says Niitty starts. You'd never know he had surgery only a few short weeks ago. I see a Goalie Controversy coming up.
----------------------
Tonight! Action at the Spectrum! Philadelphia Phantoms vs. Hershey Bears! Tomorrow night, same time same place, vs. Binghamton Senators! The Phantoms lost last Saturday night to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by a score of 4-3 – same as their big brothers lost that night – so they are 1-1 on the season. I want big things from this team this year. I want them to do better than the 04-05 Phantoms’ 17-game winning streak. I want them to get to the division lead and hang on to it the way they did last year. I WANT A CALDER CUP. Ok, I’ll leave you with those possibly unrealistic expectations. GO PHANTOMS!
EDIT: Jared Ross is still on the Flyers' roster, and not on the Phantoms'. Blerrgh
Not all his fault, of course; WTF, defense?
Not all their fault, either: WTF, secondary scoring?
And lastly, referees last night: 21 penalties? WTF?
Going 0-3-1 leaves me with little eloquence on the matter. I know it changes nothing in the universe, but I will display my displeasure by keeping the logo magnet upside down on my car until such time that the Flyers win a game. Do you think that’s too much? I might lower my expectations and turn it back around when they give up fewer than four goals a game.
------------------
Let’s go back in time a little bit. It was a week ago today that the Phantoms opened their season at the Spectrum against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. J. was supposed to arrive on her plane at 5 p.m. but was delayed an hour. No problem – the Spectrum’s close to the airport and we were plenty on time and J. even got to sit with us because no one claimed row 9, seat 3. It was a little comforting to be back in those seats with the same season ticket holders in the section around us, and I tried not to think about how I won’t be in that seat again next year (difficult, though, with all the “Last season here let’s honor the Spectrum!” stuff going on). Last year, Bridgeport wasn’t very good but the Phantoms would still struggle against them at times. I was afraid it might happen again. But the Sound Tigers were still not that good and while the Phantoms didn’t run quite as roughshod over them as I’d hoped they would, they still took the win, 2-1. Munroe kept the goal and the Phantoms had tallies by Matt Clackson and Claude Giroux. 1 down, 39 games to go to this year’s Calder Cup season. By the way, not having Jared Ross, Kyle Greentree, or Pete Zingoni in the lineup was a little sad. I suppose I will quickly get used to not having #4 and Zingo around, and since Ross hasn’t been in the Flyers lineup since opening night, I will not have to get used to him being gone.
Saturday, the centerpiece of the hockey weekend, the Flyers’ opening night. J., B., and I had burgers from Five Guys to eat beforehand since it seemed to be tradition, since that’s what we’d done the previous two home openers, but given the results of the night, we’re starting to rethink that. After all, the Flyers did not win two years ago when they opened against the Rangers and we had Five Guys. And this year they did not win, opening against the Rangers after we had Five Guys. (And since what we do affects game outcomes, we really must be more careful.)
Very exciting pre-game warmup, since we were so close. As always, I seem to forget just how big these guys are until they come out that tunnel next to us and skate around just a few feet away. Even Danny.
I was pretty excited to see the guys again, and some of the new ones. I liked to see Jared Ross in a Flyers jersey, though I knew he probably wouldn’t be playing big minutes and it might not happen again for a while. (He was wearing Esche’s number 42.) I liked seeing Richards with his captain’s C again – suits him well. And I liked seeing my favorite goalie and a favorite forward have a laugh together.
The night was starting out OK, with excitement, with the right kinds of feelings.
Then, of course, it had to get ugly when the bad ceremonial puck-drop decision was carried through, when that Vice Presidential Candidate came out to a chorus of boos and some cheers. As it happened, she came out through the Flyers’ tunnel – which was right next us, of course. So she was just on the other side of the glass from us, and in no way did not hear us, and some around us, booing. She went out onto the ice, and the music got so loud that you couldn’t hear anything else. (Nice cover-up!) She had the nerve to kiss Scott Gomez on the cheek – I mean, I know he’s from Alaska too (she probably thinks that make them relatives) but really? Come into our house, make cozy with the captain of a hated rival, a guy who used to play for another hated rival? Boo! Get out of here with your Flyers-jersey-wearing little human shield that did nothing to temper that boos before you jinx the team – oh, she didn’t get out fast enough, as it turned out.
The game got started and I could try to put hard feelings aside for a while. But not for long because the first period was a nightmare. By 16:13, four goals had been scored -- all by New York. And the third one was simply mind-boggling. Biron was at one side of the net, and the Sjostrom just circled around behind the net. Biron didn’t really move at all as he curled up onto the other side and simply dumped it into the wide-open other corner. Barely a flicker of movement from the goalie, and no one around to impede Sjostrom. You cannot be serious – maybe Biron wouldn’t have gotten the save anyway, but to at least have tried would have been some consolation. When the fourth goal went in, I knew it was done. Niittymaki put his helmet on and left his place next to us, and Biron stalked down the tunnel. The Flyers as a whole were not playing very well, and J. and I wondered why it is that even now they cannot seem to pull together anything other than a slow start to games. Some people have said since that the Rangers were at an advantage because they had already played three games together and had, perhaps crucially, already gotten farther along the gelling process than the Flyers. Perhaps that’s true, but the Rangers had already played the night before and should have been more tired than the Flyers. Of course, Valiquette was also in goal, and you know he shares the middle name that all backup goalies do – “Flyer killer.”
Biron came back out to watch during the second period, though.
And the Flyers played a much, much better 40 minutes. They got two goals in the second period, one from Scott Hartnell and Gagne’s first goal of the season. Having Gagne back is such a relief. He was out so much of last year that it was almost easy to think that he wasn’t a Flyer any more. And almost easy to forget just what kind of player he is – i.e. awesome on both ends of the ice.
Going into the second intermission only down 2 goals at least made the game look halfway respectable, from a scoresheet perspective. Also, Niittymaki was simply outstanding. He made Biron look like … well, I don’t want to get into that. In the third period, Niitty continued to keep the Rangers out of the net, and Richie pulled the Flyers within one goal. There was a flurry of close chances as the time wore down, revving up the crowd with actual hope, but unfortunately, the clock waits for no team and the game had to end. Loss #1, 4-3. Had they simply not fallen into that monstrous four-goal chasm before 20 minutes had even gone by, it might have been a different outcome. But it is what it is.
Better luck at the home opener next year, maybe. At least I had great seats to see the good when it happened.
Monday night, I watched them play Montreal on TV. I was looking forward to the game, because I enjoyed so much the way the Flyers dealt Montreal killing blow after killing blow during the playoffs. I didn’t sit there and expect a similar situation this year, after what I saw on Saturday, but I liked hoping that the ship’s listing had lessened a bit in the two days that followed. S., my technician, and I were discussing who might start the game in goal. I argued it would be Biron, because 1) they pay him and consider him to be the number one, and 2) they wouldn’t start up a goalie controversy about who they consider to be number one so early – they would give him a chance to show that Saturday was not going to be the status quo, and 3) a rematch with Price and the team that he stoned over and over again in May might get him going. S. argued that since Niittymaki had looked so good Saturday, that he should be playing. I said that if they played Niitty, it would be because they wanted Biron to be in net against the Penguins the next night – whoever they played wouldn’t be doing back-to-backs so I guessed we’d be seeing one each night – not because he was better than Biron.
It was Biron. And he was average. Gone was the Habs’ nightmare in net. The Flyers were OK – not great, maybe not even good? – and even got up 2-1 on Montreal with goals from Carter and Richards before blowing the game 5-3. One of those Montreal goals was an open-net, which means that Biron once again allowed four goals. It was so depressing, because when the third period started, the Flyers were winning; two minutes later, they were down a goal because the Canadiens scored at 1:18 and then again at 2:02. What is the deal with the blow-up on the shift immediately following a goal? Ten minutes of play before another Habs goal started to put the game out of the Flyers’ reach … but Gags brought it back within sights with a nice power play goal a minute later. To get so close again, but digging from behind, it’s already getting old by two games. No equalizer with Biron pulled, just another goal for Montreal.
Ok, so they were 0-2. Not a great start to the season, but, you know, they can’t go 0-82. Right?
In Pittsburgh the next night. As expected, Niittymaki got the start. Again, the Flyers did not score in the first period (fortunately, neither did the Penguins). It wasn’t nearly the penalty-fest that you come to expect with the Penguins as your opponent (though there was an eye-rolling call – I think the one on Vaananen – interference, involving Sidney Crosby, of course you can’t get in his way, right? But a short time later, there was another penalty involving Crosby, who slashed and then went down. When the whistle blew, a Flyers fan could be forgiven for getting hot under the collar and believing that the call was going to go against the orange and black. But lo! It was Sidney who was sent to the box! AMAZING!). The game was going OK. But later in the second period, the Flyers allowed two goals, the second not even ¾ of a second after the first. Honestly, guys, do you just go to sleep after a goal? Down 2-0 and not looking very exciting, the Flyers actually pulled off something that they usually allow other teams to do – they scored in the last minute of the period. Not only that, but they scored TWICE in the last minute of the period. Carter, then Gagne, putting Gagne on pace for an 82-goal season. (I predicted this might be his 50-goal season; 3 down, 47 to go!) I perked up for the first time, with the game tied after two. There was no score in the third, so the game went into overtime. Hey – the Flyers got one point, at least. They won’t finish the season with zero even if the don’t win a single game, right? That’s something, right?? Ok, enough gloom and doom sarcasm. The game was in OT and was played strong and well, and it looked like the Flyers were going to go to their first shootout of the year when there was a bad play that let Dupuis alone with the puck near the boards, kind of far out, with no one between him and the goal but Niittymaki. Niittymaki, who had just played so well all night, and who was beat. Glove side. Zzzzzzzzzzzip. The Penguins won with ten seconds to go.
As J.’s text message put it: Well, that sucked.
And then there was last night’s game, which I summarized above. A good thing from all of this: Gagne is still on his 82-goal-season pace.
It hasn’t been a good start, people. I’m really disliking the way that 06-07 feeling is creeping back into the pit of my stomach. I want to have faith that it’s only been four games; sure, a bad start, but they’ll get it together. San Jose on Saturday? No problem. $10 says Niitty starts. You'd never know he had surgery only a few short weeks ago. I see a Goalie Controversy coming up.
----------------------
Tonight! Action at the Spectrum! Philadelphia Phantoms vs. Hershey Bears! Tomorrow night, same time same place, vs. Binghamton Senators! The Phantoms lost last Saturday night to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by a score of 4-3 – same as their big brothers lost that night – so they are 1-1 on the season. I want big things from this team this year. I want them to do better than the 04-05 Phantoms’ 17-game winning streak. I want them to get to the division lead and hang on to it the way they did last year. I WANT A CALDER CUP. Ok, I’ll leave you with those possibly unrealistic expectations. GO PHANTOMS!
EDIT: Jared Ross is still on the Flyers' roster, and not on the Phantoms'. Blerrgh
Friday, October 10, 2008
The Great Opening Night Weekend started this morning with an orange-and-white striped shirt and purple socks. The Phantoms are playing the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this evening for Game #1. I look forward to shouting "You're not that good!" at them, and I wonder if the season ticket holders who were down the row from us last year will be there again this year (I think I saw them at the game on Tuesday), and if they will still do their little set-piece:
Fan #1: Hey [Brutal Opposing Player]; you're ugly!
Fan #2: And your mama dresses you funny!
Fan #3 (usually a kid with a screechy little-kid voice): You skate like Bonvie!
All fans: Ya pansy!
I was wondering if they would trot it out on Tuesday. "Hey, Richie! You skate like Bonvie!" ? Um.
No politics tonight. Just a new hockey game to be seen with K. and J. (J.'s ticket has her sitting somewhere across the section from K. and me. Maybe she'll get lucky and someone nearby won't be filling a seat and she can move closer.) I have read this morning that 1) the Flyers added Jared Ross to their roster (!) and 2) Aubin was in fact sent down. So do you think it will be Aubin or Munroe tonight?
Fan #1: Hey [Brutal Opposing Player]; you're ugly!
Fan #2: And your mama dresses you funny!
Fan #3 (usually a kid with a screechy little-kid voice): You skate like Bonvie!
All fans: Ya pansy!
I was wondering if they would trot it out on Tuesday. "Hey, Richie! You skate like Bonvie!" ? Um.
No politics tonight. Just a new hockey game to be seen with K. and J. (J.'s ticket has her sitting somewhere across the section from K. and me. Maybe she'll get lucky and someone nearby won't be filling a seat and she can move closer.) I have read this morning that 1) the Flyers added Jared Ross to their roster (!) and 2) Aubin was in fact sent down. So do you think it will be Aubin or Munroe tonight?
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Hockey game, and some politics injected -- you were warned.
Last night's game was fun. I think the Phantoms played a little harder than the Flyers, but no one was throwing big checks or hits and there were very few penalties -- so it was kind of like an all-star game, but without the really run-up scores. Surprisingly, the Phantoms put away the Flyers, 4-2. I am under no illusions about it, though; had the Flyers been really playing, I'm sure the score would have been reversed, minimum. Also, surprisingly, Niittymaki was in net for the Phantoms. This makes sense, in a way -- he's recovering from surgery and it's a good way to get him back into game shape. All kinds of players sometimes end up in the minors for a "reconditioning" stint; this must have been Niitty's. So Munroe took a backseat for the night, while Biron played two periods for the Flyers and was replaced by J.-S. Aubin for the third. Niitty was outstanding. Aubin -- not so much, though not terrible (and I read now that he has been waived, though this has not been confirmed by anyone official as of this writing). It was great to see Niittymaki play so well, even if it was "just" pre-season; returning from surgery, moving well laterally, keeping the score to 2 (with some awesome saves) -- yeah, all around a good night for him.
It was kind of exciting to see my two favorite teams facing off against each other. Technically I was cheering for the Phantoms (having decided to wear my Phantoms jersey, but with my orange Flyers scarf), but of course it was good both ways. I want to point out that I was completely pleased with what I saw out of the Phantoms. Their defense was really very crisp on the blue line -- none of the patented "oops I let it go by" stuff that Jonsson and Anderson (for example) were so good at last year. Syvret looked good. Bartulis, who we didn't see play at the end of last season thanks to a woozy head?, was also looking pretty good. And I questioned earlier, when they were getting rid of Greentree, Zingoni, et al. and pulling in all kinds of defensemen, where the offense was going to come from. Jared Ross, of course; he scored, and was constantly harassing Mike Richards, the 18-on-18 action some of the best stuff I saw (Richards getting his pocket repeatedly picked by the little guy was amusing). Patrick Maroon put one in, and Andreas Nodl (Noodle!) hustled to get an empty netter, outskating I think Kimmo Timonen. All in all, I liked what I saw out of my season ticket team, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more.
Oh yeah, liked the Flyers too!
----------
Now, politics injected into my hockey: I got an email from the Flyers about a farce that's apparently going to happen Saturday at the opener. Apparently, they've invited Sarah "Hockey mom" Palin to drop the puck. This is a bad, bad idea. I don't just think this because I despise that candidate. I would think having a currently-running political candidate of any stripe in to drop the puck a bad idea, because it gives the appearance of endorsing that candidate and immediately you alienate / tick off some percentage of the people who are in the audience there to see a hockey game, and when an organization that relies on its fans' money to survive goes around ticking off those fans ... well. And I will definitely be counted among that percentage of ticked off fans. Honestly, I can't quite see where anyone thought this would be a good idea. She is going to get booed. This is certain (because J., B., and I all plan on it -- and you can be 100% sure that we are not the only ones). It's not going to look good for the Flyers and you know somehow Philadelphia's reputation of insensitive booing is going to get wrapped into it. It's going to start the game off with a bad, bad vibe -- a lot of the crowd booing and not only at the Rangers, which is the only entity that should be getting booed Saturday night. Having a laughingstock of a Republican vice-presidential candidate drop the puck on opening night in Philadelphia is a bad, bad idea, even under the guise of her somehow being "America's favorite hockey mom" in reference to some contest they are having. According to one poster on a message board I read regularly, he called the Flyers customer service and they told him that they've been getting "slammed" with phone calls and emails about it. "Slammed" isn't the kind of word you use when it's positive feedback. I am sure some people at the game will cheer, but I anticipate the boos will outnumber them. Again: bad, bad idea. Can of worms? Officially opened.
I'm annoyed that my VERY EXPENSIVE home opener experience is going to be dinged by having to share a roof with a vapid joke. I was sort of looking forward to not having one there (Sean Avery having been jettisoned, after all).
It was kind of exciting to see my two favorite teams facing off against each other. Technically I was cheering for the Phantoms (having decided to wear my Phantoms jersey, but with my orange Flyers scarf), but of course it was good both ways. I want to point out that I was completely pleased with what I saw out of the Phantoms. Their defense was really very crisp on the blue line -- none of the patented "oops I let it go by" stuff that Jonsson and Anderson (for example) were so good at last year. Syvret looked good. Bartulis, who we didn't see play at the end of last season thanks to a woozy head?, was also looking pretty good. And I questioned earlier, when they were getting rid of Greentree, Zingoni, et al. and pulling in all kinds of defensemen, where the offense was going to come from. Jared Ross, of course; he scored, and was constantly harassing Mike Richards, the 18-on-18 action some of the best stuff I saw (Richards getting his pocket repeatedly picked by the little guy was amusing). Patrick Maroon put one in, and Andreas Nodl (Noodle!) hustled to get an empty netter, outskating I think Kimmo Timonen. All in all, I liked what I saw out of my season ticket team, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more.
Oh yeah, liked the Flyers too!
----------
Now, politics injected into my hockey: I got an email from the Flyers about a farce that's apparently going to happen Saturday at the opener. Apparently, they've invited Sarah "Hockey mom" Palin to drop the puck. This is a bad, bad idea. I don't just think this because I despise that candidate. I would think having a currently-running political candidate of any stripe in to drop the puck a bad idea, because it gives the appearance of endorsing that candidate and immediately you alienate / tick off some percentage of the people who are in the audience there to see a hockey game, and when an organization that relies on its fans' money to survive goes around ticking off those fans ... well. And I will definitely be counted among that percentage of ticked off fans. Honestly, I can't quite see where anyone thought this would be a good idea. She is going to get booed. This is certain (because J., B., and I all plan on it -- and you can be 100% sure that we are not the only ones). It's not going to look good for the Flyers and you know somehow Philadelphia's reputation of insensitive booing is going to get wrapped into it. It's going to start the game off with a bad, bad vibe -- a lot of the crowd booing and not only at the Rangers, which is the only entity that should be getting booed Saturday night. Having a laughingstock of a Republican vice-presidential candidate drop the puck on opening night in Philadelphia is a bad, bad idea, even under the guise of her somehow being "America's favorite hockey mom" in reference to some contest they are having. According to one poster on a message board I read regularly, he called the Flyers customer service and they told him that they've been getting "slammed" with phone calls and emails about it. "Slammed" isn't the kind of word you use when it's positive feedback. I am sure some people at the game will cheer, but I anticipate the boos will outnumber them. Again: bad, bad idea. Can of worms? Officially opened.
I'm annoyed that my VERY EXPENSIVE home opener experience is going to be dinged by having to share a roof with a vapid joke. I was sort of looking forward to not having one there (Sean Avery having been jettisoned, after all).
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Tonight’s warm-up for the season: Flyers/Phantoms at the Spectrum. I haven’t decided whether to wear a Flyers jersey and a Phantoms hat, or a Phantoms jersey and a Flyers hat.
I’m glad that’s the most pressing issue today. Everything else is under this big umbrella of stuff I can’t do anything about right now. Economy? Hey. When you yet have essentially no money built up in your retirement savings, you can’t lose very much, so you don’t feel all shot up and horrified at the numbers (my -$1005.99 since September 30, vs. my pal’s -$20,000+). Politics?* Election Day is next month. So right now I’m not going to worry about it; I’m going to worry about what shirt I am going to wear to an exhibition hockey game.
This should be fun. I expect no one’s going to be taking things extremely seriously, but I hope the guys don’t just go out there and have a laugh. I still want to see decent hockey.
*Oh that reminds me. I hated seeing on a news clip Sarah Palin wearing a Flyers hat a couple weeks ago when she was being worthless in Philadelphia. Remember that scene in The Wedding Singer where the ex-girlfriend is wearing the Van Halen shirt, and she is warned to take it off before she jinxes the band and they break up? Yeah. Something like that.
I’m glad that’s the most pressing issue today. Everything else is under this big umbrella of stuff I can’t do anything about right now. Economy? Hey. When you yet have essentially no money built up in your retirement savings, you can’t lose very much, so you don’t feel all shot up and horrified at the numbers (my -$1005.99 since September 30, vs. my pal’s -$20,000+). Politics?* Election Day is next month. So right now I’m not going to worry about it; I’m going to worry about what shirt I am going to wear to an exhibition hockey game.
This should be fun. I expect no one’s going to be taking things extremely seriously, but I hope the guys don’t just go out there and have a laugh. I still want to see decent hockey.
*Oh that reminds me. I hated seeing on a news clip Sarah Palin wearing a Flyers hat a couple weeks ago when she was being worthless in Philadelphia. Remember that scene in The Wedding Singer where the ex-girlfriend is wearing the Van Halen shirt, and she is warned to take it off before she jinxes the band and they break up? Yeah. Something like that.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Today starts the Good Season!
While the Flyers don’t get their real season going until next Saturday, there are real games on the docket for:
1) Rangers vs. Lightning
2) Penguins vs. Senators
This morning I called my cable provider (Comcast, who else?) and had them put NHL Center Ice into my cable lineup. I guess all that I will be doing this winter is watching hockey. Not just Flyers hockey, but all sorts of NHL hockey. Well, when the weather gets dark and cold, and I am done with the running after work, what else is there to do? That’s right.
Even though the weather isn’t cold and dark yet (today: sunny and in the 60s) I’m going to take advantage of the money I will have spent on this TV package and watch the Rags and Lightning (playing overseas). I am interested in seeing this New and ImprovedTM Lightning team that insists it will not be the laughingstock of the East this year (cue: Andre Roy being clocked by Riley Cote again, again, again, again, again ad nauseum on the Wachovia Center jumbotron) and also seeing how a Jagr-less New York team gets on. Won’t hurt to see one of the Lundqvist twins again, either. I may watch the Penguins game too – but you know how I feel about them. Watching them is similar to watching George W. Bush on TV – I almost just cannot stand to look at him/them.
I guess the Flyers lost pretty bad last night. J.’s description of how they were playing is not fit to be repeated here (involving body parts of farm-type beasts of burden). Sorry – I guess maybe they should be referred to as the “Flyers” because it sounds like a lot of guys were playing that are not really expected to be playing, say, next Saturday (instead, will probably be playing Friday night and wearing purple): Danny Syvret, Darroll Powe, Andreas Nodl, Freddy Cabana – AHLers last year, probably AHLers again this year. While Mike Richards seems disinclined to use the “youth” that played last night as an excuse, I think that when you’re playing Alex Ovechkin (one goal, two assists) you might be able to say that it was a factor when you lose 5-1. And Aubin doesn’t sound like he was all that good. But don’t take it from me – I didn’t see it. I’ve just read a little bit about it today, and, well, there was J.’s assessment (she did see it).
The Flyguys have a couple more pre-seasoners to get out of the way, including tonight’s bout vs. the Devils and Tuesday’s extravaganza at the Spectrum vs. the Phantoms. A couple days ago I got the tickets for the Spectrum game in the mail; and yesterday arrived the booklets of Phantoms season tickets. Next Friday starts that action. I was driving this morning and thinking about all the hockey that is just about to get started, and it made my spine tingle a little bit. I’m sorry that summer is all gone and that, you know, winter is just on the other side of fall, but at least there is HOCKEY.
UPDATE: Ok, apparently not on Center Ice, but NHL Network. Which I don't have. Do I want to give Comcast another $5 a month in order to also get NHL Network? Um.
While the Flyers don’t get their real season going until next Saturday, there are real games on the docket for:
1) Rangers vs. Lightning
2) Penguins vs. Senators
This morning I called my cable provider (Comcast, who else?) and had them put NHL Center Ice into my cable lineup. I guess all that I will be doing this winter is watching hockey. Not just Flyers hockey, but all sorts of NHL hockey. Well, when the weather gets dark and cold, and I am done with the running after work, what else is there to do? That’s right.
Even though the weather isn’t cold and dark yet (today: sunny and in the 60s) I’m going to take advantage of the money I will have spent on this TV package and watch the Rags and Lightning (playing overseas). I am interested in seeing this New and ImprovedTM Lightning team that insists it will not be the laughingstock of the East this year (cue: Andre Roy being clocked by Riley Cote again, again, again, again, again ad nauseum on the Wachovia Center jumbotron) and also seeing how a Jagr-less New York team gets on. Won’t hurt to see one of the Lundqvist twins again, either. I may watch the Penguins game too – but you know how I feel about them. Watching them is similar to watching George W. Bush on TV – I almost just cannot stand to look at him/them.
I guess the Flyers lost pretty bad last night. J.’s description of how they were playing is not fit to be repeated here (involving body parts of farm-type beasts of burden). Sorry – I guess maybe they should be referred to as the “Flyers” because it sounds like a lot of guys were playing that are not really expected to be playing, say, next Saturday (instead, will probably be playing Friday night and wearing purple): Danny Syvret, Darroll Powe, Andreas Nodl, Freddy Cabana – AHLers last year, probably AHLers again this year. While Mike Richards seems disinclined to use the “youth” that played last night as an excuse, I think that when you’re playing Alex Ovechkin (one goal, two assists) you might be able to say that it was a factor when you lose 5-1. And Aubin doesn’t sound like he was all that good. But don’t take it from me – I didn’t see it. I’ve just read a little bit about it today, and, well, there was J.’s assessment (she did see it).
The Flyguys have a couple more pre-seasoners to get out of the way, including tonight’s bout vs. the Devils and Tuesday’s extravaganza at the Spectrum vs. the Phantoms. A couple days ago I got the tickets for the Spectrum game in the mail; and yesterday arrived the booklets of Phantoms season tickets. Next Friday starts that action. I was driving this morning and thinking about all the hockey that is just about to get started, and it made my spine tingle a little bit. I’m sorry that summer is all gone and that, you know, winter is just on the other side of fall, but at least there is HOCKEY.
UPDATE: Ok, apparently not on Center Ice, but NHL Network. Which I don't have. Do I want to give Comcast another $5 a month in order to also get NHL Network? Um.
