Saturday, April 25, 2009
Dear Philadelphia Phantoms,
Good bye and thank you for the five seasons I knew you.
Love,
Crusher
Friday, April 24, 2009
I am seriously considering not watching the game live tomorrow afternoon, instead recording it to watch later. I KNOW that whether or not I watch the game live has absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the game, but the fact of the matter is that there have been five games in this playoff series between the Flyers and the Penguins and I have watched three of them live and two of them after the fact (with no knowledge of the result): the former three were losses, the latter two were wins. If I don’t watch the game live, the Flyers win. I just know that if I watch the game tomorrow afternoon while it happens, and the worst happens, I am going to feel at fault. I don’t need that kind of guilt.
Outside of much of the first period, the Flyers played a nearly flawless game. Yeah, there were turnovers and some lazy passes, but they can’t be perfect, and fortunately this time they took care of the results of their mistakes before they got terminal. In the first period there was some struggle for control, but even during that period it didn’t look dire and the Flyers bit by bit grabbed a hold of the wheel and steered it their way – one way or another – keeping the Penguins from scoring on their 15-to-5 shots advantage and the 0-0 score going into the first intermission was in large part thanks to Marty Biron, who seemed to have suddenly regained last playoff’s form. And the moment in the second where Malkin was allowed to get a chance to kick the puck in the net – he still never had a chance to get his stick on it to get a good shot, so was left with kicking it. And I tell you during that review I felt myself grow sick to my stomach, thinking that if they called it a goal I really was going to have to excuse myself. When they (astonishingly) made the right call and disallowed the FIFA World Cup style goal, the relief I felt was so enormous that tears actually came to my eyes. This is what it has come to: I nearly cry when the league gets an easy call right. (Side note: the refereeing was refreshing last night. I find myself with no real complaints at all. Check pigs for wings or something, folks.)
One of the things that I have loved about the Flyers scoring this series is that most of their goals are not garbage. Last night’s three goals were a good example of that. Asham was nowhere near the net, and the bullet he fired past Fleury stunned everyone. One of the Flyers’ announcers commented that he thought Fleury was nonchalant about making that save, only to have it burn past him like – well, a bullet. Asham could not have placed that puck any more perfectly, as it hit the far side of the net. Another inch and there would have been a discouraging clang off the post. It being quite late when I finally got to watch the game, my celebrations were muted on the outside. Giroux’s goal was so beautiful, on a play that I think only Giroux could have been part of – he chucked it home as Fleury couldn’t slide back over to cover the net. There was no hurry or clamor in Giroux’s effort and shot; he is a predator, ready to be where he needs to be, and then pounces, a perfectly premeditated play, even if the premeditation is a fraction of a second. Nothing surprises him. (Not even when suddenly lost his stick and found the puck between his feet; with perfect aplomb, he adroitly protected the puck between his skate blades, waiting for help and taking his time, and when another Flyer arrived, he skillfully tapped it, FIFA World Cup style, behind one skate with the other toward his teammate. Giroux makes my jaw drop at least once a game, and that play had my jaw down and I was laughing. A while later, he was knocked down, what, ten or eleven times as he played the puck at the blue line and still didn’t lose control? Ok, I exaggerate that slightly, but come on. He is a wizard. And along with every other Flyer fan seeing these games, he is suddenly my favorite player to watch.) Knuble’s goal was another rocket, after a rebound; there was no mistaking the intent of that puck to hit the back of the net, and Fleury exposed his human side last night three too many times for the Penguins.
Too much time after each of those goals, and while the Flyers had control of the last two thirds of the game, I could hardly bear it any time the puck went into the Flyers’ zone. Even when they were up 3-0 with three minutes left to play, I couldn’t stand how much time there was left. I hate having so little faith in my team, but there was no margin for error. And while I was reluctant to think it, I really wanted Marty toshut out not allow that team any goals. I hope he doesn’t pull a Fleury (i.e., have a forcefield game and then crash back to earth the next). Stay hot, Marty.
And the Flyers, in strong fashion, lived to play another game.
So, to recap:
Game 1: Horrible, horrible all around. Refereeing was a tragedy and the Flyers couldn’t do a g-d thing. Loss well-deserved.
Game 2: Horrible, horrible OT loss, not deserved at all, the game should have ended in regulation with a 2-1 Flyers win, except Staal held Carter's stick and Carter got called for it, leading to things happening that never should have had a chance to happen.
Game 3: Penguins were severely outplayed. In spite of another disgusting display of officiating, a decisive win on home ice.
Game 4: In spite of the Flyers’ dominating play, Fleury was more or less impenetrable and Crosby’s slide tackling goal was BS. Hard to swallow that loss.
Game 5: Penguins did nothing, looked like the Flyers not caring about winning the last game of the season in spite of home ice being on the line. Heavy win for the orange and black.
If not for game-changing referee decisions in Game 2 and an unfortunate display of outstanding goaltending combined with a badly judged Penguins goal in Game 4, this series indeed very well could have been over last night – 4-1 Flyers.
I really mean it. I don’t think I’m going to watch the game live tomorrow. J. has already suggested firmly that I do not, as well as my technologist, S. I’m sure more suggestions of that sort will come out once people know my record in this series. I can probably find something else to do after 3 p.m. tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be super-nice, after all.
LET’S GO FLYERS.
--------------------------------
Two nights ago, I checked the Phantoms score in the second period – they were down 2-1. The game ended with a 3-2 loss. That puts the Phantoms in a bad hole. They have to win tonight and tomorrow in order for me to ever see them play again at the Spectrum. Given the 0-3 record this series, it isn’t looking good. I will try not to think about it today, because it’s a major dampener, and I’m just in too good of a mood after last night’s game to want to be down until I have the actual reason to be down. Maybe I will watch the game online – whether or not I see them live seems to have no effect, though I have never watched a game on the computer, so who knows – maybe it would have a positive jinx effect.*
LET’S GO PHANTOMS.
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Oh a couple last thoughts. I was watching the Devils/Hurricanes game the other night and saw the Canes completely drop a 3-0 lead. When Jussi Jokinen scored with 0.2 seconds left to break a 3-3 tie, leading to a 2-2 series tie, my exact reaction was to laugh jubilantly. Brodeur's subsequent meltdown was a treat. I guess the Devils won again last night to take some revenge and the series lead again.
And the other night I also watched Boston handle the Canandiens [sic] with no trouble at all. Montreal scoring first didn't have me wondering if the Bruins were going to stumble. No, they were simply playing with the Canadiens and their fans. Wiping out the Canadiens on their home ice in four games in their treasured 100th season -- I only wish it could have somehow been the Flyers to do that. It seemed that early in the season Montreal thought the league should just hand them the Stanley Cup right then, no need to go through the motions. They didn't even get close. As Nelson Muntz would say: HA HA!
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*I’ve admitted it before. I’m a scientist but I can’t help but be in thrall to sports superstition.
Outside of much of the first period, the Flyers played a nearly flawless game. Yeah, there were turnovers and some lazy passes, but they can’t be perfect, and fortunately this time they took care of the results of their mistakes before they got terminal. In the first period there was some struggle for control, but even during that period it didn’t look dire and the Flyers bit by bit grabbed a hold of the wheel and steered it their way – one way or another – keeping the Penguins from scoring on their 15-to-5 shots advantage and the 0-0 score going into the first intermission was in large part thanks to Marty Biron, who seemed to have suddenly regained last playoff’s form. And the moment in the second where Malkin was allowed to get a chance to kick the puck in the net – he still never had a chance to get his stick on it to get a good shot, so was left with kicking it. And I tell you during that review I felt myself grow sick to my stomach, thinking that if they called it a goal I really was going to have to excuse myself. When they (astonishingly) made the right call and disallowed the FIFA World Cup style goal, the relief I felt was so enormous that tears actually came to my eyes. This is what it has come to: I nearly cry when the league gets an easy call right. (Side note: the refereeing was refreshing last night. I find myself with no real complaints at all. Check pigs for wings or something, folks.)
One of the things that I have loved about the Flyers scoring this series is that most of their goals are not garbage. Last night’s three goals were a good example of that. Asham was nowhere near the net, and the bullet he fired past Fleury stunned everyone. One of the Flyers’ announcers commented that he thought Fleury was nonchalant about making that save, only to have it burn past him like – well, a bullet. Asham could not have placed that puck any more perfectly, as it hit the far side of the net. Another inch and there would have been a discouraging clang off the post. It being quite late when I finally got to watch the game, my celebrations were muted on the outside. Giroux’s goal was so beautiful, on a play that I think only Giroux could have been part of – he chucked it home as Fleury couldn’t slide back over to cover the net. There was no hurry or clamor in Giroux’s effort and shot; he is a predator, ready to be where he needs to be, and then pounces, a perfectly premeditated play, even if the premeditation is a fraction of a second. Nothing surprises him. (Not even when suddenly lost his stick and found the puck between his feet; with perfect aplomb, he adroitly protected the puck between his skate blades, waiting for help and taking his time, and when another Flyer arrived, he skillfully tapped it, FIFA World Cup style, behind one skate with the other toward his teammate. Giroux makes my jaw drop at least once a game, and that play had my jaw down and I was laughing. A while later, he was knocked down, what, ten or eleven times as he played the puck at the blue line and still didn’t lose control? Ok, I exaggerate that slightly, but come on. He is a wizard. And along with every other Flyer fan seeing these games, he is suddenly my favorite player to watch.) Knuble’s goal was another rocket, after a rebound; there was no mistaking the intent of that puck to hit the back of the net, and Fleury exposed his human side last night three too many times for the Penguins.
Too much time after each of those goals, and while the Flyers had control of the last two thirds of the game, I could hardly bear it any time the puck went into the Flyers’ zone. Even when they were up 3-0 with three minutes left to play, I couldn’t stand how much time there was left. I hate having so little faith in my team, but there was no margin for error. And while I was reluctant to think it, I really wanted Marty to
And the Flyers, in strong fashion, lived to play another game.
So, to recap:
Game 1: Horrible, horrible all around. Refereeing was a tragedy and the Flyers couldn’t do a g-d thing. Loss well-deserved.
Game 2: Horrible, horrible OT loss, not deserved at all, the game should have ended in regulation with a 2-1 Flyers win, except Staal held Carter's stick and Carter got called for it, leading to things happening that never should have had a chance to happen.
Game 3: Penguins were severely outplayed. In spite of another disgusting display of officiating, a decisive win on home ice.
Game 4: In spite of the Flyers’ dominating play, Fleury was more or less impenetrable and Crosby’s slide tackling goal was BS. Hard to swallow that loss.
Game 5: Penguins did nothing, looked like the Flyers not caring about winning the last game of the season in spite of home ice being on the line. Heavy win for the orange and black.
If not for game-changing referee decisions in Game 2 and an unfortunate display of outstanding goaltending combined with a badly judged Penguins goal in Game 4, this series indeed very well could have been over last night – 4-1 Flyers.
I really mean it. I don’t think I’m going to watch the game live tomorrow. J. has already suggested firmly that I do not, as well as my technologist, S. I’m sure more suggestions of that sort will come out once people know my record in this series. I can probably find something else to do after 3 p.m. tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be super-nice, after all.
LET’S GO FLYERS.
--------------------------------
Two nights ago, I checked the Phantoms score in the second period – they were down 2-1. The game ended with a 3-2 loss. That puts the Phantoms in a bad hole. They have to win tonight and tomorrow in order for me to ever see them play again at the Spectrum. Given the 0-3 record this series, it isn’t looking good. I will try not to think about it today, because it’s a major dampener, and I’m just in too good of a mood after last night’s game to want to be down until I have the actual reason to be down. Maybe I will watch the game online – whether or not I see them live seems to have no effect, though I have never watched a game on the computer, so who knows – maybe it would have a positive jinx effect.*
LET’S GO PHANTOMS.
-----------
Oh a couple last thoughts. I was watching the Devils/Hurricanes game the other night and saw the Canes completely drop a 3-0 lead. When Jussi Jokinen scored with 0.2 seconds left to break a 3-3 tie, leading to a 2-2 series tie, my exact reaction was to laugh jubilantly. Brodeur's subsequent meltdown was a treat. I guess the Devils won again last night to take some revenge and the series lead again.
And the other night I also watched Boston handle the Canandiens [sic] with no trouble at all. Montreal scoring first didn't have me wondering if the Bruins were going to stumble. No, they were simply playing with the Canadiens and their fans. Wiping out the Canadiens on their home ice in four games in their treasured 100th season -- I only wish it could have somehow been the Flyers to do that. It seemed that early in the season Montreal thought the league should just hand them the Stanley Cup right then, no need to go through the motions. They didn't even get close. As Nelson Muntz would say: HA HA!
------------------------
*I’ve admitted it before. I’m a scientist but I can’t help but be in thrall to sports superstition.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Saturday night, after the Phantoms' 6-2 loss to Hershey, it occurred to me that that game might actually have been the last game in the Spectrum. It didn't occur to me while going to the game (and I would have had plenty of time for the thought to cross my mind, seeing as I was in the car 1.5 hours from Wilmington to the arena -- accidents abounded), it didn't occur to me while I was at the game; only a few hours later, near midnight, did it strike me that I had not paid special attention to being at the Spectrum, to sitting in my lovely seats, to the whole situation.
I vacillated between being glad that I didn't let the specter of never coming back hang over me the whole evening and being upset that I hadn't made the point to savor it more. I suppose I did my savoring on the 10th, but getting to go back after that maybe diluted it a little bit. And now, I may not get to go back, and all I have in my memory is the same-old, same-old feeling that I would have leaving a Phantoms game in which they had lost, and not some special fuzziness having wrapped myself all up in the experience. I didn't take a single picture, not even with my camera phone, as I usually do.
The 6-2 loss sounds a lot more dire than it was. I was late to the game, missing the start, because of the traffic on I-495 / I-95 and the parking situation, so I missed the first goal. The guy at the door told me it was already 1-0; the Phantoms had scored 53 seconds in. They scored again not long after I had taken my seat, but then, in spite of being completely in the game, they could not score again. Hershey tied the game and then a third to go ahead. A Phantoms goal was not allowed (at least, it certainly looked like a goal to me, sitting at the red line, the puck appeared to have crossed the line) that prevented the Phantoms from tying the game at three, and a bad goal in the third put the Bears up by two; the fifth was an empty netter and the sixth happened in chaotic power play seconds afterward. The Bears played a pretty dirty game (e.g., Kukkonen was knocked down and while he was down on the ice, the Bear who had hit him cracked him in the face with the blade of his stick. Kukkonen has been wearing a shield around his jaw. If that's not as cheap a hit as you have ever heard of, I am interested in what's cheaper. Kukkonen lunged up and went after the guy, and ended up sitting in the penalty box for two minutes. At least the Bears had already gotten an extra two minutes, so Kukkonen's retaliation didn't negate a power play.). So the Phantoms are down 2-0 in the series going to Hershey, and unless they win two of the away games this week, they won't be coming back to Philadelphia for a game on Sunday. Good luck, guys. Even after the traffic nightmare last weekend, I'd like to be driving up to see you again.
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Flyers again tonight. A guy at lunch asked me what I predict for the evening. I said that I am not going to do that anymore. Any time I open my mouth about a game lately, something bad happens. For example, at the Phantoms game, Alexandre Giroux fanned badly on a shot and it hobbled wide of the net. I cackled, "How do you score sixty goals shooting like that?!" and not even ten seconds later, he scored. (K. was so mad at me. He actually dropped the f-bomb on me. Ok, I deserved it.) If I go around saying, "Oh, Flyers 4-2 tonight!" then the hockey gods will probably reward me the same way that they do when I open my mouth at Phantoms games. If I say, "Oh, Penguins probably, 3-2" then, well, there you go. (If only I could control my jinxing powers for good and not evil...) So I'm just going to watch the game on the edge of my couch and hope the same Flyers that played Sunday night are the ones that show up tonight. For some reason I have already bitten off my nails today, so I won't be able to do that during the game. Maybe I will find some squeezy stress toy to have on hand, just in case.
[Hockey gods: these examples above are not to be considered predictions, overt or thinly veiled.]
I vacillated between being glad that I didn't let the specter of never coming back hang over me the whole evening and being upset that I hadn't made the point to savor it more. I suppose I did my savoring on the 10th, but getting to go back after that maybe diluted it a little bit. And now, I may not get to go back, and all I have in my memory is the same-old, same-old feeling that I would have leaving a Phantoms game in which they had lost, and not some special fuzziness having wrapped myself all up in the experience. I didn't take a single picture, not even with my camera phone, as I usually do.
The 6-2 loss sounds a lot more dire than it was. I was late to the game, missing the start, because of the traffic on I-495 / I-95 and the parking situation, so I missed the first goal. The guy at the door told me it was already 1-0; the Phantoms had scored 53 seconds in. They scored again not long after I had taken my seat, but then, in spite of being completely in the game, they could not score again. Hershey tied the game and then a third to go ahead. A Phantoms goal was not allowed (at least, it certainly looked like a goal to me, sitting at the red line, the puck appeared to have crossed the line) that prevented the Phantoms from tying the game at three, and a bad goal in the third put the Bears up by two; the fifth was an empty netter and the sixth happened in chaotic power play seconds afterward. The Bears played a pretty dirty game (e.g., Kukkonen was knocked down and while he was down on the ice, the Bear who had hit him cracked him in the face with the blade of his stick. Kukkonen has been wearing a shield around his jaw. If that's not as cheap a hit as you have ever heard of, I am interested in what's cheaper. Kukkonen lunged up and went after the guy, and ended up sitting in the penalty box for two minutes. At least the Bears had already gotten an extra two minutes, so Kukkonen's retaliation didn't negate a power play.). So the Phantoms are down 2-0 in the series going to Hershey, and unless they win two of the away games this week, they won't be coming back to Philadelphia for a game on Sunday. Good luck, guys. Even after the traffic nightmare last weekend, I'd like to be driving up to see you again.
---------------------
Flyers again tonight. A guy at lunch asked me what I predict for the evening. I said that I am not going to do that anymore. Any time I open my mouth about a game lately, something bad happens. For example, at the Phantoms game, Alexandre Giroux fanned badly on a shot and it hobbled wide of the net. I cackled, "How do you score sixty goals shooting like that?!" and not even ten seconds later, he scored. (K. was so mad at me. He actually dropped the f-bomb on me. Ok, I deserved it.) If I go around saying, "Oh, Flyers 4-2 tonight!" then the hockey gods will probably reward me the same way that they do when I open my mouth at Phantoms games. If I say, "Oh, Penguins probably, 3-2" then, well, there you go. (If only I could control my jinxing powers for good and not evil...) So I'm just going to watch the game on the edge of my couch and hope the same Flyers that played Sunday night are the ones that show up tonight. For some reason I have already bitten off my nails today, so I won't be able to do that during the game. Maybe I will find some squeezy stress toy to have on hand, just in case.
[Hockey gods: these examples above are not to be considered predictions, overt or thinly veiled.]
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Ok, today's game is what you get when the Flyers are not constantly in the penalty box. Refereeing was pathetic but somehow it was pathetic for both sides. Kind of like a "normal" game. And the Flyers are able to win "normal" games.
I heart Claude Giroux. Very quickly coming to challenge Mike Richards as my favorite Flyer. I love the way he does not shy from a hit -- is happy to make one -- I love his puck handling, I love his vision, I love his passes, I love his goal scoring, I love that he fought hideous Tyler Kennedy! What a great game he had!
But the most special mention goes to Jared Ross (my favorite Phantom) and congratulations on his first NHL / NHL playoff goal. We have missed him against Hershey, so I am glad he made some noise playing for the Flyers today when his goal put some good space between the Pens and the Flyers in the third. Go Rossco!
Flyers: please do this again.
I heart Claude Giroux. Very quickly coming to challenge Mike Richards as my favorite Flyer. I love the way he does not shy from a hit -- is happy to make one -- I love his puck handling, I love his vision, I love his passes, I love his goal scoring, I love that he fought hideous Tyler Kennedy! What a great game he had!
But the most special mention goes to Jared Ross (my favorite Phantom) and congratulations on his first NHL / NHL playoff goal. We have missed him against Hershey, so I am glad he made some noise playing for the Flyers today when his goal put some good space between the Pens and the Flyers in the third. Go Rossco!
Flyers: please do this again.
Friday, April 17, 2009
I was thinking during the game tonight that this is what you get when the referees let the dudes play.
And then Staal held Carter's stick on a flimsy "hook" and wasn't called for it, so the Pens got a PP to tie the game late in the third.
Silly me.
And then Staal held Carter's stick on a flimsy "hook" and wasn't called for it, so the Pens got a PP to tie the game late in the third.
Silly me.
The Phantoms lost last night, 4-2. It was unfortunate. The woman in the row behind us, toward the end of the game, noted sadly to those she had come to the game with that "[The Bears] came to play tonight ... the Phantoms did not." I don't know what game you were watching, lady. The Phantoms did play. I was pretty amazed at their passing; very improved. They hit. I thought they played with intensity. The score was what it was because of two -- maybe three -- very bad goals that happened when the defense went splat and Munroe handcuffed himself and left the net wide open for a Bear to take full advantage of. (I am not sure what Munroe was doing on at least one of them; perhaps he misread what might happen, completely over-committed, and then was monstrously far out of position to recover ... all I know is he was on his back out to one side of the net, and the Bear was all alone on the other side).
It also did not help that approximately two-thirds of the game was played on special teams, one way or the other. From the penalty sheets you can't say that Nygel Pelletier was blatantly favoring the Bears. Both teams got the whistle last night, but were there any calls on the Bears as bad as the so-called "roughing" penalties on 1) Sean Curry ("Scurry") after a boarding call on Osala led to some action in the corner, Pinizzotto more or less ambushed Curry, who stood there. And still got thrown into the box along with Pinizzotto, for "roughing" and 2) Jonathan Kalinski, who was taking a shot on goal at the time of the alledged "roughing"? And it seemed on occasion that any time the Phantoms managed to get some momentum, either while on the PP or a rare 5-on-5, the whistle would come out again. Still, I did not leave this game feeling completely robbed, and I would absolutely not accuse the Phantoms of having not shown up to play.
I look forward to Saturday's Game 2.
The best part of the night was that Keith Jones was able to return to the announcer's booth. It finally sounded like a Phantoms game again. Welcome back, Keith.
By the way, I did hear back from the account representative. It was $40 because somehow they thought they were getting four games instead of three; I will get that $10 back if the Phantoms don't go to the next round and if they do, it will be applied toward the cost of the next round of tickets. If the Phantoms don't make it to Game 6, I get $20 back. The $10 application fee was "because it was done online." Really? A $10 fee for buying tickets online? What are you, Ticketmaster? He can't do anything about that, he said, but since the Phantoms organization is swell, he can offer me another ticket if I had a friend I wanted to take to a game. (I have tried all day with no success to get him to answer his phone so I can say "Just how close to my seat can this extra ticket get?")
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I am not looking forward to tonight's Flyers game, though I will no doubt watch it anyway, and it upsets me that I actually dread watching my favorite team in the playoffs. You want to know one of the reasons why? Look at this:
From NHL.com today:
Colin Campbell remarks from The Situation Room
On the suspension of Philadelphia's Dan Carcillo: "With six seconds left, you have a player who never kills penalties, a player who never takes faceoffs, coming out on a five-on-three (manpower disadvantage) and doing what he did – a repeat offender. So there are a number of criteria there that satisfy doing what we had to do ... I don't want to filter everything out of the game. But we want to take the dumb stuff out of the game."
On the events at the end of Boston-Montreal Game 1: "People take things out of different incidents last night (and say:) 'Oh boy! Same thing (as Philadelphia-Pittsburgh)! How many games are you going to suspend him?' You've got to let the games unfold. You've got to let hockey be hockey, playoffs be playoffs. You've got to let the energy flow. And then, when they cross that line, you do what you have to do."
On hit by Calgary's Mike Cammalleri on Chicago's Martin Havlat: "When Cammalleri hit Havlat, there was a lot of risk to doing that. He took a two-minute penalty in a game where there could have been ramifications for doing that. But there are no ramifications when you're losing 4-1 with six seconds left."
On Martin Havlat's winning goal for Chicago: "Things in hockey or in life never happen in slow motion or in replays. They happen live ... When the foot-in-the-crease rule was taken out – one of the worst rules in hockey – it was taken out with a couple of factors in mind: One was that there are two referees now and one is always around the net. He gets a good look at what's happening and he makes a judgment. Quickly. He's there to protect the goalie in the blue, but also to let hockey happen. And he's got to understand whether a guy was pushed by another player or whether he went in there on his own. And when the puck goes in the net, he's got to decide whether this was just incidental contact – allow the goal, no penalty – or (whether) it was contact made on purpose and take the goal down and give the player a penalty. In this case, he made a judgment call. And if he had made it the other way, you would have heard lots of arguments from the Chicago side. It's one those plays where you're going to get dissatisfaction one way or the other."
I am. Utterly. Speechless.
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P.S. During the second intermission entertainment, the Phantoms patrol dude (the dancing guy from Flyers games) kicked a puck toward a goal, telling Phlex that if he could make a goal at the other end from there, the contestant would win the grand prize (a Bobby Clarke signed stick), and it almost went in. He noted that "in some cities" it would have counted as a goal if it had gone in.
Two beats passed, and then snickers came from everywhere.
It also did not help that approximately two-thirds of the game was played on special teams, one way or the other. From the penalty sheets you can't say that Nygel Pelletier was blatantly favoring the Bears. Both teams got the whistle last night, but were there any calls on the Bears as bad as the so-called "roughing" penalties on 1) Sean Curry ("Scurry") after a boarding call on Osala led to some action in the corner, Pinizzotto more or less ambushed Curry, who stood there. And still got thrown into the box along with Pinizzotto, for "roughing" and 2) Jonathan Kalinski, who was taking a shot on goal at the time of the alledged "roughing"? And it seemed on occasion that any time the Phantoms managed to get some momentum, either while on the PP or a rare 5-on-5, the whistle would come out again. Still, I did not leave this game feeling completely robbed, and I would absolutely not accuse the Phantoms of having not shown up to play.
I look forward to Saturday's Game 2.
The best part of the night was that Keith Jones was able to return to the announcer's booth. It finally sounded like a Phantoms game again. Welcome back, Keith.
By the way, I did hear back from the account representative. It was $40 because somehow they thought they were getting four games instead of three; I will get that $10 back if the Phantoms don't go to the next round and if they do, it will be applied toward the cost of the next round of tickets. If the Phantoms don't make it to Game 6, I get $20 back. The $10 application fee was "because it was done online." Really? A $10 fee for buying tickets online? What are you, Ticketmaster? He can't do anything about that, he said, but since the Phantoms organization is swell, he can offer me another ticket if I had a friend I wanted to take to a game. (I have tried all day with no success to get him to answer his phone so I can say "Just how close to my seat can this extra ticket get?")
---------------------
I am not looking forward to tonight's Flyers game, though I will no doubt watch it anyway, and it upsets me that I actually dread watching my favorite team in the playoffs. You want to know one of the reasons why? Look at this:
From NHL.com today:
Colin Campbell remarks from The Situation Room
On the suspension of Philadelphia's Dan Carcillo: "With six seconds left, you have a player who never kills penalties, a player who never takes faceoffs, coming out on a five-on-three (manpower disadvantage) and doing what he did – a repeat offender. So there are a number of criteria there that satisfy doing what we had to do ... I don't want to filter everything out of the game. But we want to take the dumb stuff out of the game."
On the events at the end of Boston-Montreal Game 1: "People take things out of different incidents last night (and say:) 'Oh boy! Same thing (as Philadelphia-Pittsburgh)! How many games are you going to suspend him?' You've got to let the games unfold. You've got to let hockey be hockey, playoffs be playoffs. You've got to let the energy flow. And then, when they cross that line, you do what you have to do."
On hit by Calgary's Mike Cammalleri on Chicago's Martin Havlat: "When Cammalleri hit Havlat, there was a lot of risk to doing that. He took a two-minute penalty in a game where there could have been ramifications for doing that. But there are no ramifications when you're losing 4-1 with six seconds left."
On Martin Havlat's winning goal for Chicago: "Things in hockey or in life never happen in slow motion or in replays. They happen live ... When the foot-in-the-crease rule was taken out – one of the worst rules in hockey – it was taken out with a couple of factors in mind: One was that there are two referees now and one is always around the net. He gets a good look at what's happening and he makes a judgment. Quickly. He's there to protect the goalie in the blue, but also to let hockey happen. And he's got to understand whether a guy was pushed by another player or whether he went in there on his own. And when the puck goes in the net, he's got to decide whether this was just incidental contact – allow the goal, no penalty – or (whether) it was contact made on purpose and take the goal down and give the player a penalty. In this case, he made a judgment call. And if he had made it the other way, you would have heard lots of arguments from the Chicago side. It's one those plays where you're going to get dissatisfaction one way or the other."
I am. Utterly. Speechless.
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P.S. During the second intermission entertainment, the Phantoms patrol dude (the dancing guy from Flyers games) kicked a puck toward a goal, telling Phlex that if he could make a goal at the other end from there, the contestant would win the grand prize (a Bobby Clarke signed stick), and it almost went in. He noted that "in some cities" it would have counted as a goal if it had gone in.
Two beats passed, and then snickers came from everywhere.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Blah blah conspiracy whatever blah blah GRRRR!
On the day of the Phantoms’ first playoff game of the season, I want to write a little bit about the so-called “last game” at the Spectrum last Friday, April 10, 2009. I admit that I did not have strong hopes for the Phantoms going into the game, though I did not face it with the same “yeah right!” attitude that I held as I sat down to watch the Flyers/Penguins game last night. I thought the Phantoms had a chance, but a slim one. And so I went to that game expecting that it very well would be the last game at the Spectrum – expecting that even if the Phantoms did make the playoffs, the games would, as they were last year, be in the Center. Why would they so heavily market the 10th as “the final game!” in the Spectrum if they did not at all expect the Phantoms to be playing there again? That is, even in the off chance the Phantoms would. make the playoffs, if they figured they might play in the Spectrum again – wait, I don’t need to keep going, I know the answer. They reportedly sold out the place billing it as “the last game”. If they had said, “Maybe the last game, if the Phantoms don’t make the playoffs” it might not have moved tickets the same way. Silly me that it took me that many lines to figure it out! (Just kidding. I knew the answer even as I wrote.)
But the fact remains that I went to the game thinking it just might actually be the “last game” in the place where I discovered the Phantoms and learned to love hockey. I had the day off so I drove up early. It was a beautiful afternoon. Trees flowering around the arena, people tailgating and walking around in high spirits even with the knowledge that it was all coming to a close hanging over it all.
I am a sentimental person and I was a little emotional inside; when I saw Bead Guy I nearly burst into tears (sure, I will admit it!). I remember seeing him hop up to dance when “Apache” was played back in 2004-2005, when I started going to games. When I finally got inside, the concourse was jam-packed. I bought a lineup card and a commemorative puck (I like that kind of thing) to go along with the ticket/lanyard thing they handed out and the mini banner giveaway too. I took my seat and simply soaked in being in the Spectrum, in the seats I’ve occupied for two years. Had I lived here longer, I would have had them for more.
As a prelude to the game, there was a ceremony where various past (and present) Phantoms came out and skated briefly with the Calder Cup – Neil Little, Frank Bialowas, John Slaney, and Boyd Kane. Neil Little was on the team for both Calder Cup championships, and Kane’s got his name on the Cup twice too – for the 2005 championship and the 2006 championship as well, when he played for and captained the Bears team that won against Milwaukee. I got a little choked up thinking about that day in June 2005 when I saw the Phantoms skate around the Center carrying that shiny trophy, and wondered at the long shot it will be this year.
In short, the game went unlike anything I expected. It was as if the Phantoms decided that there was no way they were going to let down the 17,000 fans in the arena – no matter how badly matched they have seemed against Hershey this year, they were going to turn the tables upside down and win. And they were going to do it the way the fans wanted to see it. Two fights immediately following the first face off – Gratton and Grant MacNeill, slugging it out in a completely staged fight, then Clackson and Brennan a few minutes later. In the first period, it was all Phantoms, with Matsumoto opening the scoring at 7:44 and Rob Sirianni putting up the next two, and the game went into the first intermission with the Phantoms up 3-0.
As I said, an unexpected result. Even better were the texts I was receiving from J., alerting me to the progress of the Binghamton game. They were losing to Norfolk, and losing in stellar fashion. I looked up at our scoreboard and crossed my fingers, wondering if I might actually start to hope for real.
The second period saw two goals, one by Hershey to bring it to 3-1, then one by Jonathan Kalinski (“Special K”, as K. calls him) to inch the Phantoms another spot ahead, 4-1. Only two penalties that period, both on the Phantoms, but the game for the most part moved and was exciting. Going into the second intermission, I couldn’t believe that I was sitting there thinking that all they had to do was hold on for twenty minutes; Binghamton was losing even more badly by then, and unless Norfolk completely folded in a nuclear holocaust, they were not likely to win. Since Norfolk was doing their part to help out the Phantoms, all the Phantoms had to do was not let their 3-goal lead dissipate. Easier said than done. In the third, around six minutes in, Alexandre Giroux scored his fifty freaking eighth goal of the season to make it 4-2. A little bit more of a nail biter for the rest of the game, until Rob Sirianni, the hero of the night, scored into Hershey’s empty net to seal the game at 5-2.
I thought I might spend the game on the verge of tears, but as it happened I was too thrilled to cry. Binghamton lost 6-1 to Norfolk; the Phantoms beat Hershey in regulation; the Phantoms secured the fourth playoff spot and would go on to the post-season. I had hoped for it – I just didn’t HOPE OH HOCKEY GODS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE – and it was a little bit like a dream coming true. At least two more games of Phantoms hockey in Philadelphia, right? Anything else will be a treat.
The Phantoms lost the next night, to Hershey, at Hershey, but while it would have been a nice stamp on the end of the season, and on the Hershey/Philly series, had they won, it didn’t matter so much; whether or not they won no longer was important, standings-wise.
And so, though the Bears technically have home ice advantage, due to a scheduling conflict in Hershey, the Phantoms and the Bears will play the first round Games 1 and 2 in Philadelphia – at the Spectrum. Tonight’s Game 1, and I’m pretty excited. While the regular season numbers do not fall in the Phantoms’ favor, last Friday showed they can play this team for keeps, even though Rossco was called up to the Flyers; Nodl was sent back. It should be a good series.
Which is more than I can say for the Flyers/Penguins round. I have been deeply annoyed at the Flyers lately, because they cannot seem to muster up anything good when it is important. They lost to the Rangers a week or so ago, sure, after as bad a gift-goal as I have ever seen, but they then faced the pathetic Islanders and only barely managed to beat them 3-2; then, with home ice on the line, they could not put away the Rangers even though they scored three goals. Lundqvist is good, sure. But they scored three goals! All they had to do was keep the puck out of the net, and they didn’t. They played lazy and I couldn’t stand to see it. All they needed was a single point and they couldn’t manage to get there, and the game was even tied late in the third. Finally – come on, Flyers. For 81 games this season you had not allowed a shorthanded goal. EIGHTY ONE GAMES. So in the eighty-second, you let it happen? You were not even sixty minutes away from a shorthanded shutout, and you let Dubinsky do it. The incredulity is so great that a face-palm is too weak a gesture.
So, they blew the home ice advantage by one point to the damned Penguins. As soon as it was clear that it was Pittsburgh they would be playing in the first round, regardless of where the first two games would take place, I had a bad, completely sour feeling about it. There were eight games this season, in addition to the five that were played last post-season, to know exactly how this series is going to unfold. It got a good start, with completely predictable jackassery from all sides. The Flyers played a bad game, that is true, from top to bottom, but it’s possible they would play a better game if they weren’t playing as though terrified of doing anything to take a lame-ass penalty. Unfortunately, they get the lame-ass penalties anyway. My opinion is that if they are going to get called anyway, then play hard and physical and make the penalty warranted. Don van Massenhoven, the referee who completely blew the goal call with the Rangers, was officiating and he made sure the tone was set early by calling a hooking penalty on Asham that I wanted to blow apart at. The dude lifted his stick off the ice – did he even tap his opponent? – and the whistle blew.
I watched the Flyers/Oilers Stanley Cup Game 7 from 1987 yesterday afternoon when I was home miserably sick, and I saw some things going on in that game on both sides that were not whistled as penalties that would immediately be whistled here. You know, ACTUAL hooks that ACTUALLY obstructed players. THAT kind of hook should be called, not this [bleeping] [bleep] where the stick merely is lifted parallel to the ice in the vicinity of an opponent. That kind of power play is not warranted and you see it called six or seven times every single game, no matter who is playing, and it is getting to the point where I have just about had enough of it (but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it, because I can’t see me giving up watching hockey).
And, of course, the Penguins – and not just any Penguin, Sidney Crosby – scored on the resulting power play when he kicked the puck in. There is some conflicting opinion/information about this goal. From certain angles there was a distinct kicking motion – and then the puck hit the post, went off Biron’s skate, and in. It was reviewed. I did not see an angle that showed the puck hitting Crosby’s stick before deflecting to the post / skate / and in; if he had kicked it to his stick, it would be a good goal and I could just complain that he bumped Biron in the process and didn’t get called (a little more on that later) for goalie interference. Whether or not it hit his stick matters, but I guess there was no conclusive evidence that it did not, because Toronto ruled that call on the ice would stand. van Massenhoven said, at the time of announcing the decision, that there was no distinct kicking motion.
Watch the tape, dude.
Clement and Jackson later said that word was that Toronto said it hit the stick and went in. If there was no kick, then what’s the point in making a point of saying it hit his stick? Bottom line: van Massenhoven should not have been refereeing a game with the Flyers playing in it, not after the way he f’d them a week ago – it is my opinion that he should not be reffing the playoffs at all, because he is clearly NO GOOD at his job. The Flyers took penalties all night long. That is true. But my blood BOILS when I see referee f&*# ups like Giroux getting knocked down by Gonchar when he is driving the net and Gonchar not getting called, only to have Alberts MOMENTS later get called for an even less egregious knock-down of a Penguin – who, it could be said, simply fell as he got caught up between two players. If you don’t call the one action, referees, then don’t call the other either!!!
I knew before the game even started that it would progress exactly as it did, because I saw who was refereeing and I recall how other Flyers/Penguins games have gone, and couple that with the lackadaisical way the Flyers have approached hockey the last few games (in the name of attempting to play a “disciplined” game???) and the Flyers lost 4-1. They played like a scared team and the Penguins took advantage of that. I say screw the Penguins and their pals the referees. Hit and play hard. You’re going to get called anyway, might as well make it tough for the Penguins physically.
I can’t even stand the idea of watching Game 2, but I know that I will.
I just wish someone besides the angry fans on the message board would SAY something. There is plenty of evidence at hand. SAY SOMETHING AND DO SOMETHING WITH IT.
This morning, I read that Daniel Carcillo is going to face the league for some unspecified, unpenalized action in the game last night, apparently involving Maxime Talbot. I recall nothing that happened in the third period between the two of them – granted, I was stuffy headed and mad and not paying full attention – but I have read that Carcillo hit Talbot in the back of the head at a faceoff. The opinion of one fan was that if the incident was bad enough to warrant a league review, then the referees should also be given a hearing for missing it. The stripes should face accountability, too. Never mind that if Carcillo is getting a talking-to, Guerin should be as well for throwing his gloves down and jumping Coburn with three minutes left in the game. If that’s not an instigator penalty then I really can’t say what else would be. But I don’t see any headlines about Guerin getting a hearing of his own. No, just Carcillo, for something no one can be specific about at all.
Times like these I wish I didn’t care about sports, because right now, I hate the NHL. Everyone was saying what a great, hard, tough playoff series the Pens/Flyers was going to be. I laughed at them from the start. It won’t be, because the Flyers won’t get a chance to make it so. The game last night was borderline boring. It would have been a snoozer from my perspective except for the vein-popping bull^$&% going on left and right preventing a real game from being played.
And now, folks, I am done ranting. No, wait, there was one other thing:
I ordered my Phantoms playoff tickets using a link in an email the Phantoms sent me. I paid $40 for the three playoff games in the first round and a $10 “application fee”. So, $50 for the first round of playoffs games – a possible three. I didn’t think too deeply about this (except for thinking, “Huh, what’s the fee about?”) until K. emailed me saying he had called about his tickets and was charged $30. His seat is right next to mine, so it’s not like mine is better – e.g. on the glass – or anything. I simply cannot understand why I was charged forty dollars and some ridiculous application fee for a possible three games, when if I just walked up off the street I could get all three games for $30 (as season ticket holder K. seems to have also gotten them for). I emailed my rep questioning the charge and I am waiting for a reply. To be honest, I will be shocked if I get one. I will probably have to call, and then still get the runaround. You want to know what I think? (Sure you do! That’s why you are reading my blog, and made it all the way to this point in this post!) I think the season ticket holders shouldn’t have to pay at all for the playoff tickets. They started charging only $10 per adult ticket a long time ago, and ever since that point, season ticket holders were overpaying $5 for games. I’d say we’ve more than paid for a round of playoff tickets. But no; the organization will milk another few dollars out of us, and another few more, in the name of “application fees” and other BS.
Ok, now I’m done ranting. GO PHANTOMS!
But the fact remains that I went to the game thinking it just might actually be the “last game” in the place where I discovered the Phantoms and learned to love hockey. I had the day off so I drove up early. It was a beautiful afternoon. Trees flowering around the arena, people tailgating and walking around in high spirits even with the knowledge that it was all coming to a close hanging over it all.
I am a sentimental person and I was a little emotional inside; when I saw Bead Guy I nearly burst into tears (sure, I will admit it!). I remember seeing him hop up to dance when “Apache” was played back in 2004-2005, when I started going to games. When I finally got inside, the concourse was jam-packed. I bought a lineup card and a commemorative puck (I like that kind of thing) to go along with the ticket/lanyard thing they handed out and the mini banner giveaway too. I took my seat and simply soaked in being in the Spectrum, in the seats I’ve occupied for two years. Had I lived here longer, I would have had them for more.
As a prelude to the game, there was a ceremony where various past (and present) Phantoms came out and skated briefly with the Calder Cup – Neil Little, Frank Bialowas, John Slaney, and Boyd Kane. Neil Little was on the team for both Calder Cup championships, and Kane’s got his name on the Cup twice too – for the 2005 championship and the 2006 championship as well, when he played for and captained the Bears team that won against Milwaukee. I got a little choked up thinking about that day in June 2005 when I saw the Phantoms skate around the Center carrying that shiny trophy, and wondered at the long shot it will be this year.
In short, the game went unlike anything I expected. It was as if the Phantoms decided that there was no way they were going to let down the 17,000 fans in the arena – no matter how badly matched they have seemed against Hershey this year, they were going to turn the tables upside down and win. And they were going to do it the way the fans wanted to see it. Two fights immediately following the first face off – Gratton and Grant MacNeill, slugging it out in a completely staged fight, then Clackson and Brennan a few minutes later. In the first period, it was all Phantoms, with Matsumoto opening the scoring at 7:44 and Rob Sirianni putting up the next two, and the game went into the first intermission with the Phantoms up 3-0.
As I said, an unexpected result. Even better were the texts I was receiving from J., alerting me to the progress of the Binghamton game. They were losing to Norfolk, and losing in stellar fashion. I looked up at our scoreboard and crossed my fingers, wondering if I might actually start to hope for real.
The second period saw two goals, one by Hershey to bring it to 3-1, then one by Jonathan Kalinski (“Special K”, as K. calls him) to inch the Phantoms another spot ahead, 4-1. Only two penalties that period, both on the Phantoms, but the game for the most part moved and was exciting. Going into the second intermission, I couldn’t believe that I was sitting there thinking that all they had to do was hold on for twenty minutes; Binghamton was losing even more badly by then, and unless Norfolk completely folded in a nuclear holocaust, they were not likely to win. Since Norfolk was doing their part to help out the Phantoms, all the Phantoms had to do was not let their 3-goal lead dissipate. Easier said than done. In the third, around six minutes in, Alexandre Giroux scored his fifty freaking eighth goal of the season to make it 4-2. A little bit more of a nail biter for the rest of the game, until Rob Sirianni, the hero of the night, scored into Hershey’s empty net to seal the game at 5-2.
I thought I might spend the game on the verge of tears, but as it happened I was too thrilled to cry. Binghamton lost 6-1 to Norfolk; the Phantoms beat Hershey in regulation; the Phantoms secured the fourth playoff spot and would go on to the post-season. I had hoped for it – I just didn’t HOPE OH HOCKEY GODS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE – and it was a little bit like a dream coming true. At least two more games of Phantoms hockey in Philadelphia, right? Anything else will be a treat.
The Phantoms lost the next night, to Hershey, at Hershey, but while it would have been a nice stamp on the end of the season, and on the Hershey/Philly series, had they won, it didn’t matter so much; whether or not they won no longer was important, standings-wise.
And so, though the Bears technically have home ice advantage, due to a scheduling conflict in Hershey, the Phantoms and the Bears will play the first round Games 1 and 2 in Philadelphia – at the Spectrum. Tonight’s Game 1, and I’m pretty excited. While the regular season numbers do not fall in the Phantoms’ favor, last Friday showed they can play this team for keeps, even though Rossco was called up to the Flyers; Nodl was sent back. It should be a good series.
Which is more than I can say for the Flyers/Penguins round. I have been deeply annoyed at the Flyers lately, because they cannot seem to muster up anything good when it is important. They lost to the Rangers a week or so ago, sure, after as bad a gift-goal as I have ever seen, but they then faced the pathetic Islanders and only barely managed to beat them 3-2; then, with home ice on the line, they could not put away the Rangers even though they scored three goals. Lundqvist is good, sure. But they scored three goals! All they had to do was keep the puck out of the net, and they didn’t. They played lazy and I couldn’t stand to see it. All they needed was a single point and they couldn’t manage to get there, and the game was even tied late in the third. Finally – come on, Flyers. For 81 games this season you had not allowed a shorthanded goal. EIGHTY ONE GAMES. So in the eighty-second, you let it happen? You were not even sixty minutes away from a shorthanded shutout, and you let Dubinsky do it. The incredulity is so great that a face-palm is too weak a gesture.
So, they blew the home ice advantage by one point to the damned Penguins. As soon as it was clear that it was Pittsburgh they would be playing in the first round, regardless of where the first two games would take place, I had a bad, completely sour feeling about it. There were eight games this season, in addition to the five that were played last post-season, to know exactly how this series is going to unfold. It got a good start, with completely predictable jackassery from all sides. The Flyers played a bad game, that is true, from top to bottom, but it’s possible they would play a better game if they weren’t playing as though terrified of doing anything to take a lame-ass penalty. Unfortunately, they get the lame-ass penalties anyway. My opinion is that if they are going to get called anyway, then play hard and physical and make the penalty warranted. Don van Massenhoven, the referee who completely blew the goal call with the Rangers, was officiating and he made sure the tone was set early by calling a hooking penalty on Asham that I wanted to blow apart at. The dude lifted his stick off the ice – did he even tap his opponent? – and the whistle blew.
I watched the Flyers/Oilers Stanley Cup Game 7 from 1987 yesterday afternoon when I was home miserably sick, and I saw some things going on in that game on both sides that were not whistled as penalties that would immediately be whistled here. You know, ACTUAL hooks that ACTUALLY obstructed players. THAT kind of hook should be called, not this [bleeping] [bleep] where the stick merely is lifted parallel to the ice in the vicinity of an opponent. That kind of power play is not warranted and you see it called six or seven times every single game, no matter who is playing, and it is getting to the point where I have just about had enough of it (but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it, because I can’t see me giving up watching hockey).
And, of course, the Penguins – and not just any Penguin, Sidney Crosby – scored on the resulting power play when he kicked the puck in. There is some conflicting opinion/information about this goal. From certain angles there was a distinct kicking motion – and then the puck hit the post, went off Biron’s skate, and in. It was reviewed. I did not see an angle that showed the puck hitting Crosby’s stick before deflecting to the post / skate / and in; if he had kicked it to his stick, it would be a good goal and I could just complain that he bumped Biron in the process and didn’t get called (a little more on that later) for goalie interference. Whether or not it hit his stick matters, but I guess there was no conclusive evidence that it did not, because Toronto ruled that call on the ice would stand. van Massenhoven said, at the time of announcing the decision, that there was no distinct kicking motion.
Watch the tape, dude.
Clement and Jackson later said that word was that Toronto said it hit the stick and went in. If there was no kick, then what’s the point in making a point of saying it hit his stick? Bottom line: van Massenhoven should not have been refereeing a game with the Flyers playing in it, not after the way he f’d them a week ago – it is my opinion that he should not be reffing the playoffs at all, because he is clearly NO GOOD at his job. The Flyers took penalties all night long. That is true. But my blood BOILS when I see referee f&*# ups like Giroux getting knocked down by Gonchar when he is driving the net and Gonchar not getting called, only to have Alberts MOMENTS later get called for an even less egregious knock-down of a Penguin – who, it could be said, simply fell as he got caught up between two players. If you don’t call the one action, referees, then don’t call the other either!!!
I knew before the game even started that it would progress exactly as it did, because I saw who was refereeing and I recall how other Flyers/Penguins games have gone, and couple that with the lackadaisical way the Flyers have approached hockey the last few games (in the name of attempting to play a “disciplined” game???) and the Flyers lost 4-1. They played like a scared team and the Penguins took advantage of that. I say screw the Penguins and their pals the referees. Hit and play hard. You’re going to get called anyway, might as well make it tough for the Penguins physically.
I can’t even stand the idea of watching Game 2, but I know that I will.
I just wish someone besides the angry fans on the message board would SAY something. There is plenty of evidence at hand. SAY SOMETHING AND DO SOMETHING WITH IT.
This morning, I read that Daniel Carcillo is going to face the league for some unspecified, unpenalized action in the game last night, apparently involving Maxime Talbot. I recall nothing that happened in the third period between the two of them – granted, I was stuffy headed and mad and not paying full attention – but I have read that Carcillo hit Talbot in the back of the head at a faceoff. The opinion of one fan was that if the incident was bad enough to warrant a league review, then the referees should also be given a hearing for missing it. The stripes should face accountability, too. Never mind that if Carcillo is getting a talking-to, Guerin should be as well for throwing his gloves down and jumping Coburn with three minutes left in the game. If that’s not an instigator penalty then I really can’t say what else would be. But I don’t see any headlines about Guerin getting a hearing of his own. No, just Carcillo, for something no one can be specific about at all.
Times like these I wish I didn’t care about sports, because right now, I hate the NHL. Everyone was saying what a great, hard, tough playoff series the Pens/Flyers was going to be. I laughed at them from the start. It won’t be, because the Flyers won’t get a chance to make it so. The game last night was borderline boring. It would have been a snoozer from my perspective except for the vein-popping bull^$&% going on left and right preventing a real game from being played.
And now, folks, I am done ranting. No, wait, there was one other thing:
I ordered my Phantoms playoff tickets using a link in an email the Phantoms sent me. I paid $40 for the three playoff games in the first round and a $10 “application fee”. So, $50 for the first round of playoffs games – a possible three. I didn’t think too deeply about this (except for thinking, “Huh, what’s the fee about?”) until K. emailed me saying he had called about his tickets and was charged $30. His seat is right next to mine, so it’s not like mine is better – e.g. on the glass – or anything. I simply cannot understand why I was charged forty dollars and some ridiculous application fee for a possible three games, when if I just walked up off the street I could get all three games for $30 (as season ticket holder K. seems to have also gotten them for). I emailed my rep questioning the charge and I am waiting for a reply. To be honest, I will be shocked if I get one. I will probably have to call, and then still get the runaround. You want to know what I think? (Sure you do! That’s why you are reading my blog, and made it all the way to this point in this post!) I think the season ticket holders shouldn’t have to pay at all for the playoff tickets. They started charging only $10 per adult ticket a long time ago, and ever since that point, season ticket holders were overpaying $5 for games. I’d say we’ve more than paid for a round of playoff tickets. But no; the organization will milk another few dollars out of us, and another few more, in the name of “application fees” and other BS.
Ok, now I’m done ranting. GO PHANTOMS!
Friday, April 10, 2009
I made the mistake of watching the scoreboard during the Phantoms game Wednesday night (at the same time also seeing the Binghamton score). It was a roller coaster experience, with the Phantoms leading and Binghamton losing, then both tied, then the Phantoms leading, then tied, and both games went past regulation with the result that Binghamton won and the Phantoms lost. With Binghamton's two points and the Phantoms' one, they are tied. At least the Phantoms still have the tiebreaker, right?
I shouldn't have looked while it was going on.
For 59 minutes of last night's Flyers game I was livid. As pointed out by zeusam015 on the Flyersphans message board:
Rule 78.5: Disallowed Goals – Apparent goals shall be disallowed by the Referee and the appropriate announcement made by the Public Address Announcer for the following reasons:
...
(ix) When a goalkeeper has been pushed into the net together with the puck after making a save.
....
(xxi) When the Referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle.
That first goal should never have been a goal and there is no way that anyone can say any different, so the fact that the call was not overturned is an egregious example of complete referee BS as any I have ever seen. It was accompanied by:
1) A ridiculous cross-check on Knuble in front of the Rangers goal that went uncalled, only to have Knuble called a few seconds later for holding (and I believe he had his hands on his stick). How do you do that?
2) Powe was elbowed in the face, and somehow, though Van Massenhoven claims to have seen the puck on that first goal, no referee saw that.
I can't even go on. What's the use? The Rangers not making the playoffs would be cash not making it to the league's pockets, so they do what they can. I laughed when I read Rangers fans getting worked up at Naslund getting a goalie interference call when the replay showed his elbow cracking Biron in the head. That's all you got, Rangers fans? You got into the playoffs on a bull%^$& goal, got quick whistles every time the puck came near Lundqvist, and missed calls galore. Please.
The Flyers played a great game and Lundqvist was out-of-his-mind outstanding. The Flyers outplayed the Rangers and got hosed. I wish it weren't such a familiar feeling. At least it wasn't a game deciding if the Flyers were making the playoffs; but it would have been nice to have the two points sewed up to go a long way determining position.
------------------------
I will put it out of my mind for the day, however, because today is all about the Phantoms. I am not at work today (new company giving us this religious holiday off -- I don't believe in it, but I'll take the free time) so I will leave early to make sure that no traffic situation delays my arrival at the arena. I would be beside myself if traffic made me late for what could very well be the last Phantoms home game, the last regular season game at the Spectrum.
And the way everyone keeps saying it like that makes me wonder what the plans are if the Phantoms do end up making the playoffs. I was under the impression that they would be playing post-season rounds in the Center. Have they changed their minds about this?
Apparently the game has been sold out and the Spectrum will be packed. Part of me feels a little cynical about it -- where were all you people the last few years? I was in Iowa for a lot of it. (But I came back and bought season tickets.) What's your excuse? Maybe if you all had come to games, filled the arena a little more, maybe selling the Phantoms to someone who will move them far away wouldn't have looked so financially attractive. But the other part of me thinks it will be great to have a packed and rocking arena.
I shouldn't have looked while it was going on.
For 59 minutes of last night's Flyers game I was livid. As pointed out by zeusam015 on the Flyersphans message board:
Rule 78.5: Disallowed Goals – Apparent goals shall be disallowed by the Referee and the appropriate announcement made by the Public Address Announcer for the following reasons:
...
(ix) When a goalkeeper has been pushed into the net together with the puck after making a save.
....
(xxi) When the Referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle.
That first goal should never have been a goal and there is no way that anyone can say any different, so the fact that the call was not overturned is an egregious example of complete referee BS as any I have ever seen. It was accompanied by:
1) A ridiculous cross-check on Knuble in front of the Rangers goal that went uncalled, only to have Knuble called a few seconds later for holding (and I believe he had his hands on his stick). How do you do that?
2) Powe was elbowed in the face, and somehow, though Van Massenhoven claims to have seen the puck on that first goal, no referee saw that.
I can't even go on. What's the use? The Rangers not making the playoffs would be cash not making it to the league's pockets, so they do what they can. I laughed when I read Rangers fans getting worked up at Naslund getting a goalie interference call when the replay showed his elbow cracking Biron in the head. That's all you got, Rangers fans? You got into the playoffs on a bull%^$& goal, got quick whistles every time the puck came near Lundqvist, and missed calls galore. Please.
The Flyers played a great game and Lundqvist was out-of-his-mind outstanding. The Flyers outplayed the Rangers and got hosed. I wish it weren't such a familiar feeling. At least it wasn't a game deciding if the Flyers were making the playoffs; but it would have been nice to have the two points sewed up to go a long way determining position.
------------------------
I will put it out of my mind for the day, however, because today is all about the Phantoms. I am not at work today (new company giving us this religious holiday off -- I don't believe in it, but I'll take the free time) so I will leave early to make sure that no traffic situation delays my arrival at the arena. I would be beside myself if traffic made me late for what could very well be the last Phantoms home game, the last regular season game at the Spectrum.
And the way everyone keeps saying it like that makes me wonder what the plans are if the Phantoms do end up making the playoffs. I was under the impression that they would be playing post-season rounds in the Center. Have they changed their minds about this?
Apparently the game has been sold out and the Spectrum will be packed. Part of me feels a little cynical about it -- where were all you people the last few years? I was in Iowa for a lot of it. (But I came back and bought season tickets.) What's your excuse? Maybe if you all had come to games, filled the arena a little more, maybe selling the Phantoms to someone who will move them far away wouldn't have looked so financially attractive. But the other part of me thinks it will be great to have a packed and rocking arena.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
I was away in Iowa for more than a week, missing five home Phantoms games but seeing two AHL games involving the Quad City Flames. (Why call them that, when they are the “Quad Cities”?) This was more or less coincidence. The only home Iowa Chops game I could attend was on Sunday, March 29th, and the opponent was the Flames. Moline, where the Flames play, is a shorter drive from home than Des Moines, so J. and I decided we’d also go to a game there, because there were a couple options; we chose Wednesday, April 1, a game against the Milwaukee Admirals.
We looked forward to going to a game in the Wells Fargo Arena, because it’s been more than a year since we were last there (we were ripped off last time I was home, around Christmas, thanks to a mini-blizzard that came across the state shortly after my arrival, preventing us from driving west to Des Moines for the only home game available while I was in town). It felt a little peculiar going back, not only because it’s been such a long time since we were there; it was not to see the Stars, but a completely different team, one that we have no allegiance to whatsoever (we have never seen the Chops, and are not Ducks fans) and therefore have more or less no attachment to, once you get away from the idea that they are the “home” team, being in Iowa; even so, the sense that we should cheer for the “home” team, in the arena where we used to cheer for the Stars, was muted. I recognized quickly that I was more excited about seeing Kyle Greentree play than I was about seeing the “home” team, and it was again a little peculiar, as the game went on, to realize I was pulling for the “foe”. I struggled with this for a few minutes (not in a life-or-death kind of way) because the Flames came from the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, a team I very much disliked. This team was not a different team just because the location and named changed; it’s the same affiliate with some of the same players (completely unlike the Iowa situation). But as the game progressed, I felt less and less uneasy about cheering for the opponent, and here is why.
It all felt like a big joke. I don’t mean that the team itself is a joke, because they are a professional organization of hockey players and support staff who cannot help what they are called, but starting from the name down to the inane chants of the crowd that result from the name, the whole thing felt bush league and ridiculous. I appreciated the enthusiasm and support of the crowd near us (season ticket holders, mainly), but I gagged on the stupidity of the calls and chants. Season Ticket Holder Dude screams “IOWA!” and the rest belt out “CHOPS!” over and over, until finally Season Ticket Holder Dude drawls out “Goooo MEAT!” and is answered in kind.
I simply could not get into a team of strangers that were referred to as “meat” in chants from the crowd. How can they stand it? I’m sure the Iowa Pork Producers love the name, because they can plaster their “The Other White Meat” advertisements everywhere, and people are all thinking “Oooh, tasty Iowa chops” which I suppose was the point, but I have hated the name from the start and I hate it even more now. Every last association with the team – the ice bimbos being called Baby Backs, the Meat Locker, everything -- is all the result of a poor decision to yield to the temptation of a hilarious name. If the Chops were the blazing hot team they were to start the season (as I recall), it might have been easier to cheer for them without any other bolstering positives, but they were at best mediocre that night, and I could not muster up any positive feelings.
The Flames were not all that much better – the teams seemed pretty evenly matched, considering the Flames went up 2-0 and then managed to give up the lead to end up 2-2, going to a shootout.
It was when Kyle Greentree scored the second goal and I jumped in my seat that I realized I wanted the Flames to win, because I couldn’t get into the Chops and because I like him so much as a player that I wish desperately that Philadelphia hadn’t traded him. It was Kyle that I wanted to see do well, which meant that the Flames had to do well. Because I am not that fan, I did not hop up and jeer at the Chops while applauding Greentree’s goal, but I did throw my hands up and clap without thinking. (There were two girls behind us, obviously Flames fans, who cheered louder, but still not obnoxiously.) So I tried to just enjoy the game from the perspective of someone who has very little emotional investment in the outcome, and hope that Kyle played a good game.
Note Peter Vandermeer also plays for the Flames – another former Phantom, I believe, from the days before I was a fan.
Kyle Greentree scored the winning goal in the sideshow, and I was glad to see that.
A final observation from my experience at the Wells Fargo Arena: it felt much less important than it did when the team was the Iowa Stars. I don’t know if this was a result of my lack of attachment to the current team, but things such as the fact that the fan gear shop near the ticket windows no longer existed made it feel like something had passed. There were fan gear stalls upstairs along the concourse, but they were small and you couldn’t walk in among all the t-shirts and jerseys and other logo clutter that you could when there was the fan shop downstairs. It felt like the whole thing was dwindling. The crowd seemed smaller, too. I saw a few fans with Stars jerseys on, and as I wandered the concourse, most of the concession windows closed, I felt a major case of the “You can’t go back again”s.
The following Wednesday, J. and I drove to Moline to see the Flames (and Kyle) again. If the game on Sunday felt extra minor league because of the name and chants, the whole situation at the i wireless Center in Moline felt extremely minor league. The arena used to play home to the Mallards, a UHL team. It’s far smaller than the Wells Fargo Arena, smaller than the Spectrum, and is horseshoe-shaped. There is no jumbotron over center ice, not even an old one like they have in the Spectrum; the time, score, and ads are all presented on a board against the open part of the horseshoe at one end. The seats were not particularly comfortable. We had seats a few rows behind the penalty box, which was hard to see through since the glass was tall and shot through with metal supports.
The crowd was thin and loaded with kids whose attention was simply not on the game. They ran around, up and down stairs, and raced through sections back and forth because rows and rows were empty, giving them highways to speed through. One kid’s elbow hit J.’s head and he just kept on running. I don’t understand this kind of parenting; if your kid isn’t going to watch the game, don’t bring it. Some of us were there to see a hockey game. The crowd also seemed to have a high percentage of people who do not know the simple etiquette of not standing while play is in progress. There was a group of generic college that must not have been there for the game because they spent the whole time drinking beer and talking loudly to each other, turning in their seats to jibber jabber with their pals behind them when they weren’t standing randomly or getting up to get more beer. Since they were down a few rows and over from us, they often blocked view and did not respond to “Down in front!” It seemed ridiculous to me, but I may be spoiled. Fans around me in the Spectrum do not generally take lightly to having their view blocked by morons.
Given the small, weird arena and the small, inattentive crowd, if I were the Flames, I’d be glad to be leaving at the end of this season.
It was easier to determine who I was cheering for in this game; there was Kyle, and I hate the Admirals. The game was OK. The Flames kept the Admirals off the scoresheet for most of the game, allowing a goal in the third period. Kyle didn’t score, but he played well. Another former Phantom was playing, Triston Grant, for the Admirals. He had on a full face shield, so I knew he wouldn’t be fighting, but that didn’t stop him from ending up in the penalty box. He ran Greentree into the boards in front of the benches, and Kyle roughed him back; they spent a matching two minutes in the box. As soon as the penalties ended, Kyle was out and accepting a pass that sent him in on the goal; Grant followed him and either hooked or slashed him. Back to the box with Grant.
This post is not really meant to trash teams that I know have some loyal followers, but the fact of the matter is that what they have in Iowa and Moline, while being AHL hockey, is still nothing like what we have in Philadelphia, and it just makes me all the more sorry about the Phantoms situation. It’s not like the Stars franchise leaving Des Moines and another team popping up in its place; it’s not like the Flames taking their young franchise and moving it from markets that really weren’t supporting it to finally be closer to home. We have a completely professional organization, without a joke of a name, a whole arena, and a relatively long and reasonably successful history with a fan base more solid than in Iowa or Moline, fans that have followed it for many years, and it’s all going away. Some people say that things haven’t been the same for a few years now, that the heyday of the Phantoms has passed and things were going downhill anyway, but what I have known has been heads and shoulders better than what I saw this season back home. I have been extremely lucky to be part of it, starting in the 2004 season with my first game, even during the time when I was in Iowa and couldn’t go to many Phantoms games; lucky to have been able to be a season ticket holder for the last two seasons. It’s all going away and as the end approaches, I’m having a harder time dealing with that reality. They may have a lame-o name in Iowa, but at least they’re still going to have a team to see after this season ends.
Going to the Phantoms website and seeing the “1 Game Left” announcement squeezes my heart.
----------------------------
And while I was away missing five home Phantoms games, the Phantoms went and won every single one of those games. They won so much that they actually now stand in playoff position – one point ahead of Binghamton. Unfortunately, I hold little hope that they will manage to hang onto that point advantage. Who’s left for the Phantoms to play before the end of the regular season?
4/8: River Rats. Ok, I expect they have a better-than-average chance of winning that game. They have a 5-2 record against the Rats and recently beat them 6-3. These will be two points they cannot at all afford to blow, because their next chances for points will not be statistically as “easy.”
4/10: Hershey Bears. The Phantoms may play their hearts out and above and beyond because it’s the last game they will play in the Spectrum regardless of standings; however, the Phantoms have lost seven out of ten meetings this season. If you consider that alone, odds are not good.
4/11: Hershey Bears. Away. Yeah.
Binghamton’s week doesn’t look like a cake walk for them if you go by records alone:
4/8: Syracuse. Binghamton holds a 5-2 advantage over the Crunch this season, but two of the wins came in shootout and overtime, and the two losses as well. So they got two points out of losing to the Crunch anyway.
4/10: Norfolk, whom the Phantoms just pounded repeatedly. The little Senators actually have a losing record against them, but only by one game (3-4). No loser points here, all these games were decided by two or three goals.
4/11: Albany. Again, the Senators have a losing record against this team, but only by one game, 3-4, and one loss garnering a point because it was an OT loss.
If trends continue, I think the Phantoms take the last playoff spot. But given the Phantoms’ lack of success against Hershey, I would be surprised if they manage to come out of the last three games ahead of Binghamton. In order for the Phantoms to make it, Binghamton cannot end up getting two points more than the Phantoms do out of these three games (they can get one more and lose out on the fourth spot due to tiebreakers – correct me if I’m wrong). I can only hope that the fight for playoff position – they won’t play in the Spectrum, but they will still be playing in Philadelphia – will be strong in the Phantoms and they will beat the Bears. The Bears have nothing to lose, but they certainly can play spoiler and you know they won’t roll over to the longtime rival Phantoms.
Funny (?), if the Phantoms do make the playoffs, in the first round, they will meet – Hershey.
I will pray to the hockey gods this week. It will sadden me all the more if the Phantoms miss the playoffs their last season in Philadelphia, especially after pulling themselves so close.
----------------
I did not see any Flyers games while I was gone and was more or less unable to read anything about the games (J. told me a few details). I didn’t really like being adrift from Flyersland and was glad I could watch the game on Saturday, April 4. However, I was frustrated by the shootout loss and the failure to clinch a playoff berth. I hope the Flyers get it together, and fast, or else they will be one and done (assuming they collect the single point necessary to secure a playoff spot). They have a chance tonight against the Panthers, but the Panthers are going to be charging because they are on the bubble and the two points probably won’t come easy either way.
We looked forward to going to a game in the Wells Fargo Arena, because it’s been more than a year since we were last there (we were ripped off last time I was home, around Christmas, thanks to a mini-blizzard that came across the state shortly after my arrival, preventing us from driving west to Des Moines for the only home game available while I was in town). It felt a little peculiar going back, not only because it’s been such a long time since we were there; it was not to see the Stars, but a completely different team, one that we have no allegiance to whatsoever (we have never seen the Chops, and are not Ducks fans) and therefore have more or less no attachment to, once you get away from the idea that they are the “home” team, being in Iowa; even so, the sense that we should cheer for the “home” team, in the arena where we used to cheer for the Stars, was muted. I recognized quickly that I was more excited about seeing Kyle Greentree play than I was about seeing the “home” team, and it was again a little peculiar, as the game went on, to realize I was pulling for the “foe”. I struggled with this for a few minutes (not in a life-or-death kind of way) because the Flames came from the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, a team I very much disliked. This team was not a different team just because the location and named changed; it’s the same affiliate with some of the same players (completely unlike the Iowa situation). But as the game progressed, I felt less and less uneasy about cheering for the opponent, and here is why.
It all felt like a big joke. I don’t mean that the team itself is a joke, because they are a professional organization of hockey players and support staff who cannot help what they are called, but starting from the name down to the inane chants of the crowd that result from the name, the whole thing felt bush league and ridiculous. I appreciated the enthusiasm and support of the crowd near us (season ticket holders, mainly), but I gagged on the stupidity of the calls and chants. Season Ticket Holder Dude screams “IOWA!” and the rest belt out “CHOPS!” over and over, until finally Season Ticket Holder Dude drawls out “Goooo MEAT!” and is answered in kind.
I simply could not get into a team of strangers that were referred to as “meat” in chants from the crowd. How can they stand it? I’m sure the Iowa Pork Producers love the name, because they can plaster their “The Other White Meat” advertisements everywhere, and people are all thinking “Oooh, tasty Iowa chops” which I suppose was the point, but I have hated the name from the start and I hate it even more now. Every last association with the team – the ice bimbos being called Baby Backs, the Meat Locker, everything -- is all the result of a poor decision to yield to the temptation of a hilarious name. If the Chops were the blazing hot team they were to start the season (as I recall), it might have been easier to cheer for them without any other bolstering positives, but they were at best mediocre that night, and I could not muster up any positive feelings.
The Flames were not all that much better – the teams seemed pretty evenly matched, considering the Flames went up 2-0 and then managed to give up the lead to end up 2-2, going to a shootout.
It was when Kyle Greentree scored the second goal and I jumped in my seat that I realized I wanted the Flames to win, because I couldn’t get into the Chops and because I like him so much as a player that I wish desperately that Philadelphia hadn’t traded him. It was Kyle that I wanted to see do well, which meant that the Flames had to do well. Because I am not that fan, I did not hop up and jeer at the Chops while applauding Greentree’s goal, but I did throw my hands up and clap without thinking. (There were two girls behind us, obviously Flames fans, who cheered louder, but still not obnoxiously.) So I tried to just enjoy the game from the perspective of someone who has very little emotional investment in the outcome, and hope that Kyle played a good game.
Note Peter Vandermeer also plays for the Flames – another former Phantom, I believe, from the days before I was a fan.
Kyle Greentree scored the winning goal in the sideshow, and I was glad to see that.
A final observation from my experience at the Wells Fargo Arena: it felt much less important than it did when the team was the Iowa Stars. I don’t know if this was a result of my lack of attachment to the current team, but things such as the fact that the fan gear shop near the ticket windows no longer existed made it feel like something had passed. There were fan gear stalls upstairs along the concourse, but they were small and you couldn’t walk in among all the t-shirts and jerseys and other logo clutter that you could when there was the fan shop downstairs. It felt like the whole thing was dwindling. The crowd seemed smaller, too. I saw a few fans with Stars jerseys on, and as I wandered the concourse, most of the concession windows closed, I felt a major case of the “You can’t go back again”s.
The following Wednesday, J. and I drove to Moline to see the Flames (and Kyle) again. If the game on Sunday felt extra minor league because of the name and chants, the whole situation at the i wireless Center in Moline felt extremely minor league. The arena used to play home to the Mallards, a UHL team. It’s far smaller than the Wells Fargo Arena, smaller than the Spectrum, and is horseshoe-shaped. There is no jumbotron over center ice, not even an old one like they have in the Spectrum; the time, score, and ads are all presented on a board against the open part of the horseshoe at one end. The seats were not particularly comfortable. We had seats a few rows behind the penalty box, which was hard to see through since the glass was tall and shot through with metal supports.
The crowd was thin and loaded with kids whose attention was simply not on the game. They ran around, up and down stairs, and raced through sections back and forth because rows and rows were empty, giving them highways to speed through. One kid’s elbow hit J.’s head and he just kept on running. I don’t understand this kind of parenting; if your kid isn’t going to watch the game, don’t bring it. Some of us were there to see a hockey game. The crowd also seemed to have a high percentage of people who do not know the simple etiquette of not standing while play is in progress. There was a group of generic college that must not have been there for the game because they spent the whole time drinking beer and talking loudly to each other, turning in their seats to jibber jabber with their pals behind them when they weren’t standing randomly or getting up to get more beer. Since they were down a few rows and over from us, they often blocked view and did not respond to “Down in front!” It seemed ridiculous to me, but I may be spoiled. Fans around me in the Spectrum do not generally take lightly to having their view blocked by morons.
Given the small, weird arena and the small, inattentive crowd, if I were the Flames, I’d be glad to be leaving at the end of this season.
It was easier to determine who I was cheering for in this game; there was Kyle, and I hate the Admirals. The game was OK. The Flames kept the Admirals off the scoresheet for most of the game, allowing a goal in the third period. Kyle didn’t score, but he played well. Another former Phantom was playing, Triston Grant, for the Admirals. He had on a full face shield, so I knew he wouldn’t be fighting, but that didn’t stop him from ending up in the penalty box. He ran Greentree into the boards in front of the benches, and Kyle roughed him back; they spent a matching two minutes in the box. As soon as the penalties ended, Kyle was out and accepting a pass that sent him in on the goal; Grant followed him and either hooked or slashed him. Back to the box with Grant.
This post is not really meant to trash teams that I know have some loyal followers, but the fact of the matter is that what they have in Iowa and Moline, while being AHL hockey, is still nothing like what we have in Philadelphia, and it just makes me all the more sorry about the Phantoms situation. It’s not like the Stars franchise leaving Des Moines and another team popping up in its place; it’s not like the Flames taking their young franchise and moving it from markets that really weren’t supporting it to finally be closer to home. We have a completely professional organization, without a joke of a name, a whole arena, and a relatively long and reasonably successful history with a fan base more solid than in Iowa or Moline, fans that have followed it for many years, and it’s all going away. Some people say that things haven’t been the same for a few years now, that the heyday of the Phantoms has passed and things were going downhill anyway, but what I have known has been heads and shoulders better than what I saw this season back home. I have been extremely lucky to be part of it, starting in the 2004 season with my first game, even during the time when I was in Iowa and couldn’t go to many Phantoms games; lucky to have been able to be a season ticket holder for the last two seasons. It’s all going away and as the end approaches, I’m having a harder time dealing with that reality. They may have a lame-o name in Iowa, but at least they’re still going to have a team to see after this season ends.
Going to the Phantoms website and seeing the “1 Game Left” announcement squeezes my heart.
----------------------------
And while I was away missing five home Phantoms games, the Phantoms went and won every single one of those games. They won so much that they actually now stand in playoff position – one point ahead of Binghamton. Unfortunately, I hold little hope that they will manage to hang onto that point advantage. Who’s left for the Phantoms to play before the end of the regular season?
4/8: River Rats. Ok, I expect they have a better-than-average chance of winning that game. They have a 5-2 record against the Rats and recently beat them 6-3. These will be two points they cannot at all afford to blow, because their next chances for points will not be statistically as “easy.”
4/10: Hershey Bears. The Phantoms may play their hearts out and above and beyond because it’s the last game they will play in the Spectrum regardless of standings; however, the Phantoms have lost seven out of ten meetings this season. If you consider that alone, odds are not good.
4/11: Hershey Bears. Away. Yeah.
Binghamton’s week doesn’t look like a cake walk for them if you go by records alone:
4/8: Syracuse. Binghamton holds a 5-2 advantage over the Crunch this season, but two of the wins came in shootout and overtime, and the two losses as well. So they got two points out of losing to the Crunch anyway.
4/10: Norfolk, whom the Phantoms just pounded repeatedly. The little Senators actually have a losing record against them, but only by one game (3-4). No loser points here, all these games were decided by two or three goals.
4/11: Albany. Again, the Senators have a losing record against this team, but only by one game, 3-4, and one loss garnering a point because it was an OT loss.
If trends continue, I think the Phantoms take the last playoff spot. But given the Phantoms’ lack of success against Hershey, I would be surprised if they manage to come out of the last three games ahead of Binghamton. In order for the Phantoms to make it, Binghamton cannot end up getting two points more than the Phantoms do out of these three games (they can get one more and lose out on the fourth spot due to tiebreakers – correct me if I’m wrong). I can only hope that the fight for playoff position – they won’t play in the Spectrum, but they will still be playing in Philadelphia – will be strong in the Phantoms and they will beat the Bears. The Bears have nothing to lose, but they certainly can play spoiler and you know they won’t roll over to the longtime rival Phantoms.
Funny (?), if the Phantoms do make the playoffs, in the first round, they will meet – Hershey.
I will pray to the hockey gods this week. It will sadden me all the more if the Phantoms miss the playoffs their last season in Philadelphia, especially after pulling themselves so close.
----------------
I did not see any Flyers games while I was gone and was more or less unable to read anything about the games (J. told me a few details). I didn’t really like being adrift from Flyersland and was glad I could watch the game on Saturday, April 4. However, I was frustrated by the shootout loss and the failure to clinch a playoff berth. I hope the Flyers get it together, and fast, or else they will be one and done (assuming they collect the single point necessary to secure a playoff spot). They have a chance tonight against the Panthers, but the Panthers are going to be charging because they are on the bubble and the two points probably won’t come easy either way.
