Wednesday, October 28, 2009
They’ve blocked me from Blogger at work again, so my posting has become sporadic again. (I can't look at sites with “blogspot” in the URL because, the filter claims, of “streaming media” so I can’t even look at my own site, let alone post to it.) You’d think that it would be the opposite – since technically I should be more likely to be blogging at home rather than at work – but I find I’m too busy in the evenings doing other stuff like watching games or working on rehabilitating my stupid knee or hanging out with people. There wasn’t much to blog about for a while, and now that there have been games! games! games! I have been out of town! out of town! out of town! and unable to watch them, so my comments are brief and after the fact.
A few questions:
1) Related to the weekend games: why did Emery play against the presumably weaker team (Panthers) and Boucher get the nod for the Sharks? If the answer is “Because Booooosh played for the Sharks” then maybe someone needs to look Stevens in the eye and say, “Think of the greater good of the team rather than of the dubious novelty / curiosity that is a goalie facing his former team” and make him see that putting the backup against the presumably weaker team in a back-to-back situation is probably going to be the better choice.
2) Why is everyone so up in arms about Richards’s hit on Booth when a) as far as I understand it, head shots are still legal (when delivered with a shoulder, as in this case) and b) he did not leave his feet and charge at Booth? Please ignore any emotional response to seeing someone get hit and go down hurt and be rational about the facts. It may be detestable, but some head shots are not illegal. Richards’s feet did come up, but only after hitting Booth and the force of the impact brought them up. He was targeting Booth only in that he was attempting to separate the puck from its carrier. He is not [insert name of one of a number of actual dirty players]. I don’t want to blame Booth for getting hurt, so I’m not going to go all “Dude should have his head up!” Richie’s hit was legal, it was not done with malicious intent, end of story, no suspension. That said, I’m a little shocked he wasn’t given a few games off. I did say to J. that he is a Canadian national team candidate All-Star type, which might outweigh the crest on his jersey.
3) Why are the Flyers so good at building leads and then drizzling them away? Had I not been traveling back from Iowa yesterday, I probably would have been at the game in DC, and I’m glad I didn’t have to get mad at my team while surrounded by the gleeful enemy. Instead I had to get mad at them reading text message reports from two sources as I sat on the plane at PHL, waiting to get to the gate. That’s only marginally better.
And, finally:
4) I watched the Wild / Blackhawks game on Monday night. The Wild = zzzzzzzzz. But at least I got to watch some hockey game with J. More exciting was the Iowa Hawkeyes’ last-second (literally) win over Michigan State at Michigan State on Saturday to remain unbeaten at 8-0. It’s great to be a Hawkeye! Sad, is it? that I might find a college football game more exciting to watch than a hockey match?
A few questions:
1) Related to the weekend games: why did Emery play against the presumably weaker team (Panthers) and Boucher get the nod for the Sharks? If the answer is “Because Booooosh played for the Sharks” then maybe someone needs to look Stevens in the eye and say, “Think of the greater good of the team rather than of the dubious novelty / curiosity that is a goalie facing his former team” and make him see that putting the backup against the presumably weaker team in a back-to-back situation is probably going to be the better choice.
2) Why is everyone so up in arms about Richards’s hit on Booth when a) as far as I understand it, head shots are still legal (when delivered with a shoulder, as in this case) and b) he did not leave his feet and charge at Booth? Please ignore any emotional response to seeing someone get hit and go down hurt and be rational about the facts. It may be detestable, but some head shots are not illegal. Richards’s feet did come up, but only after hitting Booth and the force of the impact brought them up. He was targeting Booth only in that he was attempting to separate the puck from its carrier. He is not [insert name of one of a number of actual dirty players]. I don’t want to blame Booth for getting hurt, so I’m not going to go all “Dude should have his head up!” Richie’s hit was legal, it was not done with malicious intent, end of story, no suspension. That said, I’m a little shocked he wasn’t given a few games off. I did say to J. that he is a Canadian national team candidate All-Star type, which might outweigh the crest on his jersey.
3) Why are the Flyers so good at building leads and then drizzling them away? Had I not been traveling back from Iowa yesterday, I probably would have been at the game in DC, and I’m glad I didn’t have to get mad at my team while surrounded by the gleeful enemy. Instead I had to get mad at them reading text message reports from two sources as I sat on the plane at PHL, waiting to get to the gate. That’s only marginally better.
And, finally:
4) I watched the Wild / Blackhawks game on Monday night. The Wild = zzzzzzzzz. But at least I got to watch some hockey game with J. More exciting was the Iowa Hawkeyes’ last-second (literally) win over Michigan State at Michigan State on Saturday to remain unbeaten at 8-0. It’s great to be a Hawkeye! Sad, is it? that I might find a college football game more exciting to watch than a hockey match?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
There were a lot of games on last night, and Center Ice is still free. The Blackhawks game on Vs. wasn’t scheduled to start in East Coast time until 8 p.m. so that left me with a lot of time to kill. There were a few other things I could have done, but all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch sports. So I did that; I used the opportunity to ice my knee and I watched the Phillies/Rockies game for a while, and left it at 7 p.m.when the Phils were still up 1-0.
I scanned the Center Ice listings and considered my 7 p.m. options: Capitals/Devils or Maple Leafs/Rangers. Starting at 7:30 p.m. were Lightning/Panthers and Penguins/Senators. I settled in for the Capitals/Devils game and was rewarded by seeing two Mikes score goals – Mike Green the “defenseman” and Mike Knuble, the former Flyer. I hate to see him playing in red, but it’s like old times seeing him camped out in his office, ready to shovel a goal in from right in front of the goalie. His goal was not of that nature, however. He took a pass from Ovechkin cross-ice and fired it in from some distance out, very nice. Brodeur nearly had it but it bobbled back and in. I always like to see Brodeur mess up.
After 7:30 I turned to watch most of the first period of the Lightning/Panthers game, only because Antero Niittymaki was in goal for Tampa Bay. He looked pretty good but let’s face it, the Panthers are what they are and Niittymaki, as they showed in a table onscreen, really has the Southeast division’s number. But the Panthers scored first, a shorthanded goal, one that made me shake my head and think, Niitty, Niitty, that’s exactly why the Flyers let you walk. He was out a little too far to slide over fast enough to take away the shot after a pass. I struggle to reconcile the Niittymaki of the last couple years with the Niittymaki that was the MVP of the Calder Cup series in 2005, the MVP of the Olympics in 2006 when Finland took the silver behind Sweden. I just can’t fathom what has happened; it can’t all be the hip issues. Maybe playing for a different team will bring back confidence and new coaches will let the ability to be that goalie spring out again. I disliked seeing Knuble wearing red, but it was somehow even weirder to see Niittymaki in a jersey that did not have the winged P on it. When the Blackhawks game started, I turned the channel. The Lightning ended up winning 3-2 on a goal by Ryan Malone (assisted in part by Niittymaki).
The Blackhawks game. Let’s see. I’m sure you all know by now what an amazing comeback they staged, but I didn’t see any of that. I watched the first period disaster, where Huet let in goals that were the worst of the worst to allow; Niemi came in and didn’t do much better. Down 5-0 well before the end of the period, Eddie Olczyk was begging viewers not to go anywhere, describing circumstances in which the Blackhawks could get back into the game. I turned the channel briefly to check on the Phillies/Rockies (2-1 Phils) and when I went back to the hockey game, it was in time to see that the Blackhawks had scored.
Huh. I turn the game on; things go badly for them. I turn away from the game, they score.
I went back to the Phillies game, and immediately the Rockies scored three runs.
I saw how it was. I turned the TV off altogether, and woke this morning to find:
1) The Blackhawks had it tied up by 5 minutes into the third period, allowing Calgary no more goals, and took only half a minute of OT to win. Sheesh. Nice going, Calgary. And I thought it sucked that the Flyers blew a 2-0 to lose in a shootout last weekend.
2) The Phillies scored in the top of the 9th to go ahead of the Rockies by one run and Brad Lidge managed not to blow it a second game in a row and the Phillies won the game and the series, knocking the Rockies out of the playoffs. (Apparently, because B. is from Colorado, I am supposed to root for them. Um?)
I have wished in the past, if only I could channel this apparent jinxing power for my own purposes…….
I scanned the Center Ice listings and considered my 7 p.m. options: Capitals/Devils or Maple Leafs/Rangers. Starting at 7:30 p.m. were Lightning/Panthers and Penguins/Senators. I settled in for the Capitals/Devils game and was rewarded by seeing two Mikes score goals – Mike Green the “defenseman” and Mike Knuble, the former Flyer. I hate to see him playing in red, but it’s like old times seeing him camped out in his office, ready to shovel a goal in from right in front of the goalie. His goal was not of that nature, however. He took a pass from Ovechkin cross-ice and fired it in from some distance out, very nice. Brodeur nearly had it but it bobbled back and in. I always like to see Brodeur mess up.
After 7:30 I turned to watch most of the first period of the Lightning/Panthers game, only because Antero Niittymaki was in goal for Tampa Bay. He looked pretty good but let’s face it, the Panthers are what they are and Niittymaki, as they showed in a table onscreen, really has the Southeast division’s number. But the Panthers scored first, a shorthanded goal, one that made me shake my head and think, Niitty, Niitty, that’s exactly why the Flyers let you walk. He was out a little too far to slide over fast enough to take away the shot after a pass. I struggle to reconcile the Niittymaki of the last couple years with the Niittymaki that was the MVP of the Calder Cup series in 2005, the MVP of the Olympics in 2006 when Finland took the silver behind Sweden. I just can’t fathom what has happened; it can’t all be the hip issues. Maybe playing for a different team will bring back confidence and new coaches will let the ability to be that goalie spring out again. I disliked seeing Knuble wearing red, but it was somehow even weirder to see Niittymaki in a jersey that did not have the winged P on it. When the Blackhawks game started, I turned the channel. The Lightning ended up winning 3-2 on a goal by Ryan Malone (assisted in part by Niittymaki).
The Blackhawks game. Let’s see. I’m sure you all know by now what an amazing comeback they staged, but I didn’t see any of that. I watched the first period disaster, where Huet let in goals that were the worst of the worst to allow; Niemi came in and didn’t do much better. Down 5-0 well before the end of the period, Eddie Olczyk was begging viewers not to go anywhere, describing circumstances in which the Blackhawks could get back into the game. I turned the channel briefly to check on the Phillies/Rockies (2-1 Phils) and when I went back to the hockey game, it was in time to see that the Blackhawks had scored.
Huh. I turn the game on; things go badly for them. I turn away from the game, they score.
I went back to the Phillies game, and immediately the Rockies scored three runs.
I saw how it was. I turned the TV off altogether, and woke this morning to find:
1) The Blackhawks had it tied up by 5 minutes into the third period, allowing Calgary no more goals, and took only half a minute of OT to win. Sheesh. Nice going, Calgary. And I thought it sucked that the Flyers blew a 2-0 to lose in a shootout last weekend.
2) The Phillies scored in the top of the 9th to go ahead of the Rockies by one run and Brad Lidge managed not to blow it a second game in a row and the Phillies won the game and the series, knocking the Rockies out of the playoffs. (Apparently, because B. is from Colorado, I am supposed to root for them. Um?)
I have wished in the past, if only I could channel this apparent jinxing power for my own purposes…….
Monday, October 12, 2009
I haven't watched Saturday's game against the Ducks, and I will probably do so tonight, skipping through commercials and intermissions, simply because J. said that the Flyers looked 3000% better than they have in the last couple games. That is, until Teemu Selanne decided that going down 2-0 wasn't going to happen, and single-handledly won the game for Anaheim by scoring two in the third and the winning goal in the shootout.
Nice to see that the new Flyers won't keep us wondering for weeks when the old Flyers were going to show up -- you know, the ones that can't hold onto a lead to save their lives.
Oh well.
3-1-1 to start. No game until next Friday, in Florida. Emery hasn't been very good at home, but on the road before the homestand, he was excellent. Maybe that Emery went to Florida.
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I miss the Phantoms. So far this season: three games, one win. Loss to the Sharks, 3-2 (Nodl, Maroon); win over Springfield, 4-3 (Nodl; Bartulis; Kalinski; Beaulieu); brutal loss to the Crunch, 6-1 (Kaspar). It's going to be hard to follow this team this year, not really seeing any games (and being a little unwilling to pay to watch them on my computer screen after having been spoiled for two years with season tickets), with new guys I won't know anything about but through stat sheets. I dislike this.
Nice to see that the new Flyers won't keep us wondering for weeks when the old Flyers were going to show up -- you know, the ones that can't hold onto a lead to save their lives.
Oh well.
3-1-1 to start. No game until next Friday, in Florida. Emery hasn't been very good at home, but on the road before the homestand, he was excellent. Maybe that Emery went to Florida.
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I miss the Phantoms. So far this season: three games, one win. Loss to the Sharks, 3-2 (Nodl, Maroon); win over Springfield, 4-3 (Nodl; Bartulis; Kalinski; Beaulieu); brutal loss to the Crunch, 6-1 (Kaspar). It's going to be hard to follow this team this year, not really seeing any games (and being a little unwilling to pay to watch them on my computer screen after having been spoiled for two years with season tickets), with new guys I won't know anything about but through stat sheets. I dislike this.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Not even sixty seconds into last night’s game, I was ready to turn it off. I had thought that maybe because it wasn’t being televised nationally on Vs., the referee influence might be minimized; but no. At fourteen seconds, Briere was whistled for tapping someone with his stick. Half a minute later, Malkin scored.
I decided to give it another shot. There was a lot of game left and maybe it would improve. It was only one lame penalty that should not have been called, one goal that should not have been.
I ended up watching the whole thing and while it made me mad, it didn’t make me rip-out-my-hair, throw-the-remote, stomp-around, curse-like-a-sailor mad because with that notable first-minute exception the Flyers more or less dug their own grave without the referees’ help. Braydon Coburn had what must have been the worst game of his career; I was ready to start calling him Braydon Freaking Coburn after being more or less directly responsible for two Penguins goals – one due to a turnover and the other being one he scored. If I want to be fair, I will mention that he was being mauled by a Penguin at the time he hit the puck, attempting, I assume, to send it away around the boards behind the net, but instead, as he was hitting the puck he was being turned by the Penguin hanging onto him, and the puck went in front of the net, where it hit Emery’s skate, surprising the goaltender, and backward into the net.
But I don’t really want to be fair, because Coburn has had a less-than-excellent start to the season and turnovers that lead to goals are not bad luck.
I was upset with the other Flyers for their poor puckhandling. There seemed to be a lot of scrambling in this game, too; both teams trying too hard, once again, but where the Flyers could not really take advantage of any mishandling by the Penguins, the Penguins always seemed to be right there to snap up a Flyers miscue. The Flyers kept it interesting, though, by never allowing the game to get completely away from them. At first the Flyers kept coming back to keep the Penguins from having the lead; after that first Malkin goal, Danny Briere scored a little past halfway through the period to tie it. Sloppiness led almost immediately to another Penguins’ goal. At least that was it for the first period. My blood pressure wasn’t dangerously high yet, so I kept watching.
I was rewarded in the second when Briere scored again, early, to tie it. At least the Flyers were going to respond, I thought. But two more Penguins goals later – one of them being Bill Guerin simply splitting through defenders in an inexcusable fashion to fire point-blank on Emery (if I recall correctly), the other being “Alex Goligoski”’s goal courtesy of Braydon Coburn – and I began to simmer. It’s almost harder to take when it’s the Flyers shooting themselves in the foot than if they are getting the shaft from outside forces. But Mike Richards wasn’t going to lie down and take it lightly (a nice change of pace after last year’s frequent indifference to pressure situations?) and began to throw the body around to try to get things fired up. With a two-goal lead with a lot of time left to play, why not? Jeff Carter brought it one closer toward the end of the second on a power play. The game was too close to give up on in any case by now.
Coburn’s poor play let Kennedy score midway through the third to put another two goals between the Flyers and a tie, but the Flyers didn’t fold up and roll over, to their credit (and to my amazement). Fleury had another one of those maddeningly outstanding games, and the Flyers couldn’t capitalize on any of their chances. (They did take too many shots right at him. Those are pretty much not going to go in. As the announcers said, you have to get him moving. You can’t let him see it the whole way!) The last couple minutes were thrilling, when Emery was pulled and the Flyers had six skaters. They pulled Emery a little earlier than maybe a goalie is usually pulled, but it almost paid off. Jeff Carter scored to bring it within one with forty seconds left in regulation – plenty of time! And with some wild play in that last forty seconds, they nearly did it; but that was going to be it. A 5-4 loss that tasted sour, but not nearly as foul as other recent losses to that team have tasted.
The Flyers are 3-1 to start the season, and a close one that loss was. Much better than last year; I am satisfied.
I decided to give it another shot. There was a lot of game left and maybe it would improve. It was only one lame penalty that should not have been called, one goal that should not have been.
I ended up watching the whole thing and while it made me mad, it didn’t make me rip-out-my-hair, throw-the-remote, stomp-around, curse-like-a-sailor mad because with that notable first-minute exception the Flyers more or less dug their own grave without the referees’ help. Braydon Coburn had what must have been the worst game of his career; I was ready to start calling him Braydon Freaking Coburn after being more or less directly responsible for two Penguins goals – one due to a turnover and the other being one he scored. If I want to be fair, I will mention that he was being mauled by a Penguin at the time he hit the puck, attempting, I assume, to send it away around the boards behind the net, but instead, as he was hitting the puck he was being turned by the Penguin hanging onto him, and the puck went in front of the net, where it hit Emery’s skate, surprising the goaltender, and backward into the net.
But I don’t really want to be fair, because Coburn has had a less-than-excellent start to the season and turnovers that lead to goals are not bad luck.
I was upset with the other Flyers for their poor puckhandling. There seemed to be a lot of scrambling in this game, too; both teams trying too hard, once again, but where the Flyers could not really take advantage of any mishandling by the Penguins, the Penguins always seemed to be right there to snap up a Flyers miscue. The Flyers kept it interesting, though, by never allowing the game to get completely away from them. At first the Flyers kept coming back to keep the Penguins from having the lead; after that first Malkin goal, Danny Briere scored a little past halfway through the period to tie it. Sloppiness led almost immediately to another Penguins’ goal. At least that was it for the first period. My blood pressure wasn’t dangerously high yet, so I kept watching.
I was rewarded in the second when Briere scored again, early, to tie it. At least the Flyers were going to respond, I thought. But two more Penguins goals later – one of them being Bill Guerin simply splitting through defenders in an inexcusable fashion to fire point-blank on Emery (if I recall correctly), the other being “Alex Goligoski”’s goal courtesy of Braydon Coburn – and I began to simmer. It’s almost harder to take when it’s the Flyers shooting themselves in the foot than if they are getting the shaft from outside forces. But Mike Richards wasn’t going to lie down and take it lightly (a nice change of pace after last year’s frequent indifference to pressure situations?) and began to throw the body around to try to get things fired up. With a two-goal lead with a lot of time left to play, why not? Jeff Carter brought it one closer toward the end of the second on a power play. The game was too close to give up on in any case by now.
Coburn’s poor play let Kennedy score midway through the third to put another two goals between the Flyers and a tie, but the Flyers didn’t fold up and roll over, to their credit (and to my amazement). Fleury had another one of those maddeningly outstanding games, and the Flyers couldn’t capitalize on any of their chances. (They did take too many shots right at him. Those are pretty much not going to go in. As the announcers said, you have to get him moving. You can’t let him see it the whole way!) The last couple minutes were thrilling, when Emery was pulled and the Flyers had six skaters. They pulled Emery a little earlier than maybe a goalie is usually pulled, but it almost paid off. Jeff Carter scored to bring it within one with forty seconds left in regulation – plenty of time! And with some wild play in that last forty seconds, they nearly did it; but that was going to be it. A 5-4 loss that tasted sour, but not nearly as foul as other recent losses to that team have tasted.
The Flyers are 3-1 to start the season, and a close one that loss was. Much better than last year; I am satisfied.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Lately I have not been able to access Blogger from my usual station, so my posting has been limited. I have been writing my reports, but haven't been able to post them. The following entries, while entered on October 12, will be post-dated so that they fit in where they are supposed to.
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The world of Crusher has slowed down for an hour, allowing me to put to the keyboard my thoughts as to first few games of the Flyers’ 09-10 season, which started last Friday, October 2.
I was orange and black for the day – including orange fingernails which my boss erroneously assumed was simply to celebrate autumn/October. I read previews; I counted down the hours, which dragged so miserably that I thought time might simply grind to a halt. But the expanded seconds and minutes eventually passed and I settled on the sofa to watch the Flyers win a good game over the Hurricanes, 2-0. The highlights of my thoughts: Emery looked great. He looked in control, he looked easy, he looked like he knew what he was doing and how he should do it. After the first period, I had decided that I didn’t need to worry about him – a relatively novel sensation after the way Biron degenerated into a worry-maker. I also like how smooth the ginormous Pronger looked, though I guess I had hoped for a little more crushing out of him. My prior assessment of Pronger as a thug and dirtbag player still stands, but his presence on the ice in my team’s colors is satisfying for the other attributes he brings.
The next night I watched an unexpectedly hot game against the Devils. When it was announced that it was Brodeur’s 1000th game, I figured they might as well not play it, just write it up as two points in the Devils’ win column, because the Flyers love to cave in to Brodeur on his milestones. 500th win? That was against the orange and black. Record-setting shut out? Yeah. So why not expect they would give The Great Brodeur a win for his 1000th game too?
The Great Brodeur looked less than average. I think the Devils miss some of their players, but I think most of the players they lost were offense, and their trappy ways just didn’t make a difference to the Flyers (yay!) who scored five goals to the Devils’ two. Those two were disappointing. Well, the second one was basically meaningless; the Flyers were already well ahead and the killer first Devils goal was the one that snapped Emery’s shutout streak. He was about ten minutes away from two goose eggs to start the season, and then … doh. Well, 111 minutes or so of zero goals against is still a great way to get a season started. And it is soooooo nice to see the Flyers beat New Jersey – and in New Jersey!
The game we all were waiting for happened Tuesday night. The home opener, the first game on the ice at the Wachovia Center for the season, and against the Washington Capitals. Some said that the Caps would be the Flyers first real test, and if they could beat them, then they would have lent credence to all those who were predicting them to win the conference / Stanley Cup. [Somehow, by failing to make it out of the first two rounds of the playoffs two years in a row (in Game Sevens!), the Capitals have become the team by which all others in the East are measured by?) I read into the match-up more that it would show that the Flyers’ changes to the blueline and goal could stand up to some of the most severe pressure the league can throw at them (Ovechkin, you know; Semin, yep). I was not afraid that the Flyers could not score goals against the Capitals. Varlamov is good, but young and inexperienced (in spite of the playoff series in which he took Pittsburgh to seven games). Theodore is as big, if not bigger, question mark (evidenced by pal DC K., as I will call her to differentiate her from K. who was my Phantoms season-ticket pal, who seemed to have no confidence in him whatsoever). The Capitals’ defense is no giant wall. I was mostly concerned that Ovechkin would find new ways to stymie the Flyers’ defense, new additions and all.
It was during lunch on Tuesday that I suddenly got the pang of excitement in my stomach, thinking about going to the game. I was always looking forward to it, but that zzzap! At the thought of it had not yet quite struck. I realized that I was, in fact, really looking forward to it. I think there has just been too much else going on, so that it wasn’t all that I had to focus on, but suddenly, at lunch, I realized that was all there was ahead of me for the day that mattered. I had learned earlier in the day that I will not need surgery to fix my injured knee (who knows how long until it heals itself, but self-heal is preferable to surgery) so I was in a mood lighter than I have been in for a couple weeks. Talking about the game with some coworkers built up the excitement. I left at 4:15 to pick up DC K. from the Wilmington train station, and then we were on our way, two hockey fans looking forward to what was hyped to be an intense game.
It was orange and it was loud. The introduction of the team went as it usually does, with all the players coming out of the Zamboni tunnel to steam and flame; DC K. got a picture with her cell phone that looks like the player’s head and shoulders are on fire. Lauren Hart sang the anthem in her typical stunning fashion, not pausing for a heartbeat when a pressurized hose began hissing and flailing around behind her in the tunnel. It startled me and I was way up in section 214 row 13! I don’t know how she managed to ignore it; it didn’t even register in her voice. Was she that concentrated on her song or is she simply that much of a professional so as not to be ruffled by anything going on around her?
And then it was Flyers. Capitals. Now.
The first period was not exactly ho-hum, but there were no goals, and considering the rest of the game, that might be enough to classify it as “a little bit dull.” I think each team was scrambling and trying too hard in the first period. The refereeing got off to its usual start, too, with questionable calls on Darroll Powe (tripping! And then interference, when if anyone was interfered with on that play it was Powe himself). They sort of made up for it by calling a questionable goalie interference on Washington, but the crowd had already trotted out the a-hole chant and the chicken dance song had already been played. And the Flyers faithful were in good form when Ovechkin, on his way back to his bench for some reason (to get a new stick? I don’t remember) suddenly peeled back toward center ice, and fell, then tried to get up, and fell again, all while kind of spinning; doing donuts to derisive jeers.
In the second period the scoring busted wide open. The next day, people were saying to me, “You sure got to see a great game!” I wouldn’t say it was a great game in terms of having been well-played, but it was very exciting and rough on the nerves. Seven goals were scored in the second, beginning with an early power play goal by Richards. La la la! The Flyers were on the board! Then, a deflating tying goal, just more than a minute later, by Ovechkin. So much for nullifying him. If I recall, the goal should not have had a chance to happen because Gagne had been mugged at the boards just prior (hit with a high stick?); had the call been made, the play would have been dead and the goal never made. But you can’t trust the referees to do their job right all the time, so there it was, the tying goal. However, not even two minutes later, the Flyers regained the lead with a goal by Kimmo Timonen! The scoreboard operator ticked off the Flyers fans by putting the tally up for Washington; boos rang out until the guy got it right.
From a goalless first to a rapid-fire goal fest, the Flyers held the lead for three minutes. The game was tied by Ovechkin, scoring his second, deflating the crowd again, sending up more of the boos that rained down almost every time he touched the puck. The other Washington Alex scored five minutes later to give the Caps their first lead of the game. They held onto it for slightly more than a minute, when Mike Richards took a very nice pass from Matt Carle and tied it while on the power play. Eighteen seconds later, back to even strength, he took another pass from Carle and notched the first home-opener hat trick in Flyers history, and that was the end of the game for the Capitals’ young goalie, Varlamov. In with Jose Theodore, and DC K. was unhappy. She bet me $1 that he would let in two or three goals. I took that bet.
The Flyers went into the second intermission with a one-goal lead, and everyone was pretty happy. Even the superfan with the mohawk and Flyers tattoos on the side of his head was feeling magnanimous enough to let DC K. take a picture in spite of her red Capitals sweatshirt (which was pretty low-key and was probably mistaken for a Phillies sweatshirt from a distance). The good mood lasted pretty well into the third period, until Jeff Carter went to the box for hooking. It was a bad penalty to take. I’m not much of a fan of the hooking call, because it seems more often than not, hooking is called for a mere tap of the stick at someone’s midsection; only very occasionally is it because someone actually put the stick into someone and held them back with it. Jeff’s hook was one of the former types, but it was obvious. It was near the blue line and his stick hit the Washington guy near the stomach and that’s going to get called just about every time. And Alexander Semin scored while Carter was in the box. Two goals for both Alexes, and the game was tied again.
DC K. asked me how terrible it would be in the arena if Ovechkin scored a hat trick too. It could have stood as a rhetorical query, but I replied that more or less the air would be sucked out of the arena and no one would leave happy, especially if it ended up being a winning goal. Well, Ovechkin didn’t score again on the night, but the Capitals weren’t done; a minute or so after Semin’s tying goal, the go-ahead was scored by Brendan Morrison. While the air wasn’t quite sucked out of the place by that goal, it did quiet everyone down considerably.
Scott Hartnell saved the night when Washington put themselves in the box again (in a startling reversal of fortunes, the Flyers ended up with the advantage in the penalty situation, Washington being called for nine penalties (not including a fighting major) and the Flyers only six (not including the fighting major). The Flyers took pretty good advantage of their PPs Tuesday night; Hartnell tied the game with 4:15 to go, the third PP goal of the night for Philadelphia.
Because of the profligate goal-scoring, no one felt the night was safe with a mere one-goal advantage, but the entire arena was going to do what it could to help; it got loud again. And when the game wore down to the end of sixty minutes with the game tied, the noise grew. It was, I thought, almost as loud as it was when I was at the first playoff game against Washington in 2008. It was, as I said, very exciting. My nerves were jangled after all this lead-changing; also, I find that the effects of the past few seasons where the Flyers were completely unreliable are hard to shake off. I don’t trust them not to blow it at any moment in any crucial time. The OT session started with noise and more clamor on the ice. No penalties and Ovechkin did his best to end the game with some sharp moves, but the defense came up big. With just over a minute to play, the action was hot around Theodore, with a shot and rebound. As the players scrabbled there, DC K. said, “You guys have it.” She had no faith in Theodore at that moment, and sure enough, Briere poked it in and won the game, on his birthday, and the arena roared in joy.
Because the bet had been made assuming two or three goals in regulation, not split over into an OT session, I won the $1 bet (and used it to get a Tastykake later). I can’t say that I felt too bad that the Capitals lost – I know how it feels to go away to a game and have your team lose, but my record at home openers was 2-1 to that time and so it was great to see the Flyers win at their first home game and my first game of the season. It was a nail-biter and almost a goal-a-minute. If that’s what you like, then you got what you asked for. I guess I’d like to see that kind of action with a little less sloppy play, thanks.
Tonight they play the Penguins in the second of their “real tests” this week. I have no confidence that things will continue in their peachiness. The Penguins lost last night in an ugly way, to Phoenix (3-0 LOL) and I doubt it had much to do with anything except that their heads were already in Philadelphia (and Fleury was not playing). They also got the short end of the stick penalty-wise, which seems pretty unlike the league. Not that I want to go around advocating conspiracies, I did read on one of the message boards the following (paraphrased):
The Flyers got the advantage in PPs Tuesday. The Penguins got more PPs than usual called against them. (Plus, they were playing the other team the league can’t afford to let bad things happen to, given the legal wrangling that went on over the summer.) So when the Flyers and Penguins meet and the Flyers start getting all the BS calls against them that are status quo in these kinds of games, “they” can point to the games just prior where the league did not give the Flyers the shaft and the Penguins the extra advantage, so there can’t be a bias!!
Coincidence, I am sure.
I have decided that if it gets too out of hand early in the game, I am just not going to watch it. And if, at any time, I feel that I am going to tear my hair out at the ridiculousness of what I am seeing (for any reason), I am just going to stop watching. This is going to be the season of rationality. I am not going to shave minutes off my life by letting my blood pressure skyrocket getting mad because of the Penguins. I have decided it’s not worth that much.
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The world of Crusher has slowed down for an hour, allowing me to put to the keyboard my thoughts as to first few games of the Flyers’ 09-10 season, which started last Friday, October 2.
I was orange and black for the day – including orange fingernails which my boss erroneously assumed was simply to celebrate autumn/October. I read previews; I counted down the hours, which dragged so miserably that I thought time might simply grind to a halt. But the expanded seconds and minutes eventually passed and I settled on the sofa to watch the Flyers win a good game over the Hurricanes, 2-0. The highlights of my thoughts: Emery looked great. He looked in control, he looked easy, he looked like he knew what he was doing and how he should do it. After the first period, I had decided that I didn’t need to worry about him – a relatively novel sensation after the way Biron degenerated into a worry-maker. I also like how smooth the ginormous Pronger looked, though I guess I had hoped for a little more crushing out of him. My prior assessment of Pronger as a thug and dirtbag player still stands, but his presence on the ice in my team’s colors is satisfying for the other attributes he brings.
The next night I watched an unexpectedly hot game against the Devils. When it was announced that it was Brodeur’s 1000th game, I figured they might as well not play it, just write it up as two points in the Devils’ win column, because the Flyers love to cave in to Brodeur on his milestones. 500th win? That was against the orange and black. Record-setting shut out? Yeah. So why not expect they would give The Great Brodeur a win for his 1000th game too?
The Great Brodeur looked less than average. I think the Devils miss some of their players, but I think most of the players they lost were offense, and their trappy ways just didn’t make a difference to the Flyers (yay!) who scored five goals to the Devils’ two. Those two were disappointing. Well, the second one was basically meaningless; the Flyers were already well ahead and the killer first Devils goal was the one that snapped Emery’s shutout streak. He was about ten minutes away from two goose eggs to start the season, and then … doh. Well, 111 minutes or so of zero goals against is still a great way to get a season started. And it is soooooo nice to see the Flyers beat New Jersey – and in New Jersey!
The game we all were waiting for happened Tuesday night. The home opener, the first game on the ice at the Wachovia Center for the season, and against the Washington Capitals. Some said that the Caps would be the Flyers first real test, and if they could beat them, then they would have lent credence to all those who were predicting them to win the conference / Stanley Cup. [Somehow, by failing to make it out of the first two rounds of the playoffs two years in a row (in Game Sevens!), the Capitals have become the team by which all others in the East are measured by?) I read into the match-up more that it would show that the Flyers’ changes to the blueline and goal could stand up to some of the most severe pressure the league can throw at them (Ovechkin, you know; Semin, yep). I was not afraid that the Flyers could not score goals against the Capitals. Varlamov is good, but young and inexperienced (in spite of the playoff series in which he took Pittsburgh to seven games). Theodore is as big, if not bigger, question mark (evidenced by pal DC K., as I will call her to differentiate her from K. who was my Phantoms season-ticket pal, who seemed to have no confidence in him whatsoever). The Capitals’ defense is no giant wall. I was mostly concerned that Ovechkin would find new ways to stymie the Flyers’ defense, new additions and all.
It was during lunch on Tuesday that I suddenly got the pang of excitement in my stomach, thinking about going to the game. I was always looking forward to it, but that zzzap! At the thought of it had not yet quite struck. I realized that I was, in fact, really looking forward to it. I think there has just been too much else going on, so that it wasn’t all that I had to focus on, but suddenly, at lunch, I realized that was all there was ahead of me for the day that mattered. I had learned earlier in the day that I will not need surgery to fix my injured knee (who knows how long until it heals itself, but self-heal is preferable to surgery) so I was in a mood lighter than I have been in for a couple weeks. Talking about the game with some coworkers built up the excitement. I left at 4:15 to pick up DC K. from the Wilmington train station, and then we were on our way, two hockey fans looking forward to what was hyped to be an intense game.
It was orange and it was loud. The introduction of the team went as it usually does, with all the players coming out of the Zamboni tunnel to steam and flame; DC K. got a picture with her cell phone that looks like the player’s head and shoulders are on fire. Lauren Hart sang the anthem in her typical stunning fashion, not pausing for a heartbeat when a pressurized hose began hissing and flailing around behind her in the tunnel. It startled me and I was way up in section 214 row 13! I don’t know how she managed to ignore it; it didn’t even register in her voice. Was she that concentrated on her song or is she simply that much of a professional so as not to be ruffled by anything going on around her?
And then it was Flyers. Capitals. Now.
The first period was not exactly ho-hum, but there were no goals, and considering the rest of the game, that might be enough to classify it as “a little bit dull.” I think each team was scrambling and trying too hard in the first period. The refereeing got off to its usual start, too, with questionable calls on Darroll Powe (tripping! And then interference, when if anyone was interfered with on that play it was Powe himself). They sort of made up for it by calling a questionable goalie interference on Washington, but the crowd had already trotted out the a-hole chant and the chicken dance song had already been played. And the Flyers faithful were in good form when Ovechkin, on his way back to his bench for some reason (to get a new stick? I don’t remember) suddenly peeled back toward center ice, and fell, then tried to get up, and fell again, all while kind of spinning; doing donuts to derisive jeers.
In the second period the scoring busted wide open. The next day, people were saying to me, “You sure got to see a great game!” I wouldn’t say it was a great game in terms of having been well-played, but it was very exciting and rough on the nerves. Seven goals were scored in the second, beginning with an early power play goal by Richards. La la la! The Flyers were on the board! Then, a deflating tying goal, just more than a minute later, by Ovechkin. So much for nullifying him. If I recall, the goal should not have had a chance to happen because Gagne had been mugged at the boards just prior (hit with a high stick?); had the call been made, the play would have been dead and the goal never made. But you can’t trust the referees to do their job right all the time, so there it was, the tying goal. However, not even two minutes later, the Flyers regained the lead with a goal by Kimmo Timonen! The scoreboard operator ticked off the Flyers fans by putting the tally up for Washington; boos rang out until the guy got it right.
From a goalless first to a rapid-fire goal fest, the Flyers held the lead for three minutes. The game was tied by Ovechkin, scoring his second, deflating the crowd again, sending up more of the boos that rained down almost every time he touched the puck. The other Washington Alex scored five minutes later to give the Caps their first lead of the game. They held onto it for slightly more than a minute, when Mike Richards took a very nice pass from Matt Carle and tied it while on the power play. Eighteen seconds later, back to even strength, he took another pass from Carle and notched the first home-opener hat trick in Flyers history, and that was the end of the game for the Capitals’ young goalie, Varlamov. In with Jose Theodore, and DC K. was unhappy. She bet me $1 that he would let in two or three goals. I took that bet.
The Flyers went into the second intermission with a one-goal lead, and everyone was pretty happy. Even the superfan with the mohawk and Flyers tattoos on the side of his head was feeling magnanimous enough to let DC K. take a picture in spite of her red Capitals sweatshirt (which was pretty low-key and was probably mistaken for a Phillies sweatshirt from a distance). The good mood lasted pretty well into the third period, until Jeff Carter went to the box for hooking. It was a bad penalty to take. I’m not much of a fan of the hooking call, because it seems more often than not, hooking is called for a mere tap of the stick at someone’s midsection; only very occasionally is it because someone actually put the stick into someone and held them back with it. Jeff’s hook was one of the former types, but it was obvious. It was near the blue line and his stick hit the Washington guy near the stomach and that’s going to get called just about every time. And Alexander Semin scored while Carter was in the box. Two goals for both Alexes, and the game was tied again.
DC K. asked me how terrible it would be in the arena if Ovechkin scored a hat trick too. It could have stood as a rhetorical query, but I replied that more or less the air would be sucked out of the arena and no one would leave happy, especially if it ended up being a winning goal. Well, Ovechkin didn’t score again on the night, but the Capitals weren’t done; a minute or so after Semin’s tying goal, the go-ahead was scored by Brendan Morrison. While the air wasn’t quite sucked out of the place by that goal, it did quiet everyone down considerably.
Scott Hartnell saved the night when Washington put themselves in the box again (in a startling reversal of fortunes, the Flyers ended up with the advantage in the penalty situation, Washington being called for nine penalties (not including a fighting major) and the Flyers only six (not including the fighting major). The Flyers took pretty good advantage of their PPs Tuesday night; Hartnell tied the game with 4:15 to go, the third PP goal of the night for Philadelphia.
Because of the profligate goal-scoring, no one felt the night was safe with a mere one-goal advantage, but the entire arena was going to do what it could to help; it got loud again. And when the game wore down to the end of sixty minutes with the game tied, the noise grew. It was, I thought, almost as loud as it was when I was at the first playoff game against Washington in 2008. It was, as I said, very exciting. My nerves were jangled after all this lead-changing; also, I find that the effects of the past few seasons where the Flyers were completely unreliable are hard to shake off. I don’t trust them not to blow it at any moment in any crucial time. The OT session started with noise and more clamor on the ice. No penalties and Ovechkin did his best to end the game with some sharp moves, but the defense came up big. With just over a minute to play, the action was hot around Theodore, with a shot and rebound. As the players scrabbled there, DC K. said, “You guys have it.” She had no faith in Theodore at that moment, and sure enough, Briere poked it in and won the game, on his birthday, and the arena roared in joy.
Because the bet had been made assuming two or three goals in regulation, not split over into an OT session, I won the $1 bet (and used it to get a Tastykake later). I can’t say that I felt too bad that the Capitals lost – I know how it feels to go away to a game and have your team lose, but my record at home openers was 2-1 to that time and so it was great to see the Flyers win at their first home game and my first game of the season. It was a nail-biter and almost a goal-a-minute. If that’s what you like, then you got what you asked for. I guess I’d like to see that kind of action with a little less sloppy play, thanks.
Tonight they play the Penguins in the second of their “real tests” this week. I have no confidence that things will continue in their peachiness. The Penguins lost last night in an ugly way, to Phoenix (3-0 LOL) and I doubt it had much to do with anything except that their heads were already in Philadelphia (and Fleury was not playing). They also got the short end of the stick penalty-wise, which seems pretty unlike the league. Not that I want to go around advocating conspiracies, I did read on one of the message boards the following (paraphrased):
The Flyers got the advantage in PPs Tuesday. The Penguins got more PPs than usual called against them. (Plus, they were playing the other team the league can’t afford to let bad things happen to, given the legal wrangling that went on over the summer.) So when the Flyers and Penguins meet and the Flyers start getting all the BS calls against them that are status quo in these kinds of games, “they” can point to the games just prior where the league did not give the Flyers the shaft and the Penguins the extra advantage, so there can’t be a bias!!
Coincidence, I am sure.
I have decided that if it gets too out of hand early in the game, I am just not going to watch it. And if, at any time, I feel that I am going to tear my hair out at the ridiculousness of what I am seeing (for any reason), I am just going to stop watching. This is going to be the season of rationality. I am not going to shave minutes off my life by letting my blood pressure skyrocket getting mad because of the Penguins. I have decided it’s not worth that much.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
It’s Opening Day for the 2009-2010 season.
Perhaps it is my down feelings about a knee injury I sustained while mountain biking in Utah on September 9th (I may need surgery, an MRI being done tomorrow will tell the tale); I haven’t been able to run in weeks and this is a serious mood-crusher. Perhaps that has combined with a melancholy that this year, there will be no Phantoms season tickets and no approximately-weekly trip to the Spectrum to share a hockey game and mucho laughter with K. Perhaps it is an apathy built to protect against the frustration that no one last season was stronger than the story that the NHL had written for the Penguins and the knowledge that there will probably be more of the same this season. While I am really looking forward to Caps-fan pal K. coming up from D.C. for first game next week, it still bums me out that J. won’t be making it out this year for the opener, which I have seen with her for the past three seasons. I am trying to elucidate why the usual giddy-up for the new season hasn’t gotten me all giddy-up.
I could tell when I was watching and listening to pre-season Flyers games that something was not quite all the way there. I figured part of the blahs was because the Flyers completely sucked those first couple games I heard and watched, not even as good as an AHL team as they struggled against the Wings and the Leafs (the Leafs!). It dampened the firing-up, but I figured as they came together with the players that everyone knew would be on the opening roster, the excitement would come back. Yesterday, I checked the schedule and saw that two real games would be on TV tonight – Washington vs. Boston, San Jose vs. Colorado – and felt a little flutter of happiness, and sorry I had to wait another day. But I’m not going to be home tonight, so I won’t get to watch anyway, and this is not bothering me that much.
So I felt a little worried that maybe hockey just doesn’t matter that much to me anymore.
And then I was thinking about tomorrow. It’s a Friday. I have some things looming over my head during the day – meetings, deadlines, the MRI I mentioned – but I’m going to get up in the morning and put on some orange and black. I will wear a Flyers shirt and take the logo magnet out of my trunk and put it back on the car. I will get through the workday and the imaging appointment, and no matter what that picture says, I’m going to go home, take my Richards jersey off the hanger in its special place in the hockey shrine, put it on, and watch the season opener of my favorite team against the Carolina Hurricanes on my new TV, my phone nearby to text J. just as has been done for the two seasons that I have been out in Delaware.
And I’m going to be FIRED UP.
Once it is here, nothing is going to stop me from getting worked up about the Flyers’ season. And the flood gates will be opened. I will get Center Ice and much of my time will be spent watching one game or another, as was the case last year. I will fall back into the blah-blah-blah of hockey blogging. I will go to the game against the Blues for my birthday; J. will come out for a week and a handful of games in January; and everything will be the same, except for missing the following: seeing the Phantoms, K. shouting “You suck Peters!” at the River Rats’ goalie (and other heckling), the nacho lady, water ice, Phlex throwing popcorn at K. for wearing a Devils hat, my spot in section 201 row 9 in the Spectrum. The Flyers will have all my immediate hockey attentions, for good or ill (more good, please).
I read the Slap Shot blog on the New York Times’ website and they had a “30 Teams in 30 Minutes” series for both the West and East conferences, with a few questions being answered by outside bloggers for every team. (The Flyers’ section was completed by the blogger of eager to go psycho.) I’m going to pretend as though I was important enough to get asked these questions, and answer them myself here:
Will the Flyers be better or worse than last year, and where will they finish in their conference?
They will be no worse. Their losses have been more than adequately replaced: Briere was out so much of the season last year that it is safe to say that it’s like getting a new guy on the team this year to fill in for Lupul’s 20-odd goals; Knuble was a force in front of the net but I think that JvR and the new Finn Pyorala just might ease missing Knuble on the ice; Chris Pronger more than makes up for a lot, and OMG could I be any happier about Randy Freaking Jones being waived? Nothing against him personally and all, but how many times had I written in the past that I never wanted to see him on the ice again? Sometimes wishes do come true. Anyway, I think they can be even better than last year with some big ifs – Emery’s got to be sharp and keep it together, people have got to stay healthy, and the scoring has got to be there again. I think they can win the division. I think top three in the conference if the ifs come through.
What team would you most like to see fail this year, and why?
I’m just going to assume that, as a fan of an Eastern conference team (in particular, the Flyers), wanting the Penguins to fail is as obvious a given as can be offered, and I will pretend the question started, “Besides the Penguins…” I always like to see Montreal crash and burn, but I think this year I’d most like to see the Rangers struggling to breathe from the weight of everyone else in the division squashing them in the standings (including the Islanders; wouldn’t that give you a chuckle?).
Your fondest memory of the Flyers or a Philly player?
It’s a toss-up. It’s either when I finally saw (in person) them win a game, the home opener against the Islanders in 2007, after flying out to Philly over the previous two years and seeing them lose six or seven times. I had tears in my eyes. Or it might be the first home game against the Capitals in the ’08 playoffs. The energy was enormous and awe-inspiring. And Richie scooped up the ice shavings and threw them into the air after making that penalty shot. Sheer elation was everywhere in the air that night. Actually, now that I’ve written it out, it’s probably that one.
What player would you most like to see checked right through the Zamboni doors?
I cannot come up with a single “most”. There are several. I’m sure you can guess them. Zzzzzz.
Automatic penalty for a check to the head – yea or nay?
In theory, yea. In practice, nay. It won’t be enforced properly, and you know who will get the short end of that stick more than anyone else. After all, Professor Pronger will be out there, taller than everyone else, and people will be skating into his elbows and it’s not his fault.
A little this-and-that:
Two Flyers make the Top 10 Pre-Season Performances list on The Hockey News website. Ray Emery was #1. He did have a pretty stellar run in the 4.5 games he played, and it will be nice if it’s a true sign of the things to come. You have to remember that this was the goalie the Senators had in 2007 as they faced the Ducks in the Finals. As we have seen in Philly, a team doesn’t get there without a great goalie. I know that past performance does not always indicate present greatness (witness the Biron of the playoffs ’08 vs. the entire season and playoffs ’08-’09), but I’m very willing to let the preseason effort and promises of the past bring hope that Emery will be the real thing. A little less obvious a pick was Danny Syvret at #7. When he was out on the ice for the Phantoms, I felt reassured. He was rarely Danny “Sieve”ret at the point and his mobility and defensive play improved as the season went along; he was an AHL all-star, remember. I often wondered last season why he was passed over for call-ups, but this pre-season he has proved himself and he is on the opening roster ahead of Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and, well, I’ve already noted how Randy Freaking Jones is gone, gone, gone.
On the subject of The Hockey News, one of the recent issues had lists of the top 20 at every position. I didn’t argue with most of their placement but I did bristle at the Capitals’ Mike Green being #3 ahead of Chris Pronger at #4 on the Top Defensemen list. It is not that I think Chris Pronger belongs ahead of everyone, but a player who calls himself a defenseman yet has a strongly suspect defensive game should in no way be listed that high on a Top Defenseman list. Being able to score is a nice touch in a d-man, but Top 20 defenseman shouldn’t have a glaring weakness in playing defense. I challenge you to find anyone that thinks Green has a strong defensive game (anyone not delusional, that is).
Now on the subject of the Capitals, Chris “Stand up!” Borque got claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh. I’m sure he can get heckled while playing for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton just as well as he did playing for Hershey. Maybe he will get a game or two with the big birds. Maybe it will be against the Flyers. Maybe Pronger will accidentally steam-roll over him because he doesn’t see him down there.
Good grief, am I going to miss going to Phantoms games and yelling all sorts of things at opposing players.
Five days until my first Flyers game of the season. It will be interesting to see it with a Capitals fan, as I expect everything that comes out of my mouth will not automatically be agreed with by my companion. We will be high in the rafters, a new perspective for me as far as home openers go, but that doesn’t matter – we will be there, and at least I will be screaming LET’S GO FLYERS.
Perhaps it is my down feelings about a knee injury I sustained while mountain biking in Utah on September 9th (I may need surgery, an MRI being done tomorrow will tell the tale); I haven’t been able to run in weeks and this is a serious mood-crusher. Perhaps that has combined with a melancholy that this year, there will be no Phantoms season tickets and no approximately-weekly trip to the Spectrum to share a hockey game and mucho laughter with K. Perhaps it is an apathy built to protect against the frustration that no one last season was stronger than the story that the NHL had written for the Penguins and the knowledge that there will probably be more of the same this season. While I am really looking forward to Caps-fan pal K. coming up from D.C. for first game next week, it still bums me out that J. won’t be making it out this year for the opener, which I have seen with her for the past three seasons. I am trying to elucidate why the usual giddy-up for the new season hasn’t gotten me all giddy-up.
I could tell when I was watching and listening to pre-season Flyers games that something was not quite all the way there. I figured part of the blahs was because the Flyers completely sucked those first couple games I heard and watched, not even as good as an AHL team as they struggled against the Wings and the Leafs (the Leafs!). It dampened the firing-up, but I figured as they came together with the players that everyone knew would be on the opening roster, the excitement would come back. Yesterday, I checked the schedule and saw that two real games would be on TV tonight – Washington vs. Boston, San Jose vs. Colorado – and felt a little flutter of happiness, and sorry I had to wait another day. But I’m not going to be home tonight, so I won’t get to watch anyway, and this is not bothering me that much.
So I felt a little worried that maybe hockey just doesn’t matter that much to me anymore.
And then I was thinking about tomorrow. It’s a Friday. I have some things looming over my head during the day – meetings, deadlines, the MRI I mentioned – but I’m going to get up in the morning and put on some orange and black. I will wear a Flyers shirt and take the logo magnet out of my trunk and put it back on the car. I will get through the workday and the imaging appointment, and no matter what that picture says, I’m going to go home, take my Richards jersey off the hanger in its special place in the hockey shrine, put it on, and watch the season opener of my favorite team against the Carolina Hurricanes on my new TV, my phone nearby to text J. just as has been done for the two seasons that I have been out in Delaware.
And I’m going to be FIRED UP.
Once it is here, nothing is going to stop me from getting worked up about the Flyers’ season. And the flood gates will be opened. I will get Center Ice and much of my time will be spent watching one game or another, as was the case last year. I will fall back into the blah-blah-blah of hockey blogging. I will go to the game against the Blues for my birthday; J. will come out for a week and a handful of games in January; and everything will be the same, except for missing the following: seeing the Phantoms, K. shouting “You suck Peters!” at the River Rats’ goalie (and other heckling), the nacho lady, water ice, Phlex throwing popcorn at K. for wearing a Devils hat, my spot in section 201 row 9 in the Spectrum. The Flyers will have all my immediate hockey attentions, for good or ill (more good, please).
I read the Slap Shot blog on the New York Times’ website and they had a “30 Teams in 30 Minutes” series for both the West and East conferences, with a few questions being answered by outside bloggers for every team. (The Flyers’ section was completed by the blogger of eager to go psycho.) I’m going to pretend as though I was important enough to get asked these questions, and answer them myself here:
Will the Flyers be better or worse than last year, and where will they finish in their conference?
They will be no worse. Their losses have been more than adequately replaced: Briere was out so much of the season last year that it is safe to say that it’s like getting a new guy on the team this year to fill in for Lupul’s 20-odd goals; Knuble was a force in front of the net but I think that JvR and the new Finn Pyorala just might ease missing Knuble on the ice; Chris Pronger more than makes up for a lot, and OMG could I be any happier about Randy Freaking Jones being waived? Nothing against him personally and all, but how many times had I written in the past that I never wanted to see him on the ice again? Sometimes wishes do come true. Anyway, I think they can be even better than last year with some big ifs – Emery’s got to be sharp and keep it together, people have got to stay healthy, and the scoring has got to be there again. I think they can win the division. I think top three in the conference if the ifs come through.
What team would you most like to see fail this year, and why?
I’m just going to assume that, as a fan of an Eastern conference team (in particular, the Flyers), wanting the Penguins to fail is as obvious a given as can be offered, and I will pretend the question started, “Besides the Penguins…” I always like to see Montreal crash and burn, but I think this year I’d most like to see the Rangers struggling to breathe from the weight of everyone else in the division squashing them in the standings (including the Islanders; wouldn’t that give you a chuckle?).
Your fondest memory of the Flyers or a Philly player?
It’s a toss-up. It’s either when I finally saw (in person) them win a game, the home opener against the Islanders in 2007, after flying out to Philly over the previous two years and seeing them lose six or seven times. I had tears in my eyes. Or it might be the first home game against the Capitals in the ’08 playoffs. The energy was enormous and awe-inspiring. And Richie scooped up the ice shavings and threw them into the air after making that penalty shot. Sheer elation was everywhere in the air that night. Actually, now that I’ve written it out, it’s probably that one.
What player would you most like to see checked right through the Zamboni doors?
I cannot come up with a single “most”. There are several. I’m sure you can guess them. Zzzzzz.
Automatic penalty for a check to the head – yea or nay?
In theory, yea. In practice, nay. It won’t be enforced properly, and you know who will get the short end of that stick more than anyone else. After all, Professor Pronger will be out there, taller than everyone else, and people will be skating into his elbows and it’s not his fault.
A little this-and-that:
Good grief, am I going to miss going to Phantoms games and yelling all sorts of things at opposing players.
