On Monday night, the artist formerly known as Adam EatShit came to my house to watch game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. It was the first time he had come over specifically to watch hockey since the Flyers were eliminated. He came over because he had to. As a die-hard Flyers fan like myself, he had to be with someone else who had spent an inordinate amount of time rooting for Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne to hoist the most prestigious trophy in sports.
It was a moment I was completely and utterly prepared for, or so I thought. Ever since Carter and Richards were stunningly traded within hours of each other, the Kings immediately became my de facto second favorite team in the NHL. When Simon Gagne joined Richards in LA, that feeling only grew stronger. And by the time Carter was reunited with his buddy in a midseason trade, the Kings truly had become Flyers West, with the longtime Flyers joining Justin Williams, John Stevens and Ron Hextall in Hollywood.
I had spent quite literally their entire careers rooting for Gagne, Richards and Carter. I wasn't about to wish ill will on a trio of guys that never wanted to leave Philadelphia in the first place. So I rooted for the Kings every time they took the ice against any team not named the Flyers. I wanted them to make the playoffs, wanted them to beat the top-seeded Canucks, wanted them to somehow find a way to make it to the Stanley Cup Final. And once the Flyers were discarded for about the 8 millionth time in my life by the Devils, I wanted the Kings to win the Stanley Cup. I wanted to see Carter and Richards and especially Gagne get that elusive championship that they all got so damn close to here in Philadelphia.
But here's the thing, I wasn't totally prepared for it like I thought. Because as I watched Gagne be the third King passed the Cup — and see him almost drop it — only later to see the former Flyers captain hand it off to his best friend and former Flyers sniper, I couldn't help but think one thought: It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Don't get me wrong, I was and am happy for Richards and Carter and Gagne, just like I was happy for Rod Brind'Amour when he finally got his Cup in Carolina. But these men who had spent their entire careers in Philadelphia prior to the 2011-12 season weren't supposed to be celebrating the ultimate achievement wearing black and purple. They were supposed to be doing it donning the Orange and Black, parading down Broad Street. And while they got painfully close only to come up short time and time again, they were the men who would lead the charge. Richards was the captain and Carter the goal-scorer. They had both signed long — and I mean long — term contracts to essentially be Flyers for life. Gagne was already there forever, even if his time was coming to an end. They were our guys, warts and all, and they were supposed to play out their careers here.
Instead, they were shipped off to greener pastures. Maybe it didn't seem like it at the time, particularly for Carter, but in the end, here they are with the one thing Philadelphia management decided they couldn't get here. Frankly, it's more difficult to stomach than I ever imagined. Watching my guys, and I mean that in every sense of the word, particularly when it comes to Mike Richards, win the one thing I wanted for them and myself so badly somewhere else leaves the ultimate bittersweet taste in my mouth. I'm thrilled for them; I really am. And I love the players the Flyers got in return for their departures. But it hurts. Because it wasn't supposed to be like this.
Richards and Carter and Gagne were absolutely supposed to win a championship … but they were supposed to do it for us, for the Flyers, for Philadelphia.
I know there are some Flyers fans out there saying they take solace in the fact that the Kings weren't really their team. They were bit parts in the victory. And yes, Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, captain Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty are the leaders of LA. It is their team. They are the stars. But to discount the influence of Richards and Carter, even Gagne, is absurd. The Carter trade was the move that ignited a completely dormant LA offense. Richards was a defensive beast all season and all playoff long, even if he had his worst statistical season to date. And in the Cup Final, Carter scored a pair of game-winners, including the Cup winner, while Richards assisted twice in the clinching contest. Even Gagne played a leadership role, otherwise Darryl Sutter wouldn't have risked shaking up his lineup to dress him in the Final after missing nearly the entire season with a concussion. They were more than bit parts, they were big pieces.
Maybe they never would hoist the Cup as the faces of the franchise here in Philadelphia. But that doesn't make it any easier for me, after watching the Flyers get bounced yet again in the second round, while Richards, Carter and Gagne finally got to hoist the greatest trophy in the world on the other side of the country.
It's a weird feeling, watching your guys win it all somewhere else. You watch them for years on end, witnessing and picking apart their every move, cheering them on and building a bond. You wait for them to bring you that ultimate joy, to earn that championship you both want so damn much. And then they go and do it somewhere else. It's a feeling you can't quite describe. Even bittersweet doesn't do it justice. Because I am happy, and hurt, and proud, and angry, and ultimately content all at the same time. I don't know what you call that, exactly.
But I know we can now call Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne champions. I've always wanted to say that. I just never really thought it'd be under these circumstances.
A lot has been made about the Los Angeles Kings and their "Flyers West" moniker around these parts, as Philadelphia watches a slew of former Flyers with great interest. John Stevens, Ron Hextall, Justin Williams and Simon Gagne already gave Flyers fans enough reason to tune in prior to this season, and it's only been intensified with former Philadelphia captain Mike Richards and his running mate Jeff Carter shipped off and reunited in LA.
Last night, Flyers West had their prints all over LA's 4-0 victory over the Devils to take a commanding 3-0 lead, just one win away from hoisting the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
It started out not so great for the former Flyers, however. Mike Richards was called for an elbow late in the first period, and a minute later, he was joined in the box by Carter, who got four minutes for an errant high stick that cut Adam Henrique. There were the two guys we've grown so accustomed to seeing here in Philadelphia sitting helplessly side by side.
But the Kings, even with two of their top penalty-killing forwards in the box, did what they've done all series on the PK, finding a way to kill it off behind some tremendous work and great saves by Jonathan Quick. That would be a recurring theme of the night, remarkable determination by the Kings' defense and back-checking forwards, accentuated by the sheer brilliance of Jonathan Quick.
Quick's shutout performance all but ensured his Conn Smythe Trophy, especially if Los Angeles finishes this thing off in short order.
Things didn't exactly go smoothly for Simon Gagne last night either. Following the lead of Richards and Carter, Gagne picked up a minor of his own in the second period and saw limited ice time. Then again, he didn't look that bad for a guy who hadn't laced them up in more than five months. Gagne's last game was Dec. 26, when he suffered a concussion, and had't played until last night.
It says a ton about both Gagne and coach Darryl Sutter that he was even in the lineup to begin with. After all, the Kings have steamrolled through the postseason without Gagne, and they came in with two road victories to open up the Final. Few coaches would dare make any lineup changes with that kind of run and risk upsetting the chemistry, but Sutter didn't hesitate to reinsert Gagne into the lineup, even after such an extensive layoff. That's because he knows Gagne is a leader and a grizzled veteran who would take nothing off the table, only add to it. Classy move by Sutter to reward such an accomplished and hardworking player as Gagne.
While Gagne wasn't much of a factor and Carter and Richards got off to a slow start, things would quickly turn around for Flyers West, led by the first one to depart the City of Brotherly Love, Justin Williams.
Last night, Williams was as good as I've ever seen him. Playing on LA's top line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, Williams has looked every bit the equal of his line mates. That's saying something, seeing as Kopitar is hands down LA's best forward and Brown is the captain. But that's how much Williams has grown, becoming not only a top-line forward, but one who has risen to the challenge.
The Kings' top line was without a shadow of a doubt the best line out there, and Williams played a huge role. He was winning battles and making great plays all night long, and he set up the momentum-changing goal of the game. Entering the zone, Williams slickly played a bank pass back off the boards to Brown, who hit Kopitar driving the net for a one-timer on an absolutely beautiful tic-tac-toe scoring play.
It was the type of smart, subtle play Williams was making all night. He was relentless on the puck and later added a goal of his own. He was as good as anyone on the ice. Well, anyone other than Quick and Kopitar.
We already know that Quick has this Conn Smythe all but wrapped up, and shutting out the Devils in game 3 to put your team one win away from the Cup speaks for itself. The guy is a flat-out stud between the pipes, no matter how much room he seems to leave up top. No one can "elevate the puck" against him, as Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire have been imploring teams to do against Quick all postseason long, because he's so damn good at taking away time and space for shooters. The man has been brilliant all season and postseason.
What many people, including myself, may not have realized before this remarkable run by the Kings is just how good Anze Kopitar really is. Don't get me wrong, I knew Kopitar was an excellent player, a top-line scorer with soft hands and great touch. But seeing as he's played his entire career on the West Coast, I've admittedly watched him very little until this season, when Richards' presence in LA had me tuning in more than ever. And man, I had no idea how fucking good this guy was as a two-way player.
Kopitar is truly a superstar in every facet. He scored arguably the biggest goal of the night, tying him for the postseason lead in goals with 8 — which, oddly enough, put him in a tie with Claude Giroux and Danny Briere, two Flyers who were eliminated a month ago. But more impressive to me has been his defensive work and willingness to do the dirty work. Kopitar is as good a penalty killer as anyone else on that team: Stoll, Richards, anyone. He lays his body out to block shots, shuts down passing lanes and anticipates plays before they're made. He also seems to knock down a ton of pucks on clearing attempts in the offensive zone and win damn near every board battle. The puck just seems to find him every time he's out there.
Last night, he was far and away the best skater on the ice, with only Williams even remotely standing out otherwise. He's on a different level right now, which is exactly why he's right behind Quick in the Conn Smythe race.
Kopitar's brilliance is another reason that adding Richards and Carter has helped propel LA to where it's at now. With Kopitar, Brown, Quick and stud defenseman Drew Doughty being the focal points, Carter and Richards can just go out and play. No more leadership questions, no more overbearing pressure, just a talented scorer and an all-around workhorse allowed to do what they do.
And that familiar tandem connected on the third goal for Los Angeles, with Richards feeding Carter for the power play tally. That's right, Jeff Carter scored in back-to-back Stanley Cup Final games, one an overtime winner and the other essentially the nail in the coffin. And Richards was his normal self, doing remarkable work on the penalty kill, just like all the Kings. LA was perfect on the PK, rarely even giving up quality chances to the struggling Devils. Richards and Carter played a hand in that, and Williams was the one leading the way all game long.
Now Flyers West is just one win away from accomplishing something in Los Angeles that these players never did in Philadelphia. I bet they can drink an awful lot out of that Cup.
There was a lot on everyone's plate last night: the Flyers having a chance to eliminate the Devils and move on to the second round, the Phils taking on Atlanta with old man Moyer on the hill, the NFL draft and the craziness that is the Eagles during the event, not to mention the NBA playoffs and other NHL playoff games. It was a sports fan's dream.
In our house, we had the NFL draft set up on the top TV muted, with the Flyers taking precedence on the bottom TV with Jim Jackson's and Bill Clement's voices coming through the speakers. There were questions about just how the Flyers, even up 3 games to 1, were going to be able to finish off the second-seeded Devils without Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter. The answer was really quite simple — keep doing what they've done all series, all season against New Jersey.
When this team made it to the playoffs with that dramatic, improbable shootout victory over the Rangers on the final day of the regular season, it was evident the Flyers got the perfect match-up in the first round. Yes, Flyers fans of my generation have the haunting memories of New Jersey and specifically Martin Brodeur dominating the Flyers, but the roles were completely reversed this season. Philadelphia defeated Jersey in five of the six games during the regular season. They were simply better than the Devils, overall records and seeding be damned. And that showed in this series, with the Flyers eliminating the Devils in five games. Now shockingly, it is Philadelphia that is the first team to advance to the next round, the same team that underachieved most of the season, fought through injuries to not one but two starting goaltenders, found a way to scratch and claw its way into postseason play. The same team some people suggested was better off missing the playoffs altogether and rebuilding. The same team virtually no one thought would make any noise in the playoffs. Now they're the first team to advance. Unreal.
The formula was actually pretty simple for the Flyers. Play smart, strong defense, take away space, block shocks and have one or two players dominate. That's exactly what the Flyers did. The two best players in this series weren't Martin Brodeur and Zach Parise, or even Ilay Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac/Dainius Zubrus/Patrick Elias/name any other Devil. Not even close. No, the best two players from game 1 to game 5 wore Orange and Black, one up front, the other the last line of defense. Claude Giroux took his game to another level for the second straight playoff series. It began last year, when he was hands down the single best Flyer in the opening round loss to the Penguins.
That led to speculation that Giroux was primed for a breakout 2009-10 season, set to tear up the score sheet and help fill the goal-scoring void left with the departures of Joffrey Lupul and Mike Knuble. Claude definitely had a very good regular season if you watched him on a nightly basis. All the skill, all the poise, all the tenacity he displayed late last season and in the playoffs was there. His passing and vision otherworldly. But it didn't translate on the scoreboard. Playing most of the season with rookie James van Riemsdyk, who was also expected to do more scoring, and Arron Asham, Giroux had just 47 points (16 goals and 31 assists) and finished a -9 during the regular season. But you know how they say sometimes numbers can lie? That's the case with Giroux. He has top-line talent, possessing the passing skill and ice vision few in the world have and a shot that can be deadly accurate. He's strong on the puck, tough and gritty despite his small stature, and works hard defensively. He's a huge asset on the power play, and such a sound player that he kills penalties as well. Flyers fans knew it was just a matter of time before he exploded.
That's exactly what Claude did this series. Again, he was the single best skater on the ice. Better than Parise. Better than Kovalchuk. Better than Richards, Carter, Briere. Better than anyone. He dominated. Especially last night, scoring two goals and assisting on the first. Every shift, he stood out on the ice. Every time he had the puck, you felt as though something good was going to happen. And time and time again, he left you in awe, mouth gaping with another incredible play that he made seem so effortless. There was the absurd blind, backhanded pass to Danny Briere to score the first goal, the powerful, perfectly placed slap shot that ricocheted so hard back out of the net some players kept right on playing, and the tap-in off a great power play setup, winning the faceoff, firing a shot from the point and Scott Hartnell dishing off the rebound to Giroux to bang it home.
The guy truly was nothing short of amazing in this series. And there's no doubt he was the best player. I wouldn't trade Claude for anyone not named Crosby or Ovechkin (OK, maybe a few other players, but you get my drift). He's just that good, even if his regular season numbers didn't quite portray that. The guy is a stud, and I don't think there's any doubt we're witnessing a star in the making.
Whereas Giroux was the best skater to lace them up this series, Brian Boucher very well may have been the MVP. He certainly was the better of the two goaltenders, outplaying Brodeur in every conceivable way. Boosh faced 134 shots in this series, stopping 126 for an otherworldly .940 save percentage, finishing things off in style last night with a shutout. Conversely, Brodeur faced 126 shots in his five games, stopping just 111 for an atrocious .881 save percentage, getting lit up for seven goals the last two games, really only putting forth one Martin Brodeur-type game, the 3-2 overtime loss in game 3. Other than that game, Boucher was not only a little better than Brodeur, but light years better.
He didn't just play like it was 2000, he played arguably even better. Gone were the weak goals he was routinely giving up when he first took over full time for the injured Michael Leighton. Gone were the fat rebounds and frenetic play. Every game in this postseason, truthfully starting a few games before that, Boosh was technically perfect in net. He anticipated every play, saw every shot, challenged each shooter. He gobbled up ever puck, rarely if ever leaving any rebound at all, let alone a juicy one. He was the definition of a confident goaltender, coming out far to challenge shooters, playing the puck without fear, making all the stops. He was, well, awesome. Especially last night, specifically in the first period.
Last night's game was par for the course. The Flyers took a ton of penalties, and a large portion of the game came down to special teams. With the Flyers failing to get any rhythm rolling their lines, Boucher kept it all together. He made 9 stops in a first period that seemed to have more Jersey chances than Philadelphia chances, yet the Flyers found themselves up 1-0. He stopped nine more shots in the second and 10 more in the third, never once looking even remotely penetrable. The guy was a brick wall in the net.
Truth be told, he had a lot of help as well. Danny Briere had a great game himself, opening up the scoring with his goal and assisting on Giroux's second. With Carter and Gagne out, Giroux and Briere took it upon themselves to pick up the slack. The two diminutive forwards whose numbers both end in 8 were clicking on all cylinders last night. They gave the Flyers the goals they needed to bury the Devils. And they played some defense to boot.
Mike Richards was outstanding defensively, and he had two assists as well. Playing nearly 22 minutes, he was blocking shots, mucking in the corners and giving tremendous puck support in both zones. In this series, Richards lived up to his captaincy 100 percent.
Darroll Powe was relentless, Scott Hartnell finally had a good game, working his ass off, finishing checks, even notching an assist. Hell, I don't even remember him hitting the ice once all night. Ville Leino stepped in without missing a beat, as if he'd been playing all along. He was dynamic with the puck, created numerous chances and just had a great game. Pronger continued to dominate Kovalchuk and all the rest of the Devils, and Kimmo was Kimmo. Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn gained more consistency. Even Parent and Krajicek held their own.
And then there was those two fourth-line forwards, willing to sacrifice life and limb to keep that puck from getting through. I don't know how many shots Blair Betts and Ian Laperriere blocked in this series, but I know it was a shitload. These two are some of the craziest motherfuckers on the planet. They played as good as any player possibly can defensively in this series, and this duo may be the best penalty kill tandem I can ever remember. They are truly remarkable. And fearless. Even with a 3-0 lead late in the game, they were putting their bodies on the line. Betts took one or two off his hand. And Laperriere continued to sacrifice everything, which led to a moment that was simultaneously admirably and frightening.
When I saw the blood gushing from his face, I kid you not, I thought his eye had fallen out. Turns out, so did he. Thankfully, Laperriere's eye stayed intact, though it was a scary moment, the second time he's taken a puck right to the face. This time, he learned his lesson. No, that doesn't mean the shot-blocking specialist is going to stop giving up his body. It simply means he's going to take a cue from his fellow shot-blocking specialist linemate, Blair Betts, and start wearing a shield. I gotta tell you, I wasn't that thrilled with signing Laperriere when it happened, and I couldn't have been more wrong. It's impossible not to love that guy when he's on your team. Impossible. He and Betts and Powe were every bit as big of a key to this 4-1 series win as anyone. Truly remarkable defensive performance from that line. I honestly can't say enough great things about them.
This was a total team effort through and through. The Flyers played as a cohesive, defensively sound unit the entire time, never once losing form or focus. The Devils, on the other hand, folded. The man who was supposed to be the prize of the trade deadline, Ilya Kovalchuk, was essentially a nonfactor. Yes, he made some dazzling plays in game 1 and put up 6 points, but those were hollow numbers. His first goal came on an empty-netter. His other was on a 5-on-3. He routinely tried to do too much all by himself, abandoning the team concept and Jersey system. And he became visibly frustrated more and more as Chris Pronger and company shut him down. To say he was a disappointment is an understatement. The guy is a terrific goal scorer and dynamic player, but after watching him this series and in the times the Flyers played him after the trade, I'd want nothing to do with him. In this series, he was a selfish player, and honestly, an ineffective one. Hardly the worst player on the ice, but certainly not as noticeable or dangerous as a guy like Giroux or Parise. Someone is going to pay this guy a ton of money this offseason. I'm glad the Flyers don't seem to be in the running.
It was a great win and an excellent step for a team that everyone thought had no shot, a team that did not live up to expectations or come even close to it during the regular season. Now no one is giving them a chance against the Capitals in the next round, especially without Gagne and Carter. I'm not delusional enough to think the Flyers are going to beat Washington, a team that ran away with the Eastern Conference and employs one of the best two players on the planet. But I'm not going to say this team is completely dead in the water next round either. For starters, Washington hasn't even advanced yet (though the Caps can tonight with a victory). Secondly, if Boucher can continue riding this hot hand the defense plays as sound as it did against the Devils, you never know, especially with Washington having its own questions between the pipes. Stranger things have happened in the NHL playoffs. No, advancing any farther isn't likely, but then again, neither was thoroughly thumping the Devils in the first round.
All I know is this team is finally looking like it gives a shit, and with the talent on the roster, even without two of its top forwards, the Flyers won't go down without a fight the way the Devils did. It was a step in the right direction, after it looked as though following the finish to last season and lackluster performance this year, the franchise had taken two steps back. In Claude We Trust.
As for the Eagles in the draft last night, well, I don't think stunned is even the proper word. Right as the second period was ending in the Flyers game, the Eagles came swooping in with a trade, sending their 24th overall pick and their two third-round picks to Denver for No. 13 overall. With Texas safety Earl Thomas still on the board, a player who has the versatility and cover skills to potentially be a safety or corner on the next level, and the Eagles having a gaping hole in the secondary, there wasn't a person alive who didn't think the Eagles moved up to take him.
The panelists on ESPN spent the entire time before the Eagles picked discussing Earl Thomas and how the Eagles were taking him to replace Brian Dawkins. Not even for one millisecond did they talk about another player. Then the pick came in and it was none other than …
Brandon Graham? Really? Another short, smallish defensive end? Didn't the Eagles just trade for Darryl Tapp? Don't they already have an undersized beast in Trent Cole? Don't they, you know, need a fucking player in the secondary, especially a god damn safety? I don't get it. I really don't. Earl Thomas was the pick. Everyone was convinced of it. This team's biggest need is safety. There's no question about it. Yet they moved up to take a defensive end that most people were projecting as a 3-4 pass-rush linebacker. Color me stunned.
This is not to say I don't like Brandon Graham, even if he went to Michigan (aside: FUCK MICHIGAN). Listen, the guy is an absolute beast. He started three years at Michigan, surrounded by underachieving players defensively, and he tore it up for three years. Being a Penn State grad and season ticket holder the past two years, I got to see him up close and personal once, and watched him play numerous times, both against Penn State and others. He was the best player on Michigan last year, no doubt about it. In college, he was nothing short of a stud.
However, I don't like the pick. Don't get that misconstrued with not liking the player. I actually do like Brandon Graham. He's one of the only players from Michigan you will ever hear me say that about. And I actually think he has a chance to be a good player. I just don't like the pick there, given the need, given what they had to do to move up to get him. Yes, the Eagles definitely could use some help opposite of Trent Cole, and this, combined with the trade for Tapp, seemingly addresses that. But like I said, I watched Graham a lot the past three years. He's good. Really good. But he didn't exactly scream "move up in the draft 11 spots to get him" good. He certainly wasn't even the best defensive lineman from the Big Ten in this draft. That would be Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Jared Odrick, the Penn State defensive tackle who went 28th overall to Miami. Perhaps that's a bit of a biased view, being a Penn State alum and all, but the gap between the two isn't much different. Frankly, if they were going to take a defensive end, I would have preferred Derrick Morgan, but shit, fuck all that noise, I wanted a safety. Or even a corner. I wanted Earl Thomas. Or Kyle Wilson.
But that's the Eagles for you. You never know what the hell they might they do on draft day. Here's what I do know: Those motherfuckers better take Taylor Mays or Myron Rolle here in the second round tonight. If they don't I might lose my mind. And if Mays is still there at 37, the fifth pick tonight, they have to take him. Yes, his stock dropped this season, but last year, people were calling him a sure top 10 pick if he had come out. He's a fucking monster. A 6'3", 230-240 pound safety that runs a sub-4.4 (sub-4.3?) 40. He absolutely annihilates people on the field. By all accounts, he has a lot of work to do with his pass coverage, but my god, can he hit. And he has all the tools, the size and speed, to be a difference maker. Get him. Now.
If he's gone, I don't think they could go wrong with Myron Rolle either. An incredibly smart, extremely talented safety? Yes please.
Anyway, here's what we've won so far.
Hopefully the Eagles found themselves another Trent Cole. That would certainly help take pressure off the secondary. Also, I still don't know why they traded Sheldon Brown, even if he's unhappy with his contract. I'm confused.
Beyond that, Jamie Moyer pitched fantastic last night, proving he doesn't quite have one foot in the grave just yet, pitching 6 innings of 4-hit ball, surrendering just two unearned runs. Well done, Jamie. Meanwhile, the Phillies owned Derek Lowe, tagging him for five runs (four earned) in five innings. Shane got two RBIs. Greg Dobbs went 2-for-3 with 2 runs in his first start at third of the season. Chase scored twice, Howad, Werth, and even Ross Gload all had an RBI, and Juan Castro continued to hit and hit and hit with Jimmy out, going 3-for-5 with 2 runs and an RBI, upping his average to .353. I'm not sure anyone expected the Phillies to take two of three from the Braves with Kyle Kendrick, Roy Halladay and Jamie Moyer going up against Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson and Derek Lowe. I think most of us just assumed they'd win with Halladay on the mound, while Hanson and Lowe gave the Braves huge advantages over the struggling Kendrick and the old man Moyer. Instead, the Phils got great outings from all three starters, winning two, and they should have actually swept Atlanta, you know, if Ryan Madson didn't suck.
Oh, and Ottawa beat Pittsburgh in triple overtime to force a game 6, and it was awesome. Playoff hockey is great. Also, Kevin Durant owned Kobe last night, finishing with 29 points, 19 rebounds and four assists. I watched the entire second half, and even when he was struggling with his shot, Durant still dominated. Call me crazy, but something tells me that guy is going to be really good for a really long time. I know, bold statement. That's what I'm here for.
Well, history just got a great chance of repeating itself: Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter need surgery. They're both most likely out for the entire playoffs, which presumably won't last beyond round 2, if they can even get that far. Talk about a kick in the balls.
When Michael Leighton went down late in the season — after taking over for Ray Emery, who went down much earlier — and the Flyers had nowhere else to turn but a rusty Brian Boucher, I longed for the days of 2000, when Brian Boucher was a fresh-faced rookie riding a hot streak and playing nothing short of outstanding hockey between the pipes.
Little did I know just how eerily familiar this stretch would turn out, a decade after the fact. Here we are, after some initial shakiness, and Brian Boucher is playing fantastic hockey once again. Facing the Devils, again. In the playoffs, again. Against Martin Brodeur, again. With the Flyers holding a 3-1 advantage through four games, again. It's like déjà vu 10 years later. Let's just hope it doesn't end the same way, with the Devils storming back from the brink of elimination to win the next three games and advance to the Stanley Cup finals. We all remember just how painful that was, watching a tight-knit, cohesive Flyers team poised to get back to the Stanley Cup finals fold as their beleaguered and concussed captain returned for games 6 and 7 only to bust his ass as his teammates, who were playing so hard, so well before he came back, stand around and watch No. 88, as if he could defeat the Devils all on his own. Then they watched him lay motionless on the ice, a sadly familiar sight, and withered with their fallen captain.
Now we face a similar scenario. No, it's not the Eastern Conference Finals, but it is still the playoffs. And no, these are not the same teams, though there are a few familiar faces. For there Devils, Martin Brodeur is still between the pipes, and Patrick Elias, Brian Rolston and Colin White are also still here (in the case of Rolston, back). For the Flyers, there's Boosh and Simon Gagne, at least before he got injured blocking not one but two shots last night in the second period. It would be nice if the new faces can help the familiar ones flip the script from a decade ago, and the sooner the better. It would be in the Flyers' best interest to get this thing over with Thursday in Newark. One thing is certain: If history is any indicator, this series is far from over. The Flyers are in a great position, but there's much more work to be done. It's no time to lose focus or get complacent. Not against this team and this goaltender, even if he didn't look like the same guy from 10 years ago last night, the same guy who was damn near unbeatable in game 3.
I was lucky enough to be at game 4 last night (thanks, Adam EatShit) with uncle jellyfish. I couldn't tell you exactly why, but I had a great feeling about the game all day. Maybe it was because the Flyers saw the best of Brodeur on Sunday and still found a way to win, even with playing a good portion of the game on the penalty kill. Maybe it was because even without the second line scoring, they were still finding ways to get enough goals. Maybe it was just being a homer. Whatever it was, that confidence was quickly shaken when the Flyers hit the rewind button from Sunday and came out taking penalty after penalty after penalty. And I mean one right after the other.
First it was Mike Richards getting sent off for a hook — I should have known things weren't going to go smoothly right away, because Richards literally couldn't control the puck at all, on his first three shifts, the puck was bouncing off his stick like he had stone hands, and it continued all night — and then, before that penalty was even through, Braydon Coburn put on a bear hug and got called for holding, giving the Devils 3:54 seconds straight of power play … before Chris Pronger cross-checked a Devils behind the net just a minute and 8 seconds into Coburn's penalty. With a 52-second two-man advantage, it was only a matter of time before the Devils cashed in, and that's exactly what Ilya Kovalchuk did, putting New Jersey ahead early and silencing the crowd. The Devils had 5 minutes and two seconds of consecutive power play time, with 58 of those seconds up two men. That pretty much negated any momentum the Flyers hoped to carry over from the dramatic overtime victory Sunday, and it took the crowd out of the game, save for a some moans and groans and expletives directed at the officials.
But to be honest, every one of those penalties was, in fact, a penalty. Maybe not in 2000, but certainly in 2010. It's been a problem for this team the past couple of seasons, taking too many penalties, and it put them behind again. As a result of so much time on the penalty kill, the Flyers couldn't generate much offense, and they left the first period down a goal and getting outshot 12-7. Truth be told, they were lucky to come out of all that with only one goal surrendered, and that can be attributed to the tremendous penalty killing of Ian Laperriere and Blair Betts. If you've watched the Flyers all season, you know just how awesome this duo is on the PK, and their work has been as big a reason as any that the Flyers are in control of this series. The Devils have been living on the power play, and yes, they've scored some power play goals, but for the most part, the Flyers have really limited the chance when down a man. Betts and Laperriere have been the biggest keys to that, and last night they were tremendous again. In fact, I thought Laperriere was arguably the best player on the ice, even with Jeff Carter and Danny Briere finally getting off the schnide and providing a huge jolt. Ian was blocking everything in sight, getting his stick in every passing lane, always making sure to pump the puck deep, mucking in the corners and finishing his checks. He was oustanding last night, even when the Devils looked to be in control of the game early on.
However, much like Laperriere's face, things weren't looking so good after one period of play. The Flyers looked flat and undisciplined … but I still didn't feel completely despondent. Even in another season of underachievement, this team has shown time and again that they can come from behind and win. Sometimes that has hurt them, leading to lackadaisical play early on with the belief they can turn it on later. But other times it has been an asset, proving there's no reason to hang their heads when they give up the first goal.
The Flyers bided their time and continued to work. The forecheck was on full bore, and they came out aggressive and hungry in the second period. Before you could blink an eye, the Flyers had turned a 12-7 shot deficit into a 15-13 advantage, outshooting the Devils 8-1 to start the period. Yet the Flyers couldn't slide one past Brodeur for the longest time. He was making all the stops, yes, but he looked a little shaky, was having trouble finding the puck, often fighting it, and scrambling around to track rebounds. Well, except for on this save:
That was just vintage Brodeur. On his back, seemingly down and out, he swipes his left glove hand, flashing the leather and robbing Gagne. The entire Wachovia Center let out a collected groan, astonished the puck didn't go in. That's why the guy is ticketed for the Hall of Fame. Brodeur had no right making that save. Not with that setup, not with the one Flyer who has seemed to have Brodeur's number over the years shooting the puck. But up came that glove to somehow snatch a goal right from the Flyers. Fuck.
Thankfully, that incredible save didn't dissuade the Flyers. Instead, they kept on the pressure, which eventually led to a Rob Niedermayer interference call, which eventually led to Jeff Carter finally burying one of the many chances he's had in this series, penetrating Brodeur for the first time on the night. Unfortunately, some asshole in a Ryan Howard jersey obstructed my view slightly as the play developed, though I did see the goal, and completely blocked uncle jellyfish's entire view, causing him to miss the tying goal. This stupid fuck, who moved at the speed not even a snail could envy, had a cane and bad limp, meaning he knows full well that he doesn't move fast. Yet he still took it upon himself, with the Flyers on the power play with a chance to tie the game in game 4 of a playoff series against the hated Devils, to venture back to his seat right as the puck was being dropped for faceoff. It was the second time this fucking asshole got up in the middle of play, blocking the view with his five-minute venture down the aisle.
This is a message to that asshole, and the other asshole who got up in the 2nd period during play in my row: FUCK YOU AND I HOPE YOU DIE!!!!! WAIT UNTIL A FUCKING STOPPAGE IN PLAY TO FUCKING GO PISS OR EAT OR BLOW SOME FAGGOT IN THE STAIRWELL AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL THERE'S ANOTHER STOPPAGE IN PLAY YOU STUPID, IGNORANT FUCKS!!!!!!! This is playoff hockey people. If you aren't there to watch every god damn second, don't fucking come and spoil it for the rest of the real fans who are there to, you know, watch the fucking game. Seriously, I hope you got that limp in a horrible accident that killed your closest family members and friends, and I hope only terrible, horrible things happen to you for the rest of your life. If I was uncle jellyfish, I probably would have blown my top even more. Either way, he was rightfully pissed, and if he ever sees that schmuck again, it is 100 percent within his rights to fucking kill him. People make me so mad.
OK, got that off my chest. Now where were we? Right. The Flyers. Tie game. Asshole should die. Got it. For the remainder of the second period, the Flyers continued to take it to Jersey, and then Danny Briere joined his linemate on the scoresheet to completely put the 2nd-line scoring slump to rest, firing an unstoppable howitzer of a rising shot, making the glove hand of Brodeur that looked so incredibly fast in that save against Gagne earlier look as though it was fighting to wade through water.
Wow, what an incredible shot. 2-1 Flyers, and the place was rocking. The Devils were on their heels, you could see it, and the Carter line, which had been snakebitten through the first three games, was clicking on all cylinders. Shortly after Briere's laser shot, down came Briere and Carter on a two-on-one. The Devils defenseman did exactly what he's supposed to do, taking away any chance of a pass, but with Briere with the puck, that seemed like a good thing to just about everyone. After all, Danny had just ripped an absurdly awesome shot, picking the corner with precision, and now his hot stick was one-on-one with Marty. But somehow, some way, Briere still attempted to pass it to Carter, despite it not being there, despite having a clear path to Brodeur, despite just picking the corner with a rocket. Of course, it was broken up, and the Flyers didn't even get a shot off. That was maddening. They could have taken a commanding 3-1 lead in the game, but instead they didn't even get a shot off.
That's not exactly something new for the Flyers. To me, even more so that the inconsistent goaltending, penchant for untimely turnovers and poor performance throughout the season in the faceoff circle, this team's two most glaring weaknesses have been passing and executing odd-man rushes, which comes back to passing. Think of how many times the Flyers have screwed up 2-on-1, 3-on-1, 3-on-2 breaks all season long, either with an errant pass, missing the net with a shot, or trying to force a play that's not there. I'd venture to say they are one of the worst, if not the worst, odd-man rush finishers in the entire NHL, certainly the worst in these playoffs that I've seen. And those are big opportunities missed. Just as this one was. Not a single person in the building thought Briere was going to pass that puck except Briere. He had to shoot it. But he didn't. Ugh.
Still, the Flyers went to the third period with a 2-1 lead, had just dominated the second period, and looked good. Though somehow, at the end of the period, the Flyers were called for the only penalty in an after-the-whistle scrum with less than 5 seconds remaining. Here's what happened: A Devil, I think Dainius Zubrus but I'm not entirely sure if that's correct, came flying in and pounded a Flyler near the boards. It wasn't necessarily an illegal hit, but it was definitely a case of a guy taking a run, so when the whistle stopped play, there was a gathering and a scrum. The Flyers didn't take too kindly to the hit, so they got up in some Devils' faces and a slight scrap ensued, from both sides. Yet when the penalties were announced, only rookie James van Riemsdyk was placed in the box. It was bullshit. Listen, at that point, the Devils had had six power plays to the Flyers' three and a couple extra seconds. I'm not going to complain about any of those calls. They were all penalties. Fine. But when there's a disparity like that, especially when the referees were calling a lot penalties very close together on the Flyers, you can't, just can't send one guy to the box in a scrum like that unless someone threw an obvious punch or took a sucker shot. That didn't happen. You have to even it up there. Just have to. But the refs didn't.
I was pretty livid with that, but it was no cause for worry. Well, actually it was, but Betts and Laperriere wiped away any cause for concern with an excellent penalty kill yet again. Betts won a couple key face-offs, and Ian continued to get his stick on every shot, sending most of them into the safety netting. Then, just 4:10 into the final period, game 3 hero Dan Carcillo beat Brodeur again, with what can only be described as a softy. Carbomb, as they call him, wheeled from behind the net, turned and shot a wrister that wasn't all that strong toward Brodeur, and Marty plain missed it. 3-1 Flyers, with the house going crazy as Philadelphia fan favorite Dan Carcillo got Brodeur again. Earlier in the game, when Carcillo drew a penalty, the fat fuck sitting next me told me how he thought Dan Carcillo was a "piece of shit." This "Flyers fan," the game after Carcillo scored an overtime winner to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead in the series against the hated Devils, after a season where Carcillo cut down on his selfish penalties as the year went on, worked himself up to the top line, found a very nice scoring touch, and played the perfect agitator role with a lot more skill than you'd expect, hated Dan Carcillo. I didn't know that was possible in Philadelphia, yet here we had it. I told him I loved Carcillo, then stopped talking to him. That is, until Carcillo scored the fatal blow to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead, at which time I turned to this monstrosity of a human being and said, "That piece of shit sure is scoring a lot of big goals." Then I never spoke to him again.
The Flyers held a 3-1 lead, and were some 15 minutes away from holding a 3-1 series lead. I knew I felt good about this game for a reason — because these guys were finally, after 82 games that took a shootout victory on the final day of the regular season just to make it to the playoffs, ready to live up to their potential. However, there was cause for concern. Simon Gagne was not taking his shifts, more often than not being replaced by Jeff Carter, and I began to search for him on the bench. He was nowhere to be found, which made me recall the two shots he blocked in the second period. One was by Brian Rolston, and the other from another Devil. On the first one, Gagne was clearly stung, dropping for a slight second and struggling off the ice. But he returned, and that's when I believe the Rolston shot hit him. He looked a little stung but nothing that bad. Turns out, I was wrong, because Gagne did not even come out for the third period, and it turns out he suffered a lower-body injury. Sucks, I thought, but at least the Flyers have Ville Leino to fill in if Gagne can't go Thursday. Leino has played pretty well when given the chance and has a ton of skill. Not the end of the world.
So I watched as minutes later, the Flyers iced the game on a goal by Jeff Carter off a bazooka shot from the point by Chris Pronger. Carter got his second goal, the Flyers held a 4-1 lead, and for the next 10 minutes, they played awesome defensive hockey.
Brian Boucher was brilliant yet again, outplaying Martin Brodeur for at leas the second time this series. He stopped 30 of 31 shots fired his way, doing an awesome job absorbing the puck and limiting rebounds, and he absolutely looks like the rookie that lit the NHL on fire 10 years ago. Betts, Laperriere and Darroll Powe were relentless on the forecheck and in the defensive zone, continuing their tremendous game. Even with Carter and Briere registering three points apiece, I'd argue the fourth line was the best line on the ice last night, Laperriere the best player. That's how good he played defensively. Even Scott Hartnell looked to finally show some life, finishing his forecheck every shift in the third period, playing smart, not trying any ridiculous cross-ice passes or ill-advised drops. Though he still struggled to stay on his skates all night long. It's usually a good idea for an NHL player to know how to skate. But hey, at least he wasn't as awful as he's been in the first three games.
From there, it was just a matter of the clock winding down. The Flyers held on and put themselves up 3-1 in the series. I texted Arkansas Fred to ask what happened to Gagne. He responded that they didn't say anything about it on the telecast. Then he said: "Carter was lucky though cause he was nailed in the leg with that slapshot [by Pronger] that he scored on." I didn't even noticed how bad Carter got hit with it. As it turns out, he wasn't so lucky:
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren issued the following statement on Wednesday morning regarding forwards Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne:
"Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne both suffered injuries to their right foot in Tuesday night’s game. Neither will be available to play Thursday, and both players are listed as day-to-day."
Carter, who led the team in goals with 33 in the regular season and has two goals and an assist in four playoff games, missed eight games towards the end of the regular season with a fractured left foot. Gagne has two assists in four playoff games.
Both players appeared to hurt themselves after getting hit with slap shots last night; Gagne possibly from a shot from New Jersey's Brian Rolston, and Carter when he was hit by a blast from the point by Chris Pronger, in which he immediately deposited the loose puck for his second goal of the game.
Not good. That definitely means Ville Leino is playing Thursday, then either Andreas Nodl, David Laliberte or Riley Cote … or even a 7th defenseman in Oskars Bartulis. We'll have to wait and see. Hopefully both Carter and Gagne are OK, especially Carter, who missed time with a broken foot right before the playoffs, because they'll need those guys. That definitely makes the task at hand that much tougher tomorrow in Jersey, but it can't be used as an excuse. They have to find a way to win, with or without Carter and Gagne, because while we certainly want Brian Boucher to continue playing as he did in 2000, we don't want the same outcome. The Flyers are up 3-1 against the Devils in the playoffs yet again; this time, we don't even want to sniff a game 7.
P.S. Ryan Madson sucks. Let last night's pathetic display of pitching put to rest once and for all any thoughts that Ryan Madson can ever be a reliable closer. The guy is a setup man. He thrives as a setup man. And he sucks as a closer. Horribly. Let us never speak of him as a long-term closer ever again. Thank you.
Those were the exact words that came out of my mouth in the closing minutes of the third period last night. "When is this motherfucker going to retire?" As the Flyers were dominating every facet of the game late in the third period, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the soon-to-be 38-year-old Martin Brodeur, the old goalie didn't come anywhere near showing his age, stopping any and all comers. It was maddening. It's something we as Flyers fans have been watching for the past decade and a half, and frankly, I'm tired of it. Martin Brodeur has been haunting our dreams since the early '90s.
And last night, it looked as though he was going to steal a victory in a game in which, barring the barrage of penalties, the Flyers did just about everything right. That is, until Dan Carcillo (with a helping hand from Simon Gagne and Mike Richards), saved the day.
Brodeur was magnificent last night, the only reason that game even went to overtime, but no goaltender alive had a chance to stop that one, not with a wide open Dan Carcillo there, completely unmarked and forgotten, to tap it in.
But let's back up for a minute. Back to Friday night. The Flyers, having already taken game 1 thanks in large part to the play of Brian Boucher, had a golden opportunity to put a stranglehold on this series. So what do they do? They come out and give up a shorthanded goal less than three minutes into the game to fall behind 1-0. For all the magic Matt Carle displayed in game 1, he was beyond awful in game 2. The shorty by Zach Parise was 100 percent his fault, whiffing on a perfect pass back to him at the point as Parise was baring down full speed toward him to thwart a power play shot attempt. Yes, the puck hopped slightly, but it was hardly a difficult play to keep the puck in. Yet Carle couldn't, and Parise was off to the races, easily beating the slow-footed Chris Pronger, who was trying his best to get back. But he stood no shot, and Parise, a lethal goal-scorer, beat Boucher with a gorgeous backhander on the breakaway. Great start, guys.
I was furious, but before the period was through, my mood would change due to one man — my favorite Philadelphia Flyer, Claude Giroux. With the Flyers trailing 1-0, Giroux made one of his patented seeing-eye passes to Arron Asham, who tapped in the tying goal.
Minutes later, Giroux deflected a Matt Carle blast from the point past Brodeur to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. From the moment the puck was dropped Friday night, Claude was the best player on the ice for either squad. He got to every loose puck, won every battle along the boards, shook off checks, created chances, defended with fury — he did everything better than everyone. Yet for some reason, despite playing exponentially better than any other Flyers, than any other skater on either side, Giroux only saw 15 minutes and 37 seconds of ice time. Meanwhile, Jeff Carter and Danny Briere, a tandem that did very little in game 1, each received over 20 minutes of ice time. Yes, they were better on Friday than they were last Wednesday, but they were playing nowhere near the level Giroux was. But Peter Laviolette didn't find a way to get him on the ice more.
And that cost the Flyers. Big time. Colin White — who was taking runs at Giroux and a couple other Flyers all night including a blatant, textbook boarding on Claude that somehow went uncalled — somehow scored a goal, something he never does. Andy Greene, who was by far the best defenseman for the Devils, then scored on the power play to put the Devils ahead, and after Chris Pronger tied it on a beautiful deflection on a 4-3 power play, setting up his 6'6" frame in front of Martin Brodeur (I really love the Pronger screening the goalie thing, the Flyers should do that more often on the power play), former Flyer Dainius Zubrus put the Devils ahead for good — at least according to the official scorekepers, because that goal was definitely scored by Zach Parise. I have no idea how they could possibly miss that.
Seriously, did they just get No. 8 and No. 9 confused? Someone explain to me how Zach Parise still hasn't been credited with this goal. Anyway, that's not the point. The point of Friday's game was that so far in this series, the best skater for the Devils has been the former Flyer, the one who replaced Mikael Renberg on the Legion of Doom line, skating alongside Eric Lindros and John LeClair as a rookie.
Zach Parise is unquestionably New Jersey's best player, Brodeur the team's backbone, Ilya Kovalchuk — who, empty-netter aside, has been a complete nonfactor after game 1 — its best sniper, Travis Zajac a young star and Jamie Langenbrunner the veteran presence, but it's been Zubrus that has given the Flyers the most problems. Not only did he score the game-winner Friday, but he has used his size and strength to protect the puck, work the cycle and screen Brian Boucher with regularity.
The guy has been a horse this series, seemingly playing his best hockey against the Flyers, using his size and strength to give Philadelphia fits the same way Jordan Staal does when the Flyers play Pittsburgh. He's the type of front-of-net presence the Flyers could really use, especially with the departure of Mike Knuble to Washington before the season.
I did not take Friday night's loss well. Not even one bit. All season long, even with the Flyers underachieving once again and faltering down the stretch, I kept up the refrain that while some of the players on the Flyers drive me crazy, there's really no one I hate — even if I didn't really believe myself. Well, after Friday's loss, my real feelings came out, via a message I sent to Adam EatShit:
You know how i said i don't hate anyone on this team? I hate hartnell and coburn
Now hate may be a strong word, especially when it pertains to Braydon Coburn. Truth is, I want to like Coburn. I used to really like Coburn. When he came over from Atlanta, he was awesome, young, fast and talented, and I was sure he would become an all-star defenseman for years to come. Now it's a few years later and Coburn is still fairly young, still fast and still talented, but he hasn't gotten even a little bit better. In fact, you could argue he's regressed. Yes, he has moments of brilliance and games here and there where he's the best defenseman on the ice, but overall, he's been a disappointment. And on Friday night, he played like shit. But still, I don't really want him traded, and I want to like him. I really do. But he's just not living up to expectations. He hasn't the past two seasons. Though he's still only 25 and still has a world of talent and all that speed, so I'm sticking by him, even if I'll let out an occasional outburst toward him.
Hartnell on the other hand, well, I've had enough. Truth be told, I've had enough of him for a while now. Last season, he pissed me off to no end with his idiotic, inopportune penalties. Dumb penalties. Lazy penalties. Something he really never corrected this season either. But last year, it was slightly tolerable because the guy was scoring goals. This year, he's been horrible from the start, and it was evident early on that he wasn't going to be helping the Flyers much. Hell, in December I suggested the Flyers should trade him.
The truth of the matter is he's been terrible from game 1 to 82, with an occasional bright spot here and there but far too few. After netting 54 goals in his first two seasons as a Flyer and playing at a +16 rate, he had just 14 goals this year and finished a -6, failing miserably to pick up any of the slack left by the departing Mike Knuble and Joffrey Lupul. He continued to take bad, lazy penalties, make horrific, unnecessary cross-ice passes and couldn't stay on his skates for the life of him.
Friday night, it all came to a head. He was by far, in my humble opinion, the worst player on the ice. He was falling down left and right — honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a hockey player with worse balance on his skates. On the go-ahead goal, the whole reason the puck got in the Flyers' zone in the first place for that long, sustained shift by the Parise line is because at the other blue line, Hartnell made an atrocious, blind drop pass that sprung the Devils the other way when the smart play, the right play, the only play was to dump the puck down low deep.
He's just not a smart hockey player. There's no two ways around it. And I've had enough. Yes, he was better last night, and he's another guy who isn't old and has some good talent, but frankly, if he's not scoring goals, the bad outweighs the good. Hopefully he can wise up and turn it around, but the evidence suggests this is who Scott Hartnell is. And frankly, I don't like him.
Thankfully, Friday night wasn't a complete wash. While the Flyers were battling the Devils before ultimately falling, Roy Halladay was simultaneously pitching another gem, this time for the first time in Citizens Bank Park as a member of the home Phillies. It was a glorious thing to watch during breaks in the action of the Flyers-Devils and during the intermissions.
Halladay was his typical brilliant self, pitching 8 innings of 2-run ball with four strikeouts and no walks even in the rain. He left after 8 with a comfortable 8-2 lead, putting on an efficient, effortless performance for his new home fans to commit to memory. When David Herndon came in to take the mound for the 9th with a 6-run lead, I went back to the Flyers game. When I flipped back, it was 8-5 with just one out, and Ryan Madson was coming into the game. Unreal. If the bullpen blew this one, I was ready to break everything in the room.
Here was Roy, handing over the bullpen a six-run lead with just three outs to go, and now it was a save situation? What. The. Fuck. Luckily, Madson came in with allowing just one of his two inherited runners to cross home plate, giving the Phils an 8-6 win and making Halladay a perfect 3-for-3 on the season. Twenty-five wins seems in the realm of possibility, especially since he's now won 100 percent of the games he's started as a Philadelphia Phillie. Then again, given the atrocious performance by Herndon and a scary slew of arms in the bullpen, not even a Roy Halladay gem is safe without him finishing it off himself. Luckily, he's been known to that quite a bit.
On Saturday, I spent most of the day sleeping or drinking outside, though I did see this:
LeBron is not human. There is no other explanation for his awesomeness. He is an alien. I'm sure of it.
Then there was yesterday. For the first time since what seems like the 2008 postseason, Cole Hamels pitched an excellent game … and he lost. Baseball makes no sense sometimes. In his first two outings, Hamels was somewhere between shitty and not altogether terrible, yet he got wins in both of them. Yesterday, he pitches a fantastic 8+ innings, giving up just two runs on seven hits while striking out 8 and walking no one, yet he picks up the loss as the Phillies offense, which was scoring more than seven runs a game, failed to get a single batter home. Unreal. But hey, at least Cole looked good. If he can limit the opposition to three runs or less, he and the Phils will win a lot of games. This team won't get shut out or shut down very often.
That finally brings us to last night, the 6 p.m. start for game 3 between the Flyers and Devils right here in Philadelphia. I was so amped up for this game, it was eating at me all day. Finally, the puck was dropped, and almost immediately, the Flyers were in the penalty box. Great, it was going to be one of those kinds of games. I already have enough trouble staving off heart attacks during playoff games, now I have to deal with the Flyers steadily marching to the penalty box. And that's exactly what happened.
A minute and 20 seconds in, Mike Richards was off for hooking. Two minutes and 13 seconds later, Ian Laperriere gets called for tripping. The Flyers were excellent on the penalty kill, but eventually, if they kept it up, you just knew the Devils were going to capitalize. Some three minutes and 24 seconds after Laperriere went off for tripping, Kimmo Timonen headed to the sin bin for a hook, and finally the Devils took advantage. Dainius Zubrus planted his big body in front of Brian Boucher again, set up an awesome screen and distracted Boosh enough that Brian Rolston was able to fire a laser from the point by him, 1-0 Devils. Fuck.
Definitely not the start you want, especially at home: three quick penalties, a power play goal for the Devils and a quiet building. Luckily, the Flyers faithful weren't quiet much longer. With a power play of their own, Timonen took it upon himself to make up for his penalty, winding up to take a shot from the point when out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Giroux heading toward the net. Mid-shot, Kimmo adjusted his plan and fired a slapper not toward the net but in the direction of Giroux. The perfect slap pass made its way right through Colin White and on to Claude's tape, who tapped it into the wide open net to tie the game.
It was an absolute thing of beauty. And after that early barrage of penalties, the Flyers settled in and started to take over. One of the key reasons was the best display I've ever seen from this group of players in the faceoff circle. In the first period alone, the Flyers won 14 out of 18 draws, and the whole game, they won just about every crucial draw. It was a nice change of character for a team that has struggled to win face-offs the past three seasons, and it highlighted just how important and overlooked face-offs are.
With the momentum rolling, it didn't take long for the Flyers to take a lead in the second period. In fact, just 1:15 in, the Gagne-Richards-Carcillo line put forth the type of fore-checking effort Peter Laviolette craves, manufacturing a goal that wasn't there out of sheer will. Simon Gagne flew in with reckless abandon, knocking Mark Fraser off the puck. Carcillo came in with the support, scooping up the puck, and then fed Richards, who was all alone in front of the net, and the captain didn't miss, beating Brodeur to the stick side, 2-1 Flyers. I was beyond pumped up, screaming, slapping the couch, and slightly hurting my hand in the process. That was a picture-perfect forecheck, and it resulted in a beautiful goal. All three forwards had a hand in it, with Gagne going in hard, Carcillo coming to support and Richards heading to the net. You couldn't have drawn it up any better.
With the lead and the ice tilting in the Flyers' favor, I was beginning to feel good. But then the penalty bug crept up again. After giving the Devils four power plays in the first period, the Flyers went shorthanded three more times in the second. On the second power play of the period and the sixth of the game for New Jersey, the Devils simply spit out a carbon copy of their first power play tally. Zubrus planted himself directly in front of Boucher, Rolston fired from the point, and just like that, game tied. Boucher never stood a chance, getting shielded completely by Zubrus. He never saw it, even for a second. Poor job of clearing the porch by Timonen, and great job by the former Flyer. He didn't even register a point on either goal, but he was every bit as responsible for each one as Rolston was. And I was pissed.
But my level of anger was only beginning to boil. Because once the third period happened, I simply couldn't take it. After Jersey tied it, the Flyers turned it up another notch, completely taking over the game. The Devils went some 11 minutes or more without getting a single shot on net. Ilya Kovalchuk was completely invisible — in fact, he didn't even get one shot on net the entire game. The Flyers were going all out, taking it to the Devils in every aspect of the game. They stopped taking penalties and started taking command.
The entire third period was played in Jersey's zone. The Flyers fired shot after shot at Brodeur. Yet everywhere the Flyers turned, every shot they let loose, Brodeur was there to make the save. There was the breakaway for Scott Hartnell who passed to Danny Briere, only to be denied by Brodeur.
Incredible save no doubt by Brodeur, but I was going ballistic at Hartnell, who slammed his stick in frustration after the play. I hope he was frustrated by his decision. Yes, Briere had a nice shot that was turned away, but he also had two defensemen near him, one that may have affected his release a bit. Hartnell, on the other hand, had the puck on his stick with no one between him an Brodeur — in other words, a breakaway. I'm sorry, but when you have a clear path to the goaltender, you take it yourself; you don't pass it off to a guy who has someone skating his butt off to backcheck him. That's not to take away from the great save by Brodeur, but it does highlight another thing that agitated me about Hartnell. He should have shot the puck. But hey, this is about Brodeur, who kept making save after save after save just like that.
The Flyers did just about everything they could think of to try and slip one by the old goalie, but Brodeur just wouldn't give. When Giroux, who again was probably the best player on the ice but still couldn't crack the 20-minute mark in ice time (though he did get more this game, upping his mark to 17:10 — he should be getting 20 minutes of ice time), sprung James van Riemsdyk on a mini break and Brodeur sprawled out and poke-checked it away, that's when I uttered those words: "When is this motherfucker gonna retire?" The Flyers were doing everything right, winning every battle, pinning the Devils deep with relentless forechecking, forcing turnovers, winning faceoffs, throwing big checks, firing shots, making crisp passes, but Brodeur simply shut the door on them.
The longer the game went, the more you began to worry. It looked like this was going to be a game that Brodeur was going to win himself. One bad bounce, one misplay, one mistake, one penalty would be all it would take for the Devils to take this one despite the dominance by the Flyers. And when the game went to overtime, my fears grew even stronger.
This was exactly the type of game the Flyers have been losing all season, all the way up until their dramatic, unexpected shootout victory over the Rangers on the final day of the regular season to knock New York out of the playoffs and secure themselves a playoff spot. Prior to that, the Flyers always found a way to lose these types of games, games where they dominated play but couldn't finish. But this time, the wouldn't let that happen.
The overtime was simply an extension of the third period, of the entire game. The Flyers outshot the Devils 12-3 in the third, 28-18 in regulation, and in overtime, they kept it rolling, keeping the play in Jersey's end and outshooting the Devils 6-1. And that sixth shot was the one that finally did Brodeur and the Devils in, coming from Dan Carcillo of all people, a guy so astonished he netted the playoff overtime winner to give the Flyers a 2-1 series lead that he looked around in disbelief, not sure where to turn or who to hug first before getting tackled by his teammates.
And wouldn't you know it, it all came off a face-off win. Who would have ever guessed it? The second the goal went in, I leapt up off the couch, ran around the house and celebrated. I got myself so excited I couldn't get to sleep for hours despite being completely and utterly drained. In fact, I stayed awake pretty much all night, watching every second of the Blazers-Suns game as former Philadelphia 76er point guard Andre Miller led Portland to the surprising upset victory in Phoenix without Brandon Roy.
Now the Flyers have the upper hand. They took Brodeur's best and still came out victorious. Two more wins and a team that literally needed until the last day of the season to even make the playoffs would be moving on to the second round. A win tomorrow sure would be nice.
And seriously, I can't wait for Martin Brodeur to retire. It will be one of the best things to ever happen to the Flyers. The sooner the better. Though for now, I'll settle for simply ending his season.
In any sport, you can't win by less than one. It's impossible. And one-goal, one-point, one-run games are the most exciting, most intense, most magnified games on every level, especially in the playoffs. It's every fan's dream to watch the tension of a game decided by one with everything on the line. Every play matters, every move, every mistake, everything gets magnified. The difference between a win and loss can be something as little as a bad bounce or misfired pass. You can't beat the excitement of a game decided by a single score.
By that logic, you simply cannot beat the first two days of the NHL playoffs. It's impossible. Every single game thus far, all seven of them, has been decided by a single goal. That's right, every single game has come down to the final seconds or gone into overtime, upping the ante of excitement.
On Wednesday, it was the night of the upset. Not only did the 7th-seeded Flyers defeat the 2nd-seeded Devils 2-1, but the (5) Senators beat the (4) Penguins 5-4 and the (8) Avalanche defeated the (1) Sharks 2-1. Only the 4th-seeded Coyotes were able to take care of business on home ice, defeating the 5th-seeded Red Wings 3-2. You can't beat excitement like that.
The Senators simply outplayed the defending Stanley Cup champs, outshooting them 26-21, as Brian Elliott made the stomps he needed to make while Marc-Andre Fleury looked shaky at best. Detroit severely outplayed Phoenix in the first two periods, outshooting the Coyotes 30-15, but still found themselves tied 2-2 after two. That's when the Coyotes struck, dominating the third to the tune of a 20-10 advantage in shots, with Derek Morris netting the game-winner early on and the defense taking care of the rest. And the Avalanche had the most exciting finish of the night, with Chris Stewart unlocking a 1-1 tie with just 50 seconds remaining to put the perennial playoff underachievers, the Sharks, on the ropes yet again.
Of course, the game I was most interested in was the Flyers-Devils match-up. For all the struggles the Flyers went through this season — the slow start, the injuries, the coaching change, the late-season slump — it was clear they ended up with the best possible match-up in the first round. As odd that sounds, it's true. The Flyers had no hopes of taking on Ottawa, Pittsburgh owns them, the Caps can score at will and the Sabres have an absolutely ridiculous goaltender playing at the top of his game. Meanwhile, the Flyers defeated the Devils five out of six times this season, and Martin Brodeur hasn't looked like himself against the Orange and Black. The Flyers really couldn't have asked for anything more given how things played out.
And wouldn't you know it, the Flyers come out and take game one behind goals by their Canadian Olympians, Mike Richards and Chris Pronger, Brodeur's teammates in Vancouver, and some stellar play from Brian Boucher.
Being stuck at my softball game, we listened on the radio on the opposition's bench as the teams played to a 0-0 tie in the first. Then when the game was over, we turned up my car radio full blast, drank some beers and listened as Richards scored on what Tim Saunders described as a beautiful play by Ian Laperriere, putting the Flyers up 2-0 after Pronger had scored earlier on the power play.
I got back to my house and watched the third period, and immediately the Devils were all over the Flyers. The entire game was being played in Philadelphia's zone, and Jersey started to fire pucks at Boosh. But the guy wouldn't budge. Sure, when he gave up one to Travis Zajac that somehow got between his glove and his pad thanks to a tremendous screen by Zach Parise, it was cause for concern. There were still over 2 and a half minutes remaining, the Devils had gotten all of the pressure and the Flyers were struggling to do anything in the offensive zone. But it just didn't matter. Boucher was tremendous, stopping 23 of the 24 shots he faced, outdueling Brodeur big time, who let two slip by him despite just 14 pucks fired his way.
The biggest question mark for the Flyers heading into the playoffs turned out to be the biggest answer and biggest reason that they won. It was widely believed that Brian Boucher wasn't going to steal any games for his team, while Brodeur has made a history of doing just that. But on Wednesday, it was Boosh that stole the show, won the game for the Flyers. Don't look now, but in his last six starts, Brian Boucher has a 1.67 goals against average and .935 save percentage. It's beginning to look a lot like 2000. Hopefully Boucher plays the same as he did 10 years ago, but the outcome is different.
On a night where the Devils looked like the better team, outshooting Philadelphia 24-14 and controlling the play late (the Flyers only mustered a measly two shots in the third period), it was the Flyers who won, thanks in large part to their special teams. Pronger capitalized on the power play for the series' first goal, and the penalty kill unit took it from there. The Devils went 0-for-4 on the man advantage, including two huge kills in the third period by the determined Flyers. It wasn't pretty, but it sure as shit was effective. And if the Flyers can manage another victory tonight, they come back home to a raucous crowd with a 2-0 series lead. At worst, they'll still be coming home to a raucous crowd having stolen home ice advantage.
As well and good as Wednesday was, you'd think it would be impossible to top last night. But the games on Thursday's slate were arguably even better. Again, all three games were decided by just one goal, but this time, two of them went to overtime.
Buffalo opened the night by defeating Boston 2-1, taking care of their division rival. Then, the Canadiens went into the nation's capital and did this:
When Tomas Plekanec ripped that shot in overtime, I watched in amazement. Amazed by his ludicrous shot. Amazed by the upset. Amazed by Jaroslav Halak's 45 saves. Amazed by the fact that Alexander Ovechkin didn't register a single shot on net. Sure Halak was great, Cammalleri and Gomez scored, Gionta and Kostitsyn looked good, but the biggest reason the Canadiens won was because of the defense on Ovechkin. We're talking about a guy who has led the NHL in shots each and every year since he's entered the league, and doing so by a wide margin before this season. And the only reason he led second-place Zach Parise by just 21 shots this year is because he missed significant time due to injury.
This guy scores so many damn goals in part because of his insane frequency of shots. No one gets off a more accurate, more potent shot as quickly or as often as Alexander Ovechkin. Yet he couldn't register a single one last night. Incredible. If the Canadiens can somehow manage to keep him from hitting the net like that the next few games (highly unlikely), they just may be able to pull off this upset. However, I'd bet my house — you know, if I actually owned a house — that Ovie bombards Halak with rubber tomorrow night. Just a guess.
As if that wasn't enough, LA and Vancouver followed up with another overtime contest, this one ending with the Canucks on top 3-2 on Mikael Samuelsson's game-winning goal.
It was a game Vancouver certainly deserved to win, outshooting the young Kings 17-6 in the first period and 44-27 in the game, but it was a loss Jonathan Quick didn't deserve. The Los Angeles netminder was superb, stopping 41 Canucks shots, but it wasn't enough.
I watched a little more than a period of this one before my old age caught up to me and I fell asleep, but it was awesome while my eyes were open. And from the looks of things, it was awesome the whole way through. Just like the other six games thus far. I can't wait to see what else is in store.
If you don't like hockey and aren't watching the NHL playoffs, you deserve every bad thing that happens to you in life.
On Friday, I implored the Flyers not to flush the entire season down the drain in the most horrifying fashion, by losing twice to the New York Rangers. They did their damnedest to give me a heart attack, but ultimately, in dramatic fashion, they got in. But they sure as shit didn't make it easy on themselves, or me for that matter.
In the first of the final two meetings of the season, both against the Rangers, I was pumped as could be when Mike Richards stole a pass, went in on the breakaway and beat Henrik Lundqvist to give the Flyers a lead just 40 seconds in. Then I departed for my softball game with my roommate and silver fox, listening on the ride. Halfway into the ride, we hear Chris Drury score, and just minutes after that, Jody freakin Shelley scores his first goal of the entire season — in game 81 — to give the Rangers the lead. Fuck. Ing. Gay. Chris Therien was lambasting Richards on the goal, discussing how he gave up on the play after the stick was knocked out of his hands the draw in the biggest game of the entire season. He was just giving it to Richards. Not a smart play by the captain, that's for sure.
Periodically throughout our game, which didn't end so well either, we get updates: 3-1 Rangers, 3-2, tied, 4-3 Rangers. We listened to the ending and when the final seconds ticked away, I was certain the Flyers were on their way to ending their season. A 4-3 loss to the Rangers gave New York all the confidence in the world and the Flyers still searching. To add to the tension, both the Canadiens and Bruins won Saturday, meaning the final playoff spot was really on the line Sunday. The Flyers and Rangers both entered with 86 points. Winner moves on, loser goes home.
Again on Sunday I had some baseball to attend to, which got done just in time for the start of the Flyers game. We listened in the car as Jody freakin Shelley scored again to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the first. What the fuck? The guy hadn't scored a goal all season long, then in the last two games, he gets a goal in each against the Flyers with a playoff berth on the line. It's the guy's 11th year in the NHL, and he's now scored a total of 16 goals. Ridiculous.
But not as ridiculous as the play of Lundqvist. The Flyers outshot the Rangers 18-4 in the first period, yet trailed 1-0. Then they fired 12 more shots at Henrik in the 2nd, still nothing. The Flyers were dominating, outshooting New York 30-13 after two periods of play, but they just couldn't get the puck by Lundqvist. The guy is amazing, and he was playing amazing. It looked like he was primed to steal this one for the Rangers and send New York to playoffs.
As luck would have it, after getting some food and continuing our ride, we got to silver fox's house as the third period got under way. Despite the score, it was more than evident who the better team was. The Flyers were swarming the puck, attacking the zone with speed, firing shots from all angles; they were in complete control. But there was still the matter of that pesky goaltender. No matter how hard the Flyers tried, they couldn't get the puck past Lundqvist. It was incredibly frustrating, for the team to be playing so well but a netminder keeping them at bay, especially since it's something we aren't accustomed to seeing from our goaltenders here in Philadelphia. But then finally, on the power play, Matt Carle scored his biggest goal of his Flyer career, perhaps of his entire life:
It was poetic justice at its finest. Carle was having a fantastic game, playing smart, sound defense and jumping up into the play at every opportunity. He looked like the player that began the season on a phenomenal tear, not the one who has played as inconsistently as this team. When he deposited that backhander in the back of the net, I jumped up for joy, screaming, yelling, pounding the couch with my fist. The wall of Lundqvist had shown a crack. Now it was there for the taking.
Until the clock wound down the game was still tied. It had taken the Flyers nearly 47 minutes to get one by Lundqvist, now they had to manage to get another by him in 5 minutes or it was on to the dreaded shootout. I suddenly didn't like the Flyers' chances. Despite dominating from start to finish, despite outshooting the Rangers 45-23 through three periods of play, I was nervous. Beyond nervous. And when the game finally went to a shootout, I gave the Flyers about a -75 percent chance of winning. I mean, the Rangers had Lundqvist in net, the goaltender who had just stoned the Flyers on 46 of their 47 shots, a guy who thrives in the shootout, while the Flyers had a shaky, unproven Brian Boucher and a slew of shooters who don't exactly thrive in the shootout format.
Then, this happened:
Danny Briere started it off with an absolutely absurd move that even Henrik the great couldn't stop. I don't think I've ever seen a player's hands move so fast at the end of that move. It was a thing of beauty, and I started screaming, "FUCK YEAH, DANNY!!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!" And when Boosh stopped Erik Christensen, suddenly I felt good again. Richards a was up, and he had already scored on a semi-breakaway against Lundqvist on Friday night and then scored on him again to tie that game before ultimately losing. It was the captain's time to step up and move his team on. But he didn't, putting forth a pretty porous effort if you ask me.
To make matters worse, P.A. Parenteau beat Boucher on a shot that should have been stopped. It wasn't even a remotely impressive shot, Boucher got his glove on it, and he was as upset as anyone when it fluttered in. Yikes. The tension was building yet again. I was certain the Flyers were going to go with Jeff Carter, even with him far from 100 percent, because he's the team's best goal-scorer. But Peter Laviolette threw me a curveball by sending out Claude Giroux, and the moment he did, I had a great feeling about it. After all, the guy is my favorite Flyer. And Claude did not let me down, ripping one right through Lundqvist to put the Flyers ahead 2-1 in the shootout.
It all came down to this, Olli "Frankenstein" Jokinen one on one with Brian Boucher. Advantage Boucher, who went on to do funky chicken dance of some sort.
And with the victory, the Flyers didn't just secure a spot in the playoffs, they didn't just end the Rangers' season after giving them hope, but they wound up with the most favorable match-up possible for the first round. Yes, by securing that wild victory Sunday, the Flyers earned the 7th seed, meaning they'll take on the Devils in the first round. While taking on the No. 2 seed with historic Flyer foil and Hall-of-Fame bound goaltender Martin Brodeur in net is never an ideal situation, the Flyers couldn't have asked for a better scenario given the circumstances.
This season, the Flyers went 5-1 against New Jersey, seemingly flipping the script on a division rival that has owned them the past two decades, spearheaded by Brodeur in net. But this year it was the Flyers getting the best of Brodeur. In those six games, the Flyers scored 20 goals, 19 of them coming in the five wins, outscoring the Devils 20-10 overall and 19-6 in their wins. Brodeur started all six for Jersey, and his play was uneven. The Flyers defeated Brodeur 5-2 on 27 shots in the first meeting, then won 3-2 with Brodeur stopping 32 of 35 shots. In the lone loss, the Flyers fired just 23 shots at the Jersey goaltender, losing 4-1. Then the Flyers came back from a 2-0 hole to win 3-2 in back to back games. And in the final meeting of the season, the Flyers trounced the Devils 5-1, chasing Brodeur from net after he surrendered four goals on 19 shots. In those six games Brodeur's save percentage is a paltry .878, even worse if you take out the lone victory (.865).
It hasn't been a stellar year for Brodeur against the Flyers. This, of course, doesn't mean all that much come tonight, when the Flyers kick off the playoffs in New Jersey. Brodeur is notoriously awesome in the playoffs usually, and the Devils aren't simply a team dependent on their goaltending anymore. With players like Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, this team can score as well. It won't be an easy match-up. But given the way the season series went, the Flyers couldn't have asked for a better situation. It's not likely that a No. 7 will defeat a No. 2, but there's definitely a chance.
