Brawling for Brotherly Love

Penn State vs. Alabama

2010-09-11T15:45:00.000-04:00

Friends,

Welcome to gameday. Tonight we have the opportunity to make history and a statement to the nation. The mainstream media would have you believe that we have absolutely no shot at playing a team of Alabama's caliber. While we may be outmatched, we will not be outcoached. You can bet that the coaches have focused on this game since January 2nd. To Alabama, this is just another game to them. We're not an important team, you can bet they're more worried about playing Arkansas in two weeks than us tonight. Meanwhile we have a coach that feasts on teams that aren't completely focused on the game at hand. JoePa said it best: The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital. You can bet that Penn State will be the better prepared team tomorrow. You don't become the winningest coach in college history without learning how to motivate and prepare your team for a big game. And you can BET that JoePa is well aware of what the media is saying about him and his program, and that will stick in his craw. When people tell Paterno what he can't do, he has made a history of making them look silly. He's primed to do it again tonight. So come 7 PM, kick back, enjoy a few drinks, and some friends, and remember one thing- this is the greatest program in college football. We WILL NOT get pushed around without a fight. WE ARE PENN STATE and they are not. We will give the nation something to think about tonight.

Moving blogs again

2010-07-28T01:13:00.001-04:00

I just joined up with some friends over at WordPress to start writing a general sports blog. I'll still make Flyers posts once the season gets back in swing, but if you're so in love with my writing ;-) be sure to check me out over at http://unemployedsportsreporters.wordpress.com/

Let's. Win. This.

2010-05-29T19:36:00.001-04:00

Bring home that cup!

Blog on Hiatus

2010-03-27T17:25:00.003-04:00

After watching the past few Flyers games, it has become increasingly clear to me that the NHL has no intention of calling games fair anymore. Their anti-Flyers bias is obvious with each rule they make up and each goal they illegally take away. The NHL is no longer fun to watch. It is just a mockery of a professional sports league and quite obviously fixed. Until this changes, I will no longer waste my time caring about a team that has to beat an entire league night in and night out.

I Should Be the Flyers GM

2010-03-24T01:43:00.005-04:00

I looooove playing GM Mode in NHL 10. I started a career with the Flyers (prior to roster updates so no JVR). I'm in season 2 of the game and here's the move's I've made so far:

Dealt Danny Briere for Robyn Regher (cleared a lot of cap space)
Signed Alex Tanguay
Traded Robyn Regher for Andrej Meszaros
---- End Season 1 ----

Didn't re-sign Ray Emery
Didn't re-sign Dan Carcillo
Didn't re-sign Ian Lapperriere
Re-signed Blair Betts
Signed Raffi Torres
Dealt Jon Matsumoto and a no-named goalie for Cory Schneider
Dealt Scott Hartnell for Rene Bourque and a 3rd round pick
Dealt Kimo Timonen for Marek Svatos and a 4th round pick
Signed Marc Savard to a 4 year deal
Signed Vesa Toskala
Sent Brian Boucher to the Phantoms (he apparently cleared waivers)

So now my lines look like this:

Carter/Gagne/Giroux
Richards/Tanguay/Svatos
Savard/Bourque/Torres
Betts/Powe/Asham

Meszaros/Pronger
Carle/Coburn
Bartulis/Parent

Schneider
Toskala

Pretty solid team imo. Patrick Kane is apparently still a FA, so I gotta figure out how I'm going to fit him in.

Phillies Spring Preview

2010-03-19T00:03:00.005-04:00

So this week I had the opportunity to participate in a "Blogger's Round Table" preview of the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies. A few of my answers made it into the final post over on Crashburn Alley. I'll post all the questions, and my answers here.

1. How concerned are you about Cole Hamels going into 2010?

I’m a little concerned about Cole Hamels this season. I would like to believe that last year was a season of unluckiness and distractions for him, but now he really has to come out and prove that last year was a fluke and 2008 wasn’t. He’s looked good in spring training so far, but that doesn’t mean much as far as the regular season goes. However, Happ, Blanton, Kendrick and Halladay have all looked great in spring training as well. If they keep this up into the season, the Phillies won’t have to rely on Hamels to be the stud he was in 2008. Maybe that will help him relax and get comfortable again. One thing’s for sure, if he struggles again this year, he had better not make anymore comments like the ones he made in the World Series this past season.

2. Give the Roy Halladay/Cliff Lee mega-trade between the Phillies, Blue Jays, and Mariners a letter grade and explain your grading process.

Phillies: B
I can’t give the Phillies an A for this trade for one reason: they gave up essentially seven prospects for one guy. However, I can’t really give them a low grade for this trade either because they brought in the best pitcher in baseball and managed to sign him to a reasonable contract for the next three years. In hindsight, it would have been nice if the Phillies had decided in July that they could part with Drabeck, because then we might still have Lou Marson or Travis D’Arnaud. But I can’t really complain that the Phillies gave up Marson and some lesser prospects for Lee when the Halladay trade originally fell through because that trade sparked us for the second half the season and the playoffs.

Mariners: A
They got a fantastic pitcher in Lee, while giving up no great prospects in return. This was a very good deal for them, especially if they can re-sign Lee to a long term deal, and he continues his dominating ways.

Blue Jays: A-
Credit the Blue Jays for holding out on trading Halladay until the Phillies caved and gave up Drabek. It was a risky move on the part of the Blue Jays to not deal Halladay at the deadline last July, but the risk paid off for them. They also plucked prospects Michael Taylor (who they then sent to Oakland for a different prospect) and Travis D’Arnaud. This puts them in a nice position to move forward as Drabek and D’Arnaud can contribute to them for a long time. I have to give them an A- on the deal though because they were unable to build around Halladay and knew that they wouldn’t be able to re-sign him, which ultimately led to them having to deal the best pitcher in baseball.

3. What should the Phillies do about Jayson Werth and his impending free agency?

I would love to see the Phillies re-sign Jayson Werth if it’s feasible. Werth has been a very valuable member of this team for the past two seasons, and it’s great that he had such a solid year in 2009. I would not want to sign him to a big money deal if it means that we can’t re-sign Ryan Howard in a couple of years. Howard is a bigger part of this team than Werth is, and the Phillies have Domonic Brown waiting in the wings. The ideal situation would be to re-sign Werth, and move either him or Brown to left field to replace Ibanez, but my guess is that the Phillies won’t have enough money to make a move like that. So as much as it pains me to say it, it is probably best to let Werth walk in free agency. I’d rather see the Phillies be successful for a long period of time, than to get too attached to some of the more expendable players.

4. Jimmy Rollins says he wants to hit .300, accrue 200 hits, score 150 runs, steal 50 bases, and commit 3 or fewer errors. Give us your AVG, H, R, SB, and E predictions for Rollins in 2010.

Well hopefully Rollins’ goals won’t backfire and make him overthink things this year. The only thing on that list that he’s ever done is reach the 200 hit plateau (and he somehow still didn’t hit .300 that season). At 31, I think it’s possible, but unlikely, that he’ll suddenly throw up career bests in all those categories. Out of all these, I think Rollins is most capable of hitting .300, even though he’s never done it before. I see him returning to the .280-.290 range for sure though. The other goal I think he’s capable of reaching is the three error mark. Rollins has been a great fielder over his career, and last year he had a career low in errors with 6. Realistically, I think Rollins will hit .285, he’ll get about 190 hits, 120 runs, 40 SB and 5 errors. If he does this, it’s possible we’ll see his name in the mix for MVP again.

5. Is the duo of Ryan Madson and Danys Baez reliable back-up for ailing closer Brad Lidge?

Madson is definitely not a viable option as a backup closer to Brad Lidge. When Lidge went down last year, we saw how shaky Madson got in the closer role. Madson is a very very solid setup man, but loses all that confidence when he moves to the 9th inning. I’ll admit that I don’t know much about Danny Baez, so I can’t make a judgment about his ability to take over the closer role if needed. If Lidge does go down, I’d like to see Baez get a crack at the job, and then possibly J.C. Romero.

6. Which team in the NL East worries you the most?

The Braves are the team that worries me the most. The Marlins don’t worry me too much because I don’t think they’re that deep beyond Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco and Hanley Ramirez. The Mets, despite adding Jason Bay, are a mess (and are possibly without Reyes all year). The Nationals… well they’re the Nationals. The Braves will have their traditionally strong pitching staff, and they will also have a fairly strong lineup. Add in the X-factor that it’s Bobby Cox’s last year as manager and we could have an interesting race on our hands this season.

7. Teams have been approaching Ryan Howard with a steady diet of left-handed pitching and breaking balls and by employing the shift on the right side of the field. Will this trend continue in 2010, or will Howard make the appropriate adjustments?

I think opposing teams will continue to feed lefties and breaking balls to Howard until he proves that he can consistently hurt them when he tries that. The overshift on Howard doesn’t worry me too much because when Howard is hitting the ball well, he can go the opposite way just as easily as he can pull the ball. Hopefully he spent most the offseason working on hitting breaking balls because he’s just looked lost at the plate at times. I will be very disappointed if he doesn’t get better against the breaking ball this year, because he knows what’s coming and it’s up to him to work at it until he hit them consistently.

8. Placido Polanco is making the switch from second base to third base. How good will he be defensively?

I think Polanco will be just fine at third base. There will be an adjustment period for him, but I don’t foresee him being a liability at third base. I doubt he’ll play gold glove defense, and he won’t be as good as some of the other third basemen we’ve had in the past, but I don’t think he’s expected to be a phenomenal third basemen. As long as he’s not booting every ball in sight and produces consistently at the plate, the experiment will be a success.

9. Who should win the #5 spot, Jamie Moyer or Kyle Kendrick?

Kendrick hands down. Moyer may have won 12 games last season, but it was painful watching him deal sometimes. When he wasn’t getting his pitches called, he would have very poor games. I don’t want to rely on a generous ump in order for our #5 guy to have success as a pitcher. Moyer pitched really well in long relief last fall until he got hurt. I wouldn’t mind seeing him return to that role or return as a spot starter. Kendrick has looked very good so far this post season, and I absolutely love the fact that he is working his butt off with Halladay. I think Kendrick realized that it’s time for him to show the Phillies that he still has something if he doesn’t want to be shipped off somewhere else. If he continues to put forth the effort that he has so far, I think that he can be a very reliable 5th starter.

10. The bench was great in 2008 but disappointing last year. Will the additions of Brian Schneider, Ross Gload, and Ramon Castro help?

I think that Brian Schneider is a bit of an upgrade over Paul Bako (and he’ll also give the Phillies a left handed batter at every position :-p). The other two moves were less than inspiring. Castro is basically the same as Bruntlett, and I don’t know too much about Gload. He had decent OBP and SLG numbers last season, so it’s possible that he can be a solid contributor off the bench. I would bet on the Phillies having an average to disappointing bench again this year.

11. Will J.A. Happ come close to his 2.93 ERA from 2009?

Happ will probably regress a little this season. However, I think he does have the stuff to throw up an ERA that’s between 3.00 and 4.00. If the Phillies can get that sort of performance out of him this year I think they will be in a very good spot. Hopefully he won’t have a Kendrick-like regression, and my gut feeling says he won’t

12. The Phillies essentially swapped Chan Ho Park for Jose Contreras. Thumbs up or thumbs down and why?

Thumbs-down, but I can’t fault the Phillies on this one. Once Park moved to the bullpen last year, his stuff got so much better. I had no idea he could throw a 96 mph fastball, yet he did that consistently out of the pen. He was one of the best relievers we had all season last year and I was sad to see him go. He left because he still wanted to start somewhere, but ended up signing on as a long reliever with the Yankees… so I’m a little miffed about that. I’ll be happy if Contreras can come in and show that he’s a similar type of pitcher.

13. Which Phillie(s) is/are we most likely to see dealt by the July 31 trading deadline?

Jayson Werth. His contract is up this season and I’ll be willing to bet that Reuben Amaro Jr. will have decided by then whether or not he wants to re-sign Werth. If the answer to that question is no, then I have a feeling Amaro will want to see if he can get anything for him. This will all be affected by how well Domonic Brown plays when he gets the chance. A darkhorse candidate is Ryan Howard. I know Amaro has said that the reports of the talks about swapping Howard for Pujols aren’t true, but just seeing the report makes me wonder if trading Howard is something the Phillies are mulling over. I seriously doubt they would deal him this year though.

14. The Phillies have had one of baseball's best defenses for several years running according to most metrics. Does this trend continue?

I don’t see why this trend wouldn’t continue. The only change in the everyday lineup is Polanco at third instead of Feliz. While his defense won’t be as good as Feliz’s was, I don’t think it will be that much worse that it will majorly affect the team defense. But who knows, maybe Utley will get the yips again, and Ibanez will remember that he’s 37 and he’ll start playing defense like that.

15. What will the team get from Domonic Brown this season?

I can’t say for sure. I would hope that he plays well enough in spot starts and off the bench that the Phillies will be able to confidently trade away Jayson Werth by the deadline and not regret the move. But he has yet to play an inning in the major leagues. So it’s more than possible that he struggles throughout the year like other highly touted outfielding prospects such as the Reds’ Jay Bruce.

Predictions

Phillies W-L, place in division: 98-64 (1st place)
Playoffs: Yes, they reach the playoffs as the 1 seed. I think they will make it back to the World Series again, the team hasn’t changed too drastically over the past two years, so as long as our bullpen holds up in the post season, there’s no reason to believe we can’t make it back again.
Team MVP: Chase Utley. His numbers have slid a bit over the past two years, but I think he’ll rebound and have a monster year this year, especially hitting behind Polanco.
Team Cy Young: Halladay. No question about this one.
Biggest Rookie Contributor: Domonic Brown. Hopefully he lives up to his hype.
Breakout player (Batter): Jayson Werth. I suppose last year was technically his breakout year, but I feel like he’s the only current starter that can reach new heights this year. We know what Victorino, Ibanez, Howard, Utley, Rollins, Polanco and Ruiz are capable of. Werth kind of surprised everybody last year when he put up the numbers that he did. I’m willing to bet he can do more this year.
Breakout Player (Pitcher): Kendrick. I think he will win the #5 spot in the rotation and will have a year closer to his rookie year rather than his disappointing sophomore year.
Under-the-radar: Do the Phillies really have one of these? The Phillies lineup is loaded with stars and it would really be hard to say that any of them are really under the radar. I guess I’ll go with Joe Blanton who has been our most consistent starter since he came to Philly. The Phillies win a lot when he’s on the mound, and you know he’s going to go out and give it his best when it’s his turn to start. I was a little upset when I saw so many Phillies fans get outraged that we gave him a $5 million contract. He earned it in my opinion.

New Blog Colors

2010-03-18T23:44:00.002-04:00

I used Phillies colors for about a year and a half... I figured it was time to install something new... so let me know what you think!

Discipline in the NHL (Does it Make Sense to Anyone?!)

2010-03-17T00:54:00.008-04:00

So if you've been paying attention at all to the NHL the past couple of weeks you've probably noticed that the NHL has noooooo clue what it's doing when it comes to handing out suspensions. There have been four incidents that have occurred since the NHL resumed play that have warranted further action by the league disciplinarian Colin Campbell. In each case, Campbell has left everyone watching scratching their heads and wondering what he was thinking.

Case #1: Maxim Lapierre's hit on Scott Nichol

Lapierre ended up getting a four game suspension for this hit from behind on the Sharks' Scott Nichol. Lapierre is a pest/agitator type of player, yet prior to this suspension, had no previous suspension history. So while a somewhat dangerous hit, it's a type of hit that happens in the NHL from time to time without any serious injury, though Nichol ended up missing about a week with a shoulder injury. This suspension seemed to be based on Lapierre's reputation as a tough guy, even though he wasn't a repeat offender.

Case #2: Matt Cooke's elbow to the head of Marc Savard

This was the most puzzling of Campbell's decisions not to suspend someone. This hit happened the same week that the GMs in the NHL were gathering to discuss hits to the head in hockey. Campbell had an opportunity to send a message that he and the NHL are serious about eliminating this type of play, yet instead of sending that message, he chose not to suspend Cooke because he had not suspended Mike Richards earlier in the year for a similar type of hit (I would like to note that Richards did not appear to target the head the way Cooke did and that is a distinct and important difference in the two cases as Campbell has suspended players for their intent to target another player's head in the past). Cooke also had a history of dirty hits like that and had been twice suspended for dangerous hits on other players. So so far, Campbell has suspended someone who had never been suspended before for a borderline hit, and let a repeat offender walk despite his clear intent to hit Savard in the head. Confused yet? Savard, by the way, will miss the rest of the season with a severe concussion. He is Boston's best player, and Boston is a possible first round matchup for the Penguins...

Case #3: Alexander Ovechkin's hit on Brian Campbell

This was Campbell's most puzzling decision to suspend someone. Out of the three hits so far, this one was actually clean. Ovechkin hit Brian Campbell from the side, unfortunately, Campbell's skate got stuck and he twisted and hit the boards awkwardly. Ovechkin had been suspended earlier this year for a knee to knee hit on another player, but this play was clearly the result of freak accident, rather than a blatant dirty hit. Nevertheless, Colin Campbell decided to hand down a two game suspension to the Washington star, possibly so he could show that he isn't afraid to suspend league superstars.

Case #4: Steve Downie's takedown of Sidney Crosby

Here is another strange decision not to suspend. It's hard to defend what Downie did as anything other than an attempt to injure Sidney Crosby. It was well out of the play and he locked his legs up with Crosby's while pulling him backward. Nothing about that hit was unintentional. Downie also has a suspension history as he was given a 20 game suspension two years ago for launching himself at Dean McAmmond's head. However, Downie managed to escape a suspension, though he did get a small fine.

So as you can see, clearly there is no rhyme or reason to suspensions in the NHL right now. Each case took a lot of explaining as to why the player was or wasn't disciplined, and the verdict of each case just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If the NHL is serious about player safety, they really need to have clear, strict rules on what will happen if you hit players in certain ways. Until that happens, I fear that these types of plays will become more commonplace. And that isn't good for the sport at all.

Welcome to the Sprint

2010-03-02T13:35:00.004-05:00

Well the Olympics wrapped up in exciting style on Sunday with Canada eeking out an overtime win over the USA on a goal by cindy crosby. That was like a punch to the stomach. Despite that blow, the game was still one of the best hockey games played in a long time. The NHL schedule started back up last night and teams have 34 days in which they will play 19-22 games. So if you like hockey, you're going to get to see a lot of it this month.

The Flyers start off with Tampa Bay tonight, so I'm expecting 2 goals from Blair Betts as that's been his trend this year. Then they play in Florida tomorrow. The Flyers have 22 games left, they're sitting at sixth place in the conference with 67 points. They have games in hand over every team chasing them except for Boston and Atlanta. My guess is that if they go about .500 in their last 22 games, they will make the playoffs as a lower half seed. If the Flyers stay on fire and win say 15+ games, they have an outside shot at winning the division. They're 10 points behind the Devils and 9 behind Pittsburgh though they have a game and two games in hand over each team respectively. The one thing the Flyers cannot afford to do is go on a prolonged losing streak. They only have a four point lead over Tampa Bay (and a game in hand) who they play tonight. Their next three games are all against teams who are in the hunt for a playoff spot, so picking up wins against each of them would go a long way to shoring up their playoff spot.

The Flyers schedule couldn't be much easier for these last few weeks of the season either. They play 16 or 17 teams that have fewer points than they do. So if they miss the playoffs, something seriously wrong happened. So here's to a good stretch run for the Flyers!

Preliminary Round Recap

2010-02-22T23:27:00.003-05:00

In case you've been living under a rock for the past two days, on Sunday the US upset Canada to steal Pool A and the #1 overall seed for the medal round. While I left the door open for this upset to happen, I still didn't think it would. So now I'm going to examine my predictions from the preliminary round, and rework my predictions for the medal round.

Group A (W-L-OTW-OTL, Pts):
USA (3-0-0-0, 9)
Canada (1-1-1-0, 5)
Switzerland (0-1-1-1, 3)
Norway (0-2-0-1, 1)

Breakdown:
I predicted Canada to win the pool 3-0, yet they struggled against Switzerland, and blew it against the US. The US team played well enough to win all three games, and managed to lock down the #1 seed for the medal round. I was right that Switzerland would lose to Canada and the US, though I didn't see them taking Canada to OT. I also thought they would beat Norway in regulation.

Group B (W-L-OTW-OTL, Pts):
Russia (2-0-0-1, 7)
Czech Republic (2-1-0-0, 6)
Slovakia (1-1-1-0, 5)
Latvia (0-3-0-0, 0)

Breakdown:
I predicted the order this group would finish in perfectly, however, I didn't foresee Russia's OTL to Slovakia.

Group C (W-L-OTW-OTL, Pts):
Sweden (3-0-0-0, 9)
Finland (2-1-0-0, 6)
Belarus (1-2-0-0, 3)
Germany (0-3-0-0, 0)

Breakdown:
Finland was actually leading this group (due to goal differential) until they were dominated by Sweden last night. Sweden only won by three goals, so they finished with a lower goal differential than the US and ended up with the #2 seed for the medal round. Finland finished as the 4th seed due to a better goal differential than the Czechs. I didn't expect Germany to lose to Belarus either.

Seedings:
1 USA
2 Sweden
3 Russia
4 Finland
5 Czech Republic
6 Canada
7 Slovakia
8 Switzerland
9 Belarus
10 Norway
11 Germany
12 Latvia

Qualification Round Matchups (Predicted winners in Bold):
5 Czech Republic vs. 12 Latvia
6 Canada vs. 11 Germany
7 Slovakia vs. 10 Norway
8 Switzerland vs. 9 Belarus

Quarterfinals (Predicted winners in Bold):
1 USA vs. 8 Switzerland
2 Sweden vs. 7 Slovakia
3 Russia vs. 6 Canada
4 Finland vs. 5 Czech Republic

Semifinals (Predicted winners in Bold):
1 USA vs. 5 Czech Republic
2 Sweden vs. 6 Canada

Bronze Medal Game:
2 Sweden vs. 5 Czech Republic

Gold Medal Game:
1 USA vs. 6 Canada

It's hard to pick against USA after their huge win last night over Canada, and I think they will make it back to the gold medal game because I like the possible matchups they have from here on out. However, I think Canada will be riding a huge wave of momentum if they can get past Russia, and since they are playing on home ice, I have to give them the edge. However, as Team USA proved yesterday, with Ryan Miller in net, anything can happen. So go USA!

Olympic Hockey

2010-02-16T16:50:00.002-05:00

Men's Olympic Hockey begins today with USA playing Switzerland. I for one am really excited to see this tournament get underway. Seeing all the skill some of these teams are going to be able to put on the ice at the same time is just astounding. The favorite to take home the gold, is obviously the Canadian team, but stranger things have happened, and there are several teams that will push Team Canada for that gold medal.

The Pools

Group A:
Canada
Norway
Switzerland
USA

Group B:
Czech Republic
Latvia
Russia
Slovakia

Group C:
Belarus
Finland
Germany
Sweden

The Breakdown

Group A:
Canada should win Group A. They are the most talented and deepest team in the group. However, they have a ton of pressure on them to perform well since they are playing at home, and hockey is Canada's national sport. Team USA could win the group if they play a tight checking game against Canada to limit their scoring chances, while taking advantage of the ones they get against Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur. Switzerland already lost their opener to Team USA, so they have a very slim chance at winning the group. I don't know much about Norway, but they'll be fighting Switzerland for third place in the group.

Group B:
This is the toughest group out of the three in my opinion. The Russians are the favorite as they have assembled possibly the best offensive team Olympic hockey has ever seen. I am incredibly excited to watch Malkin and Ovechkin play together. But the Czech Republic will field a solid team with players like Martin Havlat and Tomas Plekanec. Slovakia was dealt a blow today when they found out that Marian Gaborik will miss their first two games, but they still have a dangerous roster. Latvia is filled with a bunch of no-name players (though the Flyers' Oskars Bartulis is on the team!), and they get a stiff test against Russia tonight. But if they play well, it will give them a lot of confidence in their games against Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Group C:
The Swedes are the defending gold medalists and the favorites to win their group. Finland is the defending silver medalists and should finish second to the Swedes in Group C. Germany will provide a tough test in their games, but I don't expect to see them upset Sweden or Finland. Belarus will face an uphill climb in these Olympics as two of their four NHL players are out with injury.

Projected Finish

Group A:
Team (W-L-OTL, Pts)
Canada (3-0-0, 9)
USA (2-1-0, 6)
Switzerland (1-2-0, 3)
Norway (0-3-0, 0)

Group B:
Team (W-L-OTL, Pts)
Russia (3-0-0, 9)
Slovakia (2-1-0, 5)
Czech Republic (1-1-1, 4)
Latvia (0-3-0, 0)

Group C:
Team (W-L-OTL, Pts)
Sweden (3-0-0, 8)
Finland (2-0-1, 7)
Germany (1-2-0, 3)
Belarus (0-3-0, 0)

Medal Round

Seeds (Top 4 get a 1st Round Bye):
1. Russia
2. Canada
3. Sweden
4. Finland
5. USA
6. Slovakia
7. Czech Republic
8. Germany
9. Switzerland
10. Belarus
11. Norway
12. Latvia

First Round (Projected winners in Bold):
5 USA v. 12 Latvia
6 Slovakia v. 11 Norway
7 Czech Republic v. 10 Belarus
8 Germany v. 9 Switzerland

Quarterfinals (Projected winners in Bold):
1 Russia v. 8 Germany
2 Canada v. 7 Czech Republic
3 Sweden v. 6 Slovakia
4 Finland v. 5 USA

Semifinals (Projected winners in Bold):
1 Russia v. 5 USA
2 Canada v. 3 Sweden

Bronze Medal Game (Projected winner in Bold):
3 Sweden v. 5 USA

Gold Medal Game (Projected winner in Bold):
1 Russia v. 2 Canada

A Few Thoughts Before the Olympic Break

2010-02-12T15:28:00.003-05:00

A week ago I was wondering if the Flyers were a playoff team. They have done well to put themselves back in the playoff picture this past month, but they had a possibility to come away with six points on an easy road trip last week and they only got two. A last second (literally) loss to the worst team in the league (Edmonton), and a lethargic looking loss to Minnesota last Saturday really made me wonder if the Flyers could hang tough with some of the better teams in the league and secure a playoff spot. With a home and home coming up against New Jersey, and a tenuous grasp on the 8th seed, things did not look good. A period and 15 minutes into the first game against the Devils, the Flyers were down 2-0 and looked lifeless. The Flyers had one goal in the past 7 and a half periods... it was ugly. And then JVR happen. Van Riemsdyk lumbered up through center, split the D and fired a wrister over Brodeur's shoulder. A minute later, Carter one-timed a Hartnell pass past Brodeur to tie the game. Richards scored a late PPG in the third period to win the game.

This was the first time this season that the Flyers came from two goals down to win a game. That is a scary statistic. If the Flyers want to make a deep playoff run this year, they're going to need to be able to come from behind to win occasionally. Playing against teams like Washington and Pittsburgh, two goal deficits are easy to come by. However, Wednesday night's game in New Jersey (in front of an announced crowd of 5500 thanks to Snowmageddon 2010) provided a lot of encouragement. The Flyers again dug themselves into a 2-0 hole thanks to a couple of flukey goals. But Arron Asham scored 30 seconds after the Devils' second goal and Carter tied it in the second. The Devils controlled the 3rd period (outshot the Flyers 7-1) and the first two minutes of OT until Gagne turned in his best shift all year. First he faked Brodeur out of his skates and had a wide open net to shoot at, but the defenseman was able to poke the puck off his stick before he could score. Instead of giving up on the play, Gagne picked the puck back up in the far corner, skated out to the blueline and around two Devils. Then he moved down the slot and floated a wrister over Brodeur's shoulder to win the game and snap his 13 game goalless streak. Those of you that follow me on Twitter know that I've been calling for Gagne to be traded lately as he's just looked horrendous. I still think it's in the Flyers best interest to trade him, but that goal bought him a little more time.

So now the Flyers have one last home and home series with Montreal before the Olympics start. It is incredibly important for the Flyers to win both games. They're one point behind Montreal for 6th place in the conference, so wins in both games would put Philly in firm control of the 6th spot (they have three games in hand and one more win than the Canadiens). The Flyers are also playing with a ton of confidence right now, so they need to take advantage of it since they have no games from Feb 14 - March 2.

Another thing I wanted to comment on was the play of Michael Leighton. When Emery got hurt again two weeks ago, I'll admit that I was worried that Leighton's magic was gone and that he would revert to the play that got him cut by Carolina (and Carolina sucks this year). However, he has proved me wrong yet again. He's 2-2 and has given up seven goals in four games, and he only got one goal from his own team in those two losses. I think it's time for the Flyers to cut Boucher (when Emery comes back) and make Leighton the starter for the rest of the season. Emery has been fine since his return from injury, but Leighton has been lights out. In 16 games with the Flyers, he's given up more than two goals THREE TIMES. He has a 2.21 GAA and a .925 Save %. Emery has a good GAA (2.64) but his save % is only .905, and Boucher has a 2.84 GAA with a .896 save %. It's clear to me who the goalie should be going forward.

Anyways, the Flyers face off against the Canadiens at 6 PM tonight, and the Olympics opening ceremonies are at 7:30 PM, so it's gonna be a good night for me :)

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

2010-01-21T18:52:00.002-05:00

Well... it's been about a month since I last posted. It's now a new decade, and I'm less than four months from graduating college. Scary.

In the sporting world, the Flyers have rebounded nicely (like I said they would!) as they've gone 9-3-1 since December 23rd, and are pinballing between the 8th and 9th spots in the conference. Tonight they have a tough game against the New York Rangers, before playing Carolina and Pittsburgh over the weekend (seriously, it seems like we play Pittsburgh on the tail end of back to back nights every time this year). Wins in all of these games will firmly put us in the playoff picture, so hopefully the Flyers take advantage of that.

I'm really liking the way the Flyers have been playing recently. Their offense is simply on fire right now, as they've scored three goals or more 10 times in the past 13 games. The best part about that is that it's not just one or two guys doing all the scoring. Everyone is contributing including some of the grinders like Asham and Carcillo. Carter has been white-hot lately and he's a goal away from reaching the 20 goal mark again. The only player who's been conspicuously quiet lately is Mike Richards. He only has three goals and 8 points in the past 11 games, and one of those was an empty net goal. He just hasn't been as consistent as he's been in the past. I haven't even noticed him making the big hits he's capable of.

One of the better moves Laviolette has made since become the head coach was moving Giroux to take over the third line center duties. His passing abilities and the way he creates space when he has the puck makes him a natural center. He made a beautiful no-look-behind-the-back-spin pass to Asham for an easy goal on Tuesday. I'm hoping he continues to make JVR and Asham look like stars.

The one player who I can no longer stand watching is Coburn. He has been absolutely terrible this year. He's become a cross between Chris Therien and Randy Jones... he doesn't hit anyone and he turns the puck over as soon as he's pressured. Hopefully he can turn it around because he has been a solid defenseman the past couple of years and it's been hard to watch him regress the way he has.

Two of the biggest reasons the Flyers have made such a turnaround in the past few weeks (in my opinion) has been the return of Darrol Powe from injury, and a major improvement in our penalty killing. During the 3-13 stretch, the Flyers were absolutely awful on the penalty kill as their PK% dropped from the top 10 in the league to the bottom 5. During the 9-3-1 stretch, the Flyers killed off something like 25 straight penalties and brought the PK% back to respectability. The return of Darrol Powe was also a huge boost (in my opinion) because he was the spark that drove the 3rd and 4th lines. Powe is easily the fastest skater on the team, and is the most offensively skilled player out of the Carcillo/Asham/Laperierre/Betts group. Having him back in the lineup gives the Flyers the ability to control the play when their third line is on the ice.

Anyways, in short- the Flyers have looked a lot more like the team we thought they would be back in October. Once Emery starts playing up to his potential again, the Flyers could be very tough to stop.

Don't Panic

2009-12-19T00:19:00.003-05:00

So this last month has been pretty tough if you're a Flyers fan. Since the Flyers beat the LA Kings a month ago, the Flyers are 3-11-1. John Stevens has been fired, and the trade rumors are starting to swirl. Despite this slide, I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet and declare the season over.

While November and December are traditionally strong months for the Flyers, this year they battled a TON of injuries. On this losing streak they've lost: Blair Betts, Darrol Powe, Jared Ross, Ole Kristian Tollefsen and Ray Emery to injuries. Plus they haven't had Gagne since October.

One of the biggest reason for the losing streak has been the Flyers inability to kill penalties. When you lose one of your top PK men (Betts), it gets a lot harder to kill penalties. Another area where the Flyers have struggled is scoring. Powe, when he was injured, had had 6 goals in 19 games. While not stunning numbers, he was off to the best start of his career, and he is a sparkplug for the 3rd and 4th lines. Powe is set to return next week, as is Gagne and Betts came back last night. Hopefully with the Flyers getting healthy, we'll see their game start to pick up.

The Flyers are also still adjusting to new coach Peter Laviolette. Laviolette brings a whole new style of play with him, and with frequent games, it has been hard for the Flyers to practice the new system. Laviolette likes to run a two man forecheck, and to play aggressively in the offensive zone. This isn't something the Flyers are used to, and it requires a lot of conditioning to execute it well. The Flyers obviously weren't conditioned to run this system under Stevens, so it may take a little time for them to get used to it.

The bottom line is, this team has too much talent not to contend with Pittsburgh and other elite teams. This is a rough patch for them, but they have weathered worse in the past (remember that 10 game losing streak back in 08?). I fully expect the Flyers to recover from this slump (they just played a great game against Pittsburgh last night) and to get on a roll for the second half the season. Keep the faith!

What Would You Do for Free Flyers Tickets?

2009-12-04T11:19:00.001-05:00

This is what I did:

I came in second, but still lost by like 17... It would've been cool to win the santa sack, but the consolation prize was great!

Also- Flyers need to get their act together.

Inconsistent Discipline Strikes Again!

2009-11-24T17:36:00.002-05:00

Apparently Danny Briere has been suspended for two games because he cross checked Scott Hannan in the neck in the second period last night. There was no penalty on the play, and Hannan isn't expected to miss much time, yet the league decided it was worth suspending Briere over. In the Flyers past three games, Giroux has been boarded (went into the boards nose first) and cross checked hard in the neck after scoring, Powe was hit late behind a play where the defenseman took five or six strides to come hit him, resulting in a shoulder injury that has had him out of the lineup for the past two games, and he'll be out for five more weeks, and Jeff Carter was boarded and went face first into the boards last night in Colorado. Yet none of these plays drew a second look from the disciplinarians in Toronto. The league's bias against the Flyers is pretty amazing sometimes...

Blue Line Attack

2009-11-06T15:54:00.003-05:00

If anyone is interested in helping beta test a hockey mmorpg- sign up here: http://www.bluelineattack.com/

It's kinda cool. If you have questions, I can answer them for you.

Flyers Wrap

2009-10-27T17:29:00.003-04:00

So now that the Flyers are finally playing games again...

They've been so-so since the week long break. They split games with Florida, losing 4-2 in Fl, but crushing them 5-1 here. They beat Boston in a shootout (on a beautiful goal by Claude Giroux) and played extremely uninspired hockey against San Jose in a 4-1 loss.

Is it just me, or do the Flyers seem bored on the ice recently? They looked good in the win against Florida, but in the loss to Fl, the Boston game and the San Jose game, they just looked like they don't want to be out on the ice. Coburn has really regressed this year imo, and Timonen isn't looking like his usual self either. Pronger has been ok... but he hasn't been the game changer I was expecting.

I think a lot of the Flyers problems stem from Mike Richards. Now I'm a huge Richards fan, but he's been making me grimace more than cheer this season. He started off the season really hot, but he's as uninspiring a leader as ever... and now he's in the middle of a couple of controversies as he's acting like a petulant brat and refusing to speak to the Philly media, and he narrowly avoided a suspension last week after his ugly hit on David Booth (granted, while I don't think he was trying to hurt Booth, it's still never a good thing to see a hit like that). Richards is young, only 24, but he is sorely lacking leadership skills needed to captain a winning hockey team. Richards is going to be here a long time, and he needs to grow up. That being said, the Flyers brass needs to recognize that he might not be fit for the captaincy right now. It was given to him before last season because there really was no better option. Now that Pronger is here, it might be wise to make him the leader of the team for the time being and let Richards learn under him. Pronger has won everywhere he's been (even in St. Louis), and he knows what it takes to bring Philadelphia fans what they want most. I say that if the Flyers continue to play the way they've been, it's time to send them a message that it won't be tolerated by stripping Richards of the captaincy.

Also- Brian Boucher sucks. Bring back Nitty.

This One's For Harry

2009-10-21T23:54:00.002-04:00

2/3 of the way there. Four more wins til we repeat. Do it for Harry!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJrAAaUcKg

Has Hockey Season Started?

2009-10-21T00:27:00.001-04:00

It feels like the summer all over again. 1 game in 11 days is KILLING ME. It's a good thing the Phils have been playing well or I'd be out of my mind right now.

Let's Go Phillies!

2009-10-12T22:36:00.002-04:00

We've got hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh hopes, we've got hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh hopes. We've got, high apple pies in the skyyyyyyyyy hopes.

That was the most exciting baseball game I've ever seen. Phils take a 2-1 lead into the 8th, blow it and go down 4-2, but then score three in the top of the 9th to win 5-4. Ryan Howard is clutch clutch clutch. He can strike out as many times as he likes, but when it counts, this dude is nails. Ahhh so we're back in the NLCS for the second straight year, and again we've got the Dodgers. I think we can beat them, as it took all the breaks going their way for them to beat us at all during the regular season.

Anyways, while the Flyers hibernate for awhile this week, I'll enjoy my Phils. Here's to another parade!

Flyers vs. Ducks Live Blog

2009-10-10T19:22:00.046-04:00

So I just decided to live blog the rest of this game. It's been awhile since I've done one of these.

7:23 - Flyers power play ends, but they sure put a lot of pressure on Hiller.

7:25 - Giroux barely missed Gagne on a long pass. That's the third time that's almost happened. It will before the end of the game.

7:26 - Emery is making it look tough. Hartnell tripped in front after missing a scoring chance. Flyers back on the PP.

7:29 - Ducks winger Bobby Ryan is a native Philidelphian. He speeaks very highly of the area, he'll be a Flyer before his career is over.

7:30 - Gagne, Giroux and Richards finally hook up. Richards grabs his 6th goal of the season. 1-0 Flyers.

7:34 - Emery shoved by a Duck, no call. Nothing came of it though.

7:36 - Cote tripped, Gagne elbowed, two more no calls. The Ducks are playing a little dirty right now.

7:38 - Asham looses his helmet as he streaks in on goal, long hair flowing behind him. Reminds me of some old time hockey.

7:40 - Richards sluggish going off the ice... that's not good. Carter gets a mini breakaway and is stoned by Hiller. Period over. Good showing from the Flyers so far.

7:58 - The puck drops and the second period is underway. Richards loses the faceoff, this is definitely a concern.

8:00 - Emery gets beat, but somehow manages to flash a pad out to rob Perry of a goal. Flyers manage to clear and the threat is neutralized.

8:02 - I'd just like to note that I really like the fact that the Flyers made the orange jerseys their permanent home jerseys. Tollefsen heads back into the penalty box.

8:03 - Emery makes a HUGE point blank save on Koivu. Then another diving stop seconds later. Then swallows up a cross ice one timer.

8:05 - Flyers really need to stop taking penalties. The Ducks are doing a good job of keeping the puck in the zone during the power play. They've rung up 7-8 shots on that PP. Emery is making huge save after huge save.

8:08 - Hiller with a great save on a Tollefsen shot from the point. Ducks get called for hooking. Flyers PP coming up.

8:10 - Cote gets called for unsportsmanlike conduct, even though he was just talking to a player... that's really weak.

8:13 - Coburn nearly deflects the puck back into his net... he's having bad luck lately.

8:16 - Selanne in for holding. Flyers on the PP again. Apparently Ducks' tough guy George Parros graduated from Princeton. Man Lupul looks so much better on the Ducks than he ever did here.

8:19 - Flyers get a couple of nice chances on the PP... but so do the Ducks. Carcillo in for slashing now.

8:21 - Getzlaf breaks his stick on a one timer. Laperriere and Richards break up ice and come close to scoring. It seems like any time someone winds up for a slap shot they're breaking their sticks these days. Time to go back to the wood.

8:23 - Corey Perry gets called for unsportsmanlike conduct now. Apparently the refs don't like the players talking to each other tonight.

8:24 - Chris Pronger has a CANNON. He slaps one by Hiller on the PP. Oh yea, it's his birthday, and he's playing against his former team.

8:27 - Ah it's one of those games where the refs think they're super important. I think Richards just got called for hooking... I never saw it.

8:30 - Geeze. There's a penalty every 30 seconds. Ducks player goes off for slashing, but again it was a weak call.

8:34 - Emery is playing really well tonight. He's giving up some rebounds, but the Flyers' D has been there to clean everything away.

8:52 - Puck drops, and there's a scrum in the Flyers net 8 seconds in. What a surprise.

8:54 - Hiller misplays a puck behind the net... Flyers can't make him pay. Hartnell came close to scoring on the previous shot, but Hiller made a fantastic save.

8:56 - Pyorala/Carcillo/Asham have been playing very well offensively tonight.

8:57 - Powe steals the puck from Hiller and again the Flyers can't score. The refs miss a penalty that actually shouldn't have been called when they don't call Brown for delay of game when he intentionally dislodges the net.

8:59 - Watching Richards/Giroux/Gagne play together is making me think this will be one of the Flyers' legendary lines. Faceoff in the Flyers' zone and the refs call an interference penalty on the Ducks... weak, but I'll consider it a make up.

9:02 - Hartnell tries to dump a puck into the Ducks zone, but misfires and it ends up in the bench. If this was the baby pens, they would have been complaining that it was intentional and he was trying to injure everyone.

9:05 - Giroux is having a great game tonight. He only has one assist, but he could have had several tonight. He is making gorgeous passes.

9:08 - Giroux puts a nice hit on Ducks' tough guy Parros. Knocks him right off the puck.

9:09 - Selanne gets a step on Coburn and beats Emery high. 2-1.

9:11 - That was the first goal the Ducks scored in Philly since 2002. Wow.

9:13 - Flyers catch a huge break when Anaheim takes an interference penalty in the offensive zone. The Ducks had the Flyers running around and made a huge mistake there. There's only three minutes left in the game, there won't be a lot of time left when they are back at even strength.

9:16 - If the Flyers don't score, the Ducks will have 1:40 left to try and tie the game up. Stupid, stupid penalty.

9:20 - 1:08 to go in the game. Ducks' goal is pulled. This is good stuff.

9:21 - Laperierre comes up with a HUGE blocked shot. Richards has a shot blocked when he was aiming for the empty net.

9:22 - Selanne scores with 16 seconds left.

9:25 - OT underway. Pronger gets the game winner imo...

9:28 - Flyers are buzzing, but Hiller is playing out of his mind right now.

9:31 - The Flyers suddenly look like a high school team as they turned the puck over three times in their own zone. Good job Emery.

9:32 - One last flurry by the Flyers is stymied by Hiller. Shootout time. Ugh.

9:34 - Briere up first. Hiller makes a pad save.

9:35 - Perry for the Ducks. Emery turns him aside.

9:36 - Richards can't elevate the puck. Had Hiller beat.

9:36 - Selanne scores.

9:37 - Last chance for the Flyers. Gagne just misses. Damn.

Can We Buy A Break Please?

2009-10-08T21:45:00.004-04:00

-A phantom penalty 14 seconds into the game that leads to a PPG.
-Coburn scoring on his own team
-Bounces that always seem to find the baby pens sticks

Why does this only happen when we play the Penguins?

Also- what b.s. is this? Kunitz goes in with gloves off after Hartnell who's already fighting with Letang... and nothing is called on him? This is ridiculous. It's gonna take an act of god for us to ever beat the baby pens.

Also- Ray Emery, you can't give up 10 goals in two games against playoff teams. You better get your head out of your ass.

Ahh the BS Begins

2009-10-08T19:09:00.002-04:00

A phantom hooking call 14 seconds into the first? How much are you paying those refs pitt? Jeeze.

I Love D & E

2009-10-08T19:00:00.004-04:00

Apparently when Comcast told me last year that the NHL blacked out Flyers games in State College, they meant that it was THEIR deal with the NHL to black out games in the State College area. Now that I have D & E this year, lo and behold, the Flyers game isn't blacked out! Suck it Comcast. You guys are terrible. Thank you D & E for bringing my Flyers back to me.

Most Exciting Game of the Year (So Far)

2009-10-06T21:48:00.004-04:00

Wow that Flyers/Caps game was awesome.

I was able to watch the game today because I found a stream online, and wow I wasn't disappointed in what I saw. That was by far the most exciting game I've seen in a long time, and the nice added bonus was Danny Briere grabbing the game winner with less than a minute to go in OT.

Mike Richards had a hat trick and Matt Carle added four assists in the second period which was encouraging to see. Richards now has 5 goals on the season, which is the best he's ever started off. Jeff Carter was held scoreless, but he started the play in OT that led to the winning goal.

The Flyers also got three more powerplay goals today, including the game tying goal from Scott Hartnell with less than five minutes to go in the 3rd.

It was a great to see the Flyers win this, last year I wouldn't have believed that they would come back after falling behind twice, but they dug deep and erased the leads both times.

One of the more interesting facts of the night is that the Flyers haven't started 3-0 since 1998. That astounds me because the Flyers have only missed the playoffs once in that time span.

Anyways that leaves us at 3-0-0 going into the first matchup with Cindy and her baby pens on Thursday.

Should be a good game.

2-0

2009-10-03T22:57:00.002-04:00

Looks like the Flyers are finally getting off to a fast start! This is good because the last couple of seasons we've gone on major slides during February/March, so we need to rack up wins now in case that happens a third time.

Today we spoiled Martin Brodeur's 1,000th game and made him look pretty ordinary. Emery had his second straight great game, and was about a half a period away from having two shutouts to start the season. Carter and Richards scored again, and so did Carle, Laperriere and Powe.

It's nice to get two road wins early to help build momentum because the Flyers have three tough home games next week, as Washington, Pittsburgh and Anaheim come to town. The Flyers have a chance to make a big statement this week, hopefully they can take advantage of it.

The Flyers penalty killing came up huge again today. They did give up a goal, but they've killed 12 of 13 penalties this season, and they killed off a full two minutes of a 5-3 powerplay in the first period.

There are a lot of positives for the Flyers right now, and I'm excited to see how long they can keep it up. But it's too soon to get too excited...

Cautious Optimism

2009-10-03T00:50:00.003-04:00

Well the Flyers opener was tonight. It resulted in a 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. The two goals came on consecutive powerplays at the beginning of the second period and were only 14 seconds apart. The biggest story tonight though was Ray Emery. He made 28 saves and played really well in his Flyers debut. He was the first goalie to register a shutout in his debut since Jeff Hackett did it back in the opener in 2003 (who else forgot that Hackett used to play for us?). Other positive signs from tonight was our defense, which allowed few good scoring chances and our penalty kill which killed off 8 Carolina powerplays. It's a little troubling that we took 8 penalties tonight, but our penalty killers did a good job of collapsing on the puck and driving it down the ice whenever they could, we also had a few nice shorthanded chances. Our powerplay looked really nice tonight, as we scored on back to back power plays in the first minute of the second period. Anyways, this is one of the best games we've played to open the season in a long time. I know one game doesn't make a season, but it is nice to see all the important pieces clicking so early. We will be tested next week with games against the Devils, Capitals and Penguins, but if we play as well as we did tonight, we could see a quick start to the season.

Happy rosh-a-hockey everyone!

NHL Preview/Predictions

2009-10-01T23:10:00.002-04:00

So I figured I should throw together a preview for the NHL this year.

Here are my thoughts:
Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division (Predicted Order of Finish)

Pittsburgh Penguins - With Crosby and Malkin, you can never count this team out. I'd say they're the pre-season favorites to win the division.

Philadelphia Flyers - Chris Pronger will bring some much needed balance to the defense and made Randy Jones expendable. Great move. Ray Emery could be Stanley Cup Finals good, or the player that played in Russia last year. The Flyers' success largely depends on him.

New Jersey Devils - It's bad when your biggest weapon is your goalie.

New York Rangers - I like the Gaborik acquisition, but I don't think he can make up for the offensive deficiencies that the Rangers have.

New York Islanders - Good luck Marty Biron. The fans won't expect much from you there, but you're probably playing for the worst team in the conference now. Tavares should be fun to watch though.

Northeast Division (Predicted Order of Finish)

Boston Bruins - Despite losing Kessel, I think that they have a great shot at winning the division again. Tim Thomas needs to continue last year's form for this to happen though.

Montreal Canadiens - If there had been another week in the season last year they would have missed the playoffs, as they were limping towards the finish line. There are a lot of new faces and question marks on this team, but I like the changes they've made, and a third straight playoff appearance is likely on its way.

Toronto Maple Leafs - The Leafs have went from rebuilders to playoff contenders really quickly. I'm not sure they will make the playoffs, but they will be in the mix until late in the season.

Buffalo Sabres - They have some solid talent, but I don't think they have what it takes to make the playoffs.

Ottawa Senators - They got a great deal for Dany Heatly, but this team has too many issues to be much of a threat this year.

Southeast Division (Predicted Order of Finish)

Washington Capitals - The Capitals have Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin and Green to give them a ton of offense. They'll need it too because you're not going to see their defense hold opponents in check very well. If they have any thoughts of winning a Stanley Cup they really need to beef up their defense.

Carolina Hurricanes - The 'Canes made a great run in the playoffs last year, I see them giving the Caps a serious run for their money for the division title.

Florida Panthers - The Panthers hung in the playoff race until the last couple of weeks last season. I really like the look of their roster, and think they could make the playoffs for the first time since 2000. However, only 18 or so fans will watch them do it.

Tampa Bay Lightning - Tampa has become a who's who of former Flyers, as they have Antero Nittymaki, Todd Fedoruk and Steve Downie on the team. They also picked up Alex Tanguay this year and still have Lecavlier and St. Louis... they will challenge for a playoff spot.

Atlanta Thrashers - Kovalchuk is still a highlight reel player, and one of my favorite players to watch in the game, but one man can't do everything for this team.

Playoff Bound Teams:
1. Washington Capitals
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Boston Bruins
4. Philadelphia Flyers
5. Carolina Hurricanes
6. Montreal Canadiens
7. Toronto Maple Leafs
8. Florida Panthers

Western Conference

Central Division (Predicted Order of Finish)

Detroit Red Wings- The Red Wings are aging, and they lost Marian Hossa to free agency, but it's really hard to pick against the Red Wings. I can't remember the last time someone else finished in front of them in the division (Ok I just checked, it was the 99-00 season when they last finished somewhere other than first in the division).

Chicago Blackhawks - If anyone can wrest the division away from Detroit, it's the Hawks. They lost Havlat this year, but they did manage to lock Hossa down for the rest of his career, and he should be a big help when he comes back from injury.

St. Louis Blues - The Blues broke a long playoff drought last season, and they're only going to get better this year.

Columbus Blue Jackets - The Jackets made the playoffs for the first time ever last season, and they were quickly disposed of. Still, it was nice to see them show that they are more than just the team Rick Nash plays for.

Nashville Predators - Seriously, relocate this team now.

Northwest Division (Predicted Order of Finish)

Calgary Flames - The Flames added Jay Bouwmeester and have Rene Bourque back from injury. Along with the addition Olli Joikenen, I think they have a great shot at taking the division.

Vancouver Canucks - The Canucks managed to keep the Sedin twins and still have Luongo. This team is set for awhile.

Minnesota Wild - They missed the playoffs this past season, but they added Martin Havlat and they still have a pretty good defense. They will definitely return to the playoffs this year.

Colorado Avalanche - The Avalanche are rebuilding, and lost long time captain Joe Sakic to retirement. However, there is a wealth of young talent on the team and they won't be kept down for long.

Edmonton Oilers - The addition of Khabibulin was nice, but I don't think they have enough on their roster to really make a playoff push this season.

Pacific Division (Predicted Order of Finish)

San Jose Sharks - The Sharks have one of the best rosters in the league, but they continually underachieve in the playoffs. They should run away with the division again this year, but I'm not holding my breath for them in the playoffs.

Anaheim Ducks - No more Chris Pronger, but this team is always dangerous.

Dallas Stars - Brenden Morrow is back from an injury that kept him out most of last season. They'll need a big year from him if they hope to get back to the playoffs after missing them for the first time since 2002 last year.

Los Angeles Kings - The Kings have some nice additions this season, but it's hard to see them competing for a play off spot.

Phoenix Coyotes - See Nashville.

Playoff Teams:
1. San Jose Sharks
2. Detroit Red Wings
3. Calgary Flames
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. Vancouver Canucks
6. St. Louis Blues
7. Anaheim Ducks
8. Minnesota Wild

Congrats Phillies!

2009-09-30T23:48:00.002-04:00

Taking a break from hockey, the Phillies wrapped up their third consecutive division title today with a 10-3 win over the Houston Astros. This time the Phillies didn't have to make a comeback in the division to win it, as they lead comfortably in the East for most of the season. Hopefully we can pull off a few more victories to earn homefield throughout the conference playoffs...

In other *hilarious* baseball news... click this link to listen to a strange prediction that came true on Sunday.

2 days til hockey season!!

Good Bye Randy Jones!

2009-09-29T23:18:00.003-04:00

Randy Jones is finally no longer a Flyer! I can't say I'll miss the fifty or so bad turnovers you make every year. Maybe you'll find your way to Pittsburgh so you can lose them game after game due to your mediocrity. Buh bye!

Flyers' Roster Battle

2009-09-22T23:57:00.003-04:00

There's a fight for the last roster spot for the Flyers' defense. Right now Ole Kristian Tollefsen is battling Danny Syvret for the 7th d-spot. I really hope it goes to Tollefsen for this reason (taken from Anthony Sanfilippo's blog): "Tollefsen hasn't had much of a chance to play after losing a tooth and requiring two other root canal surgeries after being hit in the mouth by a Mike Richards shot during practice last week. 'He's a nice captain to welcome me to town that way, eh,' OKT joked Monday"

See? He fits right in.

Thoughts on the Offseason So Far

2009-07-06T11:06:00.005-04:00

So we've almost arrived at training camp. All the big deals are done and the draft has passed. Teams will be spending the rest of the summer just tweaking their roster here and there while preparing for the beginning of training camp. Since things are pretty much set for the Flyers, I figured that I'd break my 3 month hiatus and comment on their moves this offseason.

Ray Emery:
I'm already on record saying that I do not like this deal as I think we could have gotten someone better. However, my position is changing and I'm looking at this a little more optimistically. If we hadn't signed Emery, and instead had gone after someone like Khabibulin or even re-signed Biron, I don't think we would have been able to pull off some of the moves that we made later on. Emery can be a great goalie, but I still don't trust his head until he proves that he can go a season without being crazy. However, if he wants to get into a few goalie fights this year with say... Marc-Andre Fleury... I'm all for it.

Chris Pronger:
This was our big splash for the summer. We shipped an underachieving Joffrey Lupul and an unproven defensive prospect in Lucas Sbisa for one of the best defensemen in the league in the past 15 years. Pronger has played in two Stanley Cup Finals, winning one of them. More importantly, he made the finals as part of an 8th seeded team, so he knows that no team is out of it based on their seed. He also hates losing, is an offensive force, and can lay someone out when he feels like it. This guy is the complete package, and when you look at his game, you realize that he was born a Flyer, it just took him several years to come home. A lot of people have complained that we gave up too much to get him. I disagree. Lupul was overpaid for the production that he put out, and Sbisa is a prospect. We don't need prospects, we need a proven, shut down guy, and that's what Pronger is. The Pronger acquisition has also caused me to rethink the Emery signing. I believe that Pronger will not put up with any crap that Emery might try and pull, so his guidance and maturity will help keep Emery in line this season.

Ian Laperriere:
Laperriere is good at two things- annoying the other team, and faceoffs. The latter is the more important part. Over the past couple of seasons one of the Flyers biggest issues has been winning faceoffs in clutch moments of the game. Hopefully the addition of Laperriere will give us a boost in that department. He should also help Richards and Carter get better at taking faceoffs. It's little moves like this that could really help us this season.

Ole-Kristian Tollefsen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzEtEXmyDjo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq3ebZeYU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhC3DTEYnqQ

Translation- come across our blue line at your own peril.

So yea, I'm excited for this season. I have a feeling that the Flyers are going to play rough and tumble hockey. It looks like toughness and discipline will be the theme this year. Even if we lose, we won't be losing without a fight. It's going to be a classic Flyers year. GET EXCITED.

Waaa We Lose Lets Hurt People

2009-06-07T02:58:00.003-04:00

Seriously, is there a more chicken team than Pittsburgh in the league? Down five nothing and Crosby and Talbot slash the two best players on Detroit?!? HOW ARE THEY GETTING AWAY WITH THIS STUFF? A two minute minor is not going to discourage them from bringing this crap to the table again. I hate the NHL's front office. They are doing a poor job of officiating evenly and fairly, and somebody is going to get seriously hurt, and it's going to be a Red Wing. They need to grow some backbone and send a message to the league that goonery when you're losing will not be tolerated. Crosby intentionally slashed Zetterberg away from the play, and Talbot intentionally slashed an injured Datsyuk. What purpose does that serve other than trying to knock them out of the playoffs? They should both be suspended for their actions and it's ridiculous that they continue to get away with slaps on the wrist. I'm getting so sick of the NHL.

You Have Got to be Kidding Me

2009-06-03T20:23:00.002-04:00

Ray Emery? Really? This is who you choose to sign when goalies like Nikolai Khabibulin and Jean-Sebastian Gigure will be available. The guy is a team cancer, with a terrible work ethic and couldn't cut it in a city with low expectations... just how do you think he's going to cut it in Philly where there will be a lot of pressure and no veteran leadership. This is just another chapter of the Flyers front office failing to address our greatest needs properly. We need a goalie that is consistent. Emery is anything but. He's going to flop in Philadelphia, and if we rely on this guy, we're just going to keep exiting the playoffs early while Pittsburgh continues to go to Stanley Cup finals. Seriously, how could Holmgren decide that Emery is the answer. Ridiculous.

NHL Double Standards: Part Two

2009-06-01T00:16:00.003-04:00

This is absolutely ridiculous. The NHL rules state that if you get an instigator penalty in the last five minutes of a game, you are automatically suspended for the next game. Apparently there is some fine print that says "unless your one of Pittsburgh's stars". In game two of the Stanley Cup Finals, Evgeni Malkin started a fight with Henrik Zetterberg with about 15 seconds left in the game after Maxime Talbot took a vicious stab at Detroit goalie Chris Osgood. Malkin was given 5 for fighting, a 10 minute misconduct and a 2 minute instigator penalty. Minutes after the game was over, the NHL issued a statement saying that they weren't suspending Malkin for game 3. GROW A BACKBONE NHL. YOU CANNOT LET YOUR STARS RUN AROUND LIKE THEY ARE ABOVE THE RULES. It really sickens me to see the double standards that exist and really makes me want to stop watching hockey altogether. The more I see this, the less I feel that teams are treated fairly by the league brass.

Roland Garros - The 2009 French Open

2009-05-26T17:05:00.002-04:00

If you like red clay, long rallies and lots of unforced errors, then you should be watching the French Open. The French Open has long been a place where relatively unknown players from countries such as Argentina, Chile or Spain can make names for themselves. The slow, red clay used at the Roland Garros has created a vein of players that dominate on the surface, but struggle to translate their game over to grass or hard courts.

Rafael Nadal started out as one of these clay court specialists back in 2005 when he won his first French Open title in his first attempt. Since then he has won three more French Opens, but has also proven that he can play on more than just clay. Last year, he won his first Wimbledon title, becoming the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1979 to win both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season. Nadal then proved he could win on hard courts when he earned his first Australian Open to start off 2009. That win denied Roger Federer his chance to tie Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam titles. Federer still needs a French Open title to complete the career Grand Slam (winning at least one title at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open), but he has lost to Nadal for four consecutive years. Could this be the year where he finally breaks through?

The Clear Favorite:
Rafael Nadal - As I said earlier, Nadal has won four straight French Open titles, and he's never lost a match at the French.

The Contenders:
Roger Federer - While Federer has never won a French Open, he has been to three straight finals, losing to Nadal every time. Age is no longer on his side though, as no man over 26 has ever won a French Open title.

Novak Djokovic - Djokovic won his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open in 2008 and has been to the quarter-finals or better in three of his last four Grand Slam appearances. He has also made the semi-finals of the French Open each of the past two years.

Andy Murray - Andy Murray still has not won a major, but he made it to his first final against Roger Federer at the U.S. Open last year. He has risen to #3 in the world and his incredible fitness and his defensive style of play make him a tough out for any opponent.

The Dark-Horses:
Juan Martin Del Potro - Del Potro has never been past the quarter finals of a major, but he is playing as well as anyone lately and should easily live up to his seeding, and will be tough for anyone to play in the quarter finals.

Jo-Wilfred Tsonga - Tsonga hasn't played in a French Open since 2005, but he has been one of the hottest players on tour over the past year. He'll have the backing of the French fans, but he is on a collision course for a fourth round matchup with Del Potro.

Gael Monfils - A local favorite, Monfils made it to the semi-finals here last year, but injuries have kept him from making a serious run at a title since then. However, with the backing of the French crowd, a return trip to the semi-finals is very possible.

Just Hoping to Win One Match:
The American men - There used to be a time when American's such as Jim Courier and Andre Aggasi would regularly compete for, and win, French Open titles. However, in the past few years, they have struggled in France. No American man has been past the second round since 2005 (I think).

Five Goals for this Summer

2009-05-18T21:18:00.003-04:00

So I decided I'm going to make some goals this summer, so I don't go crazy from work and school.

Goal #1:
Get A's in all three of my classes this summer. If I get straight A's, I'll finally get my GPA back over a 3.0. This is a very attainable goal because two of the classes are online, and the other class is tennis.

Probability of Success: High

Goal #2:
Improve my serve in tennis. I absolutely love playing tennis in the summer, but any of you who have played me before know that my serve has always been a mess. I would be a much better player if I can improve my serve at all. Luckily, I have tennis as a class starting in July, so that will help.

Probability of Success: High

Goal #3:
Perform well enough at my job that I can get a letter of recommendation from my Prof. if I ever need one. I just started today, this job is going to be pretty demanding it seems. I hope I'm up to the task.

Probability of Success: Medium

Goal #4:
Attend at least one Phillies road game. I love my Phillies and will see them at least twice in Philadelphia this summer. I would love to see them play the Natinals in Washington, or the Pirates in Pittsburgh or the Mets in New York. I have a car, and I don't mind driving, so it really all depends on if it fits my schedule and if I can find someone to go with.

Probability of Success: Medium

Goal #5:
Code a small computer game. I'd really like to dust off my Java skills and write some sort of game this summer. I dunno if I'll be able to though, it's been awhile since I've written any sort of code.

Probability of Success: Low

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Conference Finals

2009-05-17T15:36:00.005-04:00

I really need to stop predicting winners. I'm apparently terrible at it. Anyways, I'm not sure if there has been a more exciting conference semi-finals in recent memory. Some notes:

-Three series went 7 games, and the fourth went 6 games.

-The NHL got 6 great games from their dream match-up of Ovechkin vs. Crosby, but the Capitals started their summer vacation a game early and were massacred in the series decider.

-Carolina and Boston played an exciting game 7 that went into overtime before Scott Walker knocked the game winner in with less than a minute to go in OT.

-Detroit and Anaheim continued their trend of tightly contested games and it took a late third period goal by Dan Cleary to finally send the defending champs into the conference finals.

-Chicago's 7-5 win over Vancouver in game 6 was the highest scoring playoff game since Buffalo beat Ottawa 7-6 in 2006.

Eastern Conference Finals:
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
Pittsburgh returns to the Eastern Conference Finals just a season after going to the Stanley Cup. It's Carolina's first trip here since they won it all in 2006. The Canes are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, but Pittsburgh is showing their experience as they were able to erase the Caps 2-0 series lead and eventually win that series. Pittsburgh has had some trouble with winning elimination games this season. They failed to eliminate the Flyers and the Capitals on the first attempt.

The Prediction:
My head says Pittsburgh, my heart says Carolina. I'm going with the Canes to get it done in 6.

Western Conference Finals:
#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #4 Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are the youngest, and possibly the most exciting team left in the playoffs. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Martin Havlat have really carried the team offensively, and Nikolai Khabibulin has been fantastic when he's needed to be (as I write this, he stoned Johan Franzen twice at the goal line). Detroit has the experience in this series, but they have also failed to go to back to back Stanley Cup Finals since the late 90's when they won consecutive titles.

The Prediction:
Again, the head says Detroit, but the heart says Chicago. I like Chicago a lot, but I just don't see them getting it done this time. They'll push Detroit to the limit though. Red Wings in 7.

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round Two

2009-05-02T17:05:00.002-04:00

So my picks were a little off last round. Here is an updated preview for round two.

Eastern Conference Semi-finals

Boston Bruins vs. Carolina Hurricanes
The 'Canes season was over with about 1:30 left in game seven against the Devils. 45 seconds later, they were suddenly hanging on for a surprise win in game seven. Boston cruised through their first round matchup against Montreal, just as many thought they would. Boston has already won game one against Carolina, and they haven't lost to Carolina yet this season.

The Prediction:
Boston wins in 5

Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Capitals staked the Rangers a 3-1 series lead, while the Penguins were outplayed by the Flyers in games 2-5. Both teams managed to win their series and now the NHL has their dream matchup. Sidney (read: Cindy) Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin. The Penguins have the better defense, but the Capitals have the most explosive offense in the league. This will be an exciting series to say the least.

The Prediction:
Washington wins in 6

Western Conference Semi-Finals

Detroit Redwings vs. Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks managed to upset this years President's Trophy winner, the San Jose Sharks, in six games. Detroit swept playoff first timers Columbus Blue Jackets. Game one was a tightly contested game, but Detroit stayed perfect in this season's playoffs and eeked out the win. This promises to be the hardest hitting series of the second round, and it should make for some great playoff hockey.

The Prediction:
Detroit wins in 6

Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Vancouver swept through St. Louis on the back of Roberto Luongo. Chicago won their first playoff series since the 90's as they sent Calgary packing. This series features some of the NHL's best young talent that doesn't get a lot of exposure.

The Prediction:
Vancouver wins in 7

2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Preview

2009-04-13T14:25:00.006-04:00

Well the regular season is finally over, and now the real season begins. The sixteen best teams in the league will take to the ice this week in an attempt to bring home the most iconic trophy in all of sports, the Stanley Cup. Here are my predictions and breakdown of the first round.

Eastern Conference:
#1 Boston Bruins vs. #8 Montreal Canadiens
This is a rematch of last seasons opening round matchup, except this time the seeds are reversed. The Canadiens started off the season hot, but Montreal has been a soap opera since January, culminating with the firing of Guy Carbonneau back on March 9th. Boston has been a solid team all season, finishing with the second best point total in the league at 116 points.

The Prediction:
Boston wins the first three games of the series. Montreal wins game four, and their fans go nuts and riot in the street, torching cop cars and causing general mayhem. That's how they celebrate wins in Montreal right? Boston then finishes Montreal off in game five.

#2 Washington Capitals vs. #7 New York Rangers
What are the two most important things in the playoffs? Goaltending and defense. One of these teams has both, the other doesn't have either. Yes, New York hasn't played that well since their fast start, but Henrik Lundqvist is the second best goalie in the playoffs, and the Rangers have a much better defense than the Capitals do. Alexander Ovechkin has the ability to take over the series, but the Capitals don't have the depth or balance that New York has, and earned a high seed because they play in the worst division in hockey.

The Prediction:
Lundqvist stymies the high octane offense of the Capitals just enough to send Washington packing in seven games.

#3 New Jersey Devils vs. #6 Carolina Hurricanes
Three weeks ago, the 'Canes were looking at an early offseason. Then they ripped off a nine game winning streak to jump back into the thick of things. They dropped their final two games, and cost themselves a shot at home ice, but this team is playing well right now, and they can beat anyone they play. The Devils are playing the opposite of the 'Canes right now. They were one of the hottest teams in early March when Brodeur returned from injury, but then they went on a six game losing streak, which dropped them to third in the conference. However, they will always be a favorite for winning the conference as long as Martin Brodeur is in goal.

The Prediction:
The greatest goalie in the game gets the Devils past the first round with little hiccup. Devils win in 6.

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
It's a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Finals, which the Penguins won in 5 games. The Flyers are a lot healthier this year, and they are as deep as they've ever been. If the Flyers can play to the best of their ability, there's no reason they can't sweep the Pens. However, Cindy Crosby and Evgeni Malkin always seem to play their best against the Flyers so this should be a tight series.

The Prediction:
The Flyers are looking for revenge after being embarrassed last May. They'll get it. Flyers in 6.

Western Conference:
#1 San Jose Sharks vs. #8 Anaheim Ducks
The Sharks put together one of the best NHL seasons in recent history. They had only three losses in regulation at the end of 2008, before slipping a bit in the second half the season. They still finished with a 53-18-11 record and won the President's Trophy. The Ducks on the other hand, didn't secure a playoff spot until the last week of the season. The Stanley Cup Champions from two years ago are always a dangerous team, but the Sharks have far too much firepower to lose this series.

The Prediction:
Joe Thornton + Evgeni Nabokov + Patrick Marleau = Sharks win in 4

#2 Detroit Red Wings vs. #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
The Red Wings are the defending champions, and finished just shy of the #1 seed. The Blue Jackets are making the franchise's first ever appearance in the post season. That emotion should be good for netting the Jackets a win or two, but Detroit is too balanced, and too experienced and that will overwhelm the Blue Jackets.

The Prediction:
Blue Jackets wingers R.J. Umberger and Rick Nash will do all they can to keep Columbus in the series, but will ultimately fall to the balanced Red Wings in six games.

#3 Vancouver Canucks vs. #6 St. Louis Blues
The Blues are making their first appearance in the playoffs since the lockout. They have all the important things going for them: balanced scoring, a hot goalie, solid defense, and (most importantly) the best home uni's in the NHL. Vancouver has Roberto Luongo. Game over.

The Prediction:
Luongo and the Sedin twins carry the Canucks into round two. Canucks in 7.

#4 Chicago Blackhawks vs. #5 Calgary Flames
Is there a team in the NHL that has more potential than the Blackhawks? Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Martin Havlat and Patrick Sharp are all in, or entering their prime. Add in a solid defensive corps that includes Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook and a goaltending tandem of Nikolai Khabibulin and Christobal Huet and you have a strong dark-horse candidate for the Stanley Cup victors. Calgary is an explosive team in their own right. Jerome Iginla is consistent as ever, and fowards like Mike Cammalleri, Ollie Jokinen and Craig Conroy make them a dangerous team. Goalie Mikka Kiprusoff can be lights out when he gets hot too.

The Prediction:
The Blackhawks win their first playoff series since 1996 behind young phenoms Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

Round 2 Matchups and Winners:
Boston Bruins beat New York Rangers (4 games to 1)
Philadelphia Flyers beat New Jersey Devils (4 games to 2)

Chicago Blackhawks beat San Jose Sharks (4 games to 3)
Detroit Red Wings beat Vancouver Canucks (4 games to 1)

Conference Finals Matchups and Winners:
Philadelphia Flyers beat Boston Bruins (4 games to 3)

Detroit Red Wings beat Chicago Blackhawks (4 games to 3)

Stanley Cup Finals Matchup and Winner:
Detroit Red Wings beat Philadelphia Flyers (4 games to 2)

Harry Kalas Died :(

2009-04-13T14:17:00.002-04:00

The voice of the Phillies is dead at 73. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4064793

This is a sad, sad day for Philadelphia. Kalas was quite possibly the most recognized voice in broadcasting due to his involvement in commercials and endorsements, and of course, his classic "It's outta here!" home run call. For nearly 40 years, Kalas was a mainstay in the Phillies broadcasting booth. I've been listening to him all my life, and it's going to be weird without him.

Pittsburgh Fans are Pathetic

2009-04-04T06:37:00.001-04:00

So I'm walking down Beaver Avenue tonight, on my way home, and I'm walking with my friend who's wearing his Jeff Carter jersey. All of a sudden I hear "F**K the Flyers!" and then got hit in the back of the head with a piece of pizza by a kid with a Pittsburgh hat on. Then he proceeded to yell at me that we should all be locked in a cage and that we're in a sh*thole of a city... I wonder, do all Pittsburgh fans only have one insult? Cuz that's all I ever hear from them and it's not very creative... Jeeze they're pathetic.

This is a Disgrace

2009-03-26T19:56:00.004-04:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4017382

This is a little off-topic, but once I read it I felt I had to comment on it. Now, I generally operate under the belief that the police try their hardest to be fair and levelheaded when they pull someone over. It really disappoints me when I read articles like this where it seems that the officer acted very aggressively even though he was unprovoked. There was no reason for the officer to have his gun drawn before Moats' wife got out of the car, but from the explanation, it seems that he had it drawn the whole time. As much as I hate to play the race card, that action, and his threat that "I can screw you over" really seems to indicate that he was treating Moats differently because of his skin color. It's shameful the way this particular officer acted, despite confirmation from another officer that Moats' mother-in-law was indeed dying. Because of his actions, and the fact that he cost the dying woman's father a chance to see his daughter one final time, I really have to agree with Moats when he said that the officer should lose his job. His actions were despicable and there is no place for that on the police force.

2 Games in a Month?

2009-03-08T03:11:00.000-04:00

Yea, I'm going to the Flyers/Caps game on Thursday!

Flyers vs. Islanders

2009-02-14T18:14:00.004-05:00

So I broke my nearly two year absence from Flyers home games today. I picked Soph and Jess up from Rosemont around noon, and then fought the monster truck rally traffic to get to the rink on time. We parked exactly at 1 pm, so we missed about five minutes of the game as we walked in. Here is a pic of us in all our glory: http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=RedBowflyers&gallery_id=1430891&image_id=45

We went up and got some food (all you can eat tix FTW!) and walked into the game just as Giroux scored his goal. We sat down and Asham immediately drops the gloves with Jackman, and they go at it for awhile, Asham clearly won the fight. Once play got started up again Hartnell (originally credited to Carter) scored the Flyers second goal in 45 seconds.

The second period, and the first part of the third period sucked. The Flyers played nearly the entire time in their own end, and thanks to some great play by Biron, only gave up one goal. Then about three minutes after the Islanders got their goal, the Flyers fourth line woke up and put the game out of reach. Matt Carle poked in a loose puck on a scrum in front (the goal was originally credited to Glen Metropolit) then 13 seconds later, Asham skated down the left wing, and tried to make a pass to Scottie Upshall, but it deflected off an Islanders skate and caromed in past Danis (again, the goal was originally credited to Upshall). Gagne completed the scoring on a penalty shot just under a minute later.

Anyways, the game was fun, and I was glad that it was a win. I may be back in three weeks for the Predators game.

Oh, and thanks girls for the Malkin card :P

5 days!

2009-02-09T18:00:00.001-05:00

5 days, one economics exam, one book report, one quiz and one 2 page essay is all that separates me from my first Flyers game in 2 years! I'm excited!

AO Update

2009-01-27T23:06:00.002-05:00

So I was a little off in my predictions, but not way off. Actual quarterfinal matchups in the Mens' Draw were as follows:

1 Rafael Nadal v. 6 Gilles Simon (I picked Gael Monfis who retired in his match against Simon, after going down 2 sets to 1)
14 Fernando Verdasco v. 5 Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (I picked the wrong upset here. I figured that Blake would finally break through against tougher competition, but he didn't. Verdasco and Murray played a great five set match which Verdasco pulled out in the end)

3 Novak Djokovic v. 7 Andy Roddick (dead on)
2 Roger Federer v. 8 Juan Martin del Potro (dead on)

So I did pretty well, getting 5/8. I'm 1/2 on semi-final predictions so far. Roger Federer only lost three games en route to destroying del Potro and securing his place in the semis. Andy Roddick's improved fitness was extremely evident in his three and a third set win over Djokovic. Djokovic won the first set in a tie-breaker and then promptly ran out of gas. Roddick pushed him all over the court for the next two sets, and for the first three games of the fourth set before Djokovic finally retired. Here's hoping Nadal and Verdasco win tonight!

Tennis is BACK!

2009-01-20T01:37:00.003-05:00

And I'm strongly considering staying up until 3:30 AM to watch Rafael Nadal play. The Australian Open started Sunday, and it's shaping up to be a good tournament.

-Nadal is still ranked #1 in the world, which makes me happy. It'll be interesting to see how he does here. Traditionally, Nadal does alright at the Aussie Open, he's made the semis once and the quarters a few times I believe, but he's never played the type of tennis he brings at Roland Garros or Wimbledon.

-Novak Djokovic is starting his first Slam defense and he looked pretty good dispatching Stoppini in the first round.

-Roger Federer won his opener in straight sets as well, but he played a lot of long games in the second and third set and still does not look like the player that dominated the tennis world for the better part of four years. He's still better than any player ranked below #4, but I think he'll lose to Djokovic in the semis again this year and he'll eventually slip to #3 in the world this season.

-Can Andy Murray finally break through at a Slam? He made it to the finals of the U.S. Open, but was man-handled by Federer, so I'm guessing he's still not quite ready to win.

-Conversely, James Blake and Andy Roddick need to come up big in this tournament or I'm pretty much writing them off as afterthoughts in Slams from here on out.

Predictions:
Quarterfinals:
1 Rafael Nadal vs. 12 Gael Monfils
4 Andy Murray vs. 9 James Blake
3 Novak Djokovic vs. 7 Andy Roddick
2 Roger Federer vs. 8 Juan Martin del Potro

Semifinals:
Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Murray
Roger Federer vs. Novak Djokovic

Finals:
Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic

Winner:
Novak Djokovic

The Double Standards in the NHL

2008-12-21T15:10:00.006-05:00

The NHL's double standard for its players is disgusting. Thursday night, Sidney Crosby decided the best way to fight someone was to punch someone in the back of the head and in his groin while his teammate held the guy in a headlock. It was a clear attempt to injure, and just an awful display of sportsmanship. However, it's been three days, and by not punishing him at all, the NHL is giving tacit approval to Crosby's actions. Crosby already acts like he's above the rules of the game, and this latest incident is just further proof that he knows he can get away with whatever he wants. Had this been anyone besides Crosby, he would have been suspended for several games. Case in point: Sean Avery uses the phrase "sloppy seconds" and is shut down for the rest of the season. Or last year, Steve Downie gets suspended for punching Jason Blake in the face. Here's a clip of Crosby's actions from Thursday:

And here's a clip of the punch that got Downie suspended:

Which is more worthy of a suspension? If Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell refuse to act upon Crosby's situation, then they are practically admitting that they will let the stars of the game run wild, but if you're not one of the league's superstars, you'd better never step out of line. Prove me wrong Bettman. And please, Penguins fans, I want to hear you defend his actions. I really want to see what you'll come up with.

This Just In: The Flyers Love to Party... College Style

2008-12-15T20:47:00.009-05:00

After the Flyers historic rally from a four goal deficit, several Flyers decided to go party at a Temple fraternity. SPORTSbyBROOKS posts several pictures here But I'll post a few of my favorite below. I just find it funny that many of these players are making millions of dollars a year, but they decide to go to a frat party to get their drinks. It's also cool that they feel comfortable enough and safe enough to go to Temple's campus and get drunk there. Anyways, picture time!

Mike Richards looks like he's trying to get some action:

Richards is cleverly hiding the two beers he's holding. Double fisting like a champ:

Nitty looks like he's drunk:

Aaaaaand there is Carter hanging out at the bar:

lolPenguins

2008-12-13T15:19:00.003-05:00

Ahh it's always nice to beat the crap out of the Penguins. And what's a Penguins loss without them pulling a chicken move? I mean really, why do you try and fight Hartnell with six minutes left in the game? What a loser move, but then again, I've come to expect that lack of class from the Pittsburgh organization. But I would bet that the next time the Flyers and Penguins play, it'll take about two seconds into Godard's first shift for Cote to send him a message. Anyways, I'll take the win as it will move us a couple points behind the Rangers for first in the Atlantic. The Flyers are 12-1-3 in their last 16 games which has taken them from fourth in the division to second. They're one of the hottest teams in the league right now and This was also the first game in which Cindy hasn't scored against the Flyers, so it's nice to know that we can keep her quiet from time to time. 4 power play goals was the difference today, as the Flyers special teams continue to completely dominate the competition. Next up for the Flyers is a mediocre Colorado team, but the Flyers have struggled to beat Colorado in past years despite being the better team. So we'll see how it goes.

Wow What a Win!

2008-12-11T21:45:00.002-05:00

So the Flyers just came back from a 5-1 deficit? I'm not sure I've ever seen that happen in my life. After listening to the first two periods, I shut the radio off because I was disgusted after listening to us give the game away to Carolina... after watching The Office, I check my fantasy team, and I'm shocked see that the Flyers have come back to tie the game at 5 by the end of the 3rd period. Scott Hartnell got things going with, what else, a shorthanded goal, and ended the game with a power play goal, a short handed goal and a even strength goal. Not a bad night. The Flyers killed off another penalty in overtime to force the shootout, which the Flyers are generally terrible in, but a Christmas Miracle happened and both Simon Gagne and Mike Richards scored while Nitty stone Rod Brind'Amour (still one of my favorite players) and Eric Staal (I think) to win the game. I'm pretty shocked.

So Apparently We Can Kill Penalties this Year

2008-12-06T19:24:00.002-05:00

Since the NHL hasn't decided to return any of my emails about allowing Flyers games to be broadcast in State College, I have taken to listening to the games on NHL.com (at least, until the NHL decides that this is Pittsburgh's radio territory now. But since I've started listening to games, I've noticed that the Flyers have a potent penalty kill and get several shorthanded chances a game. Who knew. Last season the Flyers biggest problem was the penalty kill, but they figured something out during the off-season and now every time I listen to a game it seems like we're the ones who are dominating the play while we're supposedly short handed. Chris Therien and Tim Saunders are loving this. Inevitably, every time the Flyers take a penalty one of them jokes "Well now [insert opposing team here] is at a disadvantage as the Flyers are going on the penalty kill". Anyways, it's pretty cool to be a feared team when killing penalties. iI seems like over the years, that's always been a struggle for the Flyers, but now they've worked it out.

Can it be March Please?

2008-11-27T03:35:00.001-05:00

Just saw the new Watchmen trailer... I cannot wait for this movie

You Gotta Love Berube

2008-11-20T21:36:00.002-05:00

Craig Berube, former Flyers forward and current assistant coach, thinks that part of the reason why you see so many dangerous hits these days is because players have stopped policing themselves because the league no longer allows it. He recalls a day when it only took a few words to the other team's best player to stop aggressive players from making dangerous hits.

"What happened was they had this guy who was running around toward the end of the game, just taking runs at our guys and trying to hurt them," he said. "I didn't say a word to that guy. But I went up to their best guy and said, 'You see that guy. If he hurts someone on my team, I'm coming after you. It's not him that's going to pay the price. It will be you. So you better calm him the heck down.' That's all I said. The next game we played them, the guy that was running around spent most of the warmups apologizing to us. That's the way we handled things. If a player on the other team did something to deliberately hurt someone or take a shot at someone's head, there was a price to pay. We policed ourselves."

I just love how the Flyer mentality is so evident here. You don't like what the other team is doing? Threaten their best player. I'd sure love to see that type of mentality return to the game.

Story

Sorry guys

2008-11-13T20:11:00.003-05:00

I've been swamped with schoolwork these past few weeks before Thanksgiving break. Hopefully after next week I'll be able to update more often.

Just curious though, for those of you who read my blog, would you mind leaving a comment and letting me know how you found it?

Breaking News: Martin Brodeur is Out Indefinitely

2008-11-04T12:41:00.002-05:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3678676

The best goalie in the league will be sidelined for awhile as he is getting elbow surgery. Get your wins in against the Devils now!

Wow, this is Ugly

2008-10-27T00:55:00.001-04:00

Doug Weight, I used to like you. There was no reason for that hit, you should have been suspended. You are a disgrace to my number and the game.

Game 6 Preview: San Jose Sharks v. Philadelphia Flyers

2008-10-22T15:54:00.003-04:00

So the Flyers have gotten off to a worse start than they did in the season-that-must-not-be-named. Luckily, the media is focusing on the Phillies run to the World Series, and no one has called for John Stevens' head yet. The Flyers blew a 3-1 lead to the Sharks on Saturday and lost in overtime. Hopefully in the rematch they will be able to nab their first win of the season.

The Game: San Jose Sharks (5-1-0) @ Philadelphia Flyers (0-3-2)

What's Good:
The Flyers are coming around slowly, but they're getting there. The problem isn't goal production.

What's Bad:
The problem is defense. The Flyers continue to break down on D and the goalie play has been shaky at best.

What to Expect:
The Flyers realize that their coach could go soon if they don't start winning. They come out flying against the Sharks and hang on late for a victory.

The Prediction:
Flyers 4 Sharks 3

Panic Time

2008-10-16T23:27:00.002-04:00

So after an uninspiring loss to the Avalanche today, I'm in full fledged panic mode. 11 penalty kills tonight?!?! Come on guys, you're better than that. Oh and, someone besides Gagne and Richards needs to learn how to put the puck in the net... ugh.

Game 4 Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ Colorado Avalanche

2008-10-16T11:54:00.004-04:00

The Flyers have gotten off to a miserable 0-2-1 start this year, despite playing a great game against the Penguins on Tuesday. I'm starting to get a worrisome feeling about the Flyers. They're hanging with the teams they're playing, but they haven't been able to get over the hump. Luckily, the Avalanche are winless as well. Someone has to walk out a winner tonight, why not us?

The Game: Philadelphia Flyes (0-2-1) @ Colorado Avalanche (0-3-0)

What's Good:
The Flyers that need to score have been scoring. Throughout the first three games, the Flyers have three goals from Simon Gagne, two goals from Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, and a goal from Scott Hartnell.

What's Bad:
The Flyers have been prone to allowing quick, consecutive goals this season. In a loss to Montreal, they watched a 2-1 lead turn into a 3-2 deficit in just 44 seconds. In an overtime loss to Pittsburgh, they allowed the first two goals of the game 42 seconds apart in the second period.

What to Expect:
The Flyers finally put it together tonight and get that elusive first win.

The Prediction:
Flyers 4 Avalanche 1

Phillies!

2008-10-16T01:13:00.002-04:00

Why I Hate Gary Bettman

2008-10-15T15:45:00.004-04:00

So after several emails and phone calls exchanged with Comcast, it turns out that it is the NHL's policy to black out Flyers games in the State College area. So now the NHL can expect an angry email from me as soon as I find the proper place to send it. It is complete b.s. that Penguins games can air here and Flyers games can't. The Phillies and Pirates are both shown here. The Sixers are shown here and I'm sure if Pittsburgh ever had a basketball team they would get aired here too. It's not right that I am forced to watch Cindy tip toe around the ice, but I don't get to see Mike Richards careen around and hit people. Gary Bettman, I hold you responsible for my anguish.

This is the email I tried to send to them:
I am a Flyers fan that attends Penn State University. Two years ago I arrived here as a freshman, and was disappointed to find out that Comcast Sports Net wasn't carried on the dorm TV network. Last year, I moved into an apartment which did carry CSN, so I was excited to finally be able to watch Flyers games again. Much to my dismay, I found out that Flyers games were blacked out all season. During the playoffs, the Philadelphia/Washington series was NOT blacked out on CSN in the State College area. However, once the Montreal/Philadelphia series started, games were once again blacked out. For most of the year I chalked up the games being blacked out to the fact that the Flyers were the worst team in the league in the 2006/2007 season. Since the Flyers made the Eastern Conference Finals last season, I expected that the Flyers games would not be blacked out again this season. I was shocked when I tried to turn on the game on Monday to see that the game was again blacked out. After talking to Comcast over the past few days it has been determined that it is the NHL blackout rules that are preventing Flyers games from being shown in State College. This is complete b.s. Penn State is right in the middle of Pennsylvania and there are just as many Flyers fans as Pittsburgh fans in State College and it isn't fair that only half the fans get to see their team play. This situation NEEDS to be fixed promptly.

But unfortunately they only allow 512 characters in the email so I cut it to this:
I am a Flyers fan at Penn State University. I was shocked when I tried to turn on the Flyers game on Monday to see that the game was blacked out. After talking to Comcast it's been determined that it is the NHL blackout rules that are preventing Flyers games from being shown in State College. This is b.s. Penn State is right in the middle of Pennsylvania and there are as many Flyers fans as Pittsburgh fans in State College and it isnt fair that only half the fans get to see their team play. Please fix this

I will be emailing them every day until I get a response I like.

Comcast, I'm Impressed

2008-10-14T17:43:00.004-04:00

So yesterday I wrote a short entry about how I was pissed off that Comcast was blacking out Flyers games in State College. On my walk home from class today, I was thinking about who I could email to inquire about the situation. When I logged onto my computer, I already had an email that said:

K-Mart! How are you?

I read your post about games on Comcast. What channel were you trying to watch the Flyers game on? Also, what area were you trying to watch the game from? If you could let me know, I will try to provide the best answer to address your concern.

Thanks for the opportunity to assist. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Best Regards,

Mark Casem

Comcast Customer Connect

National Customer Operations
----

So I would just like to say, that I am impressed and pleased with Comcast right now, and hopefully, I'll be able to watch Flyers games soon.

Game 3 Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins

2008-10-14T14:50:00.003-04:00

This is the first of six battles for Pennsylvania this season. Last year the Flyers won the season series 5-3, but lost the Eastern Conference Finals 4-1. This season the Flyers have gotten off to a slow start, and it doesn't help that their first road game is at Pittsburgh. The Penguins started off the season in Europe, and split the two games with Ottawa, but then lost in overtime to New Jersey on Saturday.

The Game: Philadelphia Flyers(0-0-2) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1-1-1)

What's Good:
The Flyers won twice in Pittsburgh last season. Mike Richards and Simon Gagne have both scored in each game this season.

What's Bad:
Martin Biron has given up 8 goals in 4 periods of hockey.

What to Expect:
The Flyers have come close in both of their games this season, but couldn't hang onto a lead last night, and couldn't complete a comeback on Saturday. They will need to figure out a way to get a point tonight, or the beginning of this season will begin to mirror the terrible 2006-2007 season.

The Prediction:
Pittsburgh 5 Philadelphia 2

Game 2 Preview: Montreal Canadiens @ Philadelphia Flyers

2008-10-13T19:46:00.003-04:00

Game 2 of this young season pits a rematch of the 2008 Eastern Conference Semi-finalists; the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers. The Canadiens are off to a good start already, as they've gone 1-0-1 in their first two games. The Flyers started really slow against the New York Rangers on Saturday and were never able to recover. They'll have to avoid that if they want to win tonight.

The Game: Montreal Canadiens (1-0-1) @ Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-0)

What's Good:
The Flyers looked really good during the second and third periods on Saturday, they just couldn't complete the comeback. Look for that energy to continue today.

What's Bad:
The Canadiens have a lot more speed on offense than the Rangers did, so their forwards could present match-up problems for the Flyers defense all night.

What to Expect:
Marty Biron to bounce back and have a monster game. Biron played out of his mind against the Canadiens in May, maybe he just needs a foe he knows how to beat to get him on his game again this season.

The Prediction:
Flyers 3 Canadiens 2 (OT)

I HATE COMCAST

2008-10-13T19:45:00.003-04:00

They're STILL blacking out Flyers games at State College. I call bull shit on that. But props on the NHL's game center for streaming 610 WIP flawlessly out here.

Flyers/Rangers Recap

2008-10-11T21:53:00.001-04:00

I only got to watch the first and third periods of this game. But if one bounce would have gone our way, the game would have been completely different. Ugh. We should have won that one.

Rangers 4 Flyers 3.

Phillies!

2008-10-11T01:38:00.002-04:00

In honor of the Phillies bid to break the 25 year title drought of Philadelphia, I've changed my blog colors temporarily.

Go PHILLIES!

5 down, 6 to go.

Game 1 Preview: Flyers vs. Rangers

2008-10-10T14:25:00.003-04:00

Happy Rosh a hockey everyone! The new season is upon us, and tomorrow the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers face off at the Wachovia Center in Philly. It's gonna be a good season, so I'm going to try my hardest to blog everything I can this year.

The Game: New York Rangers (2-0-0) @ Philadelphia Flyers (0-0-0)

The Good:
The Flyers will pick up where they left off last season. New captain Mike Richards has (according to Kristen) looked great this preseason and the team is following his lead. Simon Gagne is back and hopefully his chemistry with Daniel Briere and Mike Knuble will still be there. The Flyers can roll three good lines and will have a dangerous fourth line that teams won't want to mess with.

The Bad:
The defense is still a big question mark. While Braydon Coburn and Kimo Timonen will be solid all year, the jury is out on how newly acquired defensemen Steve Eminger, Ossi Vaananen, Danny Syvret and Patrick Hersley will need to step up early. The loss of Sami Kapenen and R.J. Umberger may hurt the Flyers more than expected.

What to Expect:
The Flyers get a win in their first game, it will take them a little while to get started, but they will pull it out in the end.

The Prediction:
Flyers 4 Rangers 2

What Are They Thinking?!?!

2008-10-09T13:28:00.004-04:00

It's time for me to get a little political. The Flyers' home opener is Saturday, and while I have a deep love the Flyers, sometimes the front office makes decisions that make me go "WTF?". The decision to let Sarah Palin drop the puck at their home opener is one of those decisions that make me quizzical. Flyers owner Ed Snider had this to say when questioned about his choice of Palin for Saturday night: "Because of the tremendous amount of publicity she has brought to our sport, we invited the most popular hockey mom in North America to our home opener to help us get our season started. We are very excited she has accepted our offer and we are very proud of the publicity she is generating for hockey moms and the sport of hockey." Call me crazy, but the image that Palin gets from being portrayed as a hockey mom, that is an image of a cute, homely mother, is not the image I want my potential leader projecting. Can anyone really take her seriously anymore? I have this feeling that if (god forbid) she and McCain get elected next month, the rest of the world will be snickering that America has elected a hockey mom to one of the most powerful positions in the world.

The Daily News columnist Will Bunch has called for a protest of the Flyer's home opener Saturday night. He says that anyone offended by Snider's choice of Palin should turn their back to her when she comes on the ice. Hockey is not the proper forum for making a political statement, and Ed Snider should be ashamed that he is shamelessly using the Flyers to promote the Republican agenda.

Links: Yahoo! Sports article
Will Bunch

Fantasy Hockey

2008-09-10T18:24:00.002-04:00

I'm creating a fantasy hockey league on ESPN as I write this. Let me know if you want in and I'll send out an invite.

Further Proof Why Pittsburgh is Not as Awesome as Philly

2008-09-10T14:37:00.003-04:00

They still don't understand it's soda and not pop.

And Now for Something Slightly Different

2008-08-24T22:14:00.003-04:00

Wow has it really been a month since I last posted? I've been super busy... I finished up my internship in Philly, went to Cape Cod for a week and now I'm back up in State College. Classes start tomorrow :-/

Anyways, I've been watching the Olympics over the past few weeks and I've been seeing this Nike commercial that I really like. I've posted it for your viewing pleasure.

Hockey Player for Life

2008-07-29T20:58:00.003-04:00

I've been really busy of late, so I haven't been able to keep up with my logo posts. However, I got this email from a friend, and I am happy to pimp his book on my site. So take a look:

In anticipation of the October 7th release date of Howard Shapiro's new book, "Hockey Player For Life", Supersonic Storybook Productions (SSP) is very pleased to announce that the book's back cover will feature quotes in praise of it from noted hockey writer and author Brian Kennedy and ESPN's John Buccigross.

"Having attended Book Expo Canada in Toronto in June, I came away really energized," said Howard Shapiro. "I received a lot of good feedback about the book and decided to tweak the front cover a bit and I think we've now got a great cover that will hopefully entice folks to pick up the book and check it out. As far as the story itself, I've received some rave reviews from the hockey blogging community. The folks who have read the pre-release electronic version of the book have enjoyed it thoroughly."

"And through the youtube video I've been able to target and reach a worldwide audience of hockey fans eager for a story about the sport they are so passionate about. In six weeks my contacts on youtube have gone from about 130 to over 1,000 and my website mailing list and myspace contacts have both doubled in size as well. My viral marketing campaign will continue through the rest of summer to hopefully continue to build a buzz for the book."

"It was a phenomenal honor to have Brian Kennedy, who's book "Growing Up Hockey" was a great influence on my writing along with the great John Buccigross contribute to the back cover of the book. Having the opportunity to work with them along with Keith Primeau means a tremendous amount to me and I cannot thank them all enough for their time and efforts."

Excerpts of a review of "Hockey Player For Life" by K. Kniazev - The story kept me involved the whole time. I particularly enjoyed the twist in the story and I think that just about anybody who ever played a sport as a kid, in school, in college, etc… can relate to this. Even though I have never played hockey, I could easily identify with all of the trials and tribulations which Tom goes through. This is absolutely an every-athlete book with an excellent teen appeal. I think - if I were 13 - I would just as easily dig in to the book. You did an amazing job writing this from the perspective of a teen, and have put together a fantastic collection of thoughts and situations. I can already see this book being a great success. For some reason, I pictured this as a movie script with a great story that could easily translate from the written to the visual.

The "Hockey Player For Life" video can be seen at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfkIl1VMakE

Howard was a recent guest on "The Book Chick" show which is broadcast from Regina, Saskatchewan on CJTR FM: http://www.cjtr.ca/index

For a sneak peek of "Hockey Player For Life" and for further information, please log onto www.howardshapiro.net

To receive the electronic version of "Hockey Player For Life" please contact Supersonic Storybook Productions at 866.520.4286 or send an email to howard.shapiro@hotmail.com

Ranking the Five Worst Logos in Hockey: #3

2008-07-14T20:16:00.006-04:00

Minnesota Wild

The Wild went for an abstract idea rather than an actual, tangible thing for their team name. Now it's not a bad name, the Wild sounds pretty cool, and it's at least as good as the Ducks and much better than the Blue Jackets (seriously, WTF kind of mascot name is that?). However, it's pretty hard to come up with a logo for an abstract idea. Apparently the designers who made the logo decided that a "Wild" is a cat-like looking thing with some Christmas trees in the background. The Wild picked a great color scheme (they pull of the Evergreen green and dark red better than the Devils did), but their logo leaves a lot to be desired. It's hard to tackle an abstract idea like the Wild, but if they couldn't have come up with something good, maybe they should have just spelled Wild or Minnesota diagonally across their jersey (I LOVE when teams do that). But no, they went with this animal/forest/desert moon hybrid and it just has too much going on.

Ranking the Five Worst Logos in Hockey: #4

2008-07-13T18:45:00.005-04:00

In this installment of the worst logos in hockey, I'm taking a look at the New York Islanders. Their logo is one of the ugliest in the NHL. While the fact that they turn the Y in NY into a hockey stick is pretty cool, the Islanders color scheme is what kills the logo. I am not a fan of the orange and blue mixture that they have going on. It's an eye-sore. The Islanders current logo is a slightly darker shade of blue than their original logo (which also sucked).
The Islanders tried a new logo for a couple of years in the 90's, but the new fisherman logo was so bad that they reverted back to the circular logo that they currently have now. Here is the Fisherman logo that they used from 1995 to 1997:
No matter which direction the Islanders go, it seems, they can't figure out a way to mix blue and orange and come up with something that looks good. Hopefully they'll wise up and try a different color combination.

Ranking the Five Worst Logos in Hockey: #5

2008-07-10T18:56:00.004-04:00

So one of the reasons hockey is my favorite team sport is that the logos are so much better than they are in any other team sport. The sweater allows the logo to be prominently displayed, so it is important that a team has an appealing logo. Over the next few weeks, I will be ranking my favorite five, and my least favorite five logos. Just because a team makes the list, it does not reflect how much I like the team or not. I am basing this solely off the logo design. I will start with my least favorite logos beginning with the fifth worst (#1 being the absolute worst) logo which goes to...

Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres logo is one of my least favorite logos in the NHL because of one factor: it looks like a yellow slug. I realize that upon further study, it is obvious that it is a buffalo and not a slug, but that brings me to my next point: you would never know that Buffalo were the Sabres from that logo. Nowhere on the logo do I see any reference to a curved sword. The logo is more geared towards the city in which the team plays, rather than their mascot (which is what the other 29 teams in the NHL try to depict with their logo). The Sabres had a nice mix of their city and their mascot with their original logo:
I don't know why they completely went away from the Sabre when they changed their colors back to blue and yellow.

Banners and Such for Your Blog

2008-06-25T22:12:00.000-04:00

So I dunno if you guys like the photoshop job I did for my banner (I'm kinda partial to it) but I enjoy playing around with photoshop, and if you would like me to make something for your blog, I would be happy to help. I would need you to send me the pictures you want me to use and a description of what you want. So yea, let me know if you're interested.

R.I.P. George Carlin

2008-06-23T20:18:00.000-04:00

So sad to see you go, thanks for making us laugh for the past few decades.

The Owners of the Country (NSFW)

Malkin Back to Russia?

2008-06-21T15:38:00.000-04:00

TSN reports that a Russian Super League team has offered Evgeni Malkin an untaxed $12.5 million contract (the equivalent of a $15 million contract in the NHL) to leave the Penguins and come back to Russia to play. The funny thing is that Gary Bettman is complaining that Malkin is under contract and new offers shouldn't be allowed to be made to him until the expiration of his current contract. Wait a second Gary, didn't the Penguins steal Malkin away from his Russian team when he still had a year left on his contract there? I wouldn't expect you to remember that though because you do live in your own little world. I suggest the NHL offers the Russian team Cindy, Malkin and Bettman for nothing and call it even. That way everyone wins, the NHL gets a new commish (maybe one that hasn't ruined the game) and all the fans get to stop putting up with all the worship that is lauded on the shoulders of Crosby and Malkin. Bettman is happy because he gets to see his vision fulfilled: a league that worships the ground that he and Crosby walk on. I see no reason not to make this happen... for the love of god get it done!

2008 NHL Entry Draft Update

2008-06-20T20:31:00.000-04:00

The Flyers traded R.J. Umberger and a fourth round draft pick to Columbus for their first and third round draft choices. What a steal for the Flyers. I loved Umberger, but the rest of the league has him over-valued. This will also help pave the way for Claude Giroux to make the team next year. So thank you R.J. for your service to the Flyers, you always gave it your all, it's only fitting that your trade will further benefit the Flyers. We'll miss you though.

The Flyers ended up drafting defenseman Luca Sbisa who played for Lethbridge of the WHL. Versus compared him to Thomas Kaberle, who was a defenseman the Flyers have tried to acquire several times over the years, so they finally got their guy...

In a continuing mission to upgrade their blue-line, the Flyers shipped their second first round choice to Washington for defenseman Steve Eminger. That is the second defenseman they have traded for this offseason, so the Flyers should have a very different look in their top six come October.

Also, what do you think of the new banner for the site? It's not what I originally wanted, but I think it looks good.

Flyers 2007-2008 Highlight Video

2008-06-20T19:56:00.000-04:00

So this is actually a great video of the Flyers 2007-2008 campaign. Kudos to the first person who can tell me what is conspicuously absent from the video.

Rule Changes for the 2008-2009 Season

2008-06-20T19:20:00.000-04:00

The NHL board of governors recently adopted three rule changes for the upcoming 2008-2009 NHL season. The focus of these rule mainly regarded the placement of face-offs following the whistle in certain situations.

The first change is to rule 76.2, which determines the face-off position after a penalty is called. It used to be that when the team about to be penalized touched the puck, the ensuing face-off would take place in the closest face-off circle as long as it wasn't in their offensive zone. The rule now states that the first face-off of a powerplay will take place inside the penalized team's defensive zone, no matter where they touched the puck. I do not like this rule change because I feel like it's extremely unfair to the penalized team. Yes, they did just commit a penalty, but the team going on the powerplay already has enough of an advantage, they don't need one more offensive zone draw. The rule is also not clear on what happens if the touch up is on an icing call. Which face-off takes precedence? The new rule or the icing?

The second rule that was changed dealt with the way icings are handled. For years commentators have talked about how dangerous it is for two players to go racing full tilt for the puck. One of the Minnesota Wild defensemen actually broke his leg on a play like this in March. Rule 81.1 now says that any contact between two players going for an icing is only allowed if they are going for the puck. Any dangerous or unnecessary hits are now subject to penalties. The idea of the no-touch icing was tossed around, but it got no real support. This is a rule I like, it's being put in place to try and protect the players and it shouldn't have that much effect on the flow of the game, which is nice. So I applaud this change to the rulebook.

The final rule that has been changed is 85.5. It used to be that if the attacking team shot the puck and it deflected off the post or crossbar and into the crowd, the ensuing face-off would be moved outside of the zone. However, now if this happens, the face-off will remain inside the zone. I'm not a big fan of this change either. Why should a player be rewarded for missing the net? It's not the defending team's fault that the shooter cannot hit the goalie with his shot, so why should they be punished for that?

Anyways, so there is a quick rundown of the rule changes that we will be seeing next year... any questions?

Gary Bettman vs. New York Rangers

2008-06-19T23:40:00.000-04:00

So the New York Rangers and Gary Bettman are butting heads over the Rangers' website. The group that owns the Rangers, Madison Square Garden L.P. does not like that the NHL wants to take full control of their website, and I don't blame them. Bettman and the NHL have responded with a threat to remove them from ownership if they don't comply with the NHL on this issue. Bettman has asked a judge to declare that the ownership has breached their contract by challenging the rules of the NHL, while the Garden has said that they will not put up with Bettman's "bullying tactics". MSG ownership took the case to court the day before the NHL began pressing $100,000 a day fines for the Rangers' lack of compliance.

On one hand, I'd love to see the Rangers' ownership forced out because I personally can't stand the Rangers and it's always nice to see a rival go down in flames. On the other hand, I operate under the belief that Bettman knows nothing about managing the NHL and needs to go move to some remote island so the sport can be fixed. So I have to side with the Rangers on this one, Bettman needs to back off. Besides, if Bettman and the NHL win this battle and removes the Rangers ownership, it sets a scary precedent: Comply with all of the NHL's wishes or you're gone. It gives too much power to the NHL to enact new rules and get rid of the people that cross them. Today the Rangers... tomorrow the Flyers? You never know, so I hope Bettman gets his hand slapped by a judge and the Rangers are allowed to continue as normal.

Read the article here.

Welcome

2008-06-19T22:11:00.000-04:00

Well I'm launching my own hockey blog. I'll still post about other sports over at Stu's Eye, but I wanted my own separate hockey blog. So from now on, to talk hockey with me, slide on over here. Anyways, I have a few articles in the works that I'm hoping to get out this weekend, so look for something new soon.

Coming Soon...

2008-05-26T02:39:00.000-04:00

Coming soon to this blog: Hockey analysis with a Flyers bias