Let's. Win. This.

Bring home that cup!

I Should Be the Flyers GM

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.

Welcome to the Sprint

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!

A Few Thoughts Before the Olympic Break

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

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

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?

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.

Flyers Wrap

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.

Flyers vs. Ducks Live Blog

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?

-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.

Most Exciting Game of the Year (So Far)

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

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

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!

Good Bye Randy Jones!

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!

Thoughts on the Offseason So Far

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.

You Have Got to be Kidding Me

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.

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

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

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.

So Apparently We Can Kill Penalties this Year

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.

Game 6 Preview: San Jose Sharks v. Philadelphia Flyers

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