Olympic Hockey

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

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.

Inconsistent Discipline Strikes Again!

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

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.