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Flyers Future

    The Flyers got pummeled. Beaten. Thrashed. Destroyed, rolled on, flattened, annihilated, etc., etc. Yes, I am a Philadelphia Flyers fan. But there's no use in trying to deny what happened Sunday afternoon. The Pittsburgh Penguins routed the Flyers 6-0 in game five, advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. There's no complaining about calls here or favoritism or injuries when you lose 6-0 in a hockey game. It hurts to say this, but congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
    Usually a loss like this would be a crushing blow. I'd skip school/work/commitments out of spite and anger and fight off the ultimate reality that we could possibly have choked away a birth in the championship by taking it out on my fellow man. I would be one unpleasant fellow to be around (see: 2002, 2003 NFC Championship games, 2004 Super bowl). But for some strange reason, even with the utterly demoralizing fashion in which it occurred, I'm not mad. I'm not disappointed. I'm optimistic.
    Was this not the worst team in the league last year? If memory serves, we finished dead last and had little hope for the future. With changes in management and shrewd deals, as well as developing young talent, the Flyers went from nowhere to the top four in a SINGLE year. That's reason for celebrating the Flyboys, not hating them. They got off to a fast start, stalled mid-season, and finished strong to take the sixth seed. Then they had the monumental task of playing the 3rd, 1st, and 2nd seeds in succession. A vast majority of the hockey experts said the Flyers had a snowball's chance in hell in each of those series.
"Oh, Ovechkin is going to smoke the Flyers!" "Habs in 5, no way they beat the top seed."
Well guess what? The underdogs defeated both the Capitals and Canadiens, and put up a damn good fight against the Pens before running out of steam in that game five debacle. The Philadelphia Flyers have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. But the real kicker here is that this is not a group of veterans. The core is young. It's going to be scary to watch these men in the coming years.
    Danny Briere is a star. Richards, Carter and Umburger are all going to be around for a long time and are top-shelf talent, and would be serviceable on a Stanley Cup winning team. Kimo Timonen was the Flyers best player this year. Hatcher, Smith, Coburn.. all good pieces. Also, lest we forget, Simon Gagne is a monster and will be back next year. Marty Biron played well enough to prove he's a capable starter, even a standout, in the NHL.
    So beware, NHL. You've been served notice. The Flyers will just keep getting better and better in the next few years. With one deep playoff run under their belts already, and many more sure to come, the future looks bright in Philly.

Flyers Take Control

    Daniel Briere and the Flyers took a 2-1 lead over the Caps in Philadelphia today. The score of 6-3 is not indicative whatsoever of this game- the Flyers had to work for every inch. Led by Briere's 2 goals and an assist, Philly gets the upper hand in the series in a game with drama at every turn.
    Where to begin? I think Cristobal Huet needs a hug. Not from me, I'm laughing at him. But someone should- he was abused and pushed and hit and pounded from every angle. Although spectacular at times, his efforts just weren't enough. The Flyers took 33 shots as opposed to the Capital's 19, so even though he saved 11 more shots than Marty Biron (congratulations to Biron by the way- his wife gave birth on Monday), he gave up 5 goals. The sixth was an empty netter.
    Briere, Hartnell and Kapanen each scored and gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead in the first, making the Philly faithful believe they could coast to an easy game three victory. But Washington came back strong in the second, spending most of the second period in the Philadelphia zone. They got 5 power play opportunities as well, but could only convert one. For a period they clearly controlled the tempo, but just couldn't put it in the net enough. The third period had the most exciting 15 minutes of scoreless hockey I've seen in a long time, with fighting and checking and near misses left and right. Things really got interesting with 5 minutes to go, though.
    Down 4-2, Brooks Laich of the Capitals fired a goal at Biron that seemed like an easy call for the referees, but some controversy as to whether or not there was contact on Briere and some potential high sticking made it seem as though it may be called back. But the officials in Philadelphia and Toronto upheld the goal, much to the chagrin of the crowd. As the boos rained down from the rafters of the Wachovia Center, the blood pressure of the coaches and players rose- they started to have that eerie feeling of deja vu, as memories of the game one disaster flooded back.
    With three minutes to go, the Flyers needed a spark. And one came, by the name of Mike Richards. As he sped past the defense, he aimed a shot at Huet. But a Capital hooked his leg from behind, launching him into the goaltender. Penalty shot. As the room I was sitting in erupted, a fellow Philly fan sitting nearby remarked "This happens once every ten years!" (I actually checked it out, by the way: the last penalty shot in the playoffs was Chris Pronger in 2006.) Richards struck it through the 5-hole to secure the win. The final goal was an empty netter by Knuble.
    Briere was magnificent; his 3 points gives him 6 for the series. It seems like his big-money contract might be worth it after all. And can somebody put out an all points bulletin for Alexander Ovechkin? We need to find him stat to make this a series. I mean, that imposter wearing number 8 is giving the man a bad name.. what? That's him? Sorry. I just assumed the probable MVP of the league would show up for a playoff game.
    With game four staying in the City of Brotherly Love, the momentum has shifted completely to the Flyers. They should go back to Washington with a 3-1 lead and put the Capitals away in style.

Flyers Caps Part 2

On to the Flyers..

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
42-29-11
    The Flyers ran away with the title for most improved team in the NHL, swinging it 39 points in the other direction. After a tumultuous few years with GM Bobby Clarke, they promoted Paul Holmgren to the top front office spot and he immediately made a splash. Donald Briere was the Flyer's prize free agent, having scored 95 points for the Sabres the previous year. Although they cooled down a considerable amount over their red-hot start, they're still a fun team to watch purely for the reason most people watch hockey; they're a roughneck, in your face reincarnation of the 70's Broad Street Bullies. The Flyers will punch you in the mouth and not think twice about it.
    Although Briere had 72 points this year, he had an atrocious -22 plus minus. And their best player from the past few years, Simon Gagne, struggled with injuries. So the team looked to new sources for leadership. Mike Richards (75 points, +22) and RJ Umberger (50 points) really stepped up and showed Philadelphia that they can be counted on. Martin Biron, their Goalie, has a fine 2.59 GAA and will have the unenviable job of trying to stop Alex Ovechkin. To uprade the D, the Flyers added Jason Smith, former Oiler Captain. He's given the defense an identity. He and Derien Hatcher should brutalize the Caps front lines.
    Coach John Stevens has this squad playoff ready. This should be an interesting series.

PREDICTION:
This one should go down to the wire. It's one superstar and his gang against a solid team; whoever prevails will just have to play hard nosed defense the entire series. There's no clear advantage in power play, the Flyers and Caps rank second and seventh, respectively. The big difference is penalty kill, where Philly is top ten and D.C. is bottom five. This, coupled with the team mentality the Flyers bring, should be enough to overcome Washington's goalkeeping advantage and Ovechkin.

Flyers in 7

Flyers Caps

First and foremost, I've spent the last few days doing a major overhaul of the site and how it works. Most importantly, you can reach this website from 4and26sports.com within 24 hours or so, because I bought out the domain name. So go there from now on. Or else. On to hockey..

Eastern Conference Playoff Series Preview, Philadelphia vs. Washington

WASHINGTON CAPITALS:
43-31-8
    The NHL avoided a potential fiasco late in the season with the brawl for the Southeast Division. The Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals, separated by scant inches in the standings, fought it out to the last few days of the season. Although neither would make the wildcard based on record alone, the fact that division champions automatically get playoff berths made their plight relevant. The winner of their battle attained the 3rd seed, and the loser the 9th- which means it was do or die for both. And I'm sure the NHL was pleased with the outcome. 
    For the prospect of persuading ANYONE outside of hockey fans (the few of us left) to watch this series, the NHL desperately needed the Capitals to make the playoffs. Why? So the world gets the chance to see Alexander Ovechkin. Someone with that talent should not be relegated to the Versus network. The man is a scoring champ, record breaking, sure-to-be MVP, marketable, young, All-Star.  The only people unhappy to see him here are the Flyers. His numbers, some of which have not been seen since Gretzky: 112 points (1st in the league), 65 (!) goals (1st), 47 assists (t-29), +28 (7th). He is the best player on the ice in this series, or any series. Bar none. Yes, I'm talking to you Sid and/or Malkin.
    The Caps aren't a one man show, however. Cristobal Huet, a goalie acquired from the Habs at the trade deadline, has been excellent. He has a superb 2.32 GAA and .920 save percentage, good for sixth and tenth in the league. Nicklas Backstrom has been a solid center with 55 assists.
    They're also on fire right now. 37-17-7 since the all star break (best in the league) and 7 straight wins, the Caps have been obliterating the competition a la Quentin Jackson. To fully grasp how far they've come, they were 14th in the Conference at the break- now they've got the 3rd seed.

Flyers and prediction in the next post.