Why Losing Game 1 is NOT the end of the world

Real simple idea behind this post. It's some reasons why losing game 1 was not the end of the world for the Flyers. I don't intend to have any wit or sarcasm in this post, but hey, things happen and maybe something funny will pop up.

1. After being out of it for 8 days the Flyers showed a lot of rust early on, that should come off as the series goes on.

2. The Flyers proved that Rask is beatable. Rask isn't as inhuman as some make him out to be, in related news, the guy who drafted this guy is a genius. (whoops, I meant JFJ is a moron for trading him.)

3. Dan Carcillo can stay in control of himself and play solidly.

4. The Powe/Betts/Nodl line has a lot of potential as checkers.





Things that the Flyers need to win:

1. Brian Boucher needs to not dip into one of his cold streaks.

2. The Flyers need to win faceoffs

3. The Flyers need to keep traffic in front of Rask

4. While I don't wish injuries on anyone, the Flyers need to take advantage of the lack of Sobotka, and Sturm and get to Boston in Game 2.

5. Richards/Pronger need to rally the troops and keep the team unified.

6. Danny Briere needs to be more responsible in the defensive zone, I'm not asking for Selke award winning stuff, but he needs to be in the right place at the right time.

Top 10 Most Memorable Flyer Facial Injuries

With Ian Laperriere going down with yet another case of “using face to block incoming shot” I find myself feeling the need to post a list of 10 memorable facial injuries in hockey. Some will be memorable because of the player involved, others for the situation. All of these will be significant for reasons given in the explanation; all of these involve the Flyers in some way, so sit back, relax and enjoy.

WARNING: Some of the videos are graphic in nature, watch at your own risk.

The Top 10 Most Memorable Flyers related Facial Injuries:

10. Matt Bradley [WSH] gets his face pounded in by Dan Carcillo on December 5, 2009

Why I like it: Carbomb landed a bomb on Bradley’s face. Oh yeah, and because this night was the first date between Down Goes Spezza and his lovely girlfriend.

9. Trent McCleary [MTL] blocks a Chris Therien shot with his throat Jan 20, 2000.

Why I like it: Well, I don’t like it, it’s a shame that McCleary’s career was ended by that shot, but that being said, it is a wake-up call to the NHL to make throat guards mandatory. There’s yet to be a fatality from something like this, and let’s keep it that way.

8. Stephane Auger [Ref] takes a puck off the face on December 5, 2009.

Why I like It: Well, it seems like someone had enough of Stephane Auger being out to get him. Oh yeah, and DGS and his lovely girlfriend were hanging out together. Luckily for Auger, being blind is not a reason to retire as an NHL referee, just ask, Kerry Fraser

7. Pat Dapuzzo (Linesman) gets cut by an errant Steve Downie Skate on February 9, 2008

Why I Like It: A brawl ensued and Dapuzzo got in to break it up. Got a little Lappy in you?

6. Colton Orr (NYR) knocks out Todd Fedoruk on March 21, 2007

Why I like it: I don’t like serious career threatening injuries, but Orr did to Fedoruk what the rest of the NHL did to the Flyers as a team that year, enough said.

5. Eric Desjardins, Kim Johnnson and Mark Recchi take sticks to the face compliments of Martin Havlat. (2003, 2004). (Sadly no vids of these could be found)

Why I like it: Because revenge is pretty freaking sweet.

Wait my bad, something’s wrong there. What could it possibly be?

I think that there are three possible problems here.

4. Brian Boucher makes a save with his mask, May 24, 2000.

Why I like it: Bouch breaks his mask stopping a puck off a Scott Gomez slapper. Nice

3. Ian Laperriere blocks a shot against the Buffalo Sabres with his jaw on November, 27, 2009

Why I like it: Lappy took a shot off the face, lost 7 teeth, broke his jaw, needed 100+ stitches to close up the wound, and came back to play in the same game. (Note: Lappy takes the shot off the face about 2:00 into the video)

2. Bernie Parent’s Career ending eye injury, February 17, 1979.

Why I like it: Again, I don’t, but this ended the career of the greatest Flyers goalie of all time. Bernie, you delivered cups to this beautiful city, and for that, I thank you, your career ended far too early.

1. Ian Laperriere blocks a shot with his right eye against the Devils on April 22, 2010

Why I liked It: Lappy’s block kept the energy up as the Flyers made short work of the Devils to oust them in the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Uh-oh

Just got word from the Flyers, no Gagne, no Carter tomorrow night.

This spells trouble for the Flyers, look for Leino and one of the call-ups to be in the line up.

My picks for line combos:

Carcillo-Richards-Briere
Hartnell-Giroux-JVR
Leino-Powe-Asham
Laperriere-Betts-[Nodl/Kalinski/Laliberte]

the D will remain the same, and Boucher will be in net again.


Also: since both Gagne and Carter play the PP and PK, this is how those units should look

PP1

Up Front: Carcillo-Richards-Giroux
Blue-Line: Pronger-Timonen

PP2
Up Front: Hartnell-Briere-JVR
Blue-Line: Carle-Coburn [though expect Pronger to play the whole 2 minutes]

PK1
Up Front: Betts/Lappy
D-men: Pronger/Carle

PK2
Up Front: Richards/Hartnell
D-Men: Timonen/Coburn



My opinion here is that Homer's playing this one safe, losing in NJ isn't that important with Game 6 back in Philly.

Keep rocking the Orange


EDIT:
Gagne's out 3 weeks, Carter's out 6, this is NOT good. Hopefully the rest of the team can pick it up though. Flyers have depth, and that helps.

Flyers 4 Devils 1,

Game 4 has gone final...

Flyers 4, Devils 1

Flyers lead series 3-1

Well, in short, after an early game PK issue, the Flyers finally got on track and dominated the Devils to take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the best of 7 series. For any fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs who may be reading this blog, I will pause now so you can look up what "playoffs" are.

What we learned:

Ilya Kovalchuk doesn't fit in the Devils system.

Seriously, even when he scores, he doesn't seem like he is helping his team. Kovi doesn't seem like a team player, and in a system that stresses discipline like the Devils, he doesn't fit.

Martin Brodeur isn't that good anymore.

I've been saying this for years. Brodeur was made by the D in front of him. Is he one of the top 5 of all the time, maybe, top 10, surely. But right now, in 2010, Brodeur is nothing special. As my blogging idol Mr. Down Goes Brown would put it, Brodeur might be as fat as Kyle Wellwood.
Don't believe me, you should.

The Flyers are finally playing to their potential.

The Flyers are playing like the team they were hyped to be back in September. And they're doing in front of Brian Boucher. Jeff Carter finally came out of his scoring funk and Dan Carcillo continued to wreck the Devils with his scoring touch. Yeah, I'm on the Carcillo bandwagon now, and I missed Upshall for a while after his trade.

Peter Laviolette knows how to use a timeout

He drew up the play that led to the goal that put the game out of reach. The Devils are in trouble, and all the pressure is on them. Now Lavi needs to keep outcoaching
the Devils so the Flyers can wrap this up on Thursday.

Paul Holmgren's Offseason Agenda Item 1

It's come to my attention that Flyers GM Paul Holmgren is already out searching for goaltenders for the 2010-2011 season. See it turns out, that in the huge celebration following Carbomb's game winning OT goal last night, Paul Holmgren left his laptop unattended. During the post game party, my DGS SuperSpies got a glimpse of what Homer was up to during the game. In order to avoid detection, they created a video describing the event.

Flyers Offseason Plans

Needless to say, Homer's plan seems a little desparate.

Flyers 3, Devils 2

Game 3 goes final:

Flyers 3, Devils 2 OT

Flyers lead series 2-1

Game 4: at Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Tuesday @ 7pm



A nail-biter right to end with a dude named Carbomb grinding out a GWG. I smell an upset here.

What we learned tonight:

With all due respect to my blogging prophet Mr. Down Goes Brown, I think it's safe to say that Ilya Kovalchuk is officially harder to find than Lee Stempniak in Toronto. Ilya's been shut down by the Flyers defense. Also, Martin Brodeur's stopped a lot of shots, but in the end, he's human and beatable.

The Flyers can in fact win for Brian Boucher, contrary to what the regular season showed us. With this momentum, the Flyers are moving ahead and since they won in OT, I think they've seized control of this series. With that, to the rest of the NHL: WATCH OUT! Philly is finally playing the Cup contender they are.

Come on Flyers! More to come from me after Game 4

Seven Signs the Flyers will win the Stanley Cup in 2010

Yes, I know, the Flyers supposedly don't have a shot this year, that's what all the experts are saying, well guess what. That's what the Flyers want you to think, because secretly, they have a plan to win it all. It's a 7 step plan, and here it is:

Seven Signs That the Philadelphia Flyers Might Win the Stanley Cup this year:

1. Came up with a new defensive strategy centered along the idea of Dan Carcillo getting acquainted with the other team’s leading scorer

2. If the above fails, Chris Pronger comes to the rescue

3. In order to prevent the other team’s shooters from finding patterns in the Flyers goaltending, the Flyers dressed a different pair of goalies every game.

4. The Flyers did NOT sign Marion Hossa this past offseason

5. Implemented new pregame strategy of broadcasting recordings of Mike Richards speaking into the other team’s locker room to put them to sleep before every game

6. Had their diverse goaltenders bond over the element of shared trips to the hospital for MRIs

7. Told Brian Boucher it’s 2000 again