phillypressbox

Posts Tagged ‘Claude Giroux’

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Flyers-Penguins, Game 3

In Philadelphia Flyers on April 17, 2012 at 5:22 pm

In today’s “View from the Philly Pressbox” we look at the Flyers blowout of the Penguins in Game 3 of the 1st Round series. The Flyers now lead the series 3-0 with an 8-4 win over the crumbling Penguins at the Wells Fargo Center before a crazed sellout crowd.

In our series preview we identified the four keys for the Flyers to win the series and they haven’t changed.

  • ·        Don’t fall behind early in games
  • ·        Ilya Bryzgalov
  • ·        Staying out of the penalty box
  • ·        Stay healthy

Don’t fall behind early in games. Obviously, the Flyers didn’t get our post, AGAIN and AGAIN!! Although the Flyers fell behind 1-0 on a Jordan Staal goal at the 3:52 mark they were never reeling in this game. As the Penguins tried to figure out some way to stay in the game, with cheap shots and taunting, they never had a chance. Max Talbot scored shorthanded, again, at 6:44 and Danny Briere added the first of his two goals on the power play at 8:19 to give the Flyers the lead that they would never give up. Briere added his second goal, and fourth of the series, at 11:45 and Matt Read the first of his two goals at 15:40, wrapped around a James Neal goal. At the end of the 1st period it was 4-2 Flyers, and it was on from there.

The Flyers have spotted the Penguins leads in each of the three games of the series. We still feel this is a bad sign moving forward. The way this series has unfolded the Flyers are just the better hockey team; however, this habit needs to stop. It’s been a problem all season and isn’t a situation they want to put themselves in throughout the playoffs. So far they’ve survived.

 Ilya Bryzgalov – Bryzgalov was not near as sharp as he was in Game 2 when he was tremendous. He allowed two goals that were cheap goals. that could cost a game at some point in the playoffs. Bryz seemed to be distracted slightly by the gooning and fighting that was going on around him. He cannot have breakdowns in his concentration and allow soft goals. The Pens explosive offense was well discussed coming in to the series. The Flyers have done a great job controlling Evgeni Malkin, 0 goals and 4 assists and Sidney Crosby, 2 goals and 3 assists throughout the series. Lost in the Flyers offensive explosion, 20 goals, is that the Penguins have scored 12 goals themselves. Four goals a game is a lot of goals to give up. Bryz needs to get sharp and stay sharp. Soft goals have to stop. We’ll say it until “The Stanley Cup” rides down Broad Street, hot goalies win playoff series and Stanley Cups and Bryz needs to be that hot goalie.

Stay Healthy – In the midst of all of the cheap shots, head hunting and fighting the Flyers came out of Game 3 without any injuries. The team is getting close to adding James Van Riemsdyk back to the lineup. JVR will be a nice addition in place of Zac Rinaldo. Rinaldo has tried to be physical when he can, but always seems to find his way to the penalty box. Renaldo has 20 penalty minutes in the 3 games. JVR will add some offensive skill and still be physical.

Staying out of the penalty box will be critical. It’s pretty difficult to talk about staying out of the penalty box when you have a game where you are being, thugged, mugged and gooned by your opponent. The Flyers did allow one power play goal in the game and now three for the three game series. Credit goes to the Flyers for defending themselves and protecting their players when they had to without losing control of their emotions like the Penguins did. The “thugs” were clearly the Penguins. The Flyers added four power play goals of their own, Briere, Read, Wayne Simmonds and Talbot. They added another shorthanded goal by Talbot, his second “shorty” of the series and the third by the Flyers. It’s safe to say that the team that gets five special teams goals is going to win!! Special Teams remain critical to the playoffs, and obviously the Game 3 advantage, like Games 1 and 2, goes to the Flyers.

Again, we’ll show the same quote we showed in our series preview and after Games 1 and 2. We stated that “for the Flyers to win they need to get contributions from all of their lines. Obviously, the Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Jaromir Jagr line needs to be good. Danny Briere needs to step up as he has in past playoffs. Wayne Simmons, Max Talbot and Jakub Voracek will need to contribute as they have all season. Just as important will be the play of the Flyers rookies, Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn. These rookies have played very well throughout the regular season; however, they need to lift their game to the next level that is playoff hockey!” Again, we hit the nail on the head with that statement. Claude Giroux continues to be tremendous on both ends of the ice and as a team leader. Giroux, along with line mates, Scott Hartnell and Jaromir Jagr are leading the way, although Hartnell has been kept off the scoreboard he’s continued to impact the game. A big key in Game 1 was rookie Brayden Shenn, in Game 2 it was rookie Sean Couturier with 3 goals and an assist, Game 3 it was rookie Matt Read with 2 goals. Another rookie, Eric Wellwood has played solid hockey in less playing time. The rookies have combined for 6 goals and 6 assists in the series thus far. Add that to the solid play of Talbot, Simmonds, Jake Voracek and the incredible playoff goal scoring of Briere and you have a total team contribution.

Defensively, the Flyers have played solid throughout. Brayden Coburn has been a wall. Matt Carle has been solid along with Nic Grossman, Timonen, Pavel Kubina and Andreas Lilja. Each had to step up their game when they lost Timonen and each did their job.

Our prediction has been the Flyers in 6 games. We felt asking for a sweep in the series was too much to ask. We stated after Game 2 the Penguins “could come out with their elimination backs against the wall, play well, and win, or they could quit on the season and get ready for golfing”. We didn’t expect them to come out as “goons” before they went golfing. The Flyers need to sweep this series in four games. They need to get out with no injuries from any further cheap shots. The Flyers need to come out of the locker room with their foot on the gas from the start and not take any chances going back to Pittsburgh for a Game 5. The Flyers have the Penguins down and need to “kill the mosquito with the ax”.

 

As Gene Hart would say” GOOD NIGHT and GOOD HOCKEY”

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

Philly Pressbox would like to thank our Sponsor, Shop.com.

Please click the following link  http://www.shop.com/ul!52548!2012+Flyers-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 for all of your Flyers needs. Shopping made easy right from your home without ever missing a minute of the playoffs.

 

, , , ,

“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Flyers – Penguins Game 2

In Philadelphia Flyers on April 14, 2012 at 8:34 pm

In today’s “View from the Philly Pressbox” we look at the outcome of Game 2 of the 1st Round series between the Flyers and the Penguins. The Flyers now lead the series 2-0 with a fantastic 8-5 victory at the Consol Energy Center.

In our series preview we identified the four keys for the Flyers to win the series and they haven’t changed.

  • ·        Don’t fall behind early in games
  • ·        Ilya Bryzgalov
  • ·        Staying out of the penalty box
  • ·        Stay healthy

Don’t fall behind early in games. Obviously, the Flyers didn’t get our post, AGAIN! They came out and fell behind just 15 seconds in to the game. That first goal, as well as the Flyers strategy, is very confusing to me. The Flyers didn’t have the opening line matchup they wanted with the Sidney Crosby line so as soon as the puck was dropped all 5 Flyers headed to the bench for a full line change. Call it bad luck or fast hockey but before the Flyers could get their new group on the ice and organized Crosby was flying and dealt the first blow, and again the Flyers had to come from behind. The opinion here is that these are professional players and not having the matchup you want can wait until you can clear the puck and get an organized line change. This was ridiculous. It was a tactical error by Peter Laviolette and he got burned. Overall, the Flyers played much better in the 1st period but fell behind 2-0 before getting a beautiful shorthanded goal from Max Talbot, at 12:44. Talbot followed a Claude Giroux shot and banged in the rebound to make it 2-1. The Flyers had their skates under them, and looked like they were in pretty shape before giving up would looked like a back breaking goal by Defenseman Paul Martin at the 19:42 mark. Again, the Flyers went to the break down 3-1. We know the end result turned out the Flyers way, however, we stick to our original keys and say the Flyers cannot continue to fall behind early in this series or in any other. It’s not the position they need to be in game-in and game-out or it will catch up to them.

Ilya Bryzgalov – Bryzgalov was tremendous! He gets our #1 star of the game even though he gave up 5 goals and there were two hat tricks. He only stopped 23 of 28 shots but like we stated he was tremendous. Bryz made at least three saves that could’ve/should’ve been goals. At one point the game could’ve been 6-1 Pittsburgh if not for Bryz. The Flyers made a decision to open the vault to sign Bryzgalov in the off season and it surely paid off last night. Hot goalies win playoff series and Stanley Cups and Bryz is a hot goalie.

Stay Healthy – This was a physical hockey game that appeared to favor the Penguins. The hit numbers were equal but the center ice hits and bigger hits came from Pittsburgh although the Flyers dished out their fair share of hits as well. With that said, the Flyers are still healthy and ready for Game 3.

Staying out of the penalty box will be critical. The Flyers were called for five minor penalties in the game and gave up two goals. That’s too many! Although you can’t depend on it every night the Flyers turned the shorthanded situation to their advantage getting a the shorthanded goal from Talbot in the 1st period and another from Giroux that tied the score 3-3 at 11:04 of the 2nd period. The Penguins were only called for three penalties and the Flyers turned one of them in to Giroux’s first goal of the game. The two “shorties” tend to hide the penalty situation. The Flyers cannot give the Penguins five power play opportunities a game. Special Teams are critical to the playoffs, and the Game 2 advantage, just like Game 1, goes to the Flyers.

After this 2nd game we’ll quote what we said in our series preview and repeated after Game 1. We stated that “for the Flyers to win they need to get contributions from all of their lines. Obviously, the Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Jaromir Jagr line needs to be good. Danny Briere needs to step up as he has in past playoffs. Wayne Simmons, Max Talbot and Jakub Voracek will need to contribute as they have all season. Just as important will be the play of the Flyers rookies, Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn. These rookies have played very well throughout the regular season; however, they need to lift their game to the next level that is playoff hockey!” Again, we hit the nail on the head with that statement. Claude Giroux was tremendous, scoring 3 goals and adding another 3 assists. Talbot added a goal. Jaromir Jagr added the game winning goal. All of the Flyers contributed on both ends of the ice. It’s unfortunate that Bryzgalov was so good because Sean Couturier deserves to be the #1 star as well. The 19 year old Couturier added a hat trick of his own and an assist while shutting down the Penguins 50 goal scorer Evangi Malkin. Malkin did tally two assist but he was never a factor and the reason was Couturier. Couturier delivered one of the big blows of the game by tieing the score 4-4 with a goal with 2.8 seconds remaining in the 2nd period. He stayed with the play until the final whistle and his hustle paid off. Again, it was a total team effort and a well deserved huge win.

Our prediction still hasn’t changed from the Flyers in 6 games. We’ve been right on both games so far. The Flyers are further in the Penguins heads! It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh responds in Game 3. They could come out with their elimination backs against the wall, play well, and win or they could quit on the season and get ready for golfing. For the Flyers, they need come out of the locker room ready to play, not fall behind again and put their foot on the throat of the Penguins and not let off. Back in the day, when I used to coach, I had a saying when you got a lead on your opponent to “kill the mosquito with an ax.” That’s what the Flyers need to do. However, we feel the Penguins will play well and win Game 3. We hope not but a sweep would be too much to expect.

 As Gene Hart would say” GOOD NIGHT and GOOD HOCKEY”

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

Philly Pressbox would like to thank our Sponsor, Shop.com.

Please click the following link  http://www.shop.com/ul!52548!2012+Flyers-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 for all of your Flyers needs. Shopping made easy right from your home without ever missing a minute of the playoffs.

 

, , , , , , , ,

“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Flyers-Penguins Series

In Philadelphia Flyers on April 11, 2012 at 9:57 am

In today’s “View from the Philly Pressbox” we preview the Round 1 series between the Flyers and the Penguins.

This is a pretty easy review from our standpoint. For the Flyers there are four keys to winning the series.

  • ·        Don’t fall behind early in games
  • ·        Ilya Bryzgalov
  • ·        Staying out of the penalty box
  • ·        Stay healthy

Obviously, there are a great deal of things that play in to the four things noted above. The Flyers have to come out of the locker room ready to play. They must put pressure on Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the opening whistle of Game 1 and every other game. They cannot continue to try to play comeback every game. Falling behind by one goal will be difficult to overcome, falling behind by two goals will be impossible. The effort required for these “comebacks” drains a great deal of extra energy. The Flyers need to jump on the Penguins early and force them to have to play from behind.

 The Flyers must play solid defense and two way hockey for Bryzgalov to be good. However, Bryz must step up his game, as he did in the last third of the season, and make the big saves when the defense breaks down.  Bryz brings 33 wins and a 2.48 GAA (Goals Against Average) in to the playoffs, but as we know the regular season statistics don’t mean anything. What is important is this, is the goalie playing well going in to the playoffs? In Bryz’ case he went from cold to white hot to cooling off some but still playing well at the end of the season.

 Of course another obvious key in the run to the Stanley Cup is staying healthy throughout the brutal playoff run. The Flyers appear to be as healthy as a team can be at this point. Bryz will benefit from having his full complement of defensemen. Having Nicklas Grossmann back will be big for the Flyers.

Staying out of the penalty box will be critical. The Flyers cannot let Sydney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, 50 g, 59a, 109 points with 12 PP goals, James Neal, 40g, 41a, 81 points and 18 PP goals have space to skate. The Penguins also got 26 goals from Chris Kunitz, 25 from Pascal Dupuis and 25 from Jordan Staal. They can be very dangerous on offense. The Flyers need to be physical throughout the series but cannot afford any bad penalties that could put them in a hole.

For the Flyers to win they need to get contributions from all of their lines. Obviously, the Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Jaromir Jagr line needs to be good. Danny Brierre needs to step up as he has in past playoffs. Wayne Simmons, Max Talbot and Jakub Voracek will need to contribute as they have all season. Just as important will be the play of the Flyers rookies, Matt Read, Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn. These rookies have played very well throughout the regular season, however, they need to lift their game to the next level that is playoff hockey!

Our prediction is the Flyers in 6 games if they can manage the keys discussed above. These teams are very equal as the regular season showed. Bryz must be outstanding and Crosby and Malkin must be controlled. Obviously, the critical game is Game 1 tonight in Pittsburgh to gain series momentum. If the Flyers can gain a split on the road they will be in good position for two wins at the Wells Fargo Center in Games 3 and 4. A loss in Game 5 in Pittsburgh and the clincher in Game 6 back at home.

The talking is over; it’s time to drop the puck!

As Gene Hart would say” GOOD NIGHT and GOOD HOCKEY”

LET’S GO FLYERS!!!!!!

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

Philly Pressbox would like to thank our Sponsor, Shop.com.

Please click the following link  http://www.shop.com/ul!52548!2012+Flyers-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 for all of your Flyers needs. Shopping made easy right from your home without ever missing a minute of the playoffs.

 

, , , , ,

Flyers – 76ers and The Playoffs

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 25, 2012 at 11:01 am

Last week in our review we stated that the Flyers needed to get all 8 of the available points for the week. We knew that would be tough with games against the Penguins, Panthers, Capitals and Canadians. The Flyers did earn 6 of the 8 points, losing a very well played 2-1 game to the Panthers. The week started with a fantastic come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh with 0.9 seconds remaining in overtime on a Scott Hartnell goal. The Florida loss followed. The Flyers bounced back with a 2-1 shootout win over Washington and a 4-1 dominating victory against Montreal. The Saturday night win clinched a playoff spot for the Flyers. The interesting statistic from the week, after spotting the Penguins a 2-0 lead on Sunday, the Flyers outscored their opponents 10-4 for the remainder of the week.

The standings didn’t change over the week. The Penguins presently hold the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference 3 points behind the 1st seeded Rangers. The Pens are still hot in spite of losing big to Ottawa on Saturday night with their backup goalie. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been on fire. The Rangers have cooled off but have managed to hold on to their lead in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. The Pens have 8 games remaining while the Rangers and Flyers have 7 each. The Flyers have 3 games this week, 2 of them at the Wells Fargo Center. Monday they host Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Stamkos is a scoring machine. He presently leads the NHL with 52 goals. The Lightning are likely out of the playoffs but could be a spoiler for the Flyers. This is a must 2 points for the Orange and Black. Thursday’s game is at Toronto against a Maple Leafs team that is also likely out of the playoffs. Again, this is another 2 points the Flyers must get. Saturday, it’s back home to “The Well” against the Ottawa Senators. The Sens are currently in the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. The Flyers need the 2 points in this game, but must get 1 point at the least. This weeks schedule is also favorable to the Rangers, 3 games against non-playoff teams and the Penguins, 4 games with only 1 against a playoff team, the Devils. This is a week where all three teams should gain points leading in to the final week of the season.

The Flyers continue to get outstanding play from goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. The defensive improvement can be seen every night with contributions coming from every player.  Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds, Matt Read and a couple goals on Saturday night by Danny Briere have led the way on offense. (See the link to our article on our MVP Scott Hartnell.) https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/flyers-mvp-scott-hartnell/

The final week of the season is heating up to be special with every game being important in the final playoff positioning. The Flyers have a game against the Rangers and two with the Penguins. Home ice and the 4th seed would be a good landing spot at this point. Making up 5 points on the Rangers and 2 on the Pens may be too tough to do with only 7 games left in the season.

The 76ers are a mystery team. Just when you thought they might be dead and gone they whip the Celtics again in another blowout at the Wells Fargo Center. We felt that the 76ers needed to beat the last place Charlotte Bobcats to open the week, they did. They needed to beat the revived New York Knicks but lost, 82-79, before bouncing back with the big 99-86 win over Boston. The 2-1 record for the week leaves the 76ers hanging on to a 1.5 game lead over the Celtics and a 3.5 game lead over the Knicks in the Eastern Conference.

There’s no rest this week. The 76ers have 4 games in the next 7 days with no room to slip up. They open tonight in San Antonio against a very good Spurs team. They come back home to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. The Cavs are on the outside of the playoff picture. Friday night it’s off to Washington to play the Wizards. The Wizards have won only 11 games all season. Saturday night it’s back to the Wells Fargo Center to host the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are also a good team. They’ve actually won two more games this season than the 76ers. The 76ers need to beat either San Antonio or Atlanta as well as win the two games they should win, Cleveland and Washington, to finish the week with a 3-1 record.

The 76ers seem to be looking for answers every night. One night the leader is Elton Brand, another it’s Lou Williams, another it’s Jrue Holiday. Evan Turner seems to have disappeared as quickly as he arrived. The 76ers have played all season with balanced scoring and good defense while not overusing any player. It seems it’s time to establish who the top six or seven players will be going in to the playoffs and use them down the stretch.

Congratulations to Head Coach Doug Collins on winning his 400th NBA game against Boston on Friday night. Collins has done a real nice job with this young 76ers team. It would be good to get by the first round of the playoffs.

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

Philly Pressbox would like to thank our Sponsor, Shop.com.

Please click the following link  http://www.shop.com/ul!52548!2012+Flyers-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 for all of your Flyers needs. Shopping made easy right from your home without ever missing a minute of the playoffs.

 

, , ,

Flyers MVP – Scott Hartnell

In Philadelphia Flyers on March 24, 2012 at 10:03 am

When looking at an MVP of a team it’s very easy to look at its best player, the highest scorer, highest batting average, most home runs or most yards gained. There are so many other things that go in to “Most Valuable Player”. With 8 games remaining on the Flyers schedule their regular season MVP is Scott Hartnell. As stated above, it’s very easy to select Claude Giroux. Giroux has had a fantastic statistical season tallying 27 goals, 58 assists for 85 points. He is second in the NHL in scoring behind Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin, who has 95 points. “G” is also second in the NHL in assists behind Vancouver Canuck Henrik Sedin, 59. Giroux has also done everything asked of him on the power play and the penalty kill units as well. He’s truly had a great season. With 8 games remaining, Giroux scoring 15 more points to reach 100 is not unreasonable if the Flyers can find the offense that has disappeared since Ilya Bryzgalov has gotten hot and carried the team through March.

When the Flyers traded Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and lost Ville Leino to the Buffalo Sabres in free agency the big question was how would they make up for the loss of these goal scorers. The team was dealt another blow when newly named Captain Chris Pronger was lost for the season after only 13 games and the question was who would provide the leadership that is required in every locker room. The answer to both of those questions is Scott Hartnell.

In the past, Hartnell has been criticized for his sloppy play and taking “bad” penalties at the wrong times. That is in the past. In 2012 Hartnell is having his best season. After 74 games, Hartnell leads the Flyers in goals with 35, +/- rating with +22, power play goals with 15 and game winning goals with 6. He is 2nd in total points, 64, shooting percentage, 16.7% and penalty minutes, 130. All of these are career bests for Hartnell.

Hartnell is also among the NHL leaders in these categories. He’s presently 4th in goals scored and 23rd overall in points. He is ranked 15th in the NHL in +/-  and is tied for 1st in power play goals with 15.

The statistics are impressive; however, Hartnells’ leadership has stood out as much as his play. Playing on the line with Giroux and Jaromir Jagr, Hartnell has been the protector of his linemates. He still plays his “chippy” game and continues to be an irritant to all opponents. He also never hesitates to drop with the gloves with anyone. This has become more apparent as opponents have taken liberties with Giroux. Hartnell always does a good job of protecting himself and his linemates. Lay a hard check or a cheap shot on his linemates you better be prepared for a word, a hit or the gloves being dropped by Scott Hartnell.

Hats off to Hartnell for “stepping up” and filling the void left by other players. He’s had a great season!

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our support. Please check out the new trends for Spring Phillies baseball gear. http://www.shop.com/ul!52548!2012+Flyers-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Also, check out the All Sports Philadelphia Team Jerseys on the following link. http://www.shop.com/ul!52674!Philly+Jersey:s-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of what www.shop.com has to offer.

 

, , , , , , , , , , ,

DON’T PANIC FLYERS FANS!!

In Philadelphia Flyers on February 13, 2012 at 5:54 pm

Flyers fans lets stress one thing as we suffer through the past month – DON’T PANIC. Easier said than done since the team has gotten 4 wins plus a shootout win and 6 loses plus 3 more shootout loses since January 14. That’s a total of 28 possible points. The Flyers have only earned only 12. The goaltending continues to be erratic. Injuries are still a major problem and there seems to be some frustration mounting among the players, Kimmo Timonen.

We all have to admit that the last month has produced some ugly games including big losses to the Rangers twice, the Devils and the Islanders. A big problem is falling behind early and having to play catch-up. This team just doesn’t seem to have that kind of firepower at even strength and seems to be shorthanded a lot more than they are on the power play. So was does coach Peter Laviolette need to do? Keep the troops from imploding inside the dressing room and get players healthy for the playoffs. If we’ve learned anything in the last few years in all sports it’s about being hot at the end of the season and in to the playoffs. When the Flyers made their latest run to the Stanley Cup Finals they didn’t make the playoffs until winning a shootout in the last game of the season. We watched the St. Louis Cardinals come to town on fire down the regular season stretch and beat the heavily favored Phillies and go on to win the World Series. The Dallas Mavericks were not better than the Miami Heat the entire season but they were in the NBA Finals on the way to the championship. The same can be said for the New York Giants who had to win the last week of the season to take their 9-7 record to the playoffs only to whip everyone they played to win the Super Bowl, and going back a few years, how many times did we see Martin Brodeur stand on his head in the playoffs and carry his teams.

With that said, the team is still 2nd in the Atlantic Division, but losing ground to the Rangers, behind by 7 points right now and they are last in goals allowed in the Atlantic but they are still 3rd overall in points in the Eastern Conference. Another reason not to panic! There are 26 games left on the schedule so, in my opinion, they have 12-14 games to get it together and hit stride for the last 12-14 games heading in to the playoffs. They need to continue to get healthy. The young legs of Claude Giroux, Matt Read and Sean Couturier must stay strong as they go in to the longest season of their careers. On the opposite end Jaromir Jagr, Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell must continue to play well and get healthy. The defense must get better across the board so Timonen, Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn aren’t required to play so many minutes. Most importantly a goaltender needs to stand up and be counted. Ilya Bryzgalov is 19-11-6 with a 2.78 goals against average. Sergie Bobrovsky is 12-7-1 with a 2.90 GGA. Those stats will not win a Stanley Cup.

Remember this, as hard as it is to do, the season is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Many coaches break the schedule in to segments and try to win those segments while shuffling players, fighting injuries, fighting team and player scoring slumps and yes, goaltender slumps. The Flyers still have plenty of time to pull it together and get hot in time for the playoffs. From there we make our run!!!

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD HOCKEY….Gene Hart

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Flyers Ready to Run for “THE CUP”

In Philadelphia Flyers on January 31, 2012 at 10:34 am

With 48 games played and 34 remaining the Flyers come out of the All Star break in a nice position. They’re in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division 3 points behind the dreaded Rangers. What’s in the Flyers favor is that they play 7 of the next 9 games in the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center. The 2 road games are at the Rangers February 5 and at Detroit, 1st in overall points with 67, on February 12th. During those 7 games the Rangers and Penguins come in as well as Nashville, the Devils, Islanders, Maple Leafs and Sabers. Obviously the 2 games against the Rangers will be important especially if it’s a 4 point swing either way. We will know an awful lot about this team after this 9 game, 3 week stretch.

The team is presently 29-14-5 and has done it with a ton of injuries throughout the 1st half of the season. Chris Pronger is lost for the season, Claude Giroux, Shane Couturier, Braydon Shenn, James Van Riemsdyk, Jaromir Jagr and now Danny Briere have missed games due to injuries. Only Scott Hartnell, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Matt Carle, Max Talbot and Andrej Meszaros have played in all 48 games.

The scoring leaders at the break are Giroux 18 goals, 37 assists, 55 points (18-27-55). He is 2nd in the league in scoring and 4th in assists. Hartnell 25-19-44 with 13 power play goals which is tied for the league lead. His 25 goals tie him for 6th in the league. Jagr 12-22-34. Kimmo Timonen 2-29-31. Rookie Matt Read 15-16-31. Read is 1st in goals by a rookie and 3rd in total rookie points and rookie +/-, and Briere 13-17-30.

The problem has again been inconsistency in the goal. The job belongs to high price off season acquisition Ilya Bryzgalov but he doesn’t seem to want to keep it. He is 18-10-4 with a 2.99 GGA (goals against average) with 1 shutout. Sergei Bobrovsky has done a real nice job as a fill in. Bob is 11-4-1 with a 2.42 GGA. At some point Head Coach Peter Laviolette will have to make a decision on his #1 net minder will be going in to the playoffs. If it were today the answer looks pretty clear, it’s Bob. There’s a long way to go and goalies can get hot and carry teams to Stanley Cup Championships so I’m sure this will play out for another 20 games or so.

The Flyers need to get and stay healthy, be consistent in the goal and continue their aggressive play without any major slumps. I feel this team can make a deep run in to the playoffs and if the goaltending is great WIN THE CUP!!!!

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Philly Pressbox Weekly Sports Update – 1/22-28

In Misc Philly Sports on January 29, 2012 at 8:40 am

A quick review of Philly Sports for the week of January 22

  •   We lost Joe Paterno – RIP
  •   We lost Andy Musser – RIP
  •   We said goodbye to Brad Lidge. 2008 was a great season. There’s nothing like being perfect.

We said goodbye to Wilson Valdez. No more 19th inning pitching wins.

Phil Knight –Enough said!!

We found greatness in Penn State, Kenny Jackson, Charlie, Pittman, Jimmy Cefalo, Todd Blackledge, Chris Marrone, Michael Robinson, Michael Mauti, Lauren Perrotti, Jeff Bast, Susan Welch, Kurtis Cleckner and Jay Paterno, Sue Paterno and the Paterno family.

The Phils welcome Juan Pierre. Could he be the leadoff hitter we need?

Congrats to Flyers Claude Giroux, Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell for making the NHL All Star team. Especially Hartnell making his 1st appearance in his 11th season.

Claude Giroux goes to the All Star break 2nd in the league in points

The Flyers go to the All Star break in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division 3 points behind the Rangers.

The 76ers finished the week 3-1 and lead the Atlantic Division by 4 games.

Congrats to Shady McCoy, Jason Peters and Jason Babin for making the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. A special shout out to former Eagle David Akers for another trip to Honolulu.

Temple (15-5) whipped St. Joe’s (13-9), 78-60 at the Liacouras Center. I wish those games were still at the Palestra.

Drexel is 17-5 and has won 9 in a row.

Penn is 11-9 and has won 3 in a row.

LaSalle is 16-6 and has won 3 in a row.

Villanova lost to Marquette falling to 11-12.