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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!

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Flyers, 76ers Going in Different Directions

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 18, 2012 at 9:30 am

Last week in our review we stated that the Flyers needed 6 points for the week to stay in contention. We said they would split with the Devils and they did. We said they would beat the Islanders and they did. We also said they would beat the Bruins in Boston and they didn’t. They did get a point after the shoot out lose. That totals 5 points for the week. Honestly, the one point doesn’t hurt them that much overall at this point in the season, although all points are important. What do you mean the point isn’t that important? The Penguins presently hold the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference just 2 points behind the 1st seeded Rangers. The Pens are the hottest team in the league, winning their 11th in a row last night against the Devils. Sidney Crosby is back, again, and has recorded 5 assists in the 3 games since his return. The Flyers are the second hottest team in the East and presently hold the 5th spot in the playoff picture sitting 3 points behind the Pens going in to todays matchup at the Wells Fargo Center. Unless the Flyers or Pens can take over the first spot in the East they will play each other in the first round of the playoffs with the Penguins having the home ice advantage. That’s the worst scenario for both teams, especially the Flyers. With that said, the Flyers have 11 games remaining in the regular season, 3 against the Penguins and 1 against the Rangers so there’s a lot of hockey left and a lot can happen. Looking at the upcoming week for the Flyers, all four of their games are at home and they need to win them all. Seven points is a must this week but eight should be the goal. Obviously, todays game against Pittsburgh is the key to the week and a potential 4 point swing in the standings. Tuesday the Flyers host the Florida Panthers, Thursday the Washington Capitals and Saturday the Montreal Canadians. These are all games the Flyers should and must win.

The Flyers continue to get outstanding play from goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds and the defense. Bryz set the Flyers team record this week with 249 minutes, 43 seconds of scoreless hockey. In the month of March, Bryz now holds a 7-1 record, while stopping 226 of the 235 shots he’s faced, a 96.2% save percentage. Giroux continues to be a league leader in points and is a top candidate for the Hart Trophy as the league MVP. Giroux is presently 3rd in total points with 82, behind Evgeni Malkin, 87 points, and Steven Stamkos, 84 points. He is also 2nd in the league in assists with 56, trailing Vancouvers, Henrik Sedin by 1 assist. Hartnell is presently 6th in the NHL with 33 goals. The schedule is in the Flyers favor this week and they need to take advantage of it and earn the 8 possible points.

We felt that the 76ers needed to split the week this week. We didn’t expect them to beat Miami or Chicago but we did expect them to beat the Knicks and Pacers, they didn’t. After starting the week with a nice win at Madison Square Garden for their third straight win, things went bad from there. Indiana, Miami and Chicago are all quality teams and the 76ers couldn’t compete with them. They were blown out in Indiana, 111-94, allowing the second most points in any game this season. They were blown out again by the Heat, 84-74. Don’t be misled by the final score. The 76ers were down by 29 points in the 1st half. The Heat took their foot off the throttle or could’ve won the game by 40 points. On to Chicago, who played without their best player, reigning MVP Derrick Rose and the 76ers could not compete. They did have a halftime lead but got outscored 51-36 in the 2nd half.

The 76ers still hold a 1.5 game lead in the Atlantic Division over Boston and a 4 game lead over the Knicks. They are presently the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference, which they will maintain if they win the Atlantic. If Boston were to win the Atlantic the 76ers could drop down as far as the 7th or 8th seed and have to play Miami or Chicago in the 1st round of the playoffs. That isn’t the scenario they want.

The 76ers get a break this week with only three games, however, they are important. They open the week Monday at Charlotte against the last place Bobcats. They follow that with critical home games Wednesday against the Knicks and Friday against the Celtics. The 76ers must win all three games this week if they’re going to hold on to the Atlantic Division lead. There are 21games remaining in the regular season, these three are as important as any, as the 76ers try to regain some momentum and consistency going down the stretch.

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Bryz – Turner Lead the Flyers and 76ers

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 11, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Last week we stated in our review that we felt that the Flyers needed a minimum of 6 points for the week with hopes of gaining 7 points. They had tough games against Washington, Detroit, Florida and Toronto. Little did we know they would win all 4 games by a combined score of 10-2 and that Ilya Bryzgalov would pitch 3 shutouts. Bryz was tremendous! He stopped 128 of the 130 shots he faced during the week. As we’ve stated many times before, hot goalies win playoff series and Bryz is as hot as anybody. Offensively the Flyers did enough to win, scoring 1, 3, 5 and 1 goals across the week. Obviously you can’t depend on winning 1-0 shutouts all of the time as they did twice this week. More offense is a must. Claude Giroux continues to have an outstanding season. He had a goal and 3 assists this week and now has 24 goals and 55 assists for 79 points through 67 games. Scott Hartnell continues to have his best season with 32-28-70. Hartnell’s leadership really showed again this week as opponents have tried to take liberties with Giroux. Hartnell has come to his defense and dropped the gloves to protect the team’s best player. The same can be said for Wayne Simmons (22-19-41) who took on Buster Crabb of the Maple Leafs and scored an easy victory after the Leafs continued to slash Giroux. The biggest improvement overall has been the defense and Bryzgalov. Good defense and good goaltending often go together and the Flyers have definitely tightened up their game. With that said, defensive turnovers are no longer becoming automatic goals because Bryz has come up big and made the stops when needed. Overall, this week the Flyers have had outstanding team efforts and as a result won all 4 of their games and earned the 8 points.

Looking at next week it doesn’t get any easier. The Flyers are presently the 5th seed in the playoffs, 2 points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and 6 points behind the number one seed New York Rangers. At this point last week that Flyers were 12 points behind the Rangers. This week 3 of the 4 games are on the road starting today with the New Jersey Devils. The Devils come to the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday before the Flyers go to Long Island and then to Boston. The Devils are just 2 points behind the Flyers for the 5th seed so these two games will be critical. The Islanders are virtually out of the playoffs but the Flyers cannot have a letdown on the road. The Boston game will be Saturday afternoon on the NHL Network as the showcase game of the day. The Flyers are 1-2 against the Bruins winning on opening night 2-1 in Boston but have had trouble stopping them since, losing 6-0 and 6-5 with both games at home. The Bruins are presently the number two seed in the Eastern Conference 8 points behind the Rangers.

Again, we feel the Flyers need at least 6 points again this week. We are thinking a split with the Devils, a win against the Islanders and a win against Boston on the road.

We felt that the 76ers needed to win 3 of their 4 games this past week against Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston and New Orleans. They started the week slow by losing to Chicago and Milwaukee, but bounced back with a blowout of Boston and a win over the Jazz. Depending on how the season finishes we feel that the loss to Milwaukee will be one to be looked back on as a critical lose. The Bucks are not very good and on the playoff bubble. It was a bad time for a letdown.

This was the week that Evan Turner arrived. Coach Doug Collins inserted Turner in the starting lineup against the Bucks for the first time. Turner did not play well, shooting just 1-12 from the field and finishing with 2 points. Collins stuck with Turner and he responded with 26 points and 9 rebounds against Boston and 16 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists against New Orleans. The addition of Turner to lineup that already includes 6 double figure scorers provides the 76ers with even more weapons going down the stretch. A big question for the 76ers through the last third of the season is the health of Spencer Hawes. Hawes has played in only 14 games this season. He was averaging 10.5ppg and leading the team with 8.3rpg. If Hawes can get healthy and contribute down the stretch he will only make the 76ers better in the playoffs.

This week will be another major challenge for the team. They play 4 games in the next 7 days beginning today at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks. They move on to play Indiana on the road before hosting the Miami Heat and closing out the week in Chicago against the Bulls. A 2-2 week is a must. Beating Miami and Chicago will be difficult. The 76ers lead over the Celtics is down to 2 games so they won’t be allowed any slip ups during the week. They have to win the games they’re supposed to win. If they can add an upset victory that’s all the better.

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CRUNCH WEEK FOR THE FLYERS & 76ERS

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 4, 2012 at 11:52 am

It’s pretty safe to say that this is a huge week for both the Flyers and the 76ers. The Flyers are struggling with injuries having lost James van Riesmsdyk for the season with a broken foot. Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn and Andres Meszaros are also banged up on defense. Add these guys to the “normal” aches and pains of being 63 games in to an NHL season and the Flyers could be in some trouble. This week brings four very tough games against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on the road tonight, home against the Western Conference Central 1st Place Detroit Red Wings, home against the Eastern Conference 1st Place Florida Panthers and at Toronto against the Maple Leafs. Washington and Toronto are both in the 3rd place in their divisions and fighting for playoff spots. If the season ended before today’s games both would be out of the playoffs by a couple points so these games are very important. Each game is very important for the Flyers as they try to stay in the playoff hunt. They got better goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov on the west coast trip but the offense went to sleep. Bryz warming up is a great sign for the Flyers moving down the stretch. Playing good defense also helps with the goaltending. Did you notice that the New York Rangers are running away with the Eastern Conference? The Rangers have only given up 130 goals in 63 games. They are playing solid hockey and lead the Penguins by 10 points and the Flyers by 12. The Flyers on the other hand have given up 191 goals in 63 games. The Flyers need some players to pick up their offensive game down the stretch as well. What has happened to rookie Sean Couturier? Couturier has 1 goal and 0 assists in the last 5 games and Danny Briere has just 13 goals on the season. He needs to heat up!! Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds can’t carry the goal scoring. My thinking is that the Flyers need 6 points this week, 5 at the minimum to hold their ground.

The 76ers also have their hands full this week. They have played solid throughout the season having really only one lull all season. With that said the Boston Celtics are still just 3 games behind and riding a 3 game winning streak right now. The Celtics come to the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night in an important Atlantic Division game. Before Wednesday though, the 76ers have back-to-back games Sunday and Monday against the 1st Place in the Central Division Chicago Bulls (30-8) and at Milwaukee to face the Bucks. Following the Celtics game is another home game against the New Orleans Jazz on Friday night. This is 4 games in 6 nights this week but 3 of the 4 are at home, which will help. The 76ers are ranked #1 in points per game allowed in the NBA, the Bulls are 2nd and the Celtics are 3rd so expect low scoring games against them. The 76ers can probably afford to lose to the Bulls, especially with the Celtics playing the Knicks this afternoon and they could lose. They need to win the games against the lesser teams, Milwaukee and New Orleans, and need to beat Boston. A win against the Celtics would be a two game swing in the standings. Doug Collins will have the team ready to play. They need to stick to their fundamentals of good defense and limiting turnovers while getting contributions from the whole team.

It’s big week for our teams to stand up and be counted!!!  

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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!!!!

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Philly Broadcast Legends

In Misc Philly Sports, Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Phillies on January 30, 2012 at 8:06 am

Philly Pressbox originally published this article on January 30, 2012. We’ve been asked to republish it several times by our readers so here it is. We hope you enjoy it. Feel free to comment.

With the passing of Penn State legendary coach Joe Paterno this week it was somewhat lost in the news of the passing of a Philadelphia legend Andy Musser. Musser was often below the radar in the Phillies broadcast booth from 1976 – 2001that was full of larger than life personalities but Andy was a true professional, a gentleman and a man that could broadcast any sport and do a great job of it. Many people know Andy from those Phillies years but he also broadcasted the Eagles from 1965-68 and the 76ers from 1965-71. That’s 34 Philadelphia sports season in the books for Andy. Great Job!!

Andy’s passing made me think about the broadcasters that we’ve had in Philadelphia over the years. Do you realize that if you were born after 1955 you had never heard a Phillies game that was not broadcasted by a Hall of Famer? When I first started watching and listening to Phillies baseball it was Bill Campbell, Rich Ashburn and By Saam. All are HOF members in their own way. Campbell as a broadcaster in the Basketball HOF, Ashburn as a player in the Baseball HOF and the legendary By Saam as a broadcaster in the Baseball HOF. Saam called Phillies games from 1939-49 and again from 1955-1975. Campbell was replaced by Harry Kalas and another 38 years of broadcasting from a Baseball HOF member. Add to that the one year stints of Hall of Fame players Robin Roberts in ’76 and Mike Schmidt in ’90 and “The Box” was loaded with All Stars. Another long time member of “The Box” is Chris Wheeler who just completed his 34th season with the Phillies as well as Musser and his 25 years.

Moving on to the Flyers, people my age learned the game of hockey by Hall Of Famer Gene Hart. Hart was a Flyers broadcaster the initial 67-68 season and then full time from 1971-1992. Who will ever forget Gene calling the games of the Broad Street Bullies and the Stanley Cups? The Hart legacy lives in with his daughter Lauren singing the National Anthem and God Bless America at all home games. Here’s an interesting Flyer broadcast fact for you, during the 1970-71 season Flyers Sunday games were broadcast by former Phillies 1st baseman and later National League Commissioner Bill White. White was the first black to announce an NHL game. The Chief, Bobby Taylor spent 16 seasons, Gary Dornhoefer 14 and now Jim Jackson has been bringing us games since 1993. Maybe HOF will be in JJ’s future one day.

The Eagles Merrill Reese, although not a Hall of Famer at this time, has been broadcasting games on radio since 1977 and does he do a great job? How many of you have turned down the TV to listen to Merrill do the play-by-play along with his many color commentators, Herb Adderly, yes the HOF player, Bill Bergey, Stan Walters and now Mike Quick call the game the way it should be called. Tracing way back to 1940 By Saam was doing the games up until 1955, minus the 50 and 51 seasons when Bill Campbell took over. Campbell called the games until 1964. In ‘64 Saam was back for one last year working with Campbell and former Eagle Tom Brookshier. Musser took over from 1965–1968. Charlie Swift covered from 1969-77 and Reese joined Swift in 1977 until now. What a run of great announcers! Did you know that future Baseball HOF broadcaster Jack Buck did Eagles games in 1961? Anyone who was able to go to games at Franklin Field and the early days at The Vet will never forget the booming voice of PA announcer Matt Goukas Sr. who handled the duties from 1953-1985. Goukas was legendary! His call of 2nd down and niooooooon (2nd & 9) is still in my head after all this years. Amazingly enough when Goukas retired Dan Baker took over and he has been the PA voice of the Eagles ever since not to mention handing the same duties with the Phillies since 1972 and doing Big 5 basketball from 1977-1989. Baker has been a busy man in Philadelphia.

Speaking of PA announcers we can’t forget “The Zink”, Dave Zinkoff. Zink was with the Philadelphia Warriors and then the 76ers from 1946-1985. Zink had many favorites but “Dipper Dunk” for Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Errrrrrrrrrrving and Moses Maaaaaaaaaaalone have to be at the top of the list. Of course we can’t forget Bill Campbell again. Campbell along with his work with the Eagles and Phillies called Warriors games from 1946–1962 and 76ers games from 1972-1981. Andy Musser followed and Mark Zumoff has been holding it down since 1994.

There can’t be another city that can say that they’ve had a run with broadcasters and announcers that Philly has had. From Saam to Campbell to Ashburn to Kalas to Musser to Hart to Goukas to Zinkoff to Baker to the present day guys of Reese, Wheeler, Zumoff  and Jackson it’s been quite a run. The bar has been set very high.

As Gene Hart would say, “Good Night and Good Hockey”!!!