I hate how in the modern NHL teams pride is so sensitive that clean checks now have to be met with a total mugging as revenge. Since when was it necessary to punish a player for catching one of your own in his headlights? Fights are one thing but what Asham did has no place in the game. Same for Carkner. Fight like a man, not in a sneak attack. What's next, wheeling a trojan horse into their dressing room then springing out to beat them up while they change their equipment?
I never knew Schenn was such a tank. He's going to be very good soon. Flyers still have JVR too.
With the Flyers deep roster of talent, JVR could be on the outs and despite his injuries and the fact he hasn't panned out yet he's still just 23-24 and will yield an overpayment from some team. If I'm Holmgren I consider trading him for a top end d-man that can help offset what appears to be the end of Pronger's career. Timonen is 37 and there's no one else from their younger core of d-men who stands out as a true top pairing guy.
While they forecheck hard and score a ton, the Flyers ain't winning the Cup without tighter D and more sharp goaltending from Bryz. They may just be like 2010, wildly entertaining and scoring lots but ultimately losing out due to their back end troubles. Then again they took Chicago to six despite Michael Leighton's mojo running out big time in that series (and to play devil's advocate, Niemi was hardly much better. It was probably the worst goalie battle in the Cup finals' history. At least in 73 with the Habs and Hawks, the names were Ken Dryden and Tony Esposito involved).
For a series that was supposed to be a NHL showcase, the PHI-PIT series has done nothing except alternate between gong show and goon show, highlighted by terrible goaltending on both sides.
We're liable to get a lot of praise for all the scorers racking up points in this series, but good hockey includes keeping it out of your own darned net too. What we're seeing is entertaining, but it's not good hockey.
They will be very difficult to put away. I know 3-0 comeback has happened recently but you don't wanna get down like that. Defeating a team when you're up 2-0- especially one that was expected to beat you- is the hardest win to get outside of the fourth. I should know considering the Habs 0-5 record with a 2-0 series lead since 1996 (3-15 record overall in playoff games after going out to those 2-0 leads).
I hate how in the modern NHL teams pride is so sensitive that clean checks now have to be met with a total mugging as revenge. Since when was it necessary to punish a player for catching one of your own in his headlights? Fights are one thing but what Asham did has no place in the game. Same for Carkner. Fight like a man, not in a sneak attack. What's next, wheeling a trojan horse into their dressing room then springing out to beat them up while they change their equipment?
Because that is the Bruins model and they won the Stanley with it. The amount of after whistle cheap shots has been accepted far to long.
Wow Philly's getting goals in bunches from guys. 2 from Briere in Game 1, another 2 tonight. Now 2 from Read after hat tricks from Couturier and Giroux in Game 2. Outside of Briere, Read, Couturier and Giroux, only four other guys have goals (Schenn, Voracek, Talbot, Jagr). Amazing to get 17 goals from just eight guys so far. Not a balanced effort but definitely productive.
