Briere scares me. He's a big game player and has been really good against us recently. We have the clear edge in goal. Whenever we beat the Flyers in the post season it always comes down to goaltending. Lets hope this series is no different.
Danny Briere: The Gift That Keeps on Giving.
On the other hand - if we win the series, and have a new owner, that would be a good way to turn the corner on that whole debacle.
If this team is all Miller, then the fact they are the best team in the league in the New Year should make Miller the runaway Hart trophy winner. Seriously.
Sooner or later people have to realize (even some on our own board): this isn't just some hot streak. This team is actually a contender, this year. And two weeks from now, I think there are gonna be a lot more believers too.
I think "contender" is pushing it, even if the team really has come together in the last month or two. If we end up getting out of the 2nd round, I think that would be a bit of Cinderalla story, really.
As a Flyers fan I really don't know who is going to win this series, i'm hoping my own prevail but you guys have had an amazing push for the last little while.
I'll say this, fan-wise, i'm glad we got Buffalo, you guys seem level-headed. Though it is the playoffs, things always get heated
Best of luck to both sides.
Yeah, that's how it starts, anyhow! Looking forward to a hard-fought series. I'm way more excited for this one than I was for Boston last year. The bottom line is that if Buffalo is going to go anywhere in the playoffs, they're going to have to play the tougher teams. It'll be interesting to see how this contingent performs... this ain't the regular season anymore, and the Flyers "slump" doesn't give me any sort of reassurance at all going into round one.
Miller= Rested
Vanek= On a hot streak
Myers= Playing like the D man we all were hoping
Those are the three key players to this series, and all three of them have positive variables going into this series. I think Miller's injury was a blessing in disguise. That week and a half off can go a long way.
Miller has a .944 SV% since March 15 (which makes the Goaltending Controversy thread even funnier, but I digress). He's also very rested. I don't expect him to put up stellar SV% numbers in a series that will be as high scoring as this one will be, but I'm confident he can easily outplay his Philly counterparts.
I think Miller's injury was a blessing in disguise. That week and a half off can go a long way.
That's a great point. Not only that, but Enroth had a nice tear as well. It's good to have him as an option between the pipes if (god forbid) we need him.
That's a great point. Not only that, but Enroth had a nice tear as well. It's good to have him as an option between the pipes if (god forbid) we need him.
That too.
I remember last year a key to Millers play slightly falling off during the playoffs was fatigue. The dude played 69 games, but that's not including the olympics- which are probably just as emotionally and physically draining as the NHL playoffs. He's played 66 games this year, no olympics, and the final week and a half off with limited work so he's not rusted.
That thread about Jhonas being the unsung hero may be true. He was the difference between the playoffs and 9th place. Imagine if Lalime was back there? The team plays scared in front of him, not confident. Enroth brought a different mentality to the team.
Though, I felt much more comfortable seeing Miller in net going into the third period against Philly. His swagger during that game reminded me a lot of how he played last year; he looked confident and focus. The team and the fans sensed it.
It'll be interesting to see what sort of strategy Lindy employs. Is he going to try to bottle up the defense and contain the Flyer's offense? I think that would be foolish. He just needs to open it up and let them play. Yes, player for player, they have more "firepower," but the fact is both teams have 3 competent scoring lines, and I trust Miller more at stopping the bleeding in a shootout than Bob.
Sabres pose problems for Flyers in first round of playoffs
April 09, 2011|By Ray Parrillo, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Quote:
The weekend last September when it was announced Terry Pegula had donated $88 million to Penn State for construction of an ice rink and funding a Division 1 hockey program for his alma mater, he recalled in an interview how the Flyers broke his heart when they defeated his beloved Buffalo Sabres in the 1975 Stanley Cup finals.
As the new owner of the Sabres, Pegula now has a chance to get payback for that long ago disappointment.
Quote:
Flyers followers have every right to be nervous about drawing the Sabres in the first round. Their orange-and-black heroes hardly appear to be in playoff mode. They lost 14 of the final 21 regular-season games and their loose defensive play in Saturday night's 7-4 win over the Islanders at the Wells Fargo Center was far from inspiring.
Meantime, the Sabres begin the postseason with momentum built from their best stretch of the season. They went 16-4-4 after Pegula officially took ownership Feb. 23 and that's likely more than coincidence.
Quote:
One Flyer who is probably looking forward to going to Buffalo is former Sabre Danny Briere, who has four goals and four assists in the six games he's played in Buffalo since heleft to sign with the Flyers in 2007.
"It's been a few years so it's a little different than the first year after I left," Briere said. "It's been quite some time now, so it's probably not as crazy. But there's still something there and it's going to be special, no doubt about it, facing a lot of friends. But for a couple weeks we'll have to leave that behind us. I'm definitely excited."
The only thing I'm worried about is the Flyers pounding the Sabres physically and the Sabres not responding in kind.
The Flyers forecheck is phenomenal.
I'm not too worried about answering them physically. If it comes down to it, we have guys that can hit back or better yet, just pester the Flyers into taking penalties. Mostly I hope they don't just try to sit back in their defensive zone because that NEVER WORKS for Lindy Ruff. Ever.
The forwards need to have on their backchecking shoes but I want to see an aggressive offensive strategy and when it enters our zone just collapse our **** around the net and clear the puck as soon as possible. We might not be able to win the boards but we need to be able to pounce on blocked shots and rebounds and get them the **** out. Cutesy ******** like their passes up the middle and drops back into their own zone will cost them dearly in the playoffs if they insist on trying them.
Keep it simple, keep it fast, check some fools and **** up the Flyers'. I ****ing love playoff hockey
edit: and also, the first Flyer that takes a whack at Miller after the whistle, I want to see McCormick knock him into next week, a la Jokinen. Don't take stupid penalties or stoop to their level. Unless they run Miller.
The powerplay is going to be the difference in this series, much like it was last year against Boston. Kaleta and the minis are going to be drawing lots of penalties, and the PP has to cash in on them. Has to.
Anyone care to hint at what the lines will look like for this series? I know it's subject to change at any moment with Ruff but that bottom 6 has me confused as to who will be playing where. It seems like we are going to have a cluster**** between Grier/Niedermayer/McCormick/Gerbe/Kaleta.
Anyone care to hint at what the lines will look like for this series? I know it's subject to change at any moment with Ruff but that bottom 6 has me confused as to who will be playing where. It seems like we are going to have a cluster**** between Grier/Niedermayer/McCormick/Gerbe/Kaleta.
I have no idea why you are including Gerbe there. He clearly doesn't fit with the other 4. I would guess if everyone was healthy, Kaleta would be the scratch.
I have no idea why you are including Gerbe there. He clearly doesn't fit with the other 4. I would guess if everyone was healthy, Kaleta would be the scratch.
I don't know, maybe because Gerbe plays in the bottom 6 as well??
Anyone care to hint at what the lines will look like for this series? I know it's subject to change at any moment with Ruff but that bottom 6 has me confused as to who will be playing where. It seems like we are going to have a cluster**** between Grier/Niedermayer/McCormick/Gerbe/Kaleta.
Vanek-Connolly-Pominville
Ennis-Boyes-Stafford
^I'd say that much is set in stone until Hecht or Roy returns.
Gerbe-Gaustad-Mancari/Grier/Kaleta
Neids-Mccormick-Grier/Kaleta
