Well this road trip so far has proved to be quite a test for the boys. They have been outshot 3571 to 122 and have lost Hatcher for 4 weeks and Jones for two games.
Last night's game was shades of the Panthers game, except instead of the panther roaring sound effect, we got the booing Briere sound effect. Really Montreal? He was a free agent who didn't sign with you. That's it. There was no offer sheet, no contract...just talk that you were one of his potential teams. Every single time he touches the puck he gets booed? Wow. You really are a bunch of douchebags. I have to give you points for sticking with it for the entire game...
During the first period, the guys tried using the "get him cold" strategy by getting two shots on goal in the first 11 minutes. Hey, it worked against Brodeur, why not try it on this Huet guy? They were able to maintain this strategy with a total of 19 SOG to Montreal's 541. I am sure Marty was trilled about that.
Some other observations:
- When Hartnell breaks his Flyers scoring cherry, he is going to be a force to be reckoned with. You heard it here first.
- Nice tripping call on Briere! Get some glasses ref!
- The Flyers looked sooooooooo sloooooooow tonight. Lead skates again.
- My new in game rallying cry is "What this game needs is a dirty hit." This replaces the ever popular, "score, bitches!"
Oooh, I almost forgot about Smith and the stick to his face. First, yikes....not fun to see him laid out on the ice hyperventilating and trying not to cry. Second, thank goodness it wasn't his eye (although it was close enough to cause his eye to look scary). Third, cmon, that dude is amazing...he didn't even miss a shift! He deserves extra bacon for breakfast this week!
Not hopeful for tonight's game...
I just wanna say a few things. I'm a Montreal fan. I agree that the referees were very bad last night. I would even say that Montreal was a lil luckier than the Flyers on that point. About the booing of Brière at the Bell Center. The story is more complicated than a "Montreal was on his list". He really sat down with Montreal and had a good offer but finally decided to go with the Flyers. That's his choice. But the fans here in Montreal didn't accept that he said in the Montreal medias that the Flyers had a better team than the Canadiens. I'm not suprised by the reaction of the Montreal fans, they have their team tatooed on their hearts. About the incident with Jason Smith, I'm sure a lot of people in Philadelphia thought that Latendresse deserved a penalty for high sticking. The NHL rules say that if the player hits another one with his sticking while finishing a shot, there's no penalty, that's it. Althought I'm happy for Jason Smith that he didn't goet cut in the eyes like Saku Koivu two years ago in playoffs by Justin Williams stick. By the way, everytimes Williams plays at the Bell Center he gets booed. On an other point, I wanna say that I'm happy to see 3 Québécois dominate in your team (Brière, Gagné and Biron) It looks tike another "french connexion". Anyways, I wish you guys a good season, and I hope that the Canadiens will beat the Flyers in the next games ;-)
ReplyDeletefrancis, thanks for your comments and for not flaming me!
ReplyDeleteI did not think there should have been a penalty against Latendresse, the contact was incidental...I just have a soft spot in my heart for Smith and it was a scary moment.
Montreal is really rolling these days, so much so that I picked up Kovalev the day before this game for my fantasy team. So even though the Flyers lost, I was happy that Kovalev racked up some good stats for me.
(Having a fantasy team is a great way to torture yourself: "Go Flyers! Wait, did Kovalev just score that goal? Sweet! And it was a power play point? Even better!")
If you check my previous posts, you will see that I really am not a hater, I was just thrown off by the booing. Fans north of the border have a passion for hockey and a memory for those who have wronged them that just amazes me. (Even if it is their own player...poor McCabe!)
And yes, I am very happy with our little "french connexion". These guys are the most entertaining guys to watch, on and off the ice...especially Biron!
The Flyers lost every game against the Capitals last season, and haven't won in Washington since February 2006. The Capitals allow 29 shots on goal a game, while the Flyers allow 892.75.
ReplyDeleteBut I like Philly tonight- look for Briere to score twice!
Kristin: I about had a heart attack last night when Latendresse dinged Gator's face.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I couldn't believe the guys calling the game on the radio felt the need to explain why the fight broke out when Sami was hit. Guys, the Flyers fans are the ones listening to you...we know!
(Personal side note: My count down continues. Three more days and hell is over for me. Jonesy was interviewed during the first intermission last night. I miss him.)
Francis: We like our Québécois on the team. (I always said they make good goalies there.)
Similarly, you have some good fans. The FHF guys invited me over for our match-up last night. They apologized for the sucky reffing. (And their stripper girl pix.)
Mike: I want a win tonight as well. If we kill the Caps, we're a little more ready to go after the evil Rangers. (Something the Caps should be able to get behind since the Rangers killed them last night.)
See, I could get behind the Caps killing the Flyers and then the Flyers killing the Rangers ;) I never thought I'd say this but your team is the lesser of two evils there, for many reasons - not the least of which your team is actually fun to watch while New York has...Jagr. UGH.
ReplyDeleteI'd...expect the same booing for Briere tonight, too, though. Uniforms may change, but we don't forget a guy who spears Ovie.
That being said, I'm looking forward to a good game tonight - should be plenty of fans in attendance and both of these teams are entertaining! (You know, when they play well. Ah, there's the catch...) Oh, and Mike, I'm betting the Caps won't get more than 800 shots on goal, don't worry. And if my boy Kozlov's out there half of them will go wide ;)
(Woo, sorry darlin'! Didn't mean to leave such a long comment! :P)
I love being the lesser of two evils! And I am excited to see Ovie (I'm in the same camp with you on the Sid v. Ovie thing).
ReplyDeleteI was gonna head down for this game, but my immune system needs some TLC for the long month ahead of me. Great ice row seats were available....who knew that Flyers ice row seats were such a bargain? Ice row at your place is like 225 bucks. Ouch!
Have fun at the game!