My seats tonight

Flyers beat Habs and refs

Wow. I am still shaking my head in disbelief at the creative officiating in last night's game. I honestly don't think I've seen a game where it seemed like the refs were trying to give a game to a particular team. Wow. I nearly left in disgust halfway through the third period...not in disgust over the boys, but over the officiating. Wow. I'm still pretty much stunned. If I had been close enough to the ice, I may well have thrown something onto the ice. This game really got my Philly up.

I would like to take a moment to apologize to the handful of Habs fans at the game last night. Even before the game started, some Flyers fans were acting like real assholes towards you. This was not the good natured ribbing I'm used to seeing. These Flyers fans were yelling at a girl in a Habs jersey and calling her a scumbag and then throwing stuff at her and her seatmates. All this while her and her seatmates just sat there watching warmups. That's kind of uncalled for.

After the game though, all bets were off....if I were a Habs fan, I would have asked for an escort out of the building!

(AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Anyhow, on to the postgame rubdown:

1. Settle down, it's just one game.
2. Still waiting for Vinny to show up and play.
3. Really refs? Really?!?
4. Will Halak get the start on Wednesday? Let's hope not...
5. Thanks again to Nicole for the ticket...too bad for her that I am the worst seatmate ever....I just sit there and watch the game and talk to the players and refs. Sorry!

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!

Thanks to pegleggedpete....

Dear Jeff Carter,

Have you ever thought about changing to a stick that doesn't break? I mean, two broken sticks in two games in critical situations....I'm just saying maybe you should think about it.

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Paul Chiasson)

Also, the usual post game rundown (maybe I'll start calling it a rubdown, that sounds better, no?):

1. Settle down, it's just one game.

2. Where the hell is Prospal?

3. Those were some of the sweetest goals. Okay, maybe not, but I loved them anyhow!

4. Why is it, that when we're up by 2 goals with 30 seconds left in a game, I don't feel comfortable? Do other teams subject their fans to such anxiety?

5. See ya Monday, at the Wachovia, thanks to Nicole...

Breaking News: Mandatory Goal Review!!!

(Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

The NHL announced today that a call to the war room in Toronto will be standard operating procedure after every goal for the remaining games in the 2008 Stanly Cup Playoffs.

"We've found that a mandatory review of each and every goal is the only way we can stop fans from bitching about unfair officiating. Sure, it would be easier to just have our refs call the game properly, but we know that's never gonna happen. We figure that by reviewing each goal, we can reduce by 34% the number of complaints we get after each game," said an anonymous NHL rep.

The NHL practiced this new procedure in last night's Rangers/Penguins game by reviewing the game winning goal. This confounded and confused fans, and helped to take the spotlight off the questionable call that put the Penguins on the powerplay. It was such a success that the NHL immediately implemented it as policy.

I hate Crybaby Crosby

Just saying....

That's about right...

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Ryan Remiorz)

1. Settle down, it's just one game. I hope Habs fans didn't riot after last night's win.

2. We were one questionable call and broken stick face off away from a win....it'll even out over the course of the series. Hey, we were the beneficiary of such calls in round one, that's just how it goes sometimes.

3. Ryan will no doubt be thrilled with Jim Dowd's goal, and probably post a skeevy picture of him just to make me puke.

4. Speaking of Dowd...is there some rule against cutting your hair or at least dyeing it once you make the playoffs? Cuz really, those little grey clown tufts sticking out the sides of his helmet make me gag. *shudder*

5. Did Briere and Prospal play last night? I didn't hear much booing, so I will assume the Habs did a good job of shutting them down.

6. Someone please inform JJ and Bill Clement that the Kostitsyn brothers are called Big Tits and Little Tits, not "The Flying Kostitsyns." Also, Biron had no chance on that Tits goal.

Should be a great series.....

Habs fans rule!

Hello Habs fans, and welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere! I was all set to jump on the Habs bandwagon, but alas, my team surprised me by making it to the playoffs and not being eliminated in the first round. How dare they! By moving on to the second round, my 300 dollar a day hockey habit is not going to end. Grrrr!

Anyhow, the place is kind of a mess, since I've been watching so much hockey lately and turning tricks at night to pay for the tickets. The things we'll do for hockey, right?

I'm not the funniest Flyers blog around, that honor belongs to that crazy motherfucker Ryan. And I'm not the stat-iest blog around. I don't know who that honor would belong to, since Flyers fans can't count, right?

My claim to fame is "longest continuously operational Flyers blog." And yeah, even that is self-proclaimed. There might be one out there that has been around longer, but I doubt it. A season in the basement will crush most blogger's spirits, but not mine! I thrived on losing, and to this day have trouble believing when we win. I'm still waiting for them to overturn that goal in the 2nd period last night and send the Caps to the next round.

Habs fans and Flyers fans have one thing in common....they love to hate. I am impressed with the consistency and tenacity of Habs fans, especially in their booing of hated players. There is not one second that Briere or Chara has the puck that they are not being loudly booed by Montreal fans. That is impressive! Philly fans are getting there on the booing scale...we have Crosby and Ovie down pat, but man, to be able to boo like a Habs fan, that is something we all aspire to! (Really, I'm not being sarcastic!!!)

Anyhow, come on it, make yourself at home, and try not to make a mess. We're gonna be stuck here together for the next 7 to 10 days!

Oh, also, I am excited to be able to say Big Tits and Little Tits more in my every day vocabulary. Although I can never remember which one is big and which one is little!

Unbelievable...

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)

I thought for sure we were done when we didn't capitalize on that 5 on 3 in the first period. And I really thought for sure we were done when we played like crap for the entire third period. But somehow, they did it.

I'll return to my usual negativity tomorrow (I mean cmon, we have to play the Habs now!!!) but for now I'll bask in the glow of one win....

A little too little too late...

1. Settle down, it's just one game.
2. CapsChick, you're welcome! Told ya! My road record now stands at an underwhelming 0-2.
3. The Verizon Center is lovely, and Caps fans were nice, but y'all have nothing on the noise the Flyers fans bring.
4. There was no way the Flyers were gonna win today....they don't do well when they are on top. They like a little adversity to overcome...
5. Dear Flyers: Fucking hit someone! Finish a check! Watch how the Caps played today (or how you played in game 2 or 3) and do that!
6. I know how to spell Caps now!
7. I hate when I drive 6 hours round trip and we lose!

a few other things...

1. Settle down, it's just one game.
2. Dude in front of me at the game: sit the fuck down, you are not in your living room!
3. What happened to us last night? We pretty much played like the Caps in the previous two games. Everyone looked sloppy and outworked.
4. I love this quote from the AP recap: "Neither team showed signs of exhaustion in the first OT, with Huet and counterpart Martin Biron facing good, hard shots almost each time the puck was in the attack zone." Really? You didn't see signs of exhaustion? Hmmm...maybe it's cuz they looked that way in the 2nd and 3rd too, so it was hard to see any noticeable difference.
5. See you in DC on Saturday!

Dear Knuble,

Thanks for being in your office.

Love, Kristin

a few things...

1. Settle down, it's just one game.
2. That dive was a thing of beauty. Dovie, you will be in our hearts forever.
3. That was so a high stick (if it went off the stick....hard to tell for sure).
4. Kolzig starts game 4.
5. The shade of orange for this year's shirts is particulary horrid, and made me take all my pictures in black and white.
6. Tailgating is fun!

Trash Talking

(Rusty Kennedy, AP)

I'm not a trash talker at all. Trash talking comes back to bite you in the ass once your team loses. I'm amazed to see the amount of arrogant predictions and post after post using the word Flyers and cheapshots or Broad St Bullies in the same sentence.

Can anyone find me an analyst who picks the Flyers in this series?

So good to be back in our house...

A call for help?

From Shelly Anderson at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

A call for help

Flyers winger Scott Hartnell was particularly aggressive Wednesday, specifically against Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who has a cut on his lip.

Therrien put out a call for the officials to take charge should things get rough again tomorrow -- especially if Philadelphia has no playoff spot or seeding on the line.

"We want to make sure that the referees will call the right penalties," Therrien said, citing concern over situations like one that arose Thursday, when Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson got a head injury on a hit from Toronto's Mark Bell. The Maple Leafs had been eliminated from the playoffs.

"You don't want to see that happen just before the playoffs by a team that's out of the playoffs with nothing to lose," Therrien said. "They've got a responsibility not only to protect the Crosbys, the [Evgeni] Malkins, the [Marian] Hossas, but the rest of the players. They're important."

It's possible the Penguins won't have positioning on the line, either. If Montreal fails to get at least a point tonight against Toronto, the Penguins will clinch the Eastern Conference title.

Therrien declined to say whether he might rest some of his regulars.

Um, okay Crosby has a cut on his lip. Have you seen Hartnell's nose? It was practically hanging off his face!

I can't wait for tomorrow!

phew!

1. Thank you Florida. You owed us for the game on February 23rd.

2. Where the hell has the team that played tonight been hiding all season? Jesus Christ, these guys were unbelievable.

Stranger in a Strange Land. Flyers Lose.

(paying homage to my favorite blog with the post title..)

First of all, let me just say that everyone should see a game in enemy territory at least once. One tip though: don't choose their last regular home season game on the night they clinch the division. The word uncomfortable doesn't even begin to describe the experience.

Secondly, I want to say that Pens fans were a classy group, and only engaged in good natured ribbing with me. The fact that I have an unknown player on my jersey and I am a non-threatening girl probably helped a little, but still, they were pretty much nice. If I was a drunken asshole walking around with a Hartnell jersey, I may have gotten my throat cut, but since I wasn't it was all good...

I won't say much about the game here (I usually don't say much about the games in my posts anyhow) except wow, the officiating was, as Nadine would say, creative. It's funny to see the opposing fans act indignant when the refs finally call something questionable on their guys. I think there was a hooking call on the Pens in the 2nd or 3rd, and the folks around me were astonished! One guy behind me who had been ribbing me earlier said to me "even you're laughing at that one." I said, "that's what you call a makeup call, guy!"

It was, in Pens/Flyers game tradition, a physical battle. There was blood everywhere! Hartnell's nose looked like it was falling off, and Umberger had blood all over his jersey and chin and I have no idea why! I still haven't watched the game on Tivo. Pens fans say the Flyers were going after Crosby, but from where I sat, I didn't really get that. I would imagine though that in general, opposing teams "go after" Crosby when he has the puck. It's my understanding that that is the nature of the game...

A few other notes:

*I didn't win the Gary Roberts jersey!

*I only saw about 4 other Flyers fans in the entire place. WTF people?

*Therrien better sit Crosby on Sunday or I'll take him out myself!

*Iceburgh is the cutest mascot ever. The little stuffed one I bought won't stop smiling no matter how many times I drop kick it!

*The Pens store is waaaaaaaaaaaay better than the Flyers store. They have every single player tshirt! They even had Gill and Dupuis! It's a good thing I am not a Pens fan, or I would have spent about 300 dollars in there!

*Pittsburgh is slightly dumpier than it was when I was there 10 years ago. Especially downtown. I guess I have been in the suburbs too long!

Big game tonight. Let's go Flyers!

In line in enemy territory!

Nice!