Happy Birthday to me. You bitches better win.

I know, I know. I should just be happy with both teams winning on Tuesday night. But it's my birthday dammit, and they should both win again. Sadly, not much good ever happens on my birthday, so I am fully prepared for two losses.

Why the Flyers will lose tonight:
*Briere is back. Again. Wonder how long he'll last tonight. I say he's gone by the 10 minute mark of the first.
*Marty is in goal. Um, yeah he's been hot lately, but both our wins against the Caps this year have come with that Finnish dude in goal.
*Kmart is going to be there tonight. His last game was the Valentine's win over the Islanders. No way he goes 2 for 2 this season. Nobody has that kind of luck.

Why the Habs will lose tonight:
*Because I really want them to win and they really need to win with all the other games going on tonight. A loss could mean two other teams potentially leap frogging past them!

I did watch both games (at the same time) on Tuesday. Which means I didn't really pay much attention to either one. To me, it looked like the Habs played better, and seemed to play as a team. I saw better defense and better transitions out of the zone. I was surprised the next day see that fans were pretty split on their reaction to the game. Some said they played just as bad, some said they were much improved. I guess tonight will be a better test of Bob's skills...

Carbo-no and double game day preview

Oh sign making fan, you are wise beyond your years...

Well wow, that was shocking. I was on my way home from work yesterday and listening to Jeff Marek on HNIC Radio when I heard the news. I'm sad for Guy, but this move gives me hope that perhaps all is not lost. I'm hoping Bob has his pulse on the finger of the team and can get all of them to live up to their potential. We'll see. I particularly like this piece on Gainey's press conference yesterday. Robert always has quality stuff over there.

Two games for me tonight, one at the Wachovia Center and one on Tivo. I was trying to get out of going to the Flyers game, but I can't talk Rod out of it. Plus, I hear Soph and Jess might be there, so that's always something to look forward to! Here's hoping we can continue our non-jinxing being at the game at the same time streak.

I was surprised to see that the Flyers have won both meetings with the Sabres this year. I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but I am. Looks like Briere is out for tonight, which can only be good for the Flyers considering their record in the 12 games he's played in this season.

As for the Habs game...ugh. I don't know what to expect. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. (I'll even take a loss, as long as the boys show a little jump and consistency...)

(Also, thanks to everyone for leaving me Montreal restaurant recommendations. Much appreciated!)

I got nothin

I was up way too late last night looking up places to eat during my trip to Montreal and now I'm way too tired to write anything coherent. I also have to be to work in half an hour. Why I decide to post right before I go to work and risk being late is beyond me.

Good weekend for both my teams. Flyers actually played well on Saturday. I had the pleasure of watching the game at home instead of at the Center. I sold my tickets to that game, and realized at the end of the game that it was "shirts off our backs" night. I always miss that!!! I wondered why on earth anyone would want tickets to see the Flyers play the Preds, and now I know.

Habs won last night, I'm sure as a result of the fact that I was at work and couldn't watch the game. Let's hope me not watching is a good thing, since 2 out of 3 Habs games this week are at the same time as the Flyers. I will be at the Flyers games in person and therefore will not be able to watch the Habs games live. Great.

I watched the Habs game on Tivo late last night. Yikes. How the heck did they survive that first period? I think they really love being on the PK. And apparently, their secret is to put no shots on goal so the opposing goalie gets all out of practice stopping shots. I really want to thank Turco for that third one. We owe ya, buddy.

Price's confidence continues to grow. His positioning was a lot better, but he still goes down way too fast. Let's hope he can build on this win.

That's all for now, gotta get to work. Habs folks, do me a favor and tell me where I should eat when I'm in Montreal. I'm tired of staying up til 3 am looking at restaurant reviews!!

Just sayin...

Habs get ready to kiss 5th goodbye...

Last night's game was brutal to watch. It's not so much that the Habs were bad (they were) but that they were boring. It didn't help that the "play by play" guy on the NHL network was boring and didn't really understand the meaning of the phrase play by play. Here's a summary of his calls:

"5:24 remaining here in the first period"
(silence. the players skate into the zone and he has nothing to say)
(bill clement makes some random comment about how someone is "dialed in" tonight)
"well, with 4 minutes remaining in the period, it looks like the Thrashers are finally putting some pressure on."

I'm serious. I don't think he called an actual play. There were huge lapses in conversation. At one point, when he did call a play, he was about 20 seconds behind the play. It was weird.

The other part that was strange was Kovalev's intermission interview.

Gary Green: "You had really good jump in the first 10 minutes of this hockey game, but since that time the Altanta thrashers have really had the edge."

Kovalev: "Well I uh, I wouldn't say that. I mean we still played a pretty good game uh I think the difference be that we had to play a lot shorthanded, a lot of penalties that cost us. But we still uh...5 on 5 it's a different game, we played pretty well."

Wow, he thinks they are playing well. I guess they were playing better than the game at Buffalo, but playing well? Not so sure about that. Perhaps I am crazy though.

Price was better. You could see his confidence growing with each great save he made, even though he still seemed to be out of position a lot.

Today could (will?) be the last time the Habs are in 5th place. With wins today, Florida could pass the Habs, and Carolina and Buffalo could pull even. FLORIDA?!?!?! THE FREAKING PANTHERS?!? Are you kidding me?

Olli Jokinen must be stopped. Flyers lose.

Olli loves turnovers...

Wow. That was pretty much the worst game of the season. Somehow I stayed until the end, but I think it was because Rod thought there was still a chance for a Roy/Cote rematch. No such luck. That was a bust too.

I hate Olli Jokinen. I may have mentioned this a few times before. I was relieved when our game against Phoenix was done early in the season. Who knew I'd have to see him kill us again.

I think the best thing to do is forget about this game and move on. Oh, and Briere is hurt again. Poor lil guy.

I took some pictures during warmups. I'll post more when I get home from work, but there are a few there now for your viewing pleasure.

Cote vs. Roy: The Rematch

If you're like me (and obviously, you're not), you've had this day circled on your calendar since the schedule came out last year. Roy vs. Cote: The Rematch. Let's review the video, shall we?


Fight number 1


Fight number 2


Roy having an absolute meltdown on the bench after fight #2


Okay, it looks like Roy pwned Cote in fight #1. Riley got pretty lucky with a quick takedown on fight #2. And man oh man, Roy was riled up. (Pun intended)

Roy has played 38 games for 67 PIM this year. He has been playing pretty regularly, but before playing on March 3rd, hadn't been in a game since February 17th. I am willing to say it's even money whether or not he actually plays tomorrow. Best part is that this is almost exactly one year to the day since they fought. Let's see if Riley has been saving up for this one...

Why's Boruk gotta make Upshall cry?

blah blah blah Trade Deadline Day blah blah blah

Man, I can't believe I have to work until 4 today, and will pretty much be in the dark about what goes down during the day today. When I was making my schedule for this week, I had to decide between being home for all the hot deadline action and being home for the Habs game. Guess which one I chose. Normally, I would just take this day off from work and watch TSN all day, but I just couldn't pull it off this year. Oh well.

Sounds like not a lot is going to happen today anyhow, so I don't have to worry. Right? Right?!?! Don't worry, I'm gonna have Darren Dreger forward any pertinent texts and emails he gets throughout the day straight to my iPhone. Thanks Darren!

Going through the motions...Flyers game day preview.

You know how it is. You're breaking up with someone, but you still have to live with them due to financial reasons. That's me and the Flyers right now. That's good though, right? I mean, if we're still living together, there's a chance we might hook up again before too long, right? Anyhow.

Today is Christmas Eve and maybe we'll see some hot trading action. Jay Bouwmeester and Chris Pronger traded to the Devils. Pascal Leclaire and RJ Umberger traded to Philadelphia. Olli Jokinen and Jussi Jokinen to any team, as long as they are together. The possibilities are endless. Trade deadline day and free agency day are our two hockey holidays, guys! Get crazy! Decorate some trade deadline day cookies! Put up the trade deadline day mistletoe.

My only wish for trade deadline day: Chris Pronger to an eastern conference team. That'd make my day.

Oh, yeah, there's a Flyers game tonight. The last time we met the Bruins, Marty really effed things up. Nitty had to come in and save his ass, with the help of Randy Jones. Maybe they could replay Jones' game winner a lot, so we can trade Jones and his purse for someone that doesn't make the guy in front of me yell, "Hey Jones, hit him with your purse." If I never have to hear that again, I'll be happy.

For a game preview by someone who is not sleeping with the enemy, check out Travis over at Broad Street Hockey. He's always got something to say, and he's on SB Nation, which is apparently where every cool blogger blogs now. That's ll for now, because I have to be at work in 25 minutes, and I'm still in my PJs! Yikes!!

A tale of two games....sort of

Just a quick post before I head out to work. Yeah even though it's snowing. Grrrr. At least there's nobody on the roads!

Saturday night, I got to watch the Habs play the Sharks. It was great. I got to watch it on the big screen...not on my computer, not on tivo delay, not just the first period or just the third period. It was great. I haven't experienced highs and lows like that since the playoffs last year. As the Habs clung to their lead, my hockey superstitions kicked in again:

"Okay, I was on the couch so I have to stay on the couch. Okay, I've been laying in this position for the entire third period, so I can't move. Okay, don't look when San Jose carries it in. OMG, the Habs might win this. NO! Don't think that! Why did you just think that?!? TAKE IT BACK! Okay, I take it back. I didn't even say it or think it."

It's really not a pretty sight in my head. The Habs ended up stealing another one, thanks to Jaro, and I spent all Saturday night dreaming of the Habs (figuratively, of course).

Sunday afternoon, I got to watch the Flyers play the Devils. As a rule, I try not to watch when the Flyers play the Devils. There is really no point. Brodeur always owns us, and this game was no exception. It was a hard game to get into, since I was getting ready for work at the time. My thoughts on the game were "meh."

So there you have it. A pretty clear indication of where my hockey heart stands these days.

More later, if I make it back from driving in the snow.

Big game this week: Thursday the Flyers play Calgary....look for Andre Roy to avenge his ass beating on Riley Cote. Biggest match of the year!

"Ben Eager is an enforcer who thinks he’s a power forward."

That's right y'all, this blog's namesake fancies himself as something other than an enforcer. Um, okay.