Whole Lotta Stuff

Part the First - Finished games stuff

All good streaks come to an end, it just sucks when that coincides with Cindy Crosby being in town. *Shudder*

In a bit of a confession: I admit to perpetrating a small but significant amount of harassment toward my co-worker Justin about the Leafs game. Seriously, he's a Philly fan in everything but hockey...and he has to pick Toronto for that. *Shrugs*

By now you know that stats just aren't my thing - even just reading them - because they have, um, numbers in them. Well, did I read it wrong yesterday, or do Jeff Carter's 29 goals push him back up to the top of the list again? (My eyes have been a little glazed over lately because of all the sound-editing I've been doing.)

Part the Second - Thank you, Jesus!

Thanks to dropping the game last night, the Flyers are not the division leaders any more, which I think is fantastic. The guys don't have to win the division...let some other team expend itself on that honor. I'll settle for the team squeeking like last year and running deep into the post-season, in the hopes of appropriating some good Philly sports mojo in order to win the FPOW conference.

Part the Third - Best Christmas Presents

Truly, the best present I received over the holidays was two weeks away from here with my family and the dog. We like each other. We can hang out together and not kill everyone.

But if I have to pin down my top three Christmas presents, they are:

1. Tickets to two games! Come and see me and co-worker Justin (assuming his wife lets him out of the house) at these games:

• Feb. 21 Battle of PA match-up. Section 116.
• March 14 vs. Rangers. Section 222A.
  

2. Two Flyers gift cards worth $75! Hello, Fan Gear Store? Yeah, see you February 21 and March 14.

3. Flyers Christmas tree ball! All I can ever find at the stores near me are Eagles and Phils ones. Thanks, Holly, for getting me this...you'll see it at next year's open house.

And for Extra Credit

My request for suggestions on what co-worker Kristin and I should see and do in Montreal in June is - actually - open to people other than the Four Habs Fans. Feel free to leave yours as comments, a tweet, or drop me an email.

Psyched!
Flyers.Femme
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Updates and Celebrations

Updates

No hockey since Saturday. No hockey until tomorrow. So here's a few bits and pieces to tide me over to then.

1. Niitty will get the start in Atlanta. Yes, Marty had his third shut-out of the season, but Antero has some sweet stats against the Thrash. (Bad boy has seven straight wins against them and made 27 saves on 28 shots in the last tilt.)

2. Lups sports a good baseline test and clear MRI. Although both tests show good resolution of the concussion and spinal contusions Joffrey sustained on January 4, doctors have not cleared him to return to the line-up until February 14 at the earliest. I'm hoping to see him in February 17's game against the Habs, just in time for Fan Appreciation Night.

3. Forsberg fodder continues. Holmgren took a scouting trip to Sweden. (Fine, fine but please get us some more Finns! I want to see an all-Finn shift on the ice.) While there, he talked with Peter Forsberg and his agent, fanning the flames on the rumor mill just a little bit more.

Either do it or don't, but, Peter, if you really want to make it up to the fans in Philly, find a way to come back without breaking our CAP or forcing us to trade anyone away. Even under those circumstances, I still wouldn't be comfortable with the message it sends.

4. Going completely off-topic: Thank you to the NY Giants! While I admire the Pats' all-for-one mentality, I'm so tired of Tom Brady. He is just so over-exposed. On the other hand, Kristin did have an interesting idea related to his penchant for dating models in a recent post.

Celebrations

1. Mike Knuble's hat-trick!

2. Marty Biron's shut-out!

3. Kristin's surrender to The Pronger Effect! (Just kidding!)

4. My 100th post!

Official (Unofficial) Points Race

As always, brought to you by moi!

Richie: 21 G + 36 A = 57 (+/- is 12)
Briere: 20 G + 30 A = 50 (+/- is -15)

I'm sooooooo enjoying this! Hee-hee.

Flyers PR joins the revolution

Hockey Blogging...Finally

So, forgive me, but wtf? Here's a quote from the Flyers' web site:

On the Fly!
Philadelphia Flyers PR Blog

In the latest endeavor to make philadelphiaflyers.com THE place for all breaking news, updates, and information on the Orange and Black, the club’s public relations department will be keeping a blog right here on the Philadelphia Flyers official team website. We will update this blog with information that may not necessarily make headlines, but is important, interesting or newsworthy nonetheless.

All of the information contained on this page is considered official team news and/or public information.

Maybe I'm just really presumptuous and totally off my rocker, but doesn't that almost sound like at least a few of the independent Flyers' bloggers like me that aren't related to the organization in any official capacity were doing a better job than the PR team?

Yeah, sheer craziness on my part.

On a semi-related note, here's a mini-rant on blogging directed at the Flyers. I'll be quite honest: I have serious envy of CapsChick and Shmee. The Caps have the most blogger-friendly attitude in hockey. Grr!

Fun Flyer Photos

Check out the photo gallery from the meet and greet at Lucky Strike Lanes on the team's site.

• Ben Eager: I love your hat.
• Mike Knuble: I love that you stuck with Orange and Black for yours (the O's).
• Randy and Joffrey: Way to rock those curls!
• Jack Cassidy: Thanks for getting me a shot of each of my boys...I deeply appreciate it!

Note to Kristin

We need to catch up for practice. Let me know when you can go and we'll work something out.

Briere Reprieve

I'm not a Briere fan. I don't passionately dislike him, but I don't actively like him either. However, with the Flyers playing the Habs tonight, I'm give TinyBriere a reprieve. He's going to be annoyed enough by their fans and all of the boos we'll be hearing throughout the game. I hope he scores a goal just to shut them up...but a hat trick would be better.

[Additional material from this point on]

Flyers v. Canadiens

Pros: Richie is still on fire. Marty is still b****ing in goal (in spite of the loss). Scottie had a goal in his first game back. Love it!

Cons: No Hatch, Jonesy, or Gagne. Gator got hurt. Some little pissant hit Sami, then the Habs were surprised when the rest of the team didn't act like last year's Flyers. (Uh, hello? It's this season guys.) We didn't love the second like we normally do. Stupid NHL schedule-makers.

10/20 'Canes v. Flyers

See you in section 210A tonight! Watch for a recap tonight or tomorrow.

EDIT: Post-game review - I ponied up the cash for the cheapest ticket available for the game. I had to be present for this particular match-up since it would be a big test for the team.

Message for Kristin: I'm so glad we could meet-up before the game this time. Plus, I had fun watching the Phantoms' sweater auction, too. We definitely need to pitch the neutral away game idea to the Sisters Ookie. "Dustbunny" is in their IPB glossary.

Warm-ups

Ah, Margaritaville.

My fellow HLOGer Kristin over at Eager to Go Psycho and I met at the AT&T Pavilion for a drink, then meandered down to her right-behind-the-goal seats to watch warm-ups, chat a little, and make plans for hockey-world domination.

General topics ranged from the guy I saw when I came in that was rocking an old-school Whalers sweater - kudos! - to the fact that neither of us is a hater. (Specific topics related to the strategic planning are not up for public discussion with non-HLOGers...sorry, but we're keeping that under lock and key in a Pepto pink, Girls-Only ClubHouse.)

Of course, one of these times - probably the night I'll be joining her there for a whole game - we'll be shooting the breeze and Marty or Sami will skate up and say, "You ladies do realize we can hear you, right?"

First Period

As warm-ups end, Kristin and I head for our separate seats in the highest rows of the various 200s. I am blown-away by the hustle the guys show in the first period. Have they been reading all of the Flyers fans' blogs during down-time? It seems like it. Just as I am once again muttering about Briere and Gagne needing to just get an ugly but real goal, Gagne scores. Finally.

Of course, Kukkonen earns one of the infamous hooking penalties right aftwards, the 'Canes go on the power play, and freakin' Eric Staal scores on Marty. Okay, so no shut-out tonight. I can live with that.

Second Period

It looked like what I expected in the first period. I don't know what else to say about it. 'Canes (former Flyer) Justin Williams scores towards the end of the second.

Third Period

If I were the type to bite my nails when I am nervous, I would have been doing that during the third. Instead, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, watching and waiting, and being conned by several "almosts."

However, Richie scored about 1:30 into the period. Thank God. Mass signs of joy!

The Wachovia Center got louder as the period wound down. When the 'Canes called a time-out, the fans got even louder. Of course, the guys in the booth put on some really good tunes and showed more footage of Shawn dancing at the top of the stands. (I l o v e d the guy with the "Insert Here -->" sign.)

Even though it was still tied, our hope was bolstered. Hey, we can do overtime! We could even win it.

Overtime

And we did. 48 seconds in.

Hatch, you came coasting in and fired on Grahame. I am so proud of you for that. He stopped you, but couldn't hang on to the puck and Gagne shoved it in. (You looked downright fast in OT! I want more of that.)

Post-game: Phantoms game sweater auction

Kristin and I headed over to the Spectrum for the Phantoms' game sweater auction. It was highly entertaining. Highest cost sweaters: Boucher and Munroe. (Everybody loves a goalie!)

Some of Kristin's die-hard Phantoms friends know a few of the guys on the team. It was fun to see their interaction during the auction. (I loved the Matsumoto story!)