Aaaahhhh!

Dear Gentle Readers,

Personal crisis: Not over. Is that a problem? Sure, in the grand scheme of things, it is. In terms of today, nope.

First Things First

BIG thanks to D.L. for the gift of today's Battle of Pennsylvania tickets to me and co-worker Justin. Additional thanks to Justin's wife, E., who is cool enough to let him attend today's game as well as the mid-March Rangers game to which D.L. gave us tickets. Both of you are awesome!

Justin: You did a good job today. I wish we had been able to see a Richie v. Cindy throw-down like the one I saw last season. That would have made the game even better, although the fight in the audience was interesting.

What I Learned Today

Dear Hockey,

It's true, my life has been stress-filled lately. I have totally taken our relationship for granted. I haven't been contributing. I'm sorry.

I know that I cannot go two-plus months without seeing a live game again. If for nothing other than my own mental sanity, I have to be surrounded by an electrifying audience, watching the guys pound each other, and seeing goals scored in real time.

It felt so good to be at the game today, in spite of the loss. (More on that later.) My February is so much better now.

Battle of Pennsylvania Face-Off

This isn't going to be anywhere near as detailed as other post-game posts because I didn't have my paper for taking notes. Oh, and I committed to just watching the game. So, here goes...

Marty, Marty, Marty. You are banned from harem considerations if that happens again. What was that? Why did it seem like a good idea?

'Cause from 116, 17, 8, it looked like an eight year old goalie really wanted to touch the puck outside the crease and trapezoid and then butterfingered it right to an opposing player so that the NHL Spokesbot could bury it in the net you abandoned when the game was tied - again - in the late stages of the third period.

Lups, Richie, Cobie, Knubs: Thank you for those goals. I loved each one. Way to work the score board and keep us in the game.

Annoying Yinzers who tried to steal Shawn's spotlight: I'd love to rip you really good but I think you heard enough at the game. And probably after it, too.

Kerry Fraser: Creative as always, though not nearly as interesting as in his helmet-less days. Does he still buy Aqua Net in bulk?

Fighting dudes in the stands who upstaged the game that was in progress: Whoa! A couple of somebodies need to take a few chill pills. Jeez! It's just a game. Okay, a hockey game, but a game nonetheless.

Promising to be a good fangirl from now on,

Flyers.Femme

- 

Glor-i-ous!

That was so much fun!

Because my only two other trips to Broad and Pattison resulted in loses, this season has been a little disappointing for me as a fan...until last night. Last night was freakin' awesome. Three key reasons:

• Dude, we won!
• We caused a few of the Avs to lose their composure...though not as badly as the Pens last season.
• I was about 8 seats over and one row behind Shawn!

Something I must point out to my non-Philadelphia readers: Flyers fans do not boo Santa. Santa was in section 216 or 215 last night, and he was greeted with cheers. (Drunken Eagles and Sixers fans are responsible for booing Santa, not Flyers ones.)

Knuble: Looooved your PPG. Your positive attitude, willingness to hang out at the net, and make like a screen keep serving you well. Congrats on number 100!

Blondie: Woo-hoo, another SHG! Tell me, what kind of noise does one of your wristers make, if any, when you score? With the team leading the league on them, and needing just one more to match last season's total SHG count, this is such a fun statbit to track. (Nice intermission interview, by the way.)

Lups: Thank you for putting one in on even strength. Way to do that during the second while I had a very good view of it.

Dear Captain: Another pretty one I saw clearly from my cheap seats. And a three point night? Bitchin'!

Gagne: Way to make sure that PPG entered the net! A second player with a three point night. I'm so glad you're back and playing like your old self.

Interesting off-topic factoid of the night: The announcer still cannot pronounce Ovie's last name with any consistency. How many seasons has he been playing in the NHL? Just make sure you balance that out with a Cindy Crosby, 'kay?'

Interesting game-related factoid: How sick is it that we have six players with 10 or more goals this season already? And I thought last year's seven players with 20 or more goals was cool.

Having a happier holiday season,
Flyers.Femme
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Flightless Blackbirds Return

Battle of PA: First Showing in Philly

The 2008-09 Battle of Pennsylvania has been a bit one-sided this season. The Pens won the first two bouts in overtime and a shoot-out, respectively. While no loss is nice, and these kind doubly-suck, at least we gained a point in each one. (Please do not interpret that as my acceptance nor endorsement of doing away with the tie. It isn't.)

This afternoon, the Flyers continued the trend of beating the Pens in the Wachovia Center, to the tune of 6-3. I guess the guys didn't feel like they sufficiently proved themselves in the comeback on Thursday.

Today's win puts the Flyers at 6-1-3 against Atlantic Division foes. It also had them two points behind the Rangers prior to their match-up with the Whalercanes tonight (which the Evil Blue Shirts won in a five-round shoot-out).

Up next, the Sakic-less Avs. (And you really must go read Margee's post about him on SportSquee...see the HLOG links to go there.)

Keep the wins coming,
Flyers.Femme
-

Total Bollocks!

Happy 26th!

I'm not going to lie. Yes, I'm happy we won tonight.

But it totally sucks because it signals the end of the banter with the Four Habs Fans and their comment-crazy readers!

See labels for tonight's key players.

Final Score: Flyers 6, Habs 4
Series closed: Flyers 4 games, Habs 1 game

Sucks, I tell you!

4/15 Caps v. Flyers

Ryan, Fran & Eric:

To quote the title of an Oasis tune, "What's the Story (Morning Glory)?"

Final Score: Flyers 6, Caps 3

And, dudes, it was awesome! See you tomorrow evening for a full report after work!


P.S.: FHF, I knew the Habs could stick it to the Broons for another game in the series! But a win on a Breezer goal? How did that happen?

2/28 Sens v. Flyers

Marty: Really? I understand that you're flashing back Spezza's pushing & shoving from last game. Oh, well. It was your turn for a penalty.

Jim Dowd: My friend Tamika really likes your eyes. I really like you when you score! (Thanks Cote and Timonen.)

Gator: Crashing the net always works sooner or later, right? Way to "assist" Knuble's goal!

Scottie Upshall or Mike Knuble: Scoooooore!

Final Score: Flyers 3, Sens 1

Woo-hoo! We won back-to-back games, won three of four in the series with the Senators, and move into the eighth spot in the Conference (again).

Thanks, guys!

2/21 Sharks v. Flyers

Dear Flyers,

Pardon the girlie, PMS-y question here, but I missed my telenovelas for that?!!?

I have some truly snarky comments I could make. I'm not going to do it tonight. (Tomorrow may be a different story.)

As painful as that game was for the fans, it has to have been 100 times worse for all of you and I just don't feel like crapping on you when everyone else will do it. I mean, I even feel sorry for Tiny!Briere right now.


Dear Flyers in-house, in-game promoters,

You should be ashamed of yourselves! You should have stuck that ice girl in any other jersey tonight.

Or are you trying to make the fans believe that you had no idea Briere will be booed harder by us in the Wachovia Center than by the Habs fans in the Bell Centre?


Dear Gentle Readers,

I can't even begin to dissect that game. My frustration level tonight was higher than the Nov. 17th Devils-induced blow-out I witnessed from Row 1 behind the goal.

Oh and I did something I have never done before: I left the game before it was over! If the Flyers weren't going to win, I wasn't going to miss my train home for it. Selfish I know, however, I'm 99.99% certain that my staying wouldn't have positively influenced the game's outcome for us.


Dear Mike Knuble,

Thanks for setting up that play and going for the goal. Loved it! (Way to pitch in Rosie and Richie.)

P.S.: The new haircut looks great on you. Did you go to the same place as Sami, Kimmo and Danny?


Dear God,

Please, help!

Also, please send enough crappy weather to give me a snow day tomorrow. I won't complain about the 5:30 a.m. wake-up call if it means I can go straight back to bed and start my weekend earlier.

2/06 Caps v. Flyers

As of 10:00 in the Third

Congratulations, Hextall. Thanks, Knuble! (Wait, is the KGB [Knuble-Gagne-Briere] line back or was that a line-change fluke?)

That's all I can say for tonight's game.

Oooh, Blog Candy!

Gentle Readers,

There's a new poll!

So while I contemplate ditching it all to move back to South America - just 'cause it's fun to think about doing it - make your voices heard on the ambiente acá.

Ciao,
Nadine

OMG! Two from the Harem!

Sami! Woo-hoo! (With that assist by Cartsie, and the first goal by the KGB line, did Stevens opt for "old home week" with the lines in honor of Hexie?)

Wait, Randy also! Double woo-hoo!

Final Score: Caps 4, Flyers 3. Long live our consistent inconsistency.

2/05 Flyers v. Thrashers

Verboten

Yep, pulling out my ancestors' native language for this post.

Context: "Due to my completely ridonkculous superstitions related to Flyers' away games, it is strictly verboten for me to watch the game on TV (even if it's finally on the CW) or to listen to it on the radio."

In this case, it doubly stunk because tonight was one of the times Bill Clement was covering for Keith Jones. Argh!

Thanks, Guys

In the Finnish goalie showdown, we won. Niitty's record increases to 8 straight wins over the Thrash. We'll see what tonight's 3-2 score does to his GAA for that period.

(Psst: I loved the photo on the Flyers' site today of Niitty stretching next to Lehtonen. Finns...squee!)

Other shout-outs go to the Mikes (Knuble = 1 G; Richie = 1 G + 1 A) and Downie.

As a result of the win, we abandon the three-way tie for the division lead. Pens and Devils fans are sure to be gnashing their teeth right about now.

Super Tuesday, aka Fat Tuesday

Dudes, I don't care. The Pennsylvania Presidential Primary isn't until April 22. Even though we have a few delegates the candidates would like to have, I feel it will hardly matter by then.

Besides, all three of my first choices have dropped out of the race. They each had more of the "experience" need to effect "change" to truly benefit the country.

I guess my intuition works for picking who's going to be on fire for the Flyers any given year. You know, I can live with that!

And all of you states that moved to create "Super Tuesday": Shame on you for ruining the attention that would normally go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras! The nerve of some people.

1/24 Pens v. Flyers

Pre-Game

Kristin and I sat in the usual spot for pre-game and indulged in our usual chat. Our attempts to use wi-fi failed yet again.

Kristin shared her impressions from the Meet & Greet. Marty is a PR person's dream man. Niitty is quiet. There were several unusual pairings and quite a few predictable ones.

I surprised her by saying that I finally had something nice to say about Briere: I like his new haircut. ;p

The guys came out and we noticed that warm-ups were following a different pattern than usual, which prompted immediate concern on both our parts. Is a Battle of Pennsylvania showdown following a Devils blow-out really the time to change this? We had our doubts.

Fair warning:

1. I did not buy into the hype that the Pens would be easier to beat without Cindy. Yes, he's good, but please do not forget about the following individuals who would still be on the ice: Malkin, Malone, Whitney, Laraque, and Conklin.

2. My eyes were drawn frequently to the Habs-Devils score on the board, for obvious reasons. I had a minor bout of heart failure until their third period.

Question: Why is it that the refs' names do not appear on the jumbotron?

First Period

No lie, it was flatter than two-day old, uncorked champagne.

There was a little bit of a spark during the Cote v. Laraque bout. The secret of Riley's left is not unknown, so Georges made certain to tie it up from the out-set.

Umby netted a nice one (assisted by Gator and Tiny!Briere). Marty had a nice save on Malone.

Malkin tallied one late in the first because all the Flyers seemed to take a five-minute snoozer in our zone. Even a little D would have gone a looooooong way.

Downie pulled his good choir boy act during the first period, keeping fairly cool in spite of some instigating. I was quite surprised by how long it lasted.

Second Period

Hey refs! Letang had already earned two or three trips to the sin bin before you finally called that boarding penalty. Perhaps you could benefit from some Lasik, yes?

I was still on a little happy fest from Sami's goal in the Ottawa game. So imagine my giddiness when Jones scored one! (Thanks Hartsie and Umby for the help on that one.)

I don't have much to say about Sykora's goal. It will look nice on the highlight reels.

One of my worst fears occurred in the second period. Ever since that first 'Canes game where I truly realized how, er, imposing Hatch can be at full-tilt going for the puck at the goal-mouth, I've been sort of concerned for the well-being of opposing goalies.

Well, Hatch barreled into Conks. Yikes! I'm glad I was in 212 and not 119.

Progressing to Laraque's hit on Downie...because I just have to go there. Anyone who's been reading here all along knows my feelings about Downie and his suspension. If you don't, used the archives or labels to find out.

Dear Georges Laraque,

If you were going to hit someone that way, honestly, it should have been Randy Jones, but only after he (a) looked right at you, (b) moved another pace closer to the boards, (c) put his head down and (d) gave you his back again.

That being said, and in light of the rules and guidelines that supposedly apply to all NHL teams and players, you cannot hit someone that way...even if it's Steve Downie. You deserved the five-minute major and the ten-minute game misconduct. You also deserve a suspension for not having learned the lesson from the examples of others.

My prediction: Colin Campbell should trot out another 20-30 games suspension for that one, but he won't because the perpetrator wasn't wearing Halloween colors.

Riley: Please learn to go to the dressing room when the horn sounds. You may be the reason we don't see a suspension for Laraque.

Third Period

Here are the high- and low-lights.

Vandermeer scored a goal, with Umby and Hartsie on the assists. (I guess he didn't want Randy to be the only Flyers defenseman notching one for the night?)

I was completely underwhelmed by our response to the hit on Downie. I expected some of Johnny's oft-mentioned "urgency" to create more scoring chances. Instead, the guys penalty-killed our five-minute power play. The Pens didn't need to do anything but sit back and wait.

The refs helped Whitney score a SH goal by not calling goalie interference on Staal. Sure, the net wasn't off the moorings when the puck entered it, but forget about the puck! Marty - or any other goalie - cannot make a save when Staal forcibly sits him down inside the net.

Knuble netted the game-winner, with a little help from his friends Cartsie and Coby.

Post-Game

The 4-3 score was something I and my Flyers could share with Four Habs Fans and their Canadiens. Perhaps we can share frustration with our team's tendencies towards passive-aggressive displays, too? Could this be the start of newer and friendlier relations between Canadian and US NHL hockey teams' fans?

Get real! They're in the Eastern Conference.

FHF: The gloves are off in preparation for our Feb. 16 and 17 MTL-PHL showdowns! ;)

1/10 Flyers v. Evil Rangers

A.K.A: The Scott Hartnell Show

Can you say "hat-trick?" Hartsie can! Way to step in to the void following Lups' injury and to carry on the tradition.

Question: Seeing as I'm not a stat-bit queen, does any other team have three separate players with hat-tricks this season? (What about a single player with back-to-back hat-tricks?)

Welcome to the Jungle

Congratulations, Rosie, on your first goal of the season! I don't know why but I thought you already had one. Mentally, I probably changed one of your assists into a goal some time ago. Again, congrats!

Welcome Back, Gags!

Simon, way to re-enter the line-up! I know that the Flyers faithful are very happy to see you skating at game time. Pushing one in on your 2/3 French Connection line is just icing on the cake.

Other Notes

Dear Niitty,

You had me scared for 20 minutes. Way to stick it to the Blue Shirts.

Dear Guys,

Okay, now I'm looking forward to Saturday's game! It's the Bruins. Remember, those funny guys who have trouble keeping their heads up? Yeah, them. So, please fall over backwards - literally, if you must - to keep them from earning any of you a suspension.

Love yas,
Nadine

12/11 Pens v. Flyers

All of you Gentle Readers not of the Flyers or Pens persuasion, have fun reading the penalty summary for this one. It's a blast!

Cindy Who? (And I don't mean The Grinch.)

Pens, schmens. Look, the Battle of Pennsylvania is really a battle this year. (Last year, not so much.) Thankfully, the skirmishes are all going our way.

Besides, we really needed a home win.

Highlights of the night:

• Malone and Gator wait an incredible 20 seconds to have their own personal rematch. (Matching 5 minute fighting majors)
• Joffrey Lupul earns six points for the night, which included a hat-trick. (Just goes to show, Lups didn't like the trade to Edmonton all that much.)
• RJ Umberger, proving that good Pittsburghers play for other teams, decides he wants a hat-trick as well (complemented by two assists).
  
• Lasse's in! Hatch's out! (Yikes. Please, not the just-fixed knee.)
• Crosby limited to two second assists. He also up-ends my HBF #1, the goalie, and gets to skate free. (Crowd chants "Crosby Sucks!")
• Laraque, Roberts, and Letang like the Philly away team sin bin so much, they decide to make repeat visits or to obtain double minors in order to spend more time there. In fact, Crosby is one of only a few Pens who didn't sit a spell there! (And he should have.)

Cartsie and Hartsie, 2gether 4ever. Just to keep things interesting, they fulfill the fight wishes of Whitney and Armstrong during the third. I bet Coach Stevens had fun juggling the lines for the remaining six minutes or so.

The only thing missing from this game, in my completely biased opinion, was a Sami goal. I'm hurting for one of those. I'm sure he's saving up for Saturday's game against his old team, the 'Canes. (Though it would be nice for him to bang one in on the Habs on Thursday!)

Official (Unofficial) Points Earned Race: Richie has three assists. Tiny!Briere has one. New totals are 34 for Richie and 32 for Briere.

Final Score: Flyers 8, Pens 2

Welcome back: Hatch & Kimmo

Defense Is Back

Yeah! Hatch is back! Kimmo is back!

See, Randy Jones was missing both his boys against the Bad News Bears. (Yeah, Kimmo played but he was also hurt that night, too.) Now Randy has them both back.

What's a guy to do? Stick with Kimmo for now, because I have nominated you for Co-Presidents of Defense.

Personally, I think it would be really cool to see Hatch with Coburn...it looks like matching 6'5" bookends!

11/28 Flyers v. 'Canes

I know I didn't really call that Hatcher and Timonen would score tonight in writing, but I did welcome them back. So I'm calling in two HLOG predictions come true with their goals...because my best wishes were sent their way.

Knuble decides 0:33 into the third is too long to not have a goal credited to the Flyers' part of the scoreboard. So he works it out with Richie and Lups to put one in the basket.

Points (Show-down) Update: With his two assists tonight, Richie is tied again with Briere at 30 each.

Final Score: Flyers 3, Canes 1

Severe case of Whineritis

Summary for the Flyers: Round 2
Summary for the Penguins: Rematch

Cindy Crybaby, er, Crosby brought his show the the Wachovia Center last night. And even though we had to contend with Kerry Fraser's unique reffing style, he didn't fall for Cindy's tricks.

But it was funny to watch.

Pre-Game

HLOGers in attendance: Kristin, Teka and I

Ryan: I had a 'rita just for you. (Kristin and I think you should strongly consider coming to the Devils' game next Saturday. Amtrak runs a lot of times between here and NYC.)

First Period

I was a tiny bit concerned for the guys going into the game, only because they had one day off between games. At the same time, I hoped they'd show more of the hustle we saw when they played the Pens earlier in the week.

Set your tempo. You're at home. Play your man.

And they did! 1:31 is all it took for Kimmo Timonen to score his first Flyers goal on the power play. Assists were by Briere and Lupul. (During the game, this goal was attributed to Knuble at first. Why are the goal judges not behind the goals again?)

Malone and Gator start mouthing at one another. Ryan, don't play with Gator, okay? He has that name for a reason and he might bite off more than you can afford to lose.

At 7:51 Mike Knuble puts the puck in at least twice before the goal is called. (See, this wouldn't happen if the goal judges were sitting in their former seats.) Assists were by Briere and Timonen.

By the way, no offense meant, but watching the post-goal on-ice mini-celebration, I just realized how long Knuble's schnoz is!

At the end of the period, Flyers out-shot the Pens 10-7. We don't seem to make as many shots as others, so I was glad to see we could out-shoot another team.

Second Period

How annoying is the "PECO Power Play?" How about a normal one? I like that much better. Either way, Lups scores 5:40 into the second on one. Assists were by Richie and Timonen.

For most of the night, Marty has Malkin's number. He basically looks right at Malkin every time he snags one of Malkin's shots. But at 8:39, one gets by. My reaction as the Pens fans around me celebrate: Whatev.

I sat back for most of the second and just enjoyed the game.

At the end of the period, Marty and the guys clear the puck into the Pens' zone. Flower sends it back into our end, and Gonchar rips it into the net at 19:59. All of my neighbors are happy. I'm not very worried about it. There's a whole third period to go.

Kristin messages me that the seat next to Teka is empty. I move to Row 5 for the third.

Third Period

How to sum up the period: Both teams settle in for a fast-paced, almost eight-minute game of ping pong before really accomplishing anything. I'm not overly worried about the score, but insurance would be nice.

As if the guys in the sound booth have been reading here, someone kicks Briere in the pants and he scores. That's Danny's first home goal this season. Sadly, no theme song, even though the horn sounded suspiciously longer and louder than for other goals.

At some point well past halfway through the period, Crosby starts acting...really hard. He tries to draw something against Gator. Gator yells at him. Because I'm in Row 5 I can hear him bellow, but not clearly enough to hear what exactly Gator says. Darn!

Play cycles around a little more and Cindy takes the most dramatic, flying, fetal-crumpled, self-induced plow into the boards that I've seen since Dustin Davis crying foul in soccer games as a youth. (I know that most of you Gentle Readers don't understand that frame of reference, but Eli does.)

Thankfully, he hits with his well-padded, um, behind. ;P

Some of the other Pens looked a little miffed about this one. Like it's not accomplishing anything, and it isn't. Cindy drops a few F-bombs when it becomes apparent that no one is going to be sent to the box.

This leads to what could have been the mother-of-all Battle of Pennsylvania smack-downs in the last two minutes of the game. The refs try to break it up and essentially do.

But while everyone is picking up their stuff and preparing to resume play, Braydon Coburn is laughing about this attempt to scrum that the refs denied both teams. Malone, being somewhat stupid, intentionally shoulders into Coburn while he's coasting by. Coburn isn't having it and goes after Malone. Both are tossed with a misconduct at 18:56.

Flower is yanked from the pipes, a little too prematurely as it turns out. Richie intercepts the puck, skates it into the Pens zone, and passes it to Hartnell. Hartnell fires it into the empty net at 19:01. It's Hartnell's first goal as a Flyer, and there's a nice, long, loud horn for him also.

Points Update: Briere and Richie are still tied at 19 for the lead on points earned.

Final Score: Flyers 5, Penguins 2.

11/08 Flyers vs. Diablos

Dear Guys,

Do it again! Start on fire and keep running all game long.

Love yas,
Nadine

Pre-game: MIA

Nope, I don't mean Miami International Airport this time.

• Gagne is out with a return of dizziness. (Jay Bouwmeester's hit or Gary Roberts' last night?)
• My Sami is out with a mild knee-sprain.

Stefan Ruzicka was called back up from the Phantoms. Guess this means the musical chairs line-shuffling will continue.

Marty's starting this game, too. Please let everyone be on fire again tonight so that he can relax as much as possible tonight.

Tonight's semi-live blogging will work like last night's...it's driven by the refresh button. I am once again observing all superstitions for away games.

First Period

Guys, c'mon. You want to PP not PK. Knuble got one. Yeah, we score first!

So, um, NO! Someone tell the Diablos WE are the team that scores back-to-back goals. All right, buckle down and make 'em pay on the scoreboard. I'm talking to you Lups, Carts and anybody else on the ice.

Will somebody please inform Upshall that you cannot do that, but particularly if you wear a Flyers sweater?

I am not even going to dignify that with a response. Can we fast-forward to the second now?

Second Period

Put the head case in! (Marty I still love ya, but jeez!) God, be there for Niittymäki.

Pookie at IPB assures me that the Devils never, ever score when the opposing team's starting goalie is pulled. I'm not putting my eggs in that basket.

Hey, we don't need to beat up on the Devils - just let Patty do it.

I miss Sami. We need his speed, his grit.

I see all the "I"s coming back out on the ice. Boys, roadtrips like this stink. It's true, but please suck it up and be a team.

Role Reversal

Normal circumstances:

• Philly would be on fire in the second.
• NJ would look like they're dead in the second.

Apparently neither team got that memo today.

Unfortunately, that concludes the semi-live blogging tonight. The dentist will be torturing me first thing in the morning. Must get my beauty sleep!