Notes from the farm - Phantoms update

The Philadelphia Phantoms, who are also reaping the benefits of GM Paul Holmgren's rebuilding, notched their second straight 6-0 win tonight after beating the defending Calder Cup champion Hamilton Bulldogs. Right now the Phantoms have the second-best record in the AHL and are looking a lot like the team that won the Cup in 2005. For all the compliments Holmgren is getting for retooling the Flyers, he deserves equal credit for stacking the minor teams as well. Bob Clarke was a bit too impatient with the young players and traded away a lot of talent to go for the quick fix, which works if you get the right players. Often, he didn't, and those young players came back to bite us. Now, with Holmgren in charge and with the salary cap issue to deal with, I think Holmgren will decide to stay in-house and call up a good number of these Phantoms to play across the parking lot one day (if you don't get the parking lot reference, the Phantoms play at the Spectrum while the Flyers play at the Wachovia Center, which is - get this - across the parking lot. Nice, huh?).

I should have mentioned this before, but I do want to express my sympathies to the family and teammates of Washington Redskin safety Sean Taylor, who was murdered in his home during a burglary attempt. I don't need to remind you how senseless this is, even if he wasn't a famous athlete. ESPN reported that four people were arrested today in connection to his death, and for his family's sake I hope the got the guys who did this. As an Eagles fan, I usually root against the Skins, but that takes a backseat for this.

And finally, RIP to Evel Knievel, who died today at the age of 69. If he tried this today, the man would be hounded by every parents' group in the country on charges of "giving the kids the crazy ideas" or something:


Flyers vs. Stars tomorrow night @ the Wac. I should be here to recap it.

Flyers vs. Hurricanes (hopefully suspension-free)

(photo courtesy of The Canadian Press)

Philly heads down to the RBC Center to face off against the Hurricanes tonight. 610 WIP is having problems with its internet feed, so I'll have to listen to the venerable Hurricanes Radio Network for the first period. I've sufficiently calmed down from the Hartnell incident, though I'm sure it will be the main topic of discussion tonight. We need a complete, 60-minute effort tonight, that's for sure. No more of this win one, lose one that seems to be our MO recently.

Derien Hatcher is finally back after missing some time from knee surgery, which gives us a bigger presence along the blueline. Biron's in the net...not too sure what's been going on with him lately, but if we can get a couple of quick goals early, that should take the pressure off him...

UPDATED - Another win for the O&B, this time a 3-1 win. Mike Knuble had himself a three-point night with a goal and two assists, and the aforementioned Hatcher got himself a goal as well. We improved to a decent 8-6 on the road this year, which is light years ahead of last season. Hopefully they can get back on a winning streak and beat Dallas Saturday night.

In other sports news, we have ourselves a full-fledged quarterback controversy in Philadelphia following A.J. Feeley's remarkable performance against the New England Patriots on Sunday. Personally, I think A.J. should get the start for the Seattle game, but Andy Reid has put his big ol' foot down and is sticking with McNabb. Also, Arsenal remained undefeated in the English Premier League by beating Wigan 2-0, Maryland beat Illinois 69-61 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge tonight in College Park, and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. That is all...

Bruins 6, Flyers 3

Never mind the fact that we can't string together two wins in a row. Never mind the fact that we seem to take the night off after a big win. Never mind the fact that Martin Biron couldn't stop a beach ball right now. Yes, we lost the game. Yes, the Bruins were undoubtedly the better team. But the only thing you'll hear about is this. Yes folks, the Broad Street Bullies are back, the Flyers are nothing more than goons and are primarily responsible for the breakdown of the family unit in North America, and the team should be stripped of its NHL status and forced back to the Federal League where it belongs. Blah, blah, blah.

Look, I'm not saying that Scott Hartnell was innocent. The hit was poorly timed and aimed at Alberts' head. However, can someone explain to me why Alberts felt the need to go to his knees and attempt to stop the puck at the blue line? He put himself in a vulnerable position and got hurt as a result. Mark Messier said it plainly a few weeks ago, you cannot expose yourself to injury like that in this game and not expect to get hurt. The only way to avoid getting a potentially serious injury is to not put yourself in harm's way. I hope that Bergeron gets better and I hope that Alberts gets better. But I am getting really tired of the media calling the Flyers a bunch of thugs anytime we check someone too hard.

Here's the highlights courtesy of TSN:


The NHL gave Hartnell a two-game suspension without pay, which is more than fair. All the knuckleheads on TSN message boards calling for 20+ games, shut up. It wasn't boarding, he wasn't injured, it wasn't intent to injure. Crikes, I thought Canadians liked tough hockey. Proved me wrong, that's for sure.

My first GDT!! - Flyers vs. Senators

The game is being shown on CW57, which means I can finally see the game instead of listening on the radio. DirecTV is great, but not being able to watch the local teams because Comcast doesn't want to broadcast sports programming over satellite in Philadelphia stinks...

I got back a little late from Wawa's after picking up a couple of sandwiches and came in just in time to see Dany Heatley smoke one past Nittymaki to make it 2-1 Sens. Apparently it's been a fast-paced period, with chances coming at both ends. Umberger scored for the O&B to tie it at 1-1, but then came Heatley's goal. Not a bad start, let's see if both teams can maintain the pace.

Onto the 2nd...

GOAL - Hartnell (0:58) just ripped it past Gerber. Good way to start the period (PHI 2-OTT 2)

GOAL - Schubert (3:30) banked it off of Nittymaki to give Ottawa the lead again. This is turning into a good game (PHI 2-OTT 3)

GOAL - Mike Richards (7:51) with a sweet goal on the rebound from his own shot makes it 3-3. And apparently John Paddock has seen enough and has pulled Gerber for Ray Emery. I didn't think Gerber was doing that poorly, unless Paddock has some serious perfection issues (PHI 3-OTT 3)

GOAL - Daniel Briere (13:11) finishes off a nice passing sequence with Braydon Coburn and Scott Hartnell. Flyers are simply outskating the Senators right now in all aspects. You really have to question why the Ottawa coach pulled Gerber, especially in a close game. If it was 6-1, then yes, pull him, but why now? (PHI 4-OTT 3)

End of the 2nd, Flyers lead 4-3. They should have scored on the last PP, but that was a great period...

And with the start of the 3rd period, we have a problem. It just so happens that Battlestar: Galactica Razor is airing right now, and as I am a huge BSG fan as well as a Flyers fan, this creates a dilemma. I'll keep tabs on the game, so don't you worry...

4:00 left in the third, Flyers still holding on to a 4-3 lead. Good PK and neutral zone forechecking is keeping Ottawa at bay. Oh, and Battlestar Galactica is the best show on TV. No contest.

GAME - Philly wins 4-3 in Ottawa. One of the best games of the season so far. John Stevens must've said something to the team during the ride up, because this was a total effort. Either that or they read my last post. Big win for the Flyers, who come back to play Boston on Monday. Now if you'll excuse me, back to the Sci Fi.

Absolutely frustrating...Capitals 4, Flyers 3 (OT)

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Maybe it was too much turkey. Maybe it was not taking the Capitals seriously. I don't know, but this was a frustrating loss today against the worst team in the NHL. It was 3-0 Caps before the Flyers decided to start playing. At one point in the 2nd period, we had a 5-on-3 PP that should have resulted in at least one goal. All we succeeded in doing was losing the puck in the neutral zone and testing Kolzig's chest protector. Briere, Carter, and Richards tied the game and made it interesting, but a pass from Ovechkin to a wide open Backstrom gave Washington a win they deserved. Since firing their coach (who lasted much longer than I thought he would), I'm thinking the Caps could be poised to go on an Atlanta-like run of wins, which seems to happen a lot when new blood gets behind the bench. Apparently the new coach was with the Hershey Bears AHL team, so he's not a coaching newbie. As for the Flyers, this game should serve notice that you cannot, CANNOT, fail to play hard for the full 60 minutes of a game. Start slow, you get burned. Ease up at the end and let the opposing team back into it, you get burned. If they play this way tomorrow against the best team in the league, the Senators will run them out of the rink.

That being said, compare this game to similar games last season and it's night and day with this team. Last year, the Flyers would have just put their heads down and let the other team skate all over them. This year's team has a much better attitude, much better leadership, and never appears to be completely out of a game, the recent NJ game aside. Yes, I am frustrated we dropped one against the Caps, but we still have 12 wins on the year as of Thanksgiving weekend. Last season, the Flyers had 22 wins total. I'll take that any day.

Eagles update...the New England Patriots, who are running through the NFL like Patton's Third Army, are 24-point favorites against the Birds for Sunday night. Which means that if the Eagles scored 21 points, the final score is expected to be 45-21. And if you bet money that Philly would cover, you'd win. We. Are. Going. To. Be. DESTROYED.

Flyers go to Ottawa tomorrow to face the Sens. Let's hope they show up.

EDIT - the Eagles are now 22-point underdogs. Respect the Birds, yo.

Back on the winning track...Flyers 6, Hurricanes 3

(AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

After two tough losses against the Rangers and Devils, one of which never happened since I don't recognize the shootout, the Flyers finally put one in the win column with a 6-3 win in Raleigh. Daniel Briere scored a hat trick for goals 8, 9, and 10, Kimmo Timonen finally got me some fantasy points, and we kept up the pace with NY for top spot in the division. The Rangers beat Tampa 2-1 while the Devils beat the Crosbies by the same score. The NHL Network broadcast the NJ-Pittsburgh game and unfortunately showed the Pittsburgh video feed. I swear, Sidney Crosby could stab an opposing player with a samurai sword and the announcers would gush "There's our boy Sid! Ain't he swell??". I understand a bit of homerism is expected, but my goodness. I actually found myself cheering for the Devils to win tonight, which I believe carries a charge of high treason in Philly. I'll have to check on that.

In non-hockey news, congratulations to our boy Jimmy Rollins for winning the NL MVP award yesterday. He's the second Phillie in a row to win it (Ryan Howard won last year) and is the first shortstop to receive the award since Barry Larkin won it in 1995. Rollins said at the beginning of the season that the Phillies were the team to beat this year, and he backed it up by posting a .296 average with 30 HR, 41 SB, 38 2B, and 94 RBI. If you don't know what those stats mean, apparently they equal MVP. Plus, he won the Gold Glove for shortstop as well. All in all, a nice way to end a good season for the Phils.

The O&B get Thanksgiving off before hosting the Capitals and one of my favorite non-Flyers, Alexander Ovechkin (who scored the only goal tonight against Atlanta in a 5-1 loss), and then head up to snowy Ottawa to face the league-leading Senators. The Ottawa game will be a huge test for us, and to take a point from the Sens in their building would be an enormous boost. Of course, that's easier said than done, and I'm sure Ottawa will still be a little steamed over the Downie-McAmmond incident, but we'll see.

Devils 6, Flyers 2

The trend of late seems to be that whenever the Devils need a big win to break out of a slump, we always come up next of the schedule. New Jersey lost 5-0 to Pittsburgh, they come back to beat us. And again, New Jersey got shutout by the Islanders and then proceed to whomp the Flyers the following game 6-2. Biron had an off-game, which thankfully is rare for him, and I am concerned about our lack of shots, but overall, the team is still doing remarkably well. Even if we did give up the division lead to the Rangers by two points, the Flyers are well above what many people expected, including me. Next up, the Hurricanes...

Rangers 4, Flyers 3

(AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy)


I will never embrace the shootout. Never. When two teams are evenly matched and the game ends in a draw, it's OK to walk away with the tie. The game last night between Edmonton and Vancouver (my adopted Canadian team) was outstanding, even if it ended 0-0. Both Luongo and Garon made impressive saves, and there were enough offensive chances to keep the game going back and forth. Of course, I'd be singing a different tune if the Flyers had scored in the shootout, but not by much. I will man up and take back what I said about Lundqvist. The kid can flat out play. If the Rangers make the playoffs, and they should, he's the reason why, because Lord knows they can't outscore anyone. Anyway, it was another loss to New York for the O&B tonight. Nice to see Tolpeko get his first goal in the NHL, but it wasn't enough as the Flyers failed to get one past Lundqvist in overtime. It was good game between two teams that will be fighting for top spot in the Atlantic all season since the Penguins, Isles, and Devils can't seem to keep up. Still, we remain unbeaten in regulation at home (6-0-1), so we got that going for us.

We did beat the Islanders, by the way. 3-2. Scottie Upshall finally got it going, putting in two goals. Mike Richards chipped in with the game winner on the penalty kill. Honestly, how he didn't make it onto the All-Star ballot is beyond me. He's by far the team MVP up to this point. Scoring goals, setting up teammates, believe me, he'll be wearing the C in no time. I still believe the decision to give the captaincy to the veteran Jason Smith was the right idea. Sometimes your best leader isn't always your flashy scorer (are you listening, Pittsburgh?!?!?). Take the Washington Capitals, for instance. Clearly their best player is Alexander Ovechkin, one of the few non-Flyers I would pay good money to see in person. Who's the captain of the Capitals? Anyone? Anyone? Well, as a matter of fact, it's...

hold on, let me Google it...

hold on...

...it's this guy. Yeah, I have no idea who he is, either.

Alright, time to go. I promise to be around for the game against the Newark Devils on Saturday. Lates.

My apologies

I completely forgot about the game against the Islanders on Monday. A couple things came up regarding jobs and such and it just slipped my mind. Promise I'll be back later to wrap up tonight vs. the Rangers...

Very nice - Flyers 5, Crosbies 2

(AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy)


I really like this Flyers team. No, I mean really like. Last year's team would've be both awestruck by Malkin and Crosby and pushed around by the Penguins' heavyweights, if there were any. Now, they're the ones doing to the pushing, just like the old days. Well, not exactly the old days. Anyone comparing this team to the 1972-76 Broad Street Bullies era is wrong. That team, while good enough talent-wise to win two Stanley Cups, was ten times rougher than the Flyers today. Of course, the league was rougher back then as well. Everyone loves to bring up the Bullies, but no one seems to remember that the Flyers built that team to respond to the Big Bad Bruins who pushed everyone around, including the Flyers. I certainly don't condone the Downie and Boulerice incidents, and I don't believe for a second that Stevens or Holmgren are actively encouraging their players to injure someone. Both of them have been around this game long enough to know that it will come back on you one day, and with Simon Gagne out with concussion-like symptoms already, that's not a chance I think they would take.

Anyway, here's the recap from last night's game. I wasn't able to see it, of course, but thank goodness NHL.com radio is still free. The best part of the broadcast was hearing the Flyers' announcers calling out Crosby after Smith slashed him. They did bring up a good point, however - because Crosby falls down and complains constantly, how can the refs honestly know when he's hurt? It sounded like he went to the bench to get ice for his wrist, then was back out there a few minutes later. Well, are you hurt or not? What also surprised me was the way the Penguins did absolutely nothing to retaliate for their star player getting smacked around. If that was Briere, the Flyers would respond. If it was Daniel Alfredsson, the Senators would respond. Jagr, the Rangers would fight back, and so on. Maybe Crosby's own teammates are getting sick of his antics, who knows. But hey, it's not my team. We got the win. That's what matters in the end.

In other news, congratulations to former Flyer Jeremy Roenick for scoring his 500th goal in his career last night. Only the third American-born player to do in the league. I can't say I remember all of his goals, but I do remember this one:

Apologies to all you Maple Leafs fans out there. I'm surprised I didn't get written up for a noise violation when he scored that goal.

For the first time in a while, I'm indifferent on the game today between the Eagles and Redskins. There's talk in town of replacing Donovan McNabb, but that's been going around for a while now, so nothing new there. Oh well. Flyers won, Maryland beat Boston College, Arsenal (lest I forget) is going to the second round of the Champions' League, and after five days of gloom, the sun is shining in southeastern PA. All good here.

Devils 4, Flyers 1

One day after a big win in Pittsburgh, the Flyers give it back after tonight's stinker in Newark. Read about it here. Apparently the Devils' coach was upset about losing 5-0 in their last game, so he made them do insane amounts of sprints to teach them a lesson. Can't say I blame him. I am worried that we seem to be drifting back into our usual win one-lose one routine which usually gets us into trouble later in the season. The road trip is finally over, so hopefully they can string some wins together at home.

Flyers 3, Crosbies 1

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)


Remember how we got embarrassed by Pittsburgh last year? Yeah, me neither...

And, lest you think I'm forgetting about our 76ers (to be honest, since I can't stand the NBA anymore, I haven't been keeping up with the team), they beat Charlotte tonight 94-63. For a city with such a rich basketball tradition from the Big Five to high school, it's a shame the Sixers don't get the attention that they used to. Course, some of that may be contributed to a projected last place finish and the Iverson trade last year, so there you go. I'll be sure to give them some love this season, assuming I check the scores every now and then.

So long, Eric

It looks like former Flyers captain Eric Lindros is finally calling it quits. He is officially retiring tomorrow after trying to give it a go with Dallas. I remember all of the hype that surrounded him when he came to Philly (and the griping about who we gave up to get him, including one Peter Forsberg before his major foot problems.) Watching him on the Legion of Doom line with Renberg and LeClair (who just got a DUI, by the way) was one of the great joys of being a Flyers fan in the 90's. The 1997 Cup run was fantastic, until we ran into the Red Wings and got swept. The drama between the Lindros family and Bobby Clarke led to Lindros being traded to New York (of all places!), but not before he developed his concussion problems. I still believe the hit by Scott Stevens in the 2000 ECF was illegal, and don't try to convince me otherwise. Watch it yourself:


Anyway, good luck Eric. Wish him all the best.

GO-Sweep

Looks like the GOP held firm in Chester County last night. Mostly incumbents won, which isn't surprising.

In tonight's NHL action, the Flyers are playing St. Sidney and the Penguins in Pittsburgh. The Pens went 8-for-8 against the O&B last season, and I'm kind of hoping they take us lightly tonight. The game's on CSN, but since we have DirecTV, and Comcast hates DirecTV, I can't watch. Once again, I'll be reduced to listening online and catching highlights on the NHL Network (which rules, by the way). We need to come out quick against Pittsburgh and not give up the first goal, which we do wayyy too often.

Other games tonight include:
Boston - Buffalo
Nashville - Detroit
Florida - Tampa Bay
Columbus - Chicago
Edmonton - Colorado
Phoenix - Anaheim
Dallas - San Jose

Be back later...

And the winner is...

Michael Nutter. This wasn't even close.

Still waiting for the suburban results to come through. Check back tomorrow.

Speaking of winning, congratulations to Aaron Rowand and Jimmy Rollins for being named Gold Glove winners for 2007. These two earned it this year, especially Rollins, who I think will come up short for MVP since Matt Holliday and the Rockies went to the Series. Please, please, please sign Rowand to a nice long-term deal...

Voting update

The best thing about off-year elections is that it's so much easier to vote. I remember waiting almost three hours in Gaithersburg, MD for the 2004 presidential election, and I arrived EARLY. The bad thing about off-year elections is that for the most part, I have no clue who I should vote for. Other than Judge Seamus McCaffrey (who got my vote simply because he's a Marine, and there's nothing like a Marine dispensing justice), I'll admit I chose the candidates who I think I've heard of, but ask me to pick them out of a crowd and I'm stumped. I mixed up my ballot between Democratic candidates and Republican candidates, giving about a 60-40 edge to the Dems. I'm sorry, but the Republican commissioner for Chester County had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the war in Iraq, so why punish them for it? That's the best part about being a registered independent, I think. You choose candidates based on their past performance and merit, and not simply along party lines. Or, you choose them because you happened to catch their campaign ad during the MNF game and thought it was catchy. Democracy in action...

It wasn't in any doubt, but it appears that Michael Nutter is the new mayor-elect for Philadelphia. For those of you unfamiliar with politics in this corner of the world, the Democrats control Philly, while the Republicans hold the suburbs. That will definitely hold true tonight in the city, but the suburban races will be tight. Philly, on the other hand, is no contest. In fact, the Inquirer ran a front-page story about the concern many people had about the low turnout today because of the huge lead Nutter had going into this morning. Even if the outcome of a vote is certain, I still feel it's our duty to participate. Let's face it, there are still many people around the world who would die to vote as freely as we do. Some things just should not be taken for granted, and this is one of them. Besides, there are other issues on the ballot in Philadelphia that deserve to be addressed. Get out there and vote.

Way to pick me up guys...

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)


I think we'll just focus on hockey for a while, cause the Eagles...well, you saw the game.

And how do the Flyers help to bring up my hopes? By losing to our hated rivals. Thanks fellas.

In retrospect, I don't think anyone was scoring against Lundqvist tonight. The kid is good, not Vezina good like the announcer on Versus was talking about. Mike Richards needs to hit the Blue Horizon if he's going to be fighting every night. Especially against a guy like Avery, who looks like a man possessed in this picture. He still dating that Cuthbert girl?

Anyway, you win some, you lose some, but whatever you do, DO NOT LOSE TO NEW YORK. This should be on the contract of every Philadelphia athlete when they sign here.

Uhh, what????

Dallas 38, Philly 17.

The heck happened here?

Remember, remember, the 5th of November...

Since I have a little bit of time before Pats-Colts and Eagles-Boys, I figured I'd get in some posting...
(picture courtesy of GEORGE BRIDGES / McClatchy Tribune)


Went down to DC this weekend to check out the Flyers against the Caps on Friday. The Flyers usually get a good crowd down from Philly, but this night was especially rowdy. I don't know if was the upcoming football game or the fact that it was college night, but boy, that game was fun. Course, it also helped that the boys won the game 3-2. Briere, Mike "Mad Dog" Richards, and Umberger scoring for the Flyers, Ovechkin and some bit player for the Caps. I still can't figure out how the Caps still aren't able to sell out their arena even though they have one of the best players in hockey. I give Ovechkin one more year, then it's off to Toronto, Montreal, or Detroit. God, imagine him in orange and black alongside Forsberg and Gagne? Sick.

In politics, it's finally time to pick a new mayor for Philadelphia. Whoever it is (what am I saying, it's gonna be Nutter), they'll have their work cut out for them. In case you haven't heard, we lost a 25-year veteran police officer this week. He was the third officer shot in 48 hours. I tell you, I love Philly, but this is getting out of hand. And what's worse, no one seems to have any good ideas on how to stop the violence, or at least get it under control. We'll never live completely free of crime, but this needs to be priority no. 1 for the new guy in City Hall.

Oh yeah, the job search: I'll be sending out a ton of resumes this week. Hopefully, someone will bite, but I'm not getting too optimistic. Of course, the White House is claiming victory for 166,000 new jobs added in October. Guess they weren't in PA...

Alrighty, time for the game. I'm thinking Colts 38, Pats 35. And congrats to the Naval Academy for beating Notre Dame for the first time since '63. Then again, I could round up 10 kids at a YMCA and beat ND this year. Anyway, good game.

UPDATE - New England 24, Indy 20. Colts let that one get away...