AARRGH!!!...Devils 3, Flyers 0

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Boy, I am getting sick of seeing this...

There must be something in the water in North Jersey, because for some reason the Flyers simply cannot beat the Devils on the road. Martin Brodeur, who is not one of my favorite people, won his 40th game against us while recording his 96th shutout, which is impressive to say the least, but I don't care. The Flyers are a combined 1-1-14 against New Jersey after last night. 1-1-14. Are you serious???I can understand why the boys get up for playing Pittsburgh, since the Pens rubbed it in our faces last year and no one east of Harrisburg likes Sidney Crosby. But Pittsburgh is not the team we should focus on beating if we want to make a playoff run. New Jersey has been the best team in the Atlantic for years, and the Flyers have always been right there with them. If they want to prove that they belong with the top teams in the league, they will have to start winning these games. The Flyers owned the second period last night, got numerous PP opportunities, and still couldn't score. We had the Devils back on their heels and still couldn't score. Maybe the Devils simply know how to beat us. Maybe we go into complete brain-fart mode against them. Who knows...

Tonight - Flyers head up to Toronto to play the Leafs. They better win this game by at least four goals to get the Devils game stinker out of their heads...

The Winter Classic on New Year's Day was fantastic. I didn't know what to expect, and I really don't particularly care for the Sabres or Penguins, but I was thoroughly impressed. The snow, the fans, seeing little Darren Pang avoid hypothermia, it was a good time. Now every team wants to play one outside, it seems, which makes sense if you have natural ice in the winter. I'm thinking Boston, Detroit, New York, Chicago, Denver, St. Paul, and anywhere in Canada (though Vancouver may be iffy) could host. There's been some talk that the Flyers may want to host a game at Penn State, but I don't know if PSU will allow it...

Simon Gagne announced this week that he should be ready to go in a matter of days. After being out so long, I don't know how effective he'll be. However, he does have very good chemistry with Danny Briere, so I'll take anything to get this team going.

Game is at 7:00.